Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Training the trainer at Coral

Investigates the three‐year trainer and team development initiative at Coral, the bookmaker, intended to support the company′s launch of a new brand and image. Concludes that training of people is fundamental to efficiency and progress, with responsibility for this being with both the line manager and the members of staff. Gives a list of the corporate benefits.
Epsilon toxin from Clostridium perfringens acts on oligodendrocytes without forming pores, and causes demyelination

Epsilon toxin (ET) is produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D and causes severe neurological disorders in animals. ET has been observed binding to white matter, suggesting that it may target oligodendrocytes. In primary cultures containing oligodendrocytes and astrocytes, we found that ET (10−9 M and 10−7 M) binds to oligodendrocytes, but not to astrocytes. ET induces an increase in extracellular glutamate, and produces oscillations of intracellular Ca2+ concentration in oligodendrocytes. These effects occurred without any change in the transmembrane resistance of oligodendrocytes, underlining that ET acts through a pore‐independent mechanism. Pharmacological investigations revealed that the Ca2+ oscillations are caused by the ET‐induced rise in extracellular glutamate concentration. Indeed, the blockade of metabotropic glutamate receptors type 1 (mGluR1) prevented ET‐induced Ca2+ signals. Activation of the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor (NMDA‐R) is also involved, but to a lesser extent. Oligodendrocytes are responsible for myelinating neuronal axons. Using organotypic cultures of cerebellar slices, we found that ET induced the demyelination of Purkinje cell axons within 24 h. As this effect was suppressed by antagonizing mGluR1 and NMDA‐R, demyelination is therefore caused by the initial ET‐induced rise in extracellular glutamate concentration. This study reveals the novel possibility that ET can act on oligodendrocytes, thereby causing demyelination. Moreover, it suggests that for certain cell types such as oligodendrocytes, ET can act without forming pores, namely through the activation of an undefined receptor‐mediated pathway.
Pricing Participating Inflation Retirement Funds Through Option Modeling and Copulas

Abstract Pension plans and life insurances offering minimum performance guarantees are very common worldwide. In the Brazilian market, the customers of a common type of defined contribution plan have the right to receive, over their savings, the positive difference between the return of a specified investment fund, usually a fixed income fund, and the minimum guaranteed rate, commonly defined as the composition of a fixed interest rate and a floating inflation rate. This instrument can be characterized as an option to exchange one asset, the minimum guaranteed rate, for another, the return of the specified investment fund. In this paper we provide a closed formula to evaluate this liability that depends on two stochastic rates assuming bivariate normality. We also explore the use of copulas for the modeling of the dependence structure and price the options using Monte Carlo simulation to compare the effects of the copula specification in their values. An application with real data is provided. The model makes use of a one-factor Vasicek framework for the term structures of interest rate and inflation rate.
Forms and Determinants of R&D Collaborations: Evidence Based on French Data

The literature on R&D collaboration highlights a broad set of rationales for allying with other organizations. At the same time, it has been reported that there exists a large variety of forms of collaboration. Nevertheless, the relation between the motives to collaborate and the different forms of collaboration has not been examined. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap by highlighting and explaining the heterogeneity in the forms of collaboration as a result of several interdependent simultaneous choices. Using a sample of more than 3,000 R&D collaborations, a typology of their characteristics allows us to distinguish five discrete forms of collaboration. Then using a multinomial logit estimation, we show how the forms of collaboration vary according to the firms' attributes (size, R&D internal effort, group membership), market and objectives pursued. We also obtain new results on the effects of incoming spillovers as well as appropriability conditions.
Shaming Tax Delinquents: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment in the United States

Many federal and local governments rely on shaming penalties to achieve policy goals, but little is known about whether these penalties work as intended. Shaming penalties may be ineffective or may backfire by crowding-out intrinsic motivation. In this paper, we measure the effects of shaming penalties in the collection of tax delinquencies. We sent letters to 34,344 tax delinquents who owed half a billion dollars in three U.S. states. We randomized some of the information contained in the letter to vary the salience of financial and shaming penalties. We then measure how the salience of these penalties affected subsequent re-payment rates. We find that increasing the salience of financial and shaming penalties reduces tax delinquency. The effects of shaming penalties are only significant for individuals with smaller debts. We show that publishing lists with tax delinquents does not seem to affect the decision to pay through peer comparisons of the amount owed.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber. org.
Phylophenetics: frequencies and polymorphic characters in genealogical estimation.

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Interplay between the local information based behavioral responses and the epidemic spreading in complex networks

The spreading of an infectious disease can trigger human behavior responses to the disease, which in turn plays a crucial role on the spreading of epidemic. In this study, to illustrate the impacts of the human behavioral responses, a new class of individuals, SF, is introduced to the classical susceptible-infected-recovered model. In the model, SF state represents that susceptible individuals who take self-initiate protective measures to lower the probability of being infected, and a susceptible individual may go to SF state with a response rate when contacting an infectious neighbor. Via the percolation method, the theoretical formulas for the epidemic threshold as well as the prevalence of epidemic are derived. Our finding indicates that, with the increasing of the response rate, the epidemic threshold is enhanced and the prevalence of epidemic is reduced. The analytical results are also verified by the numerical simulations. In addition, we demonstrate that, because the mean field method neglects the dynamic correlations, a wrong result based on the mean field method is obtained—the epidemic threshold is not related to the response rate, i.e., the additional SF state has no impact on the epidemic threshold.
Taking Initiative: Proactive Management and Organizational Performance in Networked Environments

While current research in network management focuses on establishing, empirically, that network management contributes positively to organizational performance, theoretical work remains to answer how network management induces positive organizational outcomes. Similarly, although the classical intraorganizational management perspective may seem unsuitable for today's multiorganizational environment, researchers should not abandon what classic organizational theory can offer as the perspective continues to shift. This article represents a first step toward bringing a proactive management perspective to bear on the empirical analysis of managerial activity and program performance, when operating within a networked environment. The goal is to enable researchers to see a clearer picture of how network management, particularly proactive management, influences organizational performance on a set of programmatic indicators. Public education provides the context for the investigation.
Steelpan, Caribbean Identity and Culturally Relevant Adult Programs

The steelpan, a Caribbean percussion instrument forged out of resistance and rebellion, was introduced to Edmonton in the 1960s. Over the years, Caribbean heritage students have taken it to play for the school’s “Cultural Days” to let others experience some aspects of their culture. In this article, I recount some of their experiences. More importantly, like them I recognize its importance to their cultural and social development and assert that this instrument, which is germane to Caribbean people, can be incorporated into culturally relevant adult education programs for people of Caribbean heritage who are living in Canada. I conclude that because education had been a problematic issue for people of Caribbean heritage in Canada, frameworks that are trustworthy will have to ground any culturally relevant adult education programs. Throughout this article pseudonyms are used to maintain the research participants’ identities.
CEO Optimism and Analyst Forecast Bias

We examine analysts’ forecast behavior in a setting in which CEOs are optimistic and analysts react rationally to CEO optimism. We document that the bias in analysts’ consensus forecasts is negatively related to the level of CEO optimism. The negative relation is stronger for small firms, firms with low analyst followings, and firms with high uncertainty. Analysts revise downward their forecasts for next year’s earnings less relative to their revision for current year’s earnings for firms with more optimistic CEOs, a result consistent with optimistic CEOs are subject to self-attribution bias. The stock price reactions to downward forecast revisions and missing analysts’ forecasts are less negative for firms with optimistic CEOs, indicating that investors understand the implications of CEO optimism for analysts’ forecast bias and subsequent revisions.
Health‐related quality of life in older adult survivors of selected cancers: Data from the SEER‐MHOS linkage

Research on health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adult cancer survivors is mostly confined to breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer, which account for 63% of all prevalent cancers. Much less is known about HRQOL in the context of less common cancer sites.
Multilayered terahertz polarizer fabricated by layer-by-layer-sticking

A method to fabricate multilayer terahertz polarizer was proposed. The polarizer was composed of subwavelength metal gratings on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film by layer-by-layer-sticking. The terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) measurement reveals that the triple-layer polarizer have an average extinction ratio of 75 dB and an average transmittance of 75% in 0.1-2 THz. Comparing with the single layered device, the extinction ratio of the multilayer THz polarizer is remarkably increased while the transmission is little changed.
Network codes-based content-centric transmission control in VANET

The boost of wireless technology brings dramatic growth for Vehicular ad-hoc networks(VANETs). The effective routing and forwarding protocol is critical for the performance of VANETs thus influence the automatic driving and information distribution. The dynamic characteristic of vehicle to vehicle(V2V) communications makes it hard to maintain a reliable path between vehicles. In order to improve transmission performance in VANETs, we make full use of the Content-centric information dissemination, and there are some existing efforts on proving feasibility of content-centric network(CCN). In this paper, we propose a novel Source Selection Dynamically Network Coding-based Information Centric Network protocol (SSDNC), which introduces CCN architecture in VANET. SSDNC exploit the features of CCN to make multiple sources exist. With the application of Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP), requested symbols can be distributed adaptively to different interfaces according to their weight. Then the forwarding decisions will be made to obtain the information that makes transmission more effective. Moreover, we take advantage of network coding (NC) to eliminate the network redundancy for the purpose of achieving higher performance. We evaluate the performance of the SSDNC using ndnSIM over NS-3 network simulator, which focused on the size of chunk, throughput and average transmission delay and compared with ICTP [1]. The result shows that the performance of our protocol is better than ICTP.
Partners in Evaluation: Modelling Quality in Partnership Projects

The concept of partnership as a way of describing relationships between public, private and voluntary agencies can take many forms. The evaluation of quality in the delivery of services by these partnerships is recognized as complex given the differing perspectives not only of the two partners but of the various other stakeholders, including service users, and the potential for added value arising from the partnership itself. This paper focuses on the partnership arrangements between Probation Services and voluntary agencies, identifying the specific characteristics of partnerships in the field of crime management. Drawing on research undertaken for one Probation Service the paper explores the concepts of value for money, inputs, outputs, outcomes and quality, and their measurement in partnership projects. A model is then offered for the more effective evaluation of projects where two different agencies are involved and a practice example is attached.
Can a Repeated Sprint Ability Test Help Clear a Previously Injured Soccer Player for Fully Functional Return to Activity? A Pilot Study

Objective: To investigate the effects of fatigue induced by a repeated sprint ability (RSA) test on the neuromuscular responses of soccer players with a recent history of lower limb injuries (CH) and a matched control group in good fitness condition (GH). Design: This was a case–control study. Participants: Nine CH and 9 GH. Independent Variable: Allocation to CH or GH. Main Outcome Measures: Each player was assessed for blood lactate concentration and jumping performance [squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ)] before/after RSA. Post-RSA rate of perceived exertion (RPE) was obtained. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to calculate RSA sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing between CH and GH. Intraclass correlation coefficient was used to assess reliability. Results: No baseline differences were found for any variable. &Dgr;SJ before/after RSA was −14 ± 2% and −5 ± 2% in CH and GH, respectively (P < 0.05). &Dgr;CMJ before/after RSA was −15 ± 2% and −7 ± 2% in CH and GH, respectively (P < 0.05). &Dgr;SJ-based and &Dgr;CMJ-based (before/after RSA) area under curve (AUC) resulted in 0.90 ± 0.07 and 0.86 ± 0.09, respectively, with both AUCs differentiating between CH and GH with 77.78% sensitivity and 88.89% specificity. Pooled AUC resulted in 0.88 ± 0.06. Intraclass correlation coefficient was high (0.85/0.97). Conclusions: Repeated sprint ability is a simple, low-cost field test potentially able to assist in clinical decision making for return to sport.
Phosphatidylserine synthase and phosphatidylserine decarboxylase are essential for cell wall integrity and virulence in Candida albicans

Phospholipid biosynthetic pathways play crucial roles in the virulence of several pathogens; however, little is known about how phospholipid synthesis affects pathogenesis in fungi such as Candida albicans. A C. albicans phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase mutant, cho1Δ/Δ, lacks PS, has decreased phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and is avirulent in a mouse model of systemic candidiasis. The cho1Δ/Δ mutant exhibits defects in cell wall integrity, mitochondrial function, filamentous growth, and is auxotrophic for ethanolamine. PS is a precursor for de novo PE biosynthesis. A psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ double mutant, which lacks the PS decarboxylase enzymes that convert PS to PE in the de novo pathway, has diminished PE levels like those of the cho1Δ/Δ mutant. The psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ mutant exhibits phenotypes similar to those of the cho1Δ/Δ mutant; however, it is slightly more virulent and has less of a cell wall defect. The virulence losses exhibited by the cho1Δ/Δ and psd1Δ/Δ psd2Δ/Δ mutants appear to be related to their cell wall defects which are due to loss of de novo PE biosynthesis, but are exacerbated by loss of PS itself. Cho1p is conserved in fungi, but not mammals, so fungal PS synthase is a potential novel antifungal drug target.
Tourism and Terrorism: A Quantitative Analysis of Major Terrorist Acts and Their Impact on Tourism Destinations

Since before the end of the Cold War, terrorism acts have had major effects on tourism destinations. As a result, the ‘shadowy, mobile, and unpredictable’ forces of terrorism are becoming an unfortunate part of the travel and tourism landscape. Few can forget the explosion that killed three in Paris in 1986, the home-made pipe bomb in Tel Aviv in 1990, the November 1997 massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor's Temple of Hatshepsut in Egypt, and the Kenyan and Tanzanian US Embassy truck bombings killing 263 in August 1998. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of major terrorism events around the world during 1985–98, classified by date, location, victims, weapons used, severity of damage, motive, effect on tourism demand, and length of effect. The analysis is followed by a summary and conclusions about the magnitude of the impact of these events on host destinations and the tourism industry worldwide.
Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix presenting as intussusception in 27 year old female.

While intussusception is commonly reported in children, it is quite unusual in adults almost always reported secondary to a definable lesion (1). Incidence secondary to adult intussusception has been estimated to range from 0.003% to 0.02% (2). Rarely, as in our case, the appendix may be the lead point for intussusception (3). Appendiceal intussusception may occur secondary to a number of etiologies including: villous adenoma, mucinous cystadenoma, endometriosis, and adenocarcinoma of the appendix (4-6). The incidence of epithelial malignancies of the appendix has been estimated to be 0.12 per 1 million persons per year (7). 5% of the total cases of intussusception (adults and children) have been reported in adults. Intussusception is reported as the underlying cause of 1-5% of adult cases of bowel obstruction (8). We will discuss our case, a 27 year female presenting with abdominal pain and a palpable abdominal mass, as well as briefly review the topic of appendiceal carcinoma.
Antiproliferative effects of pomegranate extract in MCF‐7 breast cancer cells are associated with reduced DNA repair gene expression and induction of double strand breaks

Pomegranate extract (PE) inhibits the proliferation of breast cancer cells and stimulates apoptosis in MCF‐7 breast cancer cells. While PE is a potent antioxidant, the present studies were conducted to examine the mechanisms of action of PE beyond antioxidation by studying cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying breast tumorigenesis. PE inhibited cell growth by inducing cell cycle arrest in G2/M followed by the induction of apoptosis. In contrast, antioxidants N‐acetylcysteine and Trolox did not affect cell growth at doses containing equivalent antioxidant capacity as PE, suggesting that growth inhibition by PE cannot solely be attributed to its high antioxidant potential. DNA microarray analysis revealed that PE downregulated genes associated with mitosis, chromosome organization, RNA processing, DNA replication and DNA repair, and upregulated genes involved in regulation of apoptosis and cell proliferation. Both microarray and quantitative RT‐PCR indicated that PE downregulated important genes involved in DNA double strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination (HR), such as MRE11, RAD50, NBS1, RAD51, BRCA1, BRCA2, and BRCC3. Downregulation of HR genes correlated with increased levels of their predicted microRNAs (miRNAs), miR‐183 (predicted target RAD50) and miR‐24 (predicted target BRCA1), suggesting that PE may regulate miRNAs involved in DNA repair processes. Further, PE treatment increased the frequency of DSBs. These data suggest that PE downregulates HR which sensitizes cells to DSBs, growth inhibition and apoptosis. Because HR represents a novel target for cancer therapy, downregulation of HR by PE may be exploited for sensitization of tumors to anticancer drugs. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Current Mode Image Sensor With Improved Linearity and Fixed-Pattern Noise

Current mode active pixel sensors convert light intensity into an analog output current. A current mode image sensor enables simple implementation of focal plane algebraic functions but suffers from poor linearity and large fixed-patten noise. This paper analyzes the causes of the non-linearity of a current-mode image sensor including a theoretical derivation and numerical simulation. Previously reported linearity improvement methods are reviewed, while an architecture of a current mode image sensor with a voltage feedback loop between pixel output and the current conveyor for linearity enhancement is proposed. An image sensor array of 100 × 200 current mode pixels is fabricated in a 0.5 μm 2P3M standard CMOS processing technology. Experimental results illustrate a 45% improvement of the linearity of the proposed imager. Fixed pattern noise is reduced by 57.6% for the maximum readout current, which can be further reduced by another 51.5% after gain calibration. A signal to noise ratio of 49.6 dB is achieved.
ADJUSTMENT OF STOCK-PRICES TO ANNOUNCEMENTS OF UNANTICIPATED CHANGES IN QUARTERLY EARNINGS

The vast majority of studies relating published accounting statement data with stock price behavior suggest that the data are fully impounded in stock prices prior to or almost instantaneously at time of announcement. For example, in a recent article, Benston states that: "The extant statistical studies that related published accounting statement data with stock prices all lead to the conclusion that the data either are not useful or have been fully impounded in stock prices before they are published" [1973, p. 153]. The present study presents evidence that, over the period studied, the information contained in quarterly earnings was not fully impounded into stock prices at the time of announcement. The adjustment of common stock prices to the announcement of unanticipated changes in quarterly earnings (and to other announcements as well) is an empirical question. The purpose of this present study is to reexamine the adjustment of stock prices to announcements of presumed unanticipated changes in quarterly earnings. We attempt to avoid many of the potential empirical problems of earlier studies,