Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of flowering time by Arabidopsis MSI1

The transition to flowering is tightly controlled by endogenous programs and environmental signals. We found that MSI1 is a novel flowering-time gene in Arabidopsis. Both partially complemented msi1 mutants and MSI1 antisense plants were late flowering, whereas ectopic expression of MSI1 accelerated flowering. Physiological experiments revealed that MSI1 is similar to genes from the autonomous promotion of flowering pathway. Expression of most known flowering-time genes did not depend on MSI1, but the induction of SOC1 was delayed in partially complemented msi1 mutants. Delayed activation of SOC1 is often caused by increased expression of the floral repressor FLC. However, MSI1 function is independent of FLC. MSI1 is needed to establish epigenetic H3K4 di-methylation and H3K9 acetylation marks in SOC1 chromatin. The presence of these modifications correlates with the high levels of SOC1 expression that induce flowering in Arabidopsis. Together, the control of flowering time depends on epigenetic mechanisms for the correct expression of not only the floral repressor FLC, but also the floral activator SOC1.
Impact of Childhood Poverty on Education for Disadvantaged Children in Bangladesh

Child Studies in Asia-Pacific Contexts, 2014, 4(2) 77 Bangladesh has made progress in the scale and provision of access to education in recent times and gender equality is satisfactory (World Bank, 2008), but poverty remains a barrier to education for many in Bangladesh where 40% of the population live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2009). Childhood poverty in Bangladesh is a critical issue which is underexplored in the literature (Shohel, 2012), and it is in this area that this article makes a contribution by providing empirical evidence. A range of perspectives is crucial for understanding childhood poverty and educational exclusion, challenges and theoretical orientations. In this light, the present study presents issues relating to childhood poverty from different perspectives including those of disadvantaged children, their parents and teachers as well as NGO workers who support access to education. Importantly, this study paid attention to perspectives or issues in relation to levels of ecological systems of human development. A better understanding of experiences of childhood poverty may lead to more integrated approaches to addressing the influence of childhood poverty on education.
Does dependence on internal finance help explain the prevailing pattern of manufacturing? The case of the Italian Mezzogiorno

The purpose of the paper is to ascertain a possible relationship between sectorial financial dependence and the regional industrialization pattern in the backward areas of Southern Italy, the so-called Italian Mezzogiorno. The analysis is based on a definition of financial dependence different to that of Rajan-Zingales in that it is determined as the contribution of internal resources to the financing of firm growth and is measured through the estimation of the LPE standard model augmented by the cash flow variable on a large sample of Italian SMEs observed from 2001–2008. The relationship between sectorial measures of financial dependence and composition of manufacturing in Italian Southern regions is then tested; the analysis shows that firms’ shares of the low financial dependence sectors tend to prevail in manufacturing in the Southern regions.
The Threshold of Government Size and Economic Growth for ASEAN Countries: An Analysis of the Smooth Transition Regression Model

The relationship between the size of government and economic growth is a contentious issue. The present study is undertaken to test hypothesis that the relationship between government size and economic growth is nonlinear. This panel data study involves ASEAN countries over the period 1980–2011. We modify the empirical model of Chen and Lee (2005) and employ a smooth transition regression model for panel data (PSTR) to test the threshold effect of government size. Robustness checks of the model are conducted by GLS and GMM estimation. Empirical results show that there exists a nonlinear relationship between government size and economic growth for ASEAN countries. The threshold level of government consumption spending is 25.69 per cent GDP. As government size exceeds this level, economic growth reduces by 0.2 per cent. Our findings suggest that governments in ASEAN countries consider optimal government size at round 25.69 per cent GDP for supporting sustainable economic growth.
Partitioned Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev Methods for Diffusion-Advection-Reaction Problems

An integration method based on Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev (RKC) methods is discussed which has been designed to treat moderately stiff and nonstiff terms separately. The method, called partitioned Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev (PRKC), is a one-step, partitioned RK method of second order. It belongs to the class of stabilized methods, namely explicit RK methods possessing extended real stability intervals. The aim of the PRKC method is to reduce the number of function evaluations of the nonstiff terms and to get a nonzero imaginary stability boundary.
Composted Cattle Manure Increases Microbial Activity and Soil Fertility More Than Composted Swine Manure in a Submerged Rice Paddy

Livestock waste composts with minimum inorganic fertilizer as a soil amendment in low-input intensive farming are a feasible agricultural practice to improve soil fertility and productivity and to mitigate soil degradation. The key benefits of the practice rely on the activities of soil microorganisms. However, the role of different livestock composts [composted cattle manure (CCM) vs. composted swine manure (CSM)] on soil microbes, their activities and the overall impact on soil fertility and productivity in a flooded paddy remains elusive. This study compares the effectiveness of CCM and CSM amendment on bacterial communities, activities, nutrient availability, and crop yield in a flooded rice cropping system. We used deep 16S amplicon sequencing and soil enzyme activities to decipher bacterial communities and activities, respectively. Both CCM and CSM amendment significantly increased soil pH, nutrient availability (C, N, and P), microbial biomass, soil enzyme activities indicative for C and N cycles, aboveground plant biomass and grain yield. And the increase in above-mentioned parameters was more prominent in the CCM treatment compared to the CSM treatment. The CCM amendment increased species richness and stimulated copiotrophic microbial groups (Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes) which are often involved in degradation of complex organic compounds. Moreover, some dominant species (e.g., Azospirillum zeae, Azospirillum halopraeferens, Azospirillum rugosum, Clostridium alkalicellulosi, Clostridium caenicola, Clostridium termitidis, Clostridium cellulolyticum, Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum, Pleomorphomonas oryzae, Variovorax boronicumulans, Pseudomonas xanthomarina, Pseudomonas stutzeri, and Bacillus niacini) which have key roles in plant growth promotion and/or lignocellulose degradation were enhanced under CCM treatment compared to CSM treatment. Multivariate analysis revealed that soil pH and available carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) were the major, while total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphorus (P) were the minor drivers of variation in bacterial communities. Overall, our observations suggest that CCM amendment is better than CSM amendment to improve soil fertility and crop yield in a submerged rice cropping system.
The Missing Customer and the Ever-Present Market

Although some software engineers and developers work directly with the final users of their product to generate customized software, many do not. However, drawing on an ethnographic study of software developers in a U.S. firm in Ireland, this article argues that both software developers who work closely with customers and those who do not can be thought of as “service workers. ” The article extends the analysis of the “service triangle” of workers, managers, and customers to software workers who interact with customers in the software development and support process. It then uses the case of software workers who do not interact with customers to rethink our definition of what counts as service work. For these workers, the customer also looms large in the workplace—but only as an abstract entity to which they should respond and be attentive, mobilized through organizational mechanisms that transmit and simulate market pressures rather than through concrete interactions with customers themselves. The irony is that an organization of production that mobilizes the customer as the driving force of the production process ultimately, and largely unintentionally, marginalizes the customer as irrational and incompetent—an outsider in the service economy, with little input into the technologies they end up using.
A novel allele in the promoter of the hepatic lipase is associated with increased concentration of HDL-C and decreased promoter activity DOI 10.1194/jlr.M200046-JLR200

Hepatic lipase (HL) is a lipolytic enzyme involved in the metabolism of plasma lipoproteins, especially HDLs. Association of the polymorphisms in the promoter region of the LIPC gene to post-heparin plasma HL activity and the plasma HDL-C concentration has been investigated thoroughly, but to date little is known about this in the Chinese. In the present study, we analyzed the polymorphisms in the promoter region of LIPC gene in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and DNA sequencing. As the result, a novel single nucleotide polymorphism −586T-to-C was identified and no linkage of this variant with other polymorphisms in the promoter was found. Compared with the nonsymptomatic control subjects, excess of carriers of the −586T/C substitution were detected in the CAD patients (43% vs. 31%, χ2 = 4.597, degree of freedom = 2, P = 0.032). The –586C allele carriers in the CAD patients had a significantly higher HDL-C level than the noncarriers (1.13 ± 0.24 mmol/l vs. 0.91 ± 0.14 mmol/l, P < 0.05). To test the functionality of this substitution, luciferase-reporter assays was performed in HepG2 cells. Promoter activity of the −586C construct was decreased 2-fold than the −586T construct. Our studies suggest that a T-to-C substitution at −586 of the LIPC promoter is associated with a lowered HL activity and that this variation may contribute to the increased plasma HDL-C concentration in the Chinese.
Identification of hypokinetic dysarthria using acoustic analysis of poem recitation

Up to 90% of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from hypokinetic dysarthria (HD). In this work, we analysed the power of conventional speech features quantifying imprecise articulation, dysprosody, speech dysfluency and speech quality deterioration extracted from a specialized poem recitation task to discriminate dysarthric and healthy speech. For this purpose, 152 speakers (53 healthy speakers, 99 PD patients) were examined. Only mildly strong correlation between speech features and clinical status of the speakers was observed. In case of univariate classification analysis, sensitivity of 62.63 % (imprecise articulation), 61.62% (dysprosody), 71.72% (speech dysfluency) and 59.60% (speech quality deterioration) was achieved. Multivariate classification analysis improved the classification performance. Sensitivity of 83.42% using only two features describing imprecise articulation and speech quality deterioration in HD was achieved. We showed the promising potential of the selected speech features and especially the use of poem recitation task to quantify and identify HD in PD.
Blind Joint Frequency Offset and Channel Estimation in OFDM Systems

A blind method for joint estimation of the frequency offset and the channel in an OFDM system is presented in this paper. Estimation is achieved in three successive steps. First, the channel containing the frequency-offset component is estimated by means of subspace techniques. The result is then used in the second step, which is cyclostationarity-based, to obtain the frequency offset. Third, the channel can be achieved by removing the frequency-offset component from the result of the first step. Finally, based on the above three steps, an iterative method is used to get more accurate estimation of the channel and the frequency offset. Mathematical deduction and simulation results are both shown that the proposed method is effective, and is superior to methods introduced in two earlier papers.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo of the horizontal canal.

OBJECTIVES--To review the clinical features, electronystagmography findings, the possible mechanism, and a possible therapeutic approach to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). METHODS--Sixty-three cases of BPPV of the horizontal canal type have been reviewed. It is characterised by horizontal nystagmus and an intense vertigo, provoked by rotation of the head in a supine patient. The horizontal nystagmus beats towards the ground on both sides, becomes more pronounced when lying on the pathological side, and then the nystagmus often changes direction. RESULTS--Forty-eight patients underwent electronystagmography. On the pathological side, the first phase nystagmus had a mean latency of three seconds and a mean duration of 31.6 seconds. Nystagmus inversion occurred in 36 patients after a nystagmus free interval. The mean second phase nystagmus duration lasted 33.4 seconds. On the healthy side, the nystagmus had a mean latency of 3.4 seconds and a mean duration of 39.5 seconds. Fatigue was seen in six patients. Simultaneous involvement of the posterior canal was present in 16 patients. A liberatory manoeuvre was successful in six patients. CONCLUSIONS--The liberatory manoeuvre should be tried in patients with horizontal canal vertigo. It should not be performed in patients with severe cervical arthrosis, vertebrobasilar insufficiency, or when the patient has neck pain during the manoeuvre.
Incentive compatible allocation without money

Mechanism design typically involves the use of monetary payments to incentivize truthful reporting of private information. But what if payments are impossible? This letter summarizes recent work on how lotteries and the threat of non-allocation can be leveraged to similar ends in single-item allocation settings with a secondary good that can serve a limited numéraire role.
THE RELATIVE-PROFIT-MAXIMIZATION OBJECTIVE OF PRIVATE FIRMS AND ENDOGENOUS TIMING IN A MIXED OLIGOPOLY

This paper investigates whether the relative-profit-maximization objective of private firms affects endogenous timing in a mixed oligopoly in the linear demand case. Assuming firms have constant marginal costs and symmetric private firms are more efficient than the public firm, it is found that such an objective does not affect endogenous timing compared with the absolute-profit-maximization case. When the equilibrium involves the public firm acting as a leader, social welfare increases compared with the level in the absolute-profit-maximization case. When the equilibrium involves the public firm acting as a follower, social welfare remains unchanged.
The Role of Commodity Prices in Formulating Monetary Policy

Commodity prices often provide signals about the future direction of the economy, especially inflation. It has been argued, therefore, that the information in commodity prices should be used in formulating monetary policy. This paper investigates whether a systematic monetary policy response to contemporaneous commodity price shocks would have helped stabilize the postwar U.S. economy. The authors' findings suggest that responding to unexpected commodity price movements would have lowered the average rate of inflation and reduced its variability, while the path of real growth would be relatively unchanged. Copyright 1991 by MIT Press.
Politics, public opinion and privatization: Assessing the “calculus of consent” for market reforms in transition economies

Abstract This article supports a growing body of comparative public policy literature on assessing citizen attitudes to privatization efforts around the world. Given the normative and political overtones associated with the privatization of state-owned enterprises, relatively little is known empirically about how citizens of different nationalities evaluate market reforms. Using the 1996 International Social Survey Programme, the method of analysis utilized in this article will provide researchers with a more precise analytical framework for evaluating citizen attitudes, and for anticipating and dealing strategically with the perceived political consequences of denationalization efforts in transition economies. Conclusions reached here link attitudes toward privatization with the implementation of ongoing market reforms. Consequently, assessing citizen attitudes serves as an important heuristic for practitioners and researchers to contemplate in their evaluation of privatization efforts.
Mixed Diffusion-Jump Process Modeling of Exchange Rate Movements

This study demonstrates that the mixed diffusion-jump process is superior to the stable laws or a mixture of normals as a model of exchange rate changes for the British pound, French franc, and the We st German mark relative to the United States dollar. The parameter value s for the mixed diffusion-jump process are dependent on the monetary policy regime in force in the United States, with the estimates for the franc and mark being intertemporally similar but different from the pound. Copyright 1988 by MIT Press.
An Economic Theory of Democracy

Downs presents a rational calculus of voting that has inspired much of the later work on voting and turnout. Particularly significant was his conclusion that a rational voter should almost never bother to vote. This conclusion, especially as elaborated on by Riker and Ordeshook (1968) has shifted the attention of modern political scientists from explaining why people don't vote to explaining why they do.
Have Food Stamp Program Changes Increased Participation?

Food stamp caseloads increased dramatically between October 2000 and October 2003. This trend could be explained by the declining economy or by Food Stamp Program changes that increased the likelihood that families leaving welfare would keep their food stamps. This article shows that families leaving welfare between 2000 and 2002 were substantially more likely to continue to participate in the Food Stamp Program than families that left welfare between 1995 and 1997 or 1997 and 1999. Participation rates for families with no cash welfare experience did not change during the period 1997–2002. Differences in the characteristics of families do not explain these trends in participation. Food Stamp Program changes thus appear to have facilitated the greater participation of former welfare recipients.
An operations process framework for international M&A value creation

A framework for understanding the operational aspects of international Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) is presented. Based on a literature review of the operational activities that support M&As, the key stages used in the integration of manufacturing and supply networks are captured from an operations perspective. In-depth case studies of international M&As are used to explore these phases and their supporting operational processes. The resulting process map is tested and further developed with a range of operational and non-operational stakeholders, those that play critical gate-keeping roles in M&A progression. Finally, a single integrating framework is proposed, that links the 'hard' and 'soft' management factors, with the operational factors that influence successful M&A integration, and how these contribute to value creation. The framework suggests that 'network access', i.e. markets, products, technology, know-how and 'network efficiency', i.e. optimisation of manufacturing and supply chain resources, provide the two principal routes to achieving operational synergy.
Human T-cell leukemia virus type I envelope protein maturation process: requirements for syncytium formation

The human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) envelope protein is synthesized as a gp61 precursor product cleaved into two mature proteins, a gp45 exterior protein and a gp20 anchoring the envelope at the cell membrane. Using N-glycosylation inhibitors and site-directed mutagenesis of the potential glycosylation sites, we have studied the HTLV-I envelope intracellular maturation requirements for syncytium formation. We show here that experimental conditions resulting in the absence of precursor cleavage (tunicamycin, monensin treatments, and use of inhibitors of the reticulum steps of the N glycosylations) also result in no cell surface expression of envelope protein. The lack of syncytium formation observed in these cases is thus explained by incorrect intracellular transport. When the precursor is cleaved in the Golgi stack (no treatment or treatment with inhibitors of the Golgi steps of the N glycosylations), it is transported to the cell surface in all the cases examined. Syncytium formation is markedly reduced, however, when Golgi glycosylations are incorrect, which shows that the sugar moieties are involved in the envelope functions. Site-directed mutagenesis demonstrates that each of the five potential glycosylation sites is actually glycosylated. Glycosylation of sites 1 and 5 is required for normal maturation, whereas that of sites 2, 3, and 4 is dispensable. Glycosylation of each site, however, is required for normal syncytium formation. Altogether, the restraints exerted by the cell for the HTLV-I envelope to be transported and functional are very high, which might play a role in the observed conservation of the envelope amino acid sequence between various strains.
Union-Nonunion Differences in Pension Fund Investments and Earnings

The authors use IRS data to compare the composition, risk, and rate of return to union pension investments with those of nonunion pension funds. They find almost no differences between single-employer union and single-employer nonunion funds. Collectively bargained, multiemployer funds, however, held less risky portfolios than either union or nonunion single-employer funds. Multi-employer funds averaged a lower risk-adjusted rate of return for 1977–80, but performed as well as nonunion investments from 1981 to 1986. Thus, little evidence is found that “social investing,” most likely to occur in multi-employer funds, has increased the risk or consistently reduced the returns of union pension funds.
Awareness and usage of promotional tools by Malaysian consumers: the case of low involvement products

Purpose – To evaluate the awareness and behaviours of Malaysian consumers towards sales promotional tools such as, coupons, price discount, free samples, bonus packs, and in‐store display in the purchase of low involvement products.Design/methodology/approach – The paper also recognises that certain demographic factors such as education and income of consumers could potentially confound the observed relationships hence, these factors were controlled. A total of 312 consumers in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia were surveyed using a structured questionnaire.Findings – The results show that price discounts, free samples, bonus packs, and in‐store display are associated with product trial. Coupons do not have any significant effect on product trial.Research limitations/implications – Only one category of product was considered. None were high involvement so these need further research.Practical implications – Greate understanding of how Malaysian customers respond to the various sales promotions therefore increased a.