Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of red wine polyphenols and ethanol on the gut microbiota ecology and biochemical biomarkers.

BACKGROUND Few studies have investigated the effect of dietary polyphenols on the complex human gut microbiota, and they focused mainly on single polyphenol molecules and select bacterial populations. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the effect of a moderate intake of red wine polyphenols on select gut microbial groups implicated in host health benefits. DESIGN Ten healthy male volunteers underwent a randomized, crossover, controlled intervention study. After a washout period, all of the subjects received red wine, the equivalent amount of de-alcoholized red wine, or gin for 20 d each. Total fecal DNA was submitted to polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and real-time quantitative PCR to monitor and quantify changes in fecal microbiota. Several biochemical markers were measured. RESULTS The dominant bacterial composition did not remain constant over the different intake periods. Compared with baseline, the daily consumption of red wine polyphenol for 4 wk significantly increased the number of Enterococcus, Prevotella, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides uniformis, Eggerthella lenta, and Blautia coccoides-Eubacterium rectale groups (P < 0.05). In parallel, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and C-reactive protein concentrations decreased significantly (P < 0.05). Moreover, changes in cholesterol and C-reactive protein concentrations were linked to changes in the bifidobacteria number. CONCLUSION This study showed that red wine consumption can significantly modulate the growth of select gut microbiota in humans, which suggests possible prebiotic benefits associated with the inclusion of red wine polyphenols in the diet. This trial was registered at controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN88720134.
Similarities and Differences in UK and US Franchise Research Data: Towards a Dynamic Model of Franchisee Motivation

PROFESSOR JOHN STANWORTH IS DIRECTOR of the International Franchise Research Centre, at the University of Westminster, England, and Professor Patrick Kaufmann is associate professor of marketing at Georgia State University, USA. The dominant quest for 'independence' (and allied intrinsic satisfactions) among those entering self-employment has been well-documented in the UK, the USA and elsewhere. This appears to hold true for those entering franchising as well as those staging an entry into more conventional small businesses. However, in addition to this, franchising, as a 'tried-and-tested' business format is designed to appeal to motives of economic security far sooner than would normally be the case in a small business career. Additionally, franchisors frequently acknowledge the changing developmental nature of franchisee motivation over the lifespan of a career in franchising and yet, to date, no theoretical framework has been developed to aid an understanding of the dynamic and changing nature of franchisee motivation and its behavioural implications. This current paper represents a first stage attempt at construction of a motivational model capable of being extended through the full career of a franchisee. The research reported here examines data drawn from 728 face-to-face interviews with individuals ('potential franchisees') attending franchise exhibitions held in London, England, and Washington DC, USA, during the spring of 1994. The results indicate marked similarities. The sample is disaggregated into three distinct sub-samples which are then treated as cross-sectional in terms of their socialisation into patterns of motives normally associated with self-employment. The model which emerges is seen as being capable of being extended through the entire career of a franchisee and the paper points to areas of future research required to develop further this process of model construction.
Characterization of microsatellite loci in the myco‐heterotrophic plant Monotropa hypopitys (Ericaceae) and amplification in related taxa

The myco‐heterotroph Monotropa hypopitys is a perennial, circumboreally distributed herb of significant importance in studies of nonphotosynthetic plant biology. To address a deficiency in our knowledge of myco‐heterotroph population genetics, 11 microsatellite markers were developed using a cost‐effective, nonradioactive protocol. Multiplex reactions revealed polymorphism in the red and yellow colour forms of M. hypopitys with an average of 2.69 alleles per primer. Many primers additionally amplified in the congener Monotropa uniflora and five other closely related genera. This is the first report of microsatellite primer development and amplification in the Monotropoideae (Ericaceae).
An Analysis of Change in an Organizational Field: The Professionalization of English Rugby Union

Since 1995, the organizational field that constitutes English rugby union has undergone considerable transformation. Utilizing ideas about changes in actors, changes in exchange processes and interorganizational linkages, changes in the legitimized forms of capital in the field, and changes in regulatory structures, this paper explores the nature of this transformation in English rugby union. Data from 43 interviews with key individuals in the English game form the main data source for the study. The results show that changes in the communities of actors composing the field hastened change in other areas. Powerful new actors with strong ties to business environments brought with them professionally oriented values and a new institutional logic. Having made significant financial investments in the field, these actors collectively took measures to protect their economic interests. These measures took the form of political activity and coalition building, which, ultimately, reconfigured the field's regulator.
Insider Trading in Hong Kong: Concentrated Ownership Versus the Legal Environment

We examine the profitability of insider trading in Hong Kong between 1993 and 1997. On average, firms in Hong Kong have very concentrated ownership and insiders trade more actively and account for larger fractions of total turnover of their firms' shares than do US insiders. Inside sellers in Hong Kong earn negligible rents; however, inside buyers earn statistically and economically significant positive mean abnormal returns. Inside buyers' abnormal returns are especially large for firms in consolidated industries. We argue that such firms are less transparent than firms that operate in more focused businesses and, consequently, that shares of these firms are more likely to provide opportunities for insiders to trade based on privileged information.
Correction Technique for Cascade Gammas in I-124 Imaging on a Fully-3D, Time-of-Flight PET Scanner

It has been shown that I-124 PET imaging can be used for accurate dose estimation in radio-immunotherapy techniques. However, I-124 is not a pure positron emitter, leading to two types of coincidence events not typically encountered: increased random coincidences due to non-annihilation cascade photons, and true coincidences between an annihilation photon and primarily a coincident 602 keV cascade gamma (true coincidence gamma-ray background). The increased random coincidences are accurately estimated by the delayed window technique. Here we evaluate the radial and time distributions of the true coincidence gamma-ray background in order to correct and accurately estimate lesion uptake for I-124 imaging in a time-of-flight (TOF) PET scanner. We performed measurements using a line source of activity placed in air and a water-filled cylinder, using F-18 and I-124 radio-isotopes. Our results show that the true coincidence gamma-ray backgrounds in I-124 have a uniform radial distribution, while the time distribution is similar to the scattered annihilation coincidences. As a result, we implemented a TOF-extended single scatter simulation algorithm with a uniform radial offset in the tail-fitting procedure for accurate correction of TOF data in I-124 imaging. Imaging results show that the contrast recovery for large spheres in a uniform activity background is similar in F-18 and I-124 imaging. There is some degradation in contrast recovery for small spheres in I-124, which is explained by the increased positron range, and reduced spatial resolution, of I-124 compared to F-18. Our results show that it is possible to perform accurate TOF based corrections for I-124 imaging.
Language-ideology based pupils’ identity construction: A case study in a Dutch multicultural primary classroom

Current ethnographic research shows that Dutch educational policy is caught between two positions. First, it constructs pupils from immigrant minority groups as educationally disadvantaged and, as a consequence, fosters mainstream (language) education as the means for their social integration and emancipation (Bezemer, 2003). Second, it leaves Dutch primary school teachers with the challenge of dealing with the cultural and linguistic diversity brought about by their pupils (Bezemer & Kroon, 2008; Spotti, 2006). Against this background, this contribution, stemming from a larger comparative ethnographic enquiry in the Netherlands and Flanders, focuses on the analysis of the discourse of a Dutch native primary school teacher in a multicultural classroom in the Netherlands. By means of socioculturally informed discourse analysis (Gee, 2005), it is shown that the identities of immigrant minority pupils are constructed, in the class teacher‟s discourse, on the basis of language attributions that find their pivotal point in ideologies of language disadvantage provoked by the lack of Dutch language skills on the part of these pupils‟ parents. Our analysis, however, indicates that at the level of the discourse that populates the classroom, the ideologies that lay beneath the language attributions through which these pupils‟ identities are constructed are eroding. Such erosion might also hold consequences for the way in which immigrant minority pupils‟ identities are constructed in the discourse of Dutch governmental institutions.
Engagement with the Mainstream in the Future of Post Keynesian Economics

This paper examines the reasons for the difficulties Post Keynesian economics has had in supplanting mainstream neoclassical theory and for its resulting marginalization. Three explanations are given: intellectual, sociological and political, where the latter two are largely responsible for the current relationship of Post Keynesian economics to the mainstream. The paper also reviews various strategies for improving the future of Post Keynesian economics, including a focus on methodological issues by maintaining an ‘open systems’ approach; a strategy of ‘embattled survival’; the development of a positive alternative to mainstream economics; a strategy of ‘constructive engagement’ with the mainstream; and a dialogue with policymakers. While the global financial crisis has increased the potential for constructive engagement with the mainstream, significant barriers remain to the effectiveness of this approach. The crisis has, however, enhanced the possibility of engaging directly with policymakers and gaining a greater role in management education.
Information: Its Measurement and Valuation

The current "information revolution," exemplified by the increased use of computers and robots in our society, gives a clear indication of the important role that information plays in any social organization. In the past few decades, much progress has been made refining the conceptual tools that can be used in the investigation of information-related issues. However, the analysis of the role of information remains a complex endeavor. For example, it may even be difficult to develop a consensus among scientists on the proper definition of information. For the purpose of this paper, the following taxonomy will be adopted. Data are defined to be the result of an inquiry process (e.g., sampling or experimentation) concerning particular events (e.g., today's hog price in Omaha, corn yield response to fertilizer in Iowa). By using codes (e.g., written or spoken language), the data can be transmitted as signals over space or time through particular communication devices (e.g., radio, telephone, newspapers). These signals generate messages that can be interpreted and used in decision making. For the statistician, the decision may be either to accept or reject a particular hypothesis. Alternatively, for the economist, the decision could be to select and implement a particular production, consumption, or investment action. In either case, information will be defined here as the screening, editing, and evaluation of data in the context of a particular decision-making process (Caspari). Any of the functions involving information (data coding, processing, and transmission of signals, decision) could be done by men or by machines. The allocation of the tasks between men and machines depends on their relative abilities. ' For example, humans are very poor transmission channels: compared to computers, they read or write at a very slow speed and they forget a lot. However, the human language is a very efficient and economical code, and the computer is certainly much less complex than the human brain. In general, machines (computers, robots) often appear to have an advantage over humans when performing simple and repetitive tasks. This, coupled with the development of better and cheaper computers, seems to be the source of the current "information revolution" which promises to alter significantly business decision making. In this context, it seems important for economists to sharpen the conceptual tools that can be used in the analysis of the role and value of information in management or policy decisions. The objective of this paper is to discuss briefly the measurement and economic valuation of information. Alternative information concepts found in the literature are reviewed. It is argued that the valuation of information is best analyzed in the context of decision making under uncertainty. A simple model is developed to illustrate how better information tends to improve the decision-making process. Implications of the model for the valuation of information are presented.
When Might Unemployment Insurance Matter? Credit Constraints and the Cost of Saving.

Unemployment insurance is more valuable when self-insurance is more difficult. Self-insurance is more viable when the cost of borrowing and the cost of saving are low. The cost of savings depends on the timing of income and the timing of needs, as well as private and market discount rates. Heterogeneity in any of these factors translates into heterogeneity in the cost of saving and thus in the value of unemployment insurance. We develop a life-cycle model to illustrate these connections. We then provide empirical evidence on the extent of credit constraints and heterogeneity in the cost of saving among job losers. Among job losers, 25% do not have access to credit markets. Liquid assets that can be used to buffer employment shocks are lower for households with children (high needs). Among older households, those with illiquid pension
Formal Analysis of the VPN Service Management System

This paper applies a formalization of the use of UML to the VPN service management system. An approach that supports a use case-driven, step-wised and incremental development in building models for the VPN service management system is studied in detail. The actual process of building the models shows the importance and feasibility of the formalization itself.
First‐year seedlings and climate change: species‐specific responses of 15 North American tree species

Species will respond individually to climate change and this poses a challenge for modeling climate – vegetation dynamics using broader taxonomic or biogeographical classifi cations. Additionally, responses to climate and environmental conditions may shift with ontogeny, further complicating eff orts to understand the likely rates and directions of vegetation change. We measured emergence, leaf-out rate, growth, and survival of fi rst-year seedlings in response to warming, precipitation regime shifts, and seedbed condition (leaf litter presence/absence). We grouped species into three levels of organization (species-specifi c, biome-level and broad taxonomic group) and hypothesized that most metrics of seedling performance would be best described by species-specifi c models, as even similar species may respond in vastly diff erent ways to global change. Results showed that the species-specifi c model was the best fi t for emergence and development rates, whereas growth and survival could be captured through broader groupings, with the broadleaf temperate group exhibiting the greatest growth and conifers the shortest survival times. Th e sign and magnitude of response to climate and seedbed condition varied with treatment combinations and metric of performance. For example, seedlings grew more in response to warming, but conditions too dry or too wet limited this positive response. Also, warmer temperatures generally increased emergence, development, and growth, but decreased survival, whereas leaf litter presence decreased emergence and slowed development, but increased survival. Th e results presented here are for fi rst-year seedlings and in many cases the responses are diff erent from other studies using older plants. Future research and climate vegetation modeling needs to assess performance at multiple development stages and determine where key bottleneck phases for population growth occur for individual species.
The Role of Debt and Perferred Stock as a Solution to Adverse Investment Incentives

Abstract We analyze the optimal mix of debt, common equity, and preferred equity in a model with an investment opportunity and asymmetric information about its quality, and show that an all-equity financed firm will overinvest. Issuing the appropriate amount of debt before the project becomes available resolves this overinvestment problem. Introducing a second motive for debt, such as taxes, leads to a role for preferred stock as a means of enhancing the firm's “debt capacity,” by creating additional incentives to invest. We derive an optimal capital structure involving debt, preferred stock, and common stock.
Evaluation of Depth Sensors for Robotic Applications

The sensors that acquire 3D data play an important role in many applications. In addition, they have been used in the robotic field for several purposes, for instance, enhancing the navigation of mobile robots, object detection, scene reconstruction, 3D inspection of parts and others. Moreover, a significant amount of devices with distinct cost, accuracy and features have been released in the recent years which increases the difficulty of comparing each sensor in a proper manner or choosing the most suitable device for a specific task and operation field. This paper compares the Kinect v1, Kinect v2, Structure Sensor and Mesa Imaging SR4000. The noise of each sensor is characterized for different distances and considering objects with different colors. Therefore, this paper proposes a simple but quantitative benchmark for evaluating 3D devices that characterizes the most relevant features for the robotic field and in accordance with different type of operations.
Infrastructure features outperform environmental variables explaining rabbit abundance around motorways

Abstract Human disturbance is widespread across landscapes in the form of roads that alter wildlife populations. Knowing which road features are responsible for the species response and their relevance in comparison with environmental variables will provide useful information for effective conservation measures. We sampled relative abundance of European rabbits, a very widespread species, in motorway verges at regional scale, in an area with large variability in environmental and infrastructure conditions. Environmental variables included vegetation structure, plant productivity, distance to water sources, and altitude. Infrastructure characteristics were the type of vegetation in verges, verge width, traffic volume, and the presence of embankments. We performed a variance partitioning analysis to determine the relative importance of two sets of variables on rabbit abundance. Additionally, we identified the most important variables and their effects model averaging after model selection by AICc on hypothesis‐based models. As a group, infrastructure features explained four times more variability in rabbit abundance than environmental variables, being the effects of the former critical in motorway stretches located in altered landscapes with no available habitat for rabbits, such as agricultural fields. Model selection and Akaike weights showed that verge width and traffic volume are the most important variables explaining rabbit abundance index, with positive and negative effects, respectively. In the light of these results, the response of species to the infrastructure can be modulated through the modification of motorway features, being some of them manageable in the design phase. The identification of such features leads to suggestions for improvement through low‐cost corrective measures and conservation plans. As a general indication, keeping motorway verges less than 10 m wide will prevent high densities of rabbits and avoid the unwanted effects that rabbit populations can generate in some areas.
Implied GARCH Volatility Forecasting

This paper empirically investigates a method to quantify volatility using the information content of index options. We derive the parameters of a GARCH option pricing model from the term structure of the observed market smile of DAX 30 index. We find the EGARCH option pricing model (Duan, 1995) performs well in determining the shape of the volatility smile for different maturities in the period of January 2000 to August 2001. Based on the implied EGARCH methodology we use the information in option prices to derive a theoretically sound 'new' measure for local volatility and analyze how well it explains and forecasts actual realized volatility. The daily realized volatility measure is constructed with 5-minute interval transaction prices in the DAX 30 future. The local volatility measure explains a large part of realized volatility and performs considerably better in one day ahead volatility forecasting than conventional time-series models.
Etiology of acute lower respiratory tract infections in children in a rural community in The Gambia

Approximately 500 children younger than 5 years old resident in 7 villages in a rural area of the Gambia were monitored closely for 1 year for episodes of acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI). Each episode was investigated with antigen detection techniques and antibody assays as well as culture for bacteria and viruses. A pathogen was identified in 76 (34.2%) of 222 cases with clinical signs of ALRI and in 34 (42%) of the 81 cases who, in addition, had radiologic evidence of ALRI. Evidence of infection with a bacterial pathogen, most commonly Streptococcus pneumoniae or Haemophilus influenzae, was obtained in 32 (14.4%) cases with clinical signs of ALRI (23.5% of those with radiologically proved pneumonia). Viral agents were cultured from 42 (19%) of 221 cases but also from 14 (14.6%) of 96 controls some of whom had minor symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. In the absence of an outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus the viral agents recovered most often were influenza A and adenoviruses.