Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Alcohol Industry Submissions against Marketing Regulation

A growing body of literature points to the role of vested interests as a barrier to the implementation of effective public health policies. Corporate political activity by the alcohol industry is commonly used to influence policy and regulation. It is important for policy makers to be able to critique alcohol industry claims opposed to improved alcohol marketing regulation. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency reviewed alcohol marketing regulations in 2012 and stakeholders were invited to comment on them. In this study we used thematic analysis to examine submissions from the Australian alcohol industry, based on a system previously developed in relation to tobacco industry corporate political activity. The results show that submissions were a direct lobbying tactic, making claims to government that were contrary to the evidence-base. Five main frames were identified, in which the alcohol industry claimed that increased regulation: (1) is unnecessary; (2) is not backed up by sufficient evidence; (3) will lead to unintended negative consequences; and (4) faces legal barriers to implementation; underpinned by the view (5) that the industry consists of socially responsible companies working toward reducing harmful drinking. In contrast with tobacco industry submissions on public policy, which often focused on legal and economic barriers, the Australian alcohol industry placed a heavier emphasis on notions of regulatory redundancy and insufficient evidence. This may reflect differences in where these industries sit on the ‘regulatory pyramid’, alcohol being less regulated than tobacco.
Establishment and characterization of a human histiocytic lymphoma cell line (U‐937)

A human hematopoietic cell line (U‐937) with exceptional characteristics was derived from a patient with generalized histiocytic lymphoma. The morphology of the cell line was identical to that of the tumor cells in the pleural effusion from which the line was derived. Since Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) carrying diploid lymphoblastoid cell lines unrelated to the tumor population often become established in vitro from non‐Burkitt lymphoma explants, several parameters were studied to discriminate the U‐937 from such lines: morphology in vitro, growth characteristics, cytochemistry, surface receptor pattern, Ig production, lysozyme production, β2‐micro‐globulin production, presence of EBV genome and karyotype. In all these respects U‐937 differed from prototype lymphoblastoid cell lines. The histiocytic origin of the cell line was shown by its capacity for lysozyme production and the strong esterase activity (naphtol AS‐D acetate esterase inhibited by NaF) of the cells. It is therefore concluded that the U‐937 is a neoplastic, histiocytic cell line.
A bioeconomic analysis of bushmeat hunting

Unsustainable bushmeat hunting is a major threat to mammal species, particularly in West/Central Africa. We developed a multispecies dynamic simulation model of hunter behaviour, parameterized using data from the Ashanti region, Ghana. The model distinguishes between two hunting techniques, snaring and gun hunting. We analyse the impact of key economic parameters on off–takes. Economic incentives determine the effort devoted to hunting, the choice of hunting technique, and the species that are consumed domestically or traded in markets. These factors, together with the growth rates and catchabilities of hunted species, determine the ecological impact of hunting. The results suggest that increased bushmeat prices are likely to lead to a switch from snaring, which is cheaper but less efficient, to gun hunting, with a consequent impact on vulnerable species. Increases in agricultural prices have an ambiguous effect on hunter behaviour, depending on the balance between incentives to invest in agriculture and increased consumption as incomes improve. Penalties are more effective if they target bushmeat sales, rather than the act of hunting. This model represents a step forward because it explicitly considers bushmeat as a component of the household economy. This has important implications as regards the development of policies to conserve species hunted for bushmeat.
Strategic Human Resource Management: Are the Promises Fulfilled?

During the 1980s attention was paid to the development of employment strategies and policies which served to promote the achievement of organizational objectives. However, numerous studies indicate that much organizational life and interaction is not directly related to achievement of organizational objectives. This paper examines the main features of the formal human resource management strategies of three organizations and identifies how they changed during the 1980s. It is particularly concerned with examining those factors which inhibited the implementation of these strategies. Policy was not always implemented because managers continued to apply either their personal social values or the standards and criteria associated with previous policies. In addition, social relationships between managers, their colleagues and their staff, and perceptions about the support of senior management for the new policies influenced policy implementation. Finally, there were inconsistencies and tensions between human r.
Probabilistic modeling of programmable stochastic self-assembly of robotic modules

Creating accurate models of stochastically self-assembling systems is a key step in developing control strategies, centralized or distributed, for the self-assembly process. This paper comparatively studies several aspects of developing probabilistic models for programmable self-assembling systems of stochastically interacting modules. In particular, we systematically investigate Markov models as well as hidden Markov models to predict the self-assembly process dynamics. We consider a case study leveraging our fluidic self-assembly robotic system. The ground truth is obtained through a high-fidelity simulation, calibrated using real experimental data. We first consider Markov models and employ the formalism of chemical reaction networks. In order to compute the model parameters, i.e. the reaction rates in the network, three different methods are studied. We then investigate the validity of the underlying well-mixed assumption, and thus the Markov property, for our system through estimation of the diffusion coefficient, through two different approaches. The system is shown to be borderline well-mixed, motivating extension of the initial Markov models to more complex models in order to achieve improved model accuracy. We formulate an automatic method for creating a hidden Markov model starting from a Markov model, based on a previously existing systematic method. Sample trajectories of the models are realized using the Gillespie's method. The resulting hidden Markov model is shown to achieve an improved accuracy over the standard Markov model.
Policy Dilemmas in India - The Impact of Changes in Agricultural Prices on Rural and Urban Poverty

Trade policy reforms which lead to changes in world prices of agricultural commodities or domestic policies aimed at affecting agricultural prices are often seen as causing a policy dilemma: a fall in agricultural prices benefits poor urban consumers but hurts poor rural producers, while a rise yields the converse. Poor countries have argued that they need to be able to use import protection and/or price support policies to protect themselves against volatility in world agricultural prices in order to dampen these effects. In this paper, we explore this dilemma in a CGE model of India that uses a new social accounting matrix (SAM) developed at the Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR) in Mumbai. The SAM includes extensive disaggregation of agricultural activities, commodity markets, labor markets, and rural and urban households. This SAM includes 115 commodities, 48 labor types and 352 types of households, (classified by social group, income class, region, and urban/rural). The CGE model based on this SAM can be used to explore the linkages between changes in world prices of agriculture and the incomes of poor rural and urban households, capturing rural-urban linkages in both commodity and factor markets. The results indicate that the inclusion of linkages between rural and urban labor markets is necessary to fully explore, and potentially eliminate, the dilemma. A fall in agricultural prices hurts agricultural producers, lowers wages and/or employment of rural labor, and in some cases spills over into urban labor markets, depressing wages and incomes of poor urban households as well. In these cases both rural and urban poverty increases. The paper explores the strength of these commodity and factor market linkages, and the potential spillover effects of policies affecting agricultural prices.
A Semismooth Newton Method for Fast, Generic Convex Programming

We introduce Newton-ADMM, a method for fast conic optimization. The basic idea is to view the residuals of consecutive iterates generated by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) as a set of fixed point equations, and then use a nonsmooth Newton method to find a solution; we apply the basic idea to the Splitting Cone Solver (SCS), a state-of-the-art method for solving generic conic optimization problems. We demonstrate theoretically, by extending the theory of semismooth operators, that Newton-ADMM converges rapidly (i.e., quadratically) to a solution; empirically, Newton-ADMM is significantly faster than SCS on a number of problems. The method also has essentially no tuning parameters, generates certificates of primal or dual infeasibility, when appropriate, and can be specialized to solve specific convex problems.
Time Pressure, Training Activities and Dysfunctional Auditor Behaviour: Evidence from Small Audit Firms

This study tests the association between time pressure, training activities and dysfunctional auditor behaviour in small audit firms. Based on survey responses from 235 certified auditors working in small audit firms in Sweden, the analysis shows that perceived time pressure is positively associated with dysfunctional auditor behaviour, while the level of participation in training activities such as workshops and seminars is negatively associated with dysfunctional auditor behaviour. These findings suggest that audit quality is at risk when auditors experience high levels of time pressure but also that auditors who frequently take part in training activities to a lesser extent engage in dysfunctional auditor behaviour.
B chromosomes in populations of mammals

B chromosomes (Bs) have been found in 55 out of 4629 living species of mammals. The summarized data show great variability in types of mammalian Bs, including differences in size, shape and molecular composition. This variability extends to the origin, mode of transmission and population dynamics. In general, B chromosomes in mammals do not differ from Bs found in other animal or plant species, but some peculiarities do exist. Most species in which Bs are found are widespread. Some data support the view that Bs may contribute to the successful expansion of some of these species, but it is possible that Bs are just more easily scored in them due to their frequent occurrence. Most of these species are also characterized by cycling fluctuations of abundance and characteristic social organization that produce conditions favorable for Bs to spread. All areas of research on Bs in mammals suffer from lack of data, emphasizing the necessity for intensified research on the molecular structure and ways of maintenance of Bs in populations.
Proteome Organization in a Genome-Reduced Bacterium

Simply Mycoplasma The bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a human pathogen, has a genome of reduced size and is one of the simplest organisms that can reproduce outside of host cells. As such, it represents an excellent model organism in which to attempt a systems-level understanding of its biological organization. Now three papers provide a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the proteome, the metabolic network, and the transcriptome of M. pneumoniae (see the Perspective by Ochman and Raghavan). Anticipating what might be possible in the future for more complex organisms, Kühner et al. (p. 1235) combine analysis of protein interactions by mass spectrometry with extensive structural information on M. pneumoniae proteins to reveal how proteins work together as molecular machines and map their organization within the cell by electron tomography. The manageable genome size of M. pneumoniae allowed Yus et al. (p. 1263) to map the metabolic network of the organism manually and validate it experimentally. Analysis of the network aided development of a minimal medium in which the bacterium could be cultured. Finally, G‡ell et al. (p. 1268) applied state-of-the-art sequencing techniques to reveal that this “simple” organism makes extensive use of noncoding RNAs and has exon- and intron-like structure within transcriptional operons that allows complex gene regulation resembling that of eukaryotes. The simplified proteome of a bacterium provides insight into the organization of proteins into molecular machines. The genome of Mycoplasma pneumoniae is among the smallest found in self-replicating organisms. To study the basic principles of bacterial proteome organization, we used tandem affinity purification–mass spectrometry (TAP-MS) in a proteome-wide screen. The analysis revealed 62 homomultimeric and 116 heteromultimeric soluble protein complexes, of which the majority are novel. About a third of the heteromultimeric complexes show higher levels of proteome organization, including assembly into larger, multiprotein complex entities, suggesting sequential steps in biological processes, and extensive sharing of components, implying protein multifunctionality. Incorporation of structural models for 484 proteins, single-particle electron microscopy, and cellular electron tomograms provided supporting structural details for this proteome organization. The data set provides a blueprint of the minimal cellular machinery required for life.
Tri‐dimensional structure of the forming face of the Golgi apparatus as seen in the high voltage electron microscope after osmium impregnation of the small nerve cells in the semilunar ganglion of the trigeminal nerve

When rat trigeminal ganglia were osmicated for 45 h at 40°C in a 1% unbuffered aqueous solution of osmium tetroxide, only the one saccule located on the forming face of the Golgi stacks was impregnated with osmium. This staining property was therefore utilized to examine with the high voltage electron microscope the tri‐dimensional structure of the forming face of the Golgi apparatus of the small nerve cells using sections whose thickness ranged from 1 to 7 μm.
Why is the U.S. Share of World Merchandise Exports Shrinking?

As the U.S. share of the world goods trade slips from its level in the 1980s and 1990s, concerns have arisen that the productivity of U.S. exporters has not been growing as fast as that of foreign firms selling similar products. However, an analysis of industry-level trade data suggests that two other factors explain much of the drop in export share: the changing composition of the products traded internationally and the diminished share of U.S. GDP in global output. Declining relative productivity may have played a role in the early 2000s, but it has not been a large factor across industries over the longer term. Overall, there is little evidence of a broad-based decline in the nation’s ability to compete in global markets.
3D B-spline curve fitting with MMS image features of road lines

B-spline fitting is a technology of fitting a curve with a set of points which scatter along a line or a curve in 2D or 3D space. In this paper, we use B-spline to represent road lines in images of 36-pair Mobile Mapping System (MMS) image sequences, and road line information can be collected rapidly and cost-effectively. Edge detection and template matching are used to extract data points on the target road lines, and multi-image collinearity is used to determine 3D data point coordinates. Least-squares B-spline curve fits in 2D and 3D spaces, and it is used to detect and remove blunders. It is an automatic procedure of road line extraction, due to results can provide information for recursive processes. The results show that our algorithm can successfully extract 3D road lines.
Option pricing under extended normal distribution

This article proposes a closed pricing formula for European options when the return of the underlying asset follows extended normal distribution, that is, any different degrees of skewness and kurtosis relative to the normal distribution induced by the Black‐Scholes model. The moment restriction is suggested, so that the pricing model under any arbitrary distribution for an underlying asset must satisfy the arbitrage‐free condition. Numerical experiments and comparison of empirical performance of the proposed model with the Black‐Scholes, ad hoc Black‐Scholes, and Gram‐Charlier distribution models are carried out. In particular, an estimation of implied parameters such as standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of the return on the underlying asset from the market prices of the KOSPI 200 index options is made, and in‐sample and out‐of‐sample tests are performed. These results not only support the previous finding that the actual density of the underlying asset shows skewness to the left and high peaks, but also demonstrate that the present model has good explanatory power for option prices. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 25:845–871, 2005
Flexible Workplace Practices and Labor Productivity

Using a German employer-employee matched panel data set this paper examines the effects of High Performance Workplace Systems (HPWSs) on labor productivity (defined as sales per worker) and labor efficiency (defined as the inverse of unit labor costs). The estimation results indicate that simple cross-sectional estimates of the effects of implementing HPWSs on labor productivity are biased downward due to unobserved time-invariant establishment effects and the endogeneity of the used measure for innovative workplace practices. The latter bias appears to be quantitatively more important. Results from estimating a correlated random coefficient model further suggest that a potential bias in the 2SLS-estimates due to self-selection seems to be negligible. The estimated effects of HPWSs on labor productivity are economically important and rising over time. However, corresponding positive effects of HPWSs on labor efficiency occur only in the long run. Finally, due to rising wages associated with the adoption of HPWSs, the effects of these systems on labor efficiency are smaller than the corresponding effects on labor productivity.
The Scandinavian Stroke Scale Predicts Outcome in Patients with Mild Ischemic Stroke

Background: The prognostic value of the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS) in patients with mild ischemic stroke has not previously been examined. We investigated if differences in SSS score predicted risk of death or dependency within 12 months after stroke onset. Patients and Methods: The analysis included 353 patients with acute cerebral infarction and SSS of at least 40 points on admission, 157 of whom with SSS of at least 50 points. Patients with 40–49 points on the SSS were compared with patients with 50–58 points; and patients with SSS 50–53 were compared to patients with 54–58 points on the SSS. Death or dependency was defined as 3–6 points on the modified Rankin scale (MRS), 3 and 12 months after stroke onset. The frequencies of death or dependency were compared between groups by χ2; the risk of death or dependency 1 year after stroke was calculated by multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, gender, prestroke MRS, arterial hypertension and tobacco smoking. Results: The risk of death or dependency 1 year after stroke onset was higher in patients with SSS 40–49 than with SSS 50–58, OR 2.0 (CI 95% 1.2–3.5). Three months after stroke, 46.5% of patients with SSS 40–49 were dead or dependent in comparison with 23.9% of patients with SSS > 49, p < 0.001. One year after stroke, 53.6% of patients with SSS 40–49 were dead or dependent in comparison with 30.1% of patients with SSS > 49, p <0.001. A significant 15% difference in living in own home was observed 1 year after stroke onset between patients with SSS 40–49 and SSS > 49. In very mild stroke, 32.7% of patients with SSS 50–53 were dead or dependent 3 months after stroke in comparison with 18.1% of patients with SSS 54–58 on admission, p = 0.048. Conclusions: The SSS predicts death and dependence in patients with mild ischemic stroke.
Housing policy as a lever for change? the politics of welfare, assets and tenure

The housing tenure structure has long been associated with different forms of welfare state capitalism in Western Europe. However, with the rise of owner-occupancy, this association has not been so straightforward. An alternative view is to view housing policies that promote owner-occupancy for households to acquire assets, as an attempt by the state to reform social welfare systems. The politics of welfare reform are related to the discourses of homeownership ideology. The ownership of (housing) assets agenda serves as a means to change the relationship between state, market and individual households. This view is mostly based on the British experience and this paper seeks to broaden it by examining the Netherlands and Spain. The paper shows differences, but also that housing policies play an important role in driving towards or maintaining market-dominated solutions. Housing is used to either reorient towards or maintain a welfare system where asset ownership and market dependency is deemed more appropr.
Zonation of heme synthesis enzymes in mouse liver and their regulation by β-catenin and Ha-ras

Abstract Cytochrome P450 (CYP) hemoproteins play an important role in hepatic biotransformation. Recently, β-catenin and Ha-ras signaling have been identified as players controlling transcription of various CYP genes in mouse liver. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of β-catenin and Ha-ras in the regulation of heme synthesis. Heme synthesis-related gene expression was analyzed in normal liver, in transgenic mice expressing activated β-catenin or Ha-ras, and in hepatomas. Regulation of the aminolevulinate dehydratase promoter was studied in vitro. Elevated expression of mRNAs and proteins involved in heme biosynthesis was linked to β-catenin activation in perivenous hepatocytes, in transgenic hepatocytes, and in hepatocellular tumors. Stimulation of the aminolevulinate dehydratase promoter by β-catenin was independent of the β-catenin/T-cell-specific transcription factor dimer. By contrast, activation of Ha-ras repressed heme synthesis-related gene expression. The present data suggest that β-catenin enhances the expression of both CYPs and heme synthesis-related genes, thus coordinating the availability of CYP apoprotein and its prosthetic group heme. The reciprocal regulation of heme synthesis by β-catenin and Ha-ras-dependent signaling supports our previous hypothesis that antagonistic action of these pathways plays a major role in the control of zonal gene expression in healthy mouse liver and aberrant expression patterns in hepatocellular tumors.