Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards a Phenomenological Analysis of Fictional Intentionality and Reference

Abstract There is widespread agreement among philosophers that we refer to, think or talk about non-existent objects in much the same way as we refer to, think or talk about other objects. This paper explores the case of objects of fiction in the perspective of Husserlian philosophical phenomenology. In this perspective, everything objective is dealt with as object of some consciousness and as presenting itself in subjective modes. Within the scope of this paper, the focus of the descriptive analysis will be on showing in some detail how conscious experiences of intentionally referring to something fictive in pre-linguistic intuitive acts of imagining something are to be articulated with regard to the object of consciousness, i.e. noematically, and with regard to the intentional act, i.e. noetically. Special attention will be given to the reflective finding of some consciousness being intentionally implied and thereby modified in the very performance of an intentional act of representifying (vergegenwärtigen) something in fiction and to the question of identity and individuation of objects in fiction. It will be argued that modifications occurring in representificational consciousness, which Husserl called ‘as-if’ or ‘quasi’ modifications, provide the key for understanding the phenomenology of fictional intentionality and reference.
HRM Practices, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, and Performance: A Multi-Level Analysis

We examine the relationship between HRM practices, conceptualized at the workplace level, and individual employee attitudes and behaviour. We focus on two possible explanations for the relationship: social exchange and job influence/employee discretion. Findings from a study of employees in North-East England suggest that there is a positive impact of HRM practices on organizational citizenship behaviour, through an effect on perceived job influence/discretion. There was no such effect for perceived organizational support. These findings provide support for a job influence and opportunity explanation of HRM effects on employee attitudes and behaviour.
Relation between Working Memory Capacity and Auditory Stream Segregation in Children with Auditory Processing Disorder

Background: This study assessed the relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation by using the concurrent minimum audible angle in children with a diagnosed auditory processing disorder (APD). Methods: The participants in this cross-sectional, comparative study were 20 typically developing children and 15 children with a diagnosed APD (age, 9–11 years) according to the subtests of multiple-processing auditory assessment. Auditory stream segregation was investigated using the concurrent minimum audible angle. Working memory capacity was evaluated using the non-word repetition and forward and backward digit span tasks. Nonparametric statistics were utilized to compare the between-group differences. The Pearson correlation was employed to measure the degree of association between working memory capacity and the localization tests between the 2 groups. Results: The group with APD had significantly lower scores than did the typically developing subjects in auditory stream segregation and working memory capacity. There were significant negative correlations between working memory capacity and the concurrent minimum audible angle in the most frontal reference location (0° azimuth) and lower negative correlations in the most lateral reference location (60° azimuth) in the children with APD. Conclusion: The study revealed a relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation in children with APD. The research suggests that lower working memory capacity in children with APD may be the possible cause of the inability to segregate and group incoming information.
Effects of externalization on representation and recall of indeterminate problems

Naï ve reasoning and problem solving is error-prone. One such pattern is manifested in that people err more often when problems are indeterminate than when problems are determinate We suggest that an incomplete problem representation could account for the observed pattern of errors. We further contend that in verbal reasoning such incomplete representation stems from a lack of systematic representations of connectives (e.g., and, or, if, etc.), and, therefore, externalization of relations denoted by sentential connectives should improve people's representations of multiple possibilities. These predictions were tested in three reported experiments. Results indicate that determinate problems were easier to represent and recall than indeterminate problems. Furthermore, there was a tendency to represent and recall indeterminate problems as if they were determinate ones by truncating the number of possibilities compatible with the problem. Finally, external aids dramatically improved representation and recall of indeterminate problems. These results are discussed in relation to theories of representation and reasoning.
Analysis of a Merger from a Governance Perspective: The Case of Abitibi-Consolidated and Donohue

Adopting a governance perspective, this clinical study analyses the merger between closely-held Donohue Inc. and widely-held Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. Some key findings emerge. First, the absence of a controlling shareholder and weak board governance at Abitibi might explain both (a) its executives' interests in the transaction and (b) its CEO's compensation increase despite underperformance. Second, an inter-generation shift of control at Quebecor (Donohue's parent company) led to a strategic reorientation that (a) transformed Donohue into a target and (b) insured that Donohue's executives had incentives to pursue a deal. Finally, Donohue's non-controlling shareholders benefited from the transaction while Abitibi shareholders experienced wealth reduction. The merger's aftermath provides some counter evidence regarding blockholders' power in widely-held firms.
Carcinogen and Anticancer Drug Transport by Mrp2 in Vivo: Studies Using Mrp2 (Abcc2) Knockout Mice

The ATP-binding-cassette (ABC) transporter multidrug resistance protein (MRP) 2 (ABCC2) forms a natural barrier and efflux system for various (conjugates of) drugs, other xenotoxins, and endogenous compounds. To obtain insight in the pharmacological and physiological functions of Mrp2, we generated Mrp2 knockout mice, which were viable and fertile but suffered from mild hyperbilirubinemia due to impaired excretion of bilirubin monoglucuronides into bile. The mice also had an 80-fold decreased biliary glutathione excretion and a 63% reduced bile flow. Levels of Mrp3 (Abcc3) in liver and Mrp4 (Abcc4) in kidney of Mrp2-/- mice were approximately 2-fold increased. After oral administration of the food-derived carcinogens [14C]PhIP (2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine) and [14C]IQ (2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline) plasma values were 1.9- and 1.7-fold higher in Mrp2-/- mice versus wild-type mice, respectively, demonstrating the role of Mrp2 in restricting exposure to these compounds. At a high dose of 50 mg/kg of the drug [3H]methotrexate, the plasma area under the curve for i.v. administration was 1.8-fold higher in Mrp2-/- mice (1345 ± 207 versus 734 ± 81 min ·μg/ml). No clear plasma concentration difference arose at low dose (1 mg/kg). Subsequently, Mdr1a/b/Mrp2 knockout mice were generated. Their biliary excretion of doxorubicin after i.v. administration (5 mg/kg) was 54-fold decreased (0.32 ± 0.13 versus 17.30 ± 6.59 nmol/g liver in wild type), and a role for both Mdr1a/b and Mrp2 in this process was revealed. Our results demonstrate that the Mrp2-/- mouse provides a valuable tool for studies of the impact of Mrp2 on behavior of drugs and other toxins, especially when combined with other ABC transporter knockout mice.
Effects of Cue Order in a Decision-Modeling Instrument

Two experiments, using two separate samples and two methods of analysis (Hotelling's T2 and hierarchial regression), ruled out the cue-order threat to the internal validity of a decision-modeling instrument. Implications for measurement are discussed. Caution is suggested in generalizing to other populations and other instruments, despite the apparent robustness of the method of decision modeling.
Preconditioning Causes Improved Wall Motion as Well as Smaller Infarcts After Transient Coronary Occlusion in Rabbits

BackgroundA brief coronary occlusion before a more prolonged occlusion results in less myocardial infarction than the longer occlusion alone. However, the effects of this preconditioning on recovery of systolic function after coronary occlusion have not been determined. Methods and ResultsUltrasonic crystals implanted in rabbit myocardium measured segment length in the distribution of a branch of the left coronary artery that was fitted with a snare occluder. Rabbits were randomly allocated to either nonpreconditioned or preconditioned groups. Rabbits in the latter group underwent preconditioning with a 5-minute coronary occlusion followed by 10 minutes of reperfusion. Then the coronary artery was occluded for 20 minutes in all rabbits, after which it was allowed to reperfuse for 90 minutes. The hearts were then excised, and infarct size was measured by staining with triphenyltetrazolium chloride. During coronary occlusion, all hearts except one demonstrated either akinesis or paradoxical bulging. Five minutes after release of the 20-minute occlusion, active shortening had returned in the preconditioned rabbits and averaged 27.9 ± 16.6% of baseline shortening. At the same time, paradoxical lengthening persisted in nonpreconditioned rabbits (−15.5 ± 19.8% of baseline). By the end of the 90-minute reperfusion period, segment shortening averaged 40.1 ± 8.4% of baseline in preconditioned rabbits and only 6.2 ± 12.0% in nonpreconditioned rabbits (p < 0.05). Infarct size as a percentage of risk area was significantly smaller in preconditioned rabbits as well (3.0 ± 1.6% versus 28.8 ± 7.0%, p < 0.002) and likely accounted for the improved shortening. ConclusionsWe conclude that a brief coronary occlusion before a more prolonged occlusion results in not only reduced infarct size but also significantly better recovery of systolic function. (Circulation 1991;84:341–349)
Trehalose synthesis is important for the acquisition of thermotolerance in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Yeast cells show an adaptive response to a mild heat shock, resulting in thermotolerance acquisition. This is accompanied by induction of heat‐shock protein (hsp) synthesis and rapid accumulation of trehalose. Genetic approaches to determine the specific role of trehalose in heat‐induced thermotolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been hampered by the finding that deletion of TPS1, the gene encoding trehalose‐6‐phosphate synthase, causes a variety of pleiotropic effects, including inability to grow on glucose‐containing media. Here, we have studied a tps1 mutant of the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe that reportedly has no such growth defects. We show that tps1 mutants have a serious defect in heat shock‐induced acquisition of thermotolerance if conditioned at highly elevated temperatures (40–42.5°C), which, in wild‐type cells, prevent hsp but not trehalose synthesis. In contrast, hsp synthesis appears to become particularly important under conditions in which trehalose synthesis is either absent (in tps1 mutant strains) or not fully induced (conditioning at moderately elevated temperatures, i.e. 35°C). In addition, pka1 mutants deficient in cAMP‐dependent protein kinase were examined. Unconditioned pka1 cells had low levels of trehalose but a high basal level of thermotolerance. It was found that pka1 mutant cells, contrary to wild‐type cells, accumulated large amounts of trehalose, even during a 50°C treatment. pka1 tps1 double mutants lacked this ability and showed reduced intrinsic thermotolerance, indicating a particularly important role for trehalose synthesis, which takes place during the challenging heat shock.
The Past and the Future of International Entrepreneurship: A Review and Suggestions for Developing the Field

In this article, the authors analyze the field of international entrepreneurship (IE), which is in desperate need of further theory development. They study the field of IE since its inception by offering a comprehensive review of 179 articles on IE published in 16 journals over 14 years, covering the academic disciplines of strategic management, international business, entrepreneurship, and technology and innovation management. From a systematic content analysis of this literature, the authors develop an organizing framework to analyze the field's current status. On the basis of this analysis, the authors can identify theoretical inconsistencies, conflicting predictions, and knowledge gaps that all forestall the further development of IE research. They then develop directions for future research that can help to overcome these obstacles and promote future theory development.
Simulation tool for assessing the release and environmental distribution of nanomaterials

An integrated simulation tool was developed for assessing the potential release and environmental distribution of nanomaterials (RedNano) based on a life cycle assessment approach and multimedia compartmental modeling coupled with mechanistic intermedia transport processes. The RedNano simulation tool and its web-based software implementation enables rapid “what-if? ” scenario analysis, in order to assess the response of an environmental system to various release scenarios of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). It also allows for the investigation of the impact of geographical and meteorological parameters on ENM distribution in the environment, comparison of the impact of ENM production and potential releases on different regions, and estimation of source release rates based on monitored ENM concentrations. Moreover, the RedNano simulation tool is suitable for research, academic, and regulatory purposes. Specifically, it has been used in environmental multimedia impact assessment courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The RedNano simulation tool can also serve as a decision support tool to rapidly and critically assess the potential environmental implications of ENMs and thus ensure that nanotechnology is developed in a productive and environmentally responsible manner.
Histidyl–tRNA Synthetase and Asparaginyl–tRNA Synthetase, Autoantigens in Myositis, Activate Chemokine Receptors on T Lymphocytes and Immature Dendritic Cells

Autoantibodies to histidyl–tRNA synthetase (HisRS) or to alanyl–, asparaginyl–, glycyl–, isoleucyl–, or threonyl–tRNA synthetase occur in ∼25% of patients with polymyositis or dermatomyositis. We tested the ability of several aminoacyl–tRNA synthetases to induce leukocyte migration. HisRS induced CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, interleukin (IL)-2–activated monocytes, and immature dendritic cells (iDCs) to migrate, but not neutrophils, mature DCs, or unstimulated monocytes. An NH2-terminal domain, 1–48 HisRS, was chemotactic for lymphocytes and activated monocytes, whereas a deletion mutant, HisRS-M, was inactive. HisRS selectively activated CC chemokine receptor (CCR)5-transfected HEK-293 cells, inducing migration by interacting with extracellular domain three. Furthermore, monoclonal anti-CCR5 blocked HisRS-induced chemotaxis and conversely, HisRS blocked anti-CCR5 binding. Asparaginyl–tRNA synthetase induced migration of lymphocytes, activated monocytes, iDCs, and CCR3-transfected HEK-293 cells. Seryl–tRNA synthetase induced migration of CCR3-transfected cells but not iDCs. Nonautoantigenic aspartyl–tRNA and lysyl–tRNA synthetases were not chemotactic. Thus, autoantigenic aminoacyl–tRNA synthetases, perhaps liberated from damaged muscle cells, may perpetuate the development of myositis by recruiting mononuclear cells that induce innate and adaptive immune responses. Therefore, the selection of a self-molecule as a target for an autoantibody response may be a consequence of the proinflammatory properties of the molecule itself.
Design of flash-based storage system based on PCI Express bus

The Flash has been widely used in the data records in aerospace and aviation, because of its low power consumption, light-weight, anti-seismic etc. But with the accuracy of Earth observation equipment gradually improved, and its increasingly high rate of export data, the storage system on the recording equipment made high demands. Through the use of PCI Express interface, and parallelization and pipelining technology, the rate of read and write is raised; by analyzing data access patterns, designs a reasonable FTL algorithm, so that supply the great convenience data management without reducing read and write performance. The design is implemented on the Virtex 5 FPGA, and tests its performance. The consecutive write rate is about 400MB/s, and reading rate is up to 500MB/s.
Filtering, Robust Filtering, Polishing: Techniques for Addressing Quality in Software Data

Data quality is an important aspect of empirical analysis. This paper compares three noise handling methods to assess the benefit of identifying and either filtering or editing problematic instances. We compare a 'do nothing' strategy with (i) filtering, (ii) robust filtering and (Hi) filtering followed by polishing. A problem is that it is not possible to determine whether an instance contains noise unless it has implausible values. Since we cannot determine the true overall noise level we use implausible val.ues as a proxy measure. In addition to the ability to identify implausible values, we use another proxy measure, the ability to fit a classification tree to the data. The interpretation is low misclassification rates imply low noise levels. We found that all three of our data quality techniques improve upon the 'do nothing' strategy, also that the filtering and polishing was the most effective technique for dealing with noise since we eliminated the fewest data and had the lowest misclassification rates. Unfortunately the polishing process introduces new implausible values. We believe consideration of data quality is an important aspect of empirical software engineering. We have shown that for one large and complex real world data set automated techniques can help isolate noisy instances and potentially polish the values to produce better quality data for the analyst. However this work is at a preliminary stage and it assumes that the proxy measures of lity are appropriate.
Birth plans and health facility based delivery in rural Uganda.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether the completion of birth plans is associated with delivery in a health facility and the perceptual causes of birth plan completion and health facility based delivery were explored according to a well-tested health behaviour theory. DESIGN A community survey. SETTING Rakai and Luwero districts. SUBJECTS A total of 415 (202 in Rakai and 213 in Luwero district) respondents were randomly selected and interviewed using a mixed survey questionnaire composed of open and close-ended questions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Health facility based delivery. RESULTS The results demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between the completion of birth plans and delivery in a health facility (OR = 1.86, 95% CI =1.1, 3.1). The fear of consequences of delivering at home was found to be an important driving force in promoting the completion of birth plans, thereby indirectly influencing the likelihood of delivery in a health facility. CONCLUSION Given the empirical evidence presented here, this study suggests that birth plans are an important tool in improving the rate of health facility based deliveries and thus essential in the fight against maternal mortality in Uganda. It is further recommended that campaigns market the use of birth plans as a way to reduce uncertainty and manage fear and the unknown about pregnancy.
Microbial Evolution in the Wild

A genetic study of microbes in an acid mine drainage site provide evolutionary rate estimates for wild microbe populations. Microbial species thrive in every corner of Earth's biosphere. Their rapid growth rates and promiscuous gene swapping provide ample grist for the evolutionary mill over relatively short time spans. In ocean surface waters, for example, microbial doubling times of about 1 day result in an estimated production of around 1030 new cells per year (1). (This number exceeds that of all individual grains of sand on Earth by about 10 orders of magnitude.) These cells are not static entities, but rather the products and perpetuators of dynamic evolutionary processes. But exactly how fast, to what degree, and by what mechanisms, do free-living microbes change and evolve over time in natural settings? On page 462 of this issue, Denef and Banfield (2) report evolutionary rate estimates from free-living microbial species in the wild.
Autoantibodies to Nervous System-Specific Proteins Are Elevated in Sera of Flight Crew Members: Biomarkers for Nervous System Injury

This descriptive study reports the results of assays performed to detect circulating autoantibodies in a panel of 7 proteins associated with the nervous system (NS) in sera of 12 healthy controls and a group of 34 flight crew members including both pilots and attendants who experienced adverse effects after exposure to air emissions sourced to the ventilation system in their aircrafts and subsequently sought medical attention. The proteins selected represent various types of proteins present in nerve cells that are affected by neuronal degeneration. In the sera samples from flight crew members and healthy controls, immunoglobin (IgG) was measured using Western blotting against neurofilament triplet proteins (NFP), tubulin, microtubule-associated tau proteins (tau), microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2), myelin basic protein (MBP), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and glial S100B protein. Significant elevation in levels of circulating IgG-class autoantibodies in flight crew members was found. A symptom-free pilot was sampled before symptoms and then again afterward. This pilot developed clinical problems after flying for 45 h in 10 d. Significant increases in autoantibodies were noted to most of the tested proteins in the serum of this pilot after exposure to air emissions. The levels of autoantibodies rose with worsening of his condition compared to the serum sample collected prior to exposure. After cessation of flying for a year, this pilot's clinical condition improved, and eventually he recovered and his serum autoantibodies against nervous system proteins decreased. The case study with this pilot demonstrates a temporal relationship between exposure to air emissions, clinical condition, and level of serum autoantibodies to nervous system-specific proteins. Overall, these results suggest the possible development of neuronal injury and gliosis in flight crew members anecdotally exposed to cabin air emissions containing organophosphates. Thus, increased circulating serum autoantibodies resulting from neuronal damage may be used as biomarkers for chemical-induced CNS injury. The authors thank all of the participants who volunteered to take part in this case study. The technical work of Dr. Hagir B. Suliman and the art work of Sheref M. Abou-Donia are appreciated. This study was supported in part by the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.