Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The primary olfactory projection has two chemically distinct zones

The sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium form an anatomically uniform population but are differentially excited by odorants. We have discovered an unexpected biochemical heterogeneity within this population that extends to its axonal projection onto the olfactory bulb. This heterogeneity is recognized by a newly generated monoclonal antibody, designated RB-8, that differentially stains the primary olfactory projection in rats and divides it into 2 nonoverlapping zones. With light-microscopic immunohistochemistry, RB-8 densely labels the fascicles of the olfactory nerve from the ventral and lateral parts of the olfactory epithelium, where there is also some epithelial staining. This area, which we designate RB-8-positive, comprises about two-thirds of the epithelial sheet. RB-8 labeling of the other third of the epithelium, which includes the dorsal recess and medial tips of the dorsal turbinals, is not detectable, and the fascicles from these RB-8- negative areas are only weakly stained. These RB-8-negative areas form a contiguous zone on flattened maps of the epithelial sheet. In the olfactory bulb, RB-8 staining of the glomeruli in the ventrolateral part is correspondingly dense, while that in the dorsomedial glomeruli is undetectable or very light. In the labeled glomeruli, the RB-8 staining is precisely coextensive with anti-olfactory marker protein staining, which serves as a marker for the olfactory axons and terminals. In addition, knife-cut lesions of the olfactory nerve totally eliminate the RB-8 staining in the glomeruli where the destruction of the olfactory terminals is complete. There is also a good correlation between the staining patterns in the bulb and epithelium and what is known from tract-tracing studies of the arrangement of the axonal projection of the epithelium onto the bulb. This evidence strongly suggests that, in the olfactory nerve and glomeruli, RB-8 stains the olfactory axons and their terminals. A survey of the CNS and peripheral tissues demonstrates that staining with RB-8 is nervous system-specific; not all components of the CNS and PNS are stained. The antigen recognized by RB-8 was characterized in immunoblots and by use of a direct radioimmunoassay (RIA) which assessed binding of 125I-RB-8. With this assay, the RB-8 binding sites in whole brain are shown to be membrane-associated, saturable, immunologically specific for RB-8, and trypsin-sensitive. In SDS-PAGE immunoblots of membrane proteins, the antigen in rat forebrain and in the olfactory nerve is a protein of 125 kDa Mr, which comigrates in mixtures of membranes from the 2 sources. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
What does ‘local’ mean in the grocery store? Multiplicity in food retailers' perspectives on sourcing and marketing local foods

Abstract Local food systems are comprised of networks of actors that work to ensure the sustainability of food supplies within communities. While local food has typically been promoted through direct marketing strategies such as farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture (CSA), retail stores are increasingly carrying and marketing local foods in response to consumer demand and market potential. Given the frequency with which consumers shop at grocery stores, as well as the portion of consumers' food purchases made at these locations, these stores may play a significant role in the success of local agriculture and the shaping of ideology about what is ‘local’. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with representatives of food retailers known to source and market local foods in the four major urban centers of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Our results reveal that grocers' perceptions of local food vary significantly from one another. Additionally, our results differed in comparison to the published literature on consumers' and producers' ideas of what constitutes local. Food retailers identified varying distances (frequently a region including several states) that they consider local, as well as diverse reasons for choosing to source and market local foods (most commonly supporting the local economy). Some trends in the variation of responses relate to how the size and form of ownership of the grocery stores influence the level at which decisions are made. These wide-ranging perceptions outline many of the realities of the local food movement, as well as opportunities for change.
Gubernatorial Endorsements and Ballot Measure Approval

Voters often make decisions on ballot measures with limited information. Research shows, however, that elite endorsements can help voters overcome their information deficiencies. Using survey experiments, we evaluate the effect of a gubernatorial endorsement on three recent ballot measures. We find that identifying the governor as a proponent of a particular measure has a significant effect on respondents’ support for only one of the three ballot measures we examine: a highly publicized health initiative in 2000. For two lower profile referendums on bonds supporting higher education (in 2006) and roads (in 2011), a gubernatorial endorsement proved ineffective. These results hold even when we restrict our sample to respondents who are the most likely to be influenced by the treatment. As a result, we tentatively conclude that gubernatorial endorsements, while valuable to some voters, are highly conditional.
Ethical issues as competitive advantage for bank management

Purpose - Ethics have always played a crucial role in the realm of business and commerce. This paper aims to extract the principle factors of ethical practices to develop a model for competitive advantage in banking and to show the relation between ethical practice and customer satisfaction and the linked reason for satisfaction as a tool for competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach - Based on the literature review, ethical issues in banking have been identified as a foundation work. Then an empirical study using survey research has been completed. The survey questionnaire has been designed using the literature and pilot survey input. Factor analysis has been conducted to derive ethical factors for competitive advantage from the survey data, which included 186 responses. Findings - From the analysis, two principle factors have been extracted: the cost leveraging factor; and the value leveraging factor which lead to competitive advantage. More over, it also revealed that high ethical practice results in high customer satisfaction and performance. Practical implications - This study develops a guideline of competitive advantage for bank management through ethical practice. Originality/value - The paper extracts how ethical factors create competitive advantage in banking and the linked reason of ethical practice and performance of banks which has not often received much focus from previous studies.
The Global Macroeconomic Crisis and G20 Macroeconomic Policy Coordination

This paper argues that the global macroeconomy has been highly unstable. The combination of undervalued exchange rates in East Asia and the use by the US of monetary policy to ensure a steady growth led to an outcome in which interest rates fell a great deal. In the presence of a highly leveraged financial system, such a large fall in interest rates created a very large rise in the price of financial assets—in particular houses in the US. These high asset prices could not be sustained in the face of rising interest rates, and their collapse led to the present crisis. The paper argues that a global regime will be necessary that constrains excessively high savings in East Asia, and elsewhere, and constrains excessive fiscal deficits in the US, and elsewhere. Such a regime would also constrain global imbalances.
Enhanced Glutathione Levels and Oxidoresistance Mediated by Increased Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase Expression*

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is the key enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway that is responsible for the generation of NADPH, which is required in many detoxifying reactions. We have recently demonstrated that G6PD expression is induced by a variety of chemical agents acting at different steps in the biochemical pathway controlling the intracellular redox status. Although we obtained evidence that the oxidative stress-mediated enhancement of G6PD expression is a general phenomenon, the functional significance of such G6PD induction after oxidant insult is still poorly understood. In this report, we used a GSH-depleting drug that determines a marked decrease in the intracellular pool of reduced glutathione and a gradual but notable increase in G6PD expression. Both effects are seen soon after drug addition. Once G6PD activity has reached the maximum, the GSH pool is restored. We suggest and also provide the first direct evidence that G6PD induction serves to maintain and regenerate the intracellular GSH pool. We used HeLa cell clones stably transfected with the human G6PD gene that display higher G6PD activity than the parent HeLa cells. Although the activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase were comparable in all strains, the concentrations of GSH were significantly higher in G6PD-overexpressing clones. A direct consequence of GSH increase in these cells is a decreased reactive oxygen species production, which makes these cells less sensitive to the oxidative burst produced by external stimuli. Indeed, all clones that constitutively overexpress G6PD exhibited strong protection against oxidants-mediated cell killing. We also observe that NF-κB activation, in response to tumor necrosis factor-α treatment, is strongly reduced in human HeLa cells overexpressing G6PD.
Choice and Voice – A Review

‘Choice’ and ‘voice’ are two of the most significant means through which the public are able to participate in public services. Choice agendas position public service users as consumers, driving improvements by choosing good providers over bad, which then thrive through greater allocations of funds as money follows their selections (Le Grand, 2007). Choice-driven reforms tend to be about trying to make public services more locally responsive (Ferlie, Freeman, McDonnell, Petsoulas and Rundle-Smith, 2006). Voice-driven reforms, on the other hand, tend to position public service users as citizens, suggesting an emphasis on accountability mechanisms to drive service improvements through elections, with the possible removal of low regarded officials, or a greater involvement of local people in the running of services (Jenkins, 2006). Voice implies that citizens hold the right to participate in public services either through the political process, or through their direct involvement in the running or delivery of the services themselves. Of course, it is also possible to combine choice and voice mechanisms to try and achieve greater service responsiveness and accountability. In this review, choice reforms will be treated as those which are based upon consumer literature, and voice reforms those based upon attempting to achieve greater citizenship. Citizenship and consumption are two areas with significant literatures in their own right, but whereas the citizenship literature is widely cited in the social policy literature, the consumption literature appears rather more selectively. This review examines each area in turn in terms of its application to social policy, and then presents a synthesis of commonalties in the two literatures, which represent particularly promising avenues for exploring the relationship between public services and their users.
The cotton problem

Cotton is an important cash crop in many developing economies, supporting the livelihoods of millions of poor households. In some countries it contributes as much as 40 percent of merchandise exports and more than 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The global cotton market, however, has been subject to numerous policy interventions, to the detriment of nonsubsidized producers. This examination of the global cotton market and trade policies reaches four main conclusions. First, rich cotton-producing countries should stop supporting their cotton sectors; as an interim step, transfers to the cotton sector should be fully decoupled from current production decisions. Second, many cotton-producing (and often cotton-dependent) developing economies need to complete their unfinished reform agenda. Third, new technologies, especially genetically modified seed varieties, should be embraced by developing economies; this will entail extensive research to identify varieties appropriate to local growing conditions and the establishment of the proper legislative and regulatory framework. Finally, cotton promotion is needed to reverse or at least arrest cottons decline as a share of total fiber consumption.
Long-Run Profit Functions for Multiproduct Firms

A long-run specification of the multiproduct profit function is developed from the restricted profit function. The multiproduct restricted profit function and the envelope condition are used to estimate the optimal, long-run levels of the quasi-fixed factor. Formulas for long-run Marshallian elasticities of substitution and transformation, economies of scope, product-specific and overall economies of scale, and economic measures of capacity utilization are developed for the translog functional form. The methodology is illustrated by a case study of the New England otter trawl industry.
Le contenu informatif des chiffres comptables : vers de nouvelles améliorations méthodologiques ?

The purpose of this study is to extend the research on the information content of accounting numbers in two directions. Firstly, we test whether the explanatory power of accounting variables (earnings and cash flows) can be improved by using a nonlinear specification. Secondly, we investigate how firm-specific attributes such as size, debt level and firm life-cycle influence the relative relevance of accounting measures. Results support a nonlinear relationship between stock returns and accounting variables. They indicate also that the relevance of earnings is conditional on size, debt level and life-cycle of the firm.
Single Switch Nonisolated Ultra-Step-Up DC–DC Converter With an Integrated Coupled Inductor for High Boost Applications

This paper introduces a new single-switch nonisolated dc–dc converter with very high voltage gain and reduced semiconductor voltage stress. The converter utilizes an integrated autotransformer and a coupled inductor on the same core in order to achieve a very high voltage gain without using extreme duty cycle. Furthermore, a passive lossless clamp circuit recycles the leakage energy of the coupled magnetics and alleviates the voltage spikes across the main switch. This feature along with low stress on the switching device enables the designer to use a low voltage and low RDS-on MOSFET, which reduces cost, as well as conduction and turn on losses of the switch. The principle of operation, theoretical analysis, and comparison supported by some key simulation and experimental results of a 500 W prototype are presented.
Matching opportunities with resources: A framework for analysing (migrant) entrepreneurship from a mixed embeddedness perspective

In this article, an innovative analytical framework for the analysis of (migrant) entrepreneurship is presented. The approach combines the micro-level of the individual entrepreneur (with his or her resources), with the meso-level of the local opportunity structure and links the latter, in more loose way, to the macro-institutional framework. This way, insights on the necessary resources of an (aspiring/nascent) entrepreneur with views on opportunity structures can be combined. A simple typology of the opportunity structure is presented which distinguishes between different kind of openings based, on the one hand, on differences in entry barriers (in terms of human capital), and, on the other, on their dynamics (growing or stagnating). This comprehensive analytical framework relates (shifts in) opportunities, resources and outcomes of immigrant entrepreneurship in a systematic way.
Genistein Produces Hepatoprotection through Modulating EGFR Expression and Phosphorylation in Experimental Fibrosis

Background and Objective: Liver disease chronicity leads to the appearance of fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually cancer. For this reason, it is important to research new fibrosis therapies. The use of genistein as a hepatoprotective agent has been studied, but its mechanism of action is unknown. The aim of this work was to evaluate the role of genistein as a fibrosis treatment and its possible mechanism of action through CCl4-induced inhibition of EGFR in rat specimens. Methods: Hepatic fibrosis was brought about by chronic administration of CCl4 to rats. Animals with fibrosis were treated with 1 mg/kg genistein. To evaluate the hepatoprotection of genistein on liver fibrosis, we made a histopathological analysis using both HE PCNA positive cells were reduced in this group. We observed liver functionality improvement in those animals with fibrosis that were treated with genistein. Conclusion: Genistein produces hepatoprotection through modulating the expression and phosphorylation of EGFR in experimental fibrosis.
What Does 25 Years of Experience Tell Us About the State of Performance Measurement in Public Policy and Management?

Performance measurement in public management is a contested issue. Performance indicators (PIs) have diverse functions for different stakeholders over the life-cycle of a public policy, and the search for better PIs is an ongoing effort. However, instead of seeing the running down, proliferation and strategic use of performance information as dysfunctional, these effects are probably the unavoidable outcomes of functional and effective performance measurement systems in open societies and competitive democracies. PIs may effectively create ‘creative destruction’ of the present political or managerial status quo. Thus, PIs in political competition may be as important as prices in market competition.
Security Risk Management: Building an Information Security Risk Management Program from the Ground Up

The goal of Security Risk Management is to teach you practical techniques that will be used on a daily basis, while also explaining the fundamentals so you understand the rationale behind these practices. Security professionals often fall into the trap of telling the business that they need to fix something, but they can't explain why. This book will help you to break free from the so-called "best practices" argument by articulating risk exposures in business terms. You will learn techniques for how to perform risk assessments for new IT projects, how to efficiently manage daily risk activities, and how to qualify the current risk level for presentation to executive level management. While other books focus entirely on risk analysis methods, this is the first comprehensive guide for managing security risks. Includes case studies to provide hands-on experience using risk assessment tools to calculate the costs and benefits of any security investment Explores each phase of the risk management lifecycle, focusing on policies and assessment processes that should be used to properly assess and mitigate risk Presents a roadmap for designing and implementing a security risk management program
The 2004 Global Labor Survey: Workplace Institutions and Practices Around the World

The 2004 Global Labor Survey (GLS) is an Internet-based survey that seeks to measure de facto labor practices in countries around the world, covering issues such as freedom of association, the regulation of work contracts, employee benefits and the prevalence of collective bargaining. To find out about de facto practices, the GLS invited labor practitioners, ranging from union officials and activists to professors of labor law and industrial relations, to report on conditions in their country. Over 1,500 persons responded, which allowed us to create indices of practices in ten broad areas for 33 countries. The GLS' focus on de facto labor practices contrasts with recent studies of de jure labor regulations (Botero et al., 2004) and with more limited efforts to measure labor practices as part of surveys of economic freedom (Fraser Institute) and competitiveness (World Economic Forum). Although our pool of respondents differs greatly from the conservative foundations and business leaders who contribute respectively to the Fraser Institute and World Economic Forum reports, the GLS and the labor market components of the economic freedom and competitiveness measures give similar pictures of labor practices across countries. This similarity across respondents with different economic interests and ideological perspectives suggests that they are all reporting on labor market realities in a relatively unbiased way. As a broad summary statement, the GLS shows that practices favorable to workers are more prevalent in countries with high levels of income per capita; are associated with less income inequality; are unrelated to aggregate growth rates; but are modestly positively associated with unemployment.
All-optical seed pulse extraction for packet synchronization based on self-induced effects in a vertical-cavity semiconductor gate

Self-induced effects in a passive polarization-independent vertical-cavity semiconductor gate are investigated numerically and experimentally. We demonstrate all-optical seed-pulse extraction for synchronization of differential phase-shift keying and ON-OFF keying packets at 10 Gb/s. Our results provide evidence that vertical-cavity gates, exploiting saturable absorption in semiconductor quantum-wells, exhibit attractive performances in terms of efficiency, power consumption, and polarization independency.
Debating the ‘Power’ of Audit

This paper provides a critical but constructive review of Michael Power's recent text entitled The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification (1997). The paper first summarises the essential ideas put forward by Power with regard to the scale and significance of the Audit Society. It then debates some of Power's central arguments and claims, focusing, among other things, on the causes underlying the rise of the audit society, the definition of audit, the meaning of auditability and the relationship between audit and performance measurment. The paper concludes by considering the possibilities for auditing to serve a more positive role in society than that generally portrayed by Power.
From "collective" to "individual" reductions in working time ?

A survey of working time trends in the countries of the European Union over the past twenty years reveals the diminishing role of general collectively agreed working time reductions. The increasing importance of part-time work is interpreted less as a shift in emphasis from "collective" to "individual" working time reductions than as a concomitant of increasing, female labour market participation which may represent a transition to equal status of men and women in working life. On the basis of the European experiences reported in the other articles contained in this issue, the author discusses possible paths to a revival of collective bargaining and statutory policy in the working time field.
Dividend Policy and Earnings Management Across Countries

This paper examines whether dividend policy is associated with earnings management and whether the relationship varies across countries with wide-ranging degrees of institutional strength and transparency. Based on a sample of 23,429 corporations from 29 countries, we show that dividend payers manage earnings less than dividend non-payers, and that this evidence is stronger in countries with weak investor protection and high opacity. Further, we find that dividend payers manage earnings less when they issue equity following dividend payments, and that this result is more pronounced in countries with weak institutions and low transparency. Overall, our evidence suggests that firms may employ dividend policies associated with less earnings manipulation to mitigate agency concerns and to establish credible reputation, thereby facilitating access to external funds.