Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shrouding Add‐On Information: An Experimental Study

We explore how competition affects firms obfuscation strategies in laboratory experiments. Firms sell a base good and an add-on product. The price of the add-on may be shrouded and, if so, myopic consumers pay too much. Shrouding is an equilibrium but an unshrouding equilibrium coexists. In our experiments, competition matters in that only duopolistic markets are frequently shrouded whereas fourfirm markets are not. With repeated interaction, shrouding rates do not increase. However, the opportunities to shroud facilitate tacit collusion on the base good price for the duopolies: the unshrouding equilibrium serves as a credible punishment if deviations occur.
Drug screening in a zebrafish model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Two known zebrafish dystrophin mutants, sapje and sapje-like (sapc/100), represent excellent small-animal models of human muscular dystrophy. Using these dystrophin-null zebrafish, we have screened the Prestwick chemical library for small molecules that modulate the muscle phenotype in these fish. With a quick and easy birefringence assay, we have identified seven small molecules that influence muscle pathology in dystrophin-null zebrafish without restoration of dystrophin expression. Three of seven candidate chemicals restored normal birefringence and increased survival of dystrophin-null fish. One chemical, aminophylline, which is known to be a nonselective phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, had the greatest ability to restore normal muscle structure and up-regulate the cAMP-dependent PKA pathway in treated dystrophin-deficient fish. Moreover, other PDE inhibitors also reduced the percentage of affected sapje fish. The identification of compounds, especially PDE inhibitors, that moderate the muscle phenotype in these dystrophin-null zebrafish validates the screening protocol described here and may lead to candidate molecules to be used as therapeutic interventions in human muscular dystrophy.
Increase in corneal asphericity after standard laser in situ keratomileusis for myopia is not inherent to the Munnerlyn algorithm.

PURPOSE Standard refractive surgery for myopia induces a shift in corneal asphericity toward positive values, resulting in an increase of spherical aberration. Analytical studies of changes in theoretical corneal shape after application of standard algorithms have yielded controversial conclusions. This study tries to resolve this controversy and discusses causes of optical degradation after refractive surgery. METHODS Computationally, we subtracted from real preoperative corneas the ablation depth given by the Munnerlyn equation and the parabolic approximation of the Munnerlyn equation. We compared the predicted postoperative corneal asphericity (and corneal spherical aberration) with real postoperative corneal asphericities of the same eyes, after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). RESULTS Corneal asphericity increased after LASIK in real eyes, with an increase proportional to the amount of correction. This increase was not predicted by the computational application of the Munnerlyn algorithm, which predicted a slight decrease of corneal asphericity. The parabolic approximation of the Munnerlyn algorithm produced an increase in corneal asphericity that correlated with the amount of correction, but was less than the clinical findings. CONCLUSION Potential causes for increased asphericity (radial changes in laser efficiency, epithelial healing, and biomechanical response) are discussed. These conclusions are important for the design of optimized and customized ablation algorithms, since the theoretical performance of a given ablation algorithm (ie, Munnerlyn algorithm) can differ drastically from real outcomes.
The Employment Effects of the ‘New Economy’. A Comparison of the European Union and the United States

This paper provides an analysis of the trends in labour productivity and employment growth at industry level in the European Union and the United States during the 1990s. We analyse relationships for groups of industries, i.e. industries that produce ICT products and services, those that invest strongly in ICT, and those that make less intensive use of ICT. The main findings are that the inverse relationship between employment and productivity growth has been much more prominent in manufacturing industries than in services industries. Secondly, during the 1990s, this relationship has turned positive in many industries, in particular in ICT-producing industries and in ICT-using industries in the service sector. Finally, the employment-reducing effects of productivity growth have remained considerably stronger in Europe than in the US.
El Estado de Salud de los Jóvenes Uruguayos

This paper is a study of the health of young people in Uruguay. The empirical work is based on the “Health and Social Networks” survey carried out by the Department of Economics of the Social Sciences Faculty, in agreement with the National Youth Institute, in 2004. Using an ordered probit, the probability of having very good, good, or bad health status is estimated, controlled by socio-economic factors and risk-linked behavior. It is found that the probability of having better health status depends positively on education, physical activity, not being undernourished, not smoking, living in small cities, having human capital and living in a household with less relative privation. In reference to health status and the economic status of the family, the first fifteen years of life appears as positively determining it. In order to identify groups at risk, several simulations are done, predicting probabilities for several groups such as: behavior that causes a serious health risk (smoking, drinking alcohol, not doing physical excursive, being undernourished or obese), people with low socio-economic status (living in a household with high relative privation, economic problems in the first fifteen years of life, falling behind in the education system and not having human capital), and both at the same time. It has been found that those with risk behavior have a 14 per cent probability of having very good health status (as against the average, which is 24 per cent), the figure for those with low socio-economic status is 4 per cent, and the figure for those with both characteristics just 2 per cent.
Assessment of the Antimicrobial Activity and the Entomocidal Potential of Bacillus thuringiensis Isolates from Algeria

This work represents the first initiative to analyze the distribution of B. thuringiensis in Algeria and to evaluate the biological potential of the isolates. A total of 157 isolates were recovered, with at least one isolate in 94.4% of the samples. The highest Bt index was found in samples from rhizospheric soil (0.48) and from the Mediterranean area (0.44). Most isolates showed antifungal activity (98.5%), in contrast to the few that had antibacterial activity (29.9%). A high genetic diversity was made evident by the finding of many different crystal shapes and various combinations of shapes within a single isolate (in 58.4% of the isolates). Also, over 50% of the isolates harbored cry1, cry2, or cry9 genes, and 69.3% contained a vip3 gene. A good correlation between the presence of chitinase genes and antifungal activity was observed. More than half of the isolates with a broad spectrum of antifungal activity harbored both endochitinase and exochitinase genes. Interestingly, 15 isolates contained the two chitinase genes and all of the above cry family genes, with some of them harboring a vip3 gene as well. The combination of this large number of genes coding for entomopathogenic proteins suggests a putative wide range of entomotoxic activity.
Review Article: Rethinking Party Politics and the Welfare State – Recent Advances in the Literature

This article discusses recent research on party politics and the welfare state that differs from traditional ‘partisan politics theory’. The traditional approach states that left-wing and right-wing parties hold contrasting positions on welfare issues, depending on the interests of their respective electorates. This view has recently been challenged by three strands of research, which emphasize (1) the effects of electoral change on parties’ policy positions, (2) the role of context, notably electoral institutions, party competition and the configuration of party systems, and (3) the impact of different linkages between parties and electorates (particularistic versus programmatic). The implications of these arguments for the applicability of partisan theory are presented, and theoretical and empirical issues are identified for further research.
Improving the Implementation and Effectiveness of Out‐of‐School‐Time Tutoring

School districts are spending millions on tutoring outside regular school day hours for economically and academically disadvantaged students in need of extra academic assistance. Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), parents of children in persistently low‐performing schools were allowed to choose their child's tutoring provider, and together with school districts, they were also primarily responsible for holding providers in the private market accountable for performance. We present results from a multisite, mixed‐method longitudinal study of the impact of out‐of‐school time (OST) tutoring on student reading and mathematics achievement that link provider attributes and policy and program administration variables to tutoring program effectiveness. We find that many students are not getting enough hours of high‐quality, differentiated instruction to produce significant gains in their learning, in part because of high hourly rates charged by providers for tutoring. We identify strategies and policy levers that school districts can use to improve OST tutoring policy design and launch improved programs as waivers from NCLB are granted.
Clinical significance of MLL-AF4 fusion transcript expression in the absence of a cytogenetically detectable t(4;11)(q21;q23) chromosomal translocation.

Leukemic cells from bone marrow (BM) of 17 infants and 127 children with newly diagnosed ALL, as well as fetal liver and BM and normal infant BM samples, were analyzed for presence of a t(4;11) translocation using standard cytogenetic techniques and expression of an MLL-AF4 fusion transcript using standard reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays as well as nested RT-PCR that is 100-fold more sensitive than standard RT-PCR. Overall, 9 of 17 infants and 17 of 127 noninfant pediatric ALL patients were positive for expression of MLL-AF4 fusion transcripts, as determined by standard and/or nested RT-PCR assays. None of the MLL-AF4(+) cases were positive for E2A-PBX1 or BCR-ABL fusion transcript expression. Although 8 of 9 MLL-AF4(+) infants had cytogenetically detectable t(4;11)(q21;q23), 15 of the 17 MLL-AF4(+) noninfants were t(4;11)-. Infants with MLL-AF4(+) ALL had poor outcomes, whereas non-infant MLL-AF4(+)/t(4;11)- patients had favorable outcomes similar to MLL-AF4(-) patients. Notably, MLL-AF4 transcripts also were detected by nested RT-PCR in 4 of 16 fetal BMs, 5 of 13 fetal livers, and 1 of 6 normal infant BMs, but not in any of the 44 remission BM specimens from pediatric ALL patients. Our results provide unprecedented evidence that MLL-AF4 fusion transcripts can be present in normal hematopoietic cells, indicating that their expression is insufficient for leukemic transformation of normal lymphocyte precursors.
Ecotourism: The Evolving Contemporary Definition

A rise in the popularity of ecotourism has coincided with voluminous definitional discourse. Amongst stakeholders, confusion has resulted from the disparate nature of these definitions. In the absence of a common definition or set of key tenets the challenge has been to ensure operational ecotourism that adheres to the theoretical underpinnings of the concept. Without some semblance of definitional consensus, ecotourism may be on a precarious course whereby the ethics upon which the activity is conceptualised, the natural environment upon which the activity depends, and the legitimacy of the industry are at risk. The ambition of this research is to disentangle a set of themes from the evolving definitional debate in order to provide a framework for the development of ecotourism policy and applications. Recurring themes are identified through the application of content analysis methodology to select contemporary definitions. Those themes that appear most frequently are then introduced as an ecotourism conceptual framework based on key tenets. The tenets are meant to represent a set of established fundamental beliefs central to ecotourism: (1) nature-based; (2) preservation/conservation; (3) education; (4) sustainability; (5) distribution of benefits; and (6) ethics/responsibility/awareness.
The Redistributive Impact of Alternative Income Maintenance Schemes: A Microsimulation Study Using Swiss Data

Taking a benchmark scenario, the current situation in Switzerland, and using a microsimulation technique, we compare the effectiveness of various income maintenance schemes for reducing inequality and poverty. A full negative income tax allowance designed to eliminate poverty is shown to reduce income inequality most drastically. An integrated federal linear tax rate of 62 percent is required to make it viable. Aggregate work hours are reduced by approximately 10 percent and average disposable income falls by 9.3 percent under such circumstances. A participation income restricted to adults in employment and covering 50 percent of subsistence costs is however shown to result in an unambiguous social welfare improvement over the current situation in Switzerland.
Developing Discussion of Language Change Into a Three-Dimensional Model of Linguistic Phenomena

The concepts of change from above (CFA) and change from below (CFB) have been employed by sociolinguists for decades: but 'above' and 'below' what exactly? Popularized by William Labov, these terms are most frequently used to describe complementary, highly distinct processes of language change. Subsequent interpretations have subtly altered the definitions of these terms, and as a result, CFA and CFB have been used to refer to different things by different people. Often, the resultant phenomena are not as complementary or distinct as they first seem. This article analyses the various interpretations of CFA and CFB with an aim to clarify how the terms have been used, and to propose a new and thorough taxonomical model for linguistic phenomena. Leading scholarly viewpoints are examined (Labov 1972, Crystal 1987, Ferguson 1987, Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 1998, Ellis 1999, Romaine 2003 inter alia) and three bifurcating axes are formed, revealing what 'above' and 'below' variously relate to. The axes of +/–metacommentary, +/–overt prestige and +/–planned will be explained and formed into a three-dimensional model of linguistic phenomena, thus constituting an innovative development in the ongoing debate surrounding CFA and CFB.
Do Real Balance Effects Invalidate the Taylor Principle in Closed and Open Economies?

type="main" xml:id="ecca12134-abs-0001"> This paper examines the determinacy implications of forecast-based monetary policy rules that set the interest rate in response to expected future inflation in a Neo-Wicksellian model that incorporates real balance effects. We show that the presence of such effects in closed economies restricts the ability of the Taylor principle to prevent indeterminacy of the rational expectations equilibrium. The problem is exacerbated in open economies, particularly if the policy rule reacts to consumer-price, rather than domestic-price, inflation. However, determinacy can be restored in both closed and open economies with the addition of monetary policy inertia.
Application of low power technologies on video codec VLSI designs

We apply several low power technologies to save both total energy and peak power consumption for video codec VLSI designs. Our technologies include two-layer clock gating, utilization of skip mode, memory hierarchy with memory access units, and internal memory partitioning. We implement a standby mode to reduce both clock power and memory power for saving total energy. We also use a novel technology, called active period rescheduling, to reduce the peak power consumption. Applying these technologies to an H.264/AVC codec, we can achieve 43% and 45% savings in total energy for the encoder and decoder, respectively. Moreover, by applying the peak power reduction technology to the H.264/AVC decoder, we achieve 45% saving.
Essentiality of Specific Fatty Acids in Reproductive Performance of High Producing Dairy Cows

With individual cows establishing production records greater than 27,000 kg per lactation and herds averaging more than 13,600 kg per cow per year, management of the high producing dairy cow has become more and more refined. These levels of milk production lead to new challenges related to animal nutrition, reproduction and health. During the transition period and early lactation, modest energy intake fails to fully support the energy demands of fetal growth; colostrum synthesis and milk production results in a period of negative energy balance. A result of this negative energy balance during transition and early lactation has had an adverse affect on fertility and reproductive performance (Nebel and McGilliard, 1993).
Characteristics of Gintonin-Mediated Membrane Depolarization of Pacemaker Activity in Cultured Interstitial Cells of Cajal

Background/Aims: Ginseng regulates gastrointestinal (GI) motor activity but the underlying components and molecular mechanisms are unknown. We investigated the effect of gintonin, a novel ginseng-derived G protein-coupled lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor ligand, on the pacemaker activity of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in murine small intestine and GI motility. Materials and Methods: Enzymatic digestion was used to dissociate ICC from mouse small intestines. The whole-cell patch-clamp configuration was used to record pacemaker potentials and currents from cultured ICC in the absence or presence of gintonin. In vivo effects of gintonin on gastrointestinal (GI) motility were investigated by measuring the intestinal transit rate (ITR) of Evans blue in normal and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. Results: We investigated the effects of gintonin on pacemaker potentials and currents in cultured ICC from mouse small intestine. Gintonin caused membrane depolarization in current clamp mode but this action was blocked by Ki16425, an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist, and by the addition of GDPβS, a GTP-binding protein inhibitor, into the ICC. To study the gintonin signaling pathway, we examined the effects of U-73122, an active PLC inhibitor, and chelerythrine and calphostin, which inhibit PKC. All inhibitors blocked gintonin actions on pacemaker potentials, but not completely. Gintonin-mediated depolarization was lower in Ca2+-free than in Ca2+-containing external solutions and was blocked by thapsigargin. We found that, in ICC, gintonin also activated Ca2+-activated Cl- channels (TMEM16A, ANO1), but not TRPM7 channels. In vivo, gintonin (10-100 mg/kg, p.o.) not only significantly increased the ITR in normal mice but also ameliorated STZ-induced diabetic GI motility retardation in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions: Gintonin-mediated membrane depolarization of pacemaker activity and ANO1 activation are coupled to the stimulation of GI contractility through LPA1/3 receptor signaling pathways in cultured murine ICC. Gintonin might be a ingredient responsible for ginseng-mediated GI tract modulations, and could be a novel candidate for development as a prokinetic agent that may prevent or alleviate GI motility dysfunctions in human patients.
Abstract: Innovation and Communication: Signaling with Partial Disclosure

This paper (1) constructs a signaling model with a weaker existence condition than in most signaling models, (2) demonstrates that, using a popular model of innovation under uncertainty, an equilibrium signaling schedule exists for a broad range of boundary conditions and parameter values. These results are derived in a model of a firm possessing private information about an investment opportunity, where the firm issues new equity to finance the investment. The proprietary information cannot be explicitly disclosed to potential investors without also disclosing it to potential competitors, but if investors are unaware of the firm's prospects, shares will have to be issued at a price less than their “intrinsic” value.
Standard Setting: A Systematic Approach to Interpreting Student Learning

Standards were set on three technology tests at James Madison University. The standard setting process elicited active discussion among faculty as they debated the technology knowledge and skills students need to succeed in their subsequent college courses. The standards which emerged were challenging. While only about 30% of incoming freshmen could meet the standards set, an additional 50-60% learned the skills by the end of the year. Recommendations are provided for standard setting in a general education context.
Incentives and Institutional Changes in Higher Education

Educational systems worldwide still continue to rely heavily on public sources of funding. Nearly 80% of the expenditure on higher education comes from public sources in OECD countries; the share is even larger in developing countries. There is a concerted effort in many countries to reduce the reliance on state funding and move towards market-friendly reforms. This involves adjustment in the macro-policy framework to induce change at the institutional level. Institutional changes could be brought about either by relying on “mandates” or on “rewards”. Mandates demand a particular form of institutional behaviour that is accompanied by the threat of punishment for a failure to comply. Rewards, on the other hand, provide incentive and motivation to change. Both rewards and incentives become effective when public policy provides a choice in behavioural changes at the institutional level. The motivation for a change of behaviour will depend on the level of performance that conditions a reward on the one hand and on the expectation for obtaining a reward, on completion of the task, on the other. In general, mandates are more easily complied with when institutions are struggling to survive, whereas incentives and rewards are preferable when institutions are striving to revive and grow. Incentives and reward systems are relied upon in many countries to induce changes in higher education. This paper will focus on the potential of effecting institutional changes through incentives.
Inflammation in the spotlight-clinical relevance of genetic variants affecting nuclear factor κB and tumor necrosis factor receptor 1.

Increased basal and chronic low-level activation of inflammation in patients with autoimmune disease has prompted many research lines trying to unravel the genetic control of the inflammatory cascades, being located at the forefront of such physiological disturbances. Accordingly, several abnormalities have been identified in cytokine-signaling pathways and immune receptors conducting the inflammatory response that commonly characterizes autoimmune reaction. Among the molecules involved in this kind of pathologies we identify Jak/Stat (1), Jun/Fos, p38, ERK1/3, and many others serine/threonine kinases involved in the MAP kinase transduction signal (2), and the NFκB (3).