Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Legislation Prohibiting the Closed Shop in New Zealand: Its Introduction and Consequences

Since 1936 a post-entry closed shop has prevailed in all registered private-sector trade unions in New Zealand. In 1983 the then National government passed highly contro versial legislation prohibiting all forms of union security or employment preference clauses. Most unions suffered neglible membership losses in the first six months of voluntary unionism. The chief exceptions were a small group of unions whose mem bership comprises a high proportion of female and part-time workers dispersed throughout numerous workplaces. For the majority of unions, recruitment of new members proved to be a greater problem than the retention of old. The effects upon levels of industrial conflict were more substantial, as unions acted quickly to preserve their closed shop in defiance of the legislation. In December 1984, the newly elected Labour government introduced legislation to Parliament restoring a post-entry closed shop system.
Synergistic Annotation of Multimedia Content

We describe work in progress toward a new approach for multimedia annotation in which the system and user work synergistically together. This work in progress is particularly focused on enabling journalists to efficiently annotate articles for submission to news agencies. Initial work on gathering user requirements is detailed along with several interesting findings that resulted from this process: capturing mood and emotion is needed as well as descriptive content. Important areas for future research are also highlighted and discussed.
Mirrored Pairs of Optimization Problems

Often, a solution to one problem of constrained optimization is also a solution to another, closely related, problem. The binocular vision afforded by these mirrored pairs of optimization problems frequently adds clarity and insight to our understanding of the original problem, as it so markedly has in the case of consumer's demand. There it is standard to remark that a solution to the problem of maximizing utility subject to given prices and wealth is, "in non-perverse cases" (Varian, 1978, p. 92), also a solution to the problem of minimizing expenditures subject to achieving the appropriate level of utility, and vice versa, a remark that leads directly to "important identities that tie together the expenditure function, the indirect utility function, the Marshallian demand function, and the Hicksian demand function" (Varian, 1978, p. 92). The question then arises of delineating precisely what is meant by these "non-perverse cases", in which a solution to an original problem is also a solution to its reflection. The conditions for the consumer's problem offered in Varian's textbook (1978, p. 112) are really quite sharp, while even those in Debreu's classic treatise (1959, pp. 67-71) are still unnecessarily restrictive. Moreover, these discussions do not bring out the symmetries between the conditions under which a solution to an original maximum problem also solves its reflected minimum problem, and those under which a solution to a minimum problem also solves its reflected maximum problem. This paper presents an abstract formulation of such problems, a formulation that leads naturally to a simple, symmetric and complete answer to the question posed above. Because the sole concern is with the interrelations of solutions to different problems, the theory needs to deal only with a few primitive objects, less numerous and less subtle than would be required for deeper inquiries into such matters as the existence, uniqueness or stability of solutions. Thus, the results obtained here do not lie at all "deep" in the mathematical sense, the simplicity of the proofs alone precluding that. Nevertheless, the high degree of abstraction gives the formal scheme considerable generality and power, capable of application in a wide variety of concrete specializations, and so eliminating the need to prove similar theorems ad hoc as one encounters each separate application.
The Effect of Property Rights and Audit Information Quality on Team Incentives for Inventory Reduction

We analyze how limited contractibility and the informational quality of audits affect inventory levels and the optimality of individual versus team-based production. We use a two-period agency model in which contractibility is limited and agents meet a fixed delivery quota each period. A costly audit is triggered in any period if the delivery quota of output for the period is not met. We show that the informativeness of the audit plays a crucial role in resolving coordination problems between agents when they are organized as a team. When the audit is perfectly informative about agent productivity and inventory levels, team-based production is optimal. The team meets its quota even though, in equilibrium, the audit never takes place. If the audit is not perfectly informative about inventory levels, we show that team-based production typically induces agents to endogenously reduce inventory levels and could even result in agents adopting a zero-inventory policy. When the audit is completely uninformative, individual production is superior to team-based production.
Investigation of acoustic noise on 15 MRI scanners from 0.2 T to 3 T

Acoustic noise levels for fast MRI pulse sequences were surveyed on 14 systems with field strengths ranging from 0.2 T to 3 T. A microphone insensitive to the magnetic environment was placed close to the magnet isocenter and connected via an extension cable to a sound level meter outside the scan room. Measured noise levels varied from 82.5 ± 0.1 dB(A) for a 0.23 T system to 118.4 ± 1.3 dB(A) for a 3 T system. Further measurements on four of the closed‐bore systems surveyed showed that: 1) pulse sequence parameters (particularly FOV and TR) were more influential in determining noise level than field strength, 2) the noise level was found to vary along the z‐direction with a maximum near the bore entrance, and 3) in one of two systems tested there was a significant increase in noise with a volunteer present instead of a test object. The results underline the importance of hearing protection for patients and for staff spending extended periods in the scan room. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2001;13:288–293. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Permanent pacemaker implantation via the femoral vein: an alternative in cases with contraindications to the pectoral approach.

BACKGROUND This paper presents a consecutive series of permanent pacemakers (PPM) implanted via the femoral vein in patients with contraindications to pacing systems via the superior vena cava (SCV). The femoral vein approach is a less invasive and feasible alternative to epicardial lead placement. METHODS Twenty-seven patients had femoral pacemakers inserted. Indications for femoral vein pacemaker insertion were: SVC/subclavian obstruction (12 patients, 44.4%), previous infection in SVC leads (four patients, 14.8%), mastectomy and/or radiotherapy to chest (four patients, 14.8%), multiple leads in SVC (two patients, 7.4%), recurrent erosion (two patients, 7.4%), abnormal anatomy (one patient, 3.7%), painful pacemaker pocket (one patient, 3.7%) and burns (one patient, 3.7%). Fifty-one leads, 25 atrial and 26 ventricular, were inserted. The majority of leads were active fixations (96% of atrial leads and 85% ventricular leads). RESULTS During a mean follow-up of 36.5 months (range 0.9-116.5), six additional unplanned procedures were performed in four patients. Atrial lead displacement occurred in five leads (20%). There were no ventricular lead displacements. In two patients, box revision for pre-erosion was required. One patient had persistent pain at the site of abdominal pacemaker generator. Infection, thromboembolic events, thromophlebitis, evidence of lower limb venous occlusion and lead fracture did not occur. CONCLUSION Femoral vein PPM are a simple and feasible alternative in patients in whom the SVC approach is contraindicated.
WILL THE DILEMMA OF EVIDENCE‐BASED SURGERY EVER BE RESOLVED?

Exponents of evidence‐based medicine do not undermine the importance of clinical expertise and skills, but they emphasize that decision‐making in medicine should be based on the best available evidence derived from the systematic analysis of observations made in an objective, unbiased and a reproducible fashion. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the most scientifically rigorous means of hypothesis testing in epidemiology. Discrepancies between established surgical and other interventions and best available evidence are common. These can be in the form of significant delay in adopting a new intervention despite strong supportive evidence, adopting an intervention before supportive evidence becomes available for reasons of novelty or pear pressure and the lack of supportive evidence for many established common practices. This is compounded further by the paucity of good quality evidence for most surgical procedures. This is arguably because of the inherent difficulties in conducting surgical RCT. The practical, ethical and financial ramifications are complex and the nature of surgical disease often compromise the chances of success or completion of RCT. Carrying out surgical RCT may have more implications on the clinician’s authority, autonomy and income and their results are more likely to be influenced by his/her expertise and competence than medical RCT. Furthermore, the success of surgical RCT is often jeopardized by very low recruitment rates. The aim of this study is to discuss the dilemma of producing evidence in surgery.
Gas exchange recovery following natural drought is rapid unless limited by loss of leaf hydraulic conductance: evidence from an evergreen woodland.

Drought can cause major damage to plant communities, but species damage thresholds and postdrought recovery of forest productivity are not yet predictable. We used an El Niño drought event as a natural experiment to test whether postdrought recovery of gas exchange could be predicted by properties of the water transport system, or if metabolism, primarily high abscisic acid concentration, might delay recovery. We monitored detailed physiological responses, including shoot sapflow, leaf gas exchange, leaf water potential and foliar abscisic acid (ABA), during drought and through the subsequent rehydration period for a sample of eight canopy and understory species. Severe drought caused major declines in leaf water potential, elevated foliar ABA concentrations and reduced stomatal conductance and assimilation rates in our eight sample species. Leaf water potential surpassed levels associated with incipient loss of leaf hydraulic conductance in four species. Following heavy rainfall gas exchange in all species, except those trees predicted to have suffered hydraulic impairment, recovered to prestressed rates within 1 d. Recovery of plant gas exchange was rapid and could be predicted by the hydraulic safety margin, providing strong support for leaf vulnerability to water deficit as an index of damage under natural drought conditions.
Effects of plasmon energetics on light emission induced by scanning tunneling microscopy

A theoretical model of plasmon and molecular luminescence induced by scanning tunneling microscopy using a molecule-covered tip on clean metal surfaces is developed. The effects of coupling between molecular exciton and interface plasmon on the luminescence spectra are investigated for variable energy of plasmon modes by means of the nonequilibrium Green's function method. It is found that spectral features arising from interference between the processes of energy absorption by the molecule and interface plasmons appear near the energy of the excitonic mode. For the energy of plasmon above (below) the energy of excitonic mode, an additional peak structure appears in the energy range slightly below (above) the energy of the excitonic mode. Prominent peak and dip structures observed in recent luminescence experiments are interpreted by the developed theory whereby its utility in the fields of plasmonics and nanophotonics is demonstrated.
An Improved Persistent Scatterer Interferometry for Subsidence Monitoring in the Tehran Basin

The Southwestern Tehran basin is covered primarily by agricultural fields and is subjected to significant levels of land subsidence phenomena. Conventional SAR interferometry cannot extract deformation information from the available SAR images due to large spatial baselines and temporal de-correlation. Moreover, the proper Persistent Scatterer interferometry method for a rural area (StaMPS, Stanford method for Persistent Scatterer) cannot efficiently operate in areas with high deformation, such as the Tehran basin, because of unwrapping error caused by temporal aliasing of the signal. Therefore, in this work, a method based on StaMPS is developed to address the unwrapping error in the Tehran basin. In the proposed method, the estimated deformation rate from the wrapped phase and the periodogram approach are used to reduce the likelihood of aliasing, and StaMPS is subsequently applied to the residual phase. The method is applied to ENVISAT ASAR images captured between 2003 and 2008, and the mean precision of the estimated deformation is approximately 2.5 mm/yr. A comparison of the results obtained from the proposed method with those from continuous GPS and leveling measurements demonstrates its efficiency.
Trends in the nutritional content of television food advertisements seen by children in the United States: analyses by age, food categories, and companies.

OBJECTIVE To examine trends in children's exposure to food-related advertising on television by age, product category, and company. DESIGN Nutritional content analysis using television ratings data for 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 for children. SETTING Annual age-specific television ratings data captured children's exposure to broadcast network, cable network, syndicated, and spot television food advertising from all (except Spanish-language) programming. PARTICIPANTS Children aged 2 to 5 and 6 to 11 years. Main Exposure Television ratings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Children's exposure to food-related advertising on television with nutritional assessments for food and beverage products for grams of saturated fat, sugar, and fiber and milligrams of sodium. RESULTS Children aged 2 to 5 and 6 to 11 years saw, respectively, on average, 10.9 and 12.7 food-related television advertisements daily in 2009, down 17.8% and 6.9% from 2003. Exposure to food and beverage products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium fell 37.9% and 27.7% but fast-food advertising exposure increased by 21.1% and 30.8% among 2- to 5- and 6- to 11-year-olds, respectively, between 2003 and 2009. In 2009, 86% of ads seen by children were for products high in saturated fat, sugar, or sodium, down from 94% in 2003. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to unhealthy food and beverage product advertisements has fallen, whereas exposure to fast-food ads increased from 2003 to 2009. By 2009, there was not a substantial improvement in the nutritional content of food and beverage advertisements that continued to be advertised and viewed on television by US children.
From Innovation Systems to Knowledge Systems

This paper seeks to provide an understanding of knowledge creation and dissemination through an exploration and analysis of knowledge systems. It begins with a brief review of the systems of innovation approach. This is followed by a discussion of knowledge systems in which the nature of knowledge is considered and a definition of knowledge systems is outlined. A conceptual analysis of knowledge systems is provided in which they are compared and contrasted with systems of innovation. The conceptual framework presented is then examined more fully within the context of the computer services sector. Finally, conclusions are drawn and directions for further research are outlined.
Limited Tissue Penetration of Taxanes: A Mechanism for Resistance in Solid Tumors

Purpose: Limited drug penetration in solid tumors is a potential mechanism of resistance for many anticancer drugs. Taxanes represent a class of drugs that are currently undergoing a new round of development, but with little known of their ability to penetrate and distribute relative to blood vessels within solid tumors. Experimental Design: We assessed the tissue penetration of paclitaxel and docetaxel in HCT-116 tumor xenografts and in multilayered cell culture (MCC), a three-dimensional cell culture model of the tumor extravascular compartment. In xenografts, taxanes were mapped relative to blood vessels to obtain drug profiles as a function of distance from vasculature. For MCC, cultures were exposed to stirred drug reservoirs and taxanes measured as a function of depth into tissue. Results: Both taxanes exhibited limited penetration, with little drug reaching further than 100 μm into the tissue. Of the two, paclitaxel exhibited up to 2-fold greater penetration than docetaxel. Mapping tumor cell proliferation following treatment allowed the consequences of limited drug penetration to be assessed. In tumor xenografts where reduced drug exposure to cells far from vasculature is one of several factors influencing response to treatment, up to a 75% reduction in S-phase cells was achieved in cells nearest the vessels, but only 50% reduction was observed in the tissue 150 μm away. In MCC-based data, where the influence of reduced cell proliferation with depth into tissue was circumvented, a 5-fold (paclitaxel) and 10-fold (docetaxel) increase in reservoir drug concentration was required to produce a response in cells 150 μm into the tissue equivalent to that seen in cells directly exposed to the drug. Conclusion: These results indicate that limited distribution is an important mechanism of tumor resistance to taxanes.
Effects of Weight-Related Literal and Metaphorical Suggestions About the Forearms During Hypnosis

Abstract During hypnosis, the authors tested repeated weight-related, literal and metaphorical suggestions about the heaviness of the subjects' arms. The purpose was to determine if linguistically varied hypnotic suggestions produced significantly different motor reactions—involuntary pressure forces of the forearms—as assessed by a linguistic biomechanical system. Classic, literal (L) suggestions such as “your right arm is heavy” were used, as well as metaphorical (M) suggestions, such as “your right arm is made of lead. ” A specific effect on the progressive increase of pressure forces only in the temporal sequence L-M for each forearm (literal suggestions followed by metaphorical suggestions) was found. This effect, termed crescendo image metaphor effect, conceptualized within context-limited simulation theory, explains the findings.
An efficient stop word elimination algorithm for Urdu language

Stop words occur multiple times in a document and the occurrence of stop words have least semantic value in the document sentences. These words cover a noteworthy bundle of archives that have no semantic significance. So, the stop words ought to be removed for better language description. In this paper, we have proposed a proficient algorithm which will eliminate the Urdu document stop words. Many considerable efforts have been performed in the areas like natural language processing (NLP), stemming for Urdu language and sentence limit disambiguation. However, there is no such work available for Urdu language that can remove the stop words from an Urdu document. That is the motivation behind this work that we proposed stop words elimination algorithm from Urdu language documents. This is being carried out for the first time in Urdu language by our proposed algorithm.
Increased risk of HIV-1 transmission in pregnancy: a prospective study among African HIV-1-serodiscordant couples

Background:Physiologic and behavioral changes during pregnancy may alter HIV-1 susceptibility and infectiousness. Prospective studies exploring pregnancy and HIV-1 acquisition risk in women have found inconsistent results. No study has explored the effect of pregnancy on HIV-1 transmission risk from HIV-1-infected women to male partners. Methods:In a prospective study of African HIV-1-serodiscordant couples, we evaluated the relationship between pregnancy and the risk of HIV-1 acquisition among women and HIV-1 transmission from women to men. Results:Three thousand three hundred and twenty-one HIV-1-serodiscordant couples were enrolled, 1085 (32.7%) with HIV-1 susceptible female partners and 2236 (67.3%) with susceptible male partners. HIV-1 incidence in women was 7.35 versus 3.01 per 100 person-years during pregnant and nonpregnant periods [hazard ratio 2.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.33–4.09]. This effect was attenuated and not statistically significant after adjusting for sexual behavior and other confounding factors (adjusted hazard ratio 1.71, 95% CI 0.93–3.12). HIV-1 incidence in male partners of infected women was 3.46 versus 1.58 per 100 person-years when their partners were pregnant versus not pregnant (hazard ratio 2.31, 95% CI 1.22–4.39). This effect was not attenuated in adjusted analysis (adjusted hazard ratio 2.47, 95% CI 1.26–4.85). Conclusion:HIV-1 risk increased two-fold during pregnancy. Elevated risk of HIV-1 acquisition in pregnant women appeared in part to be explained by behavioral and other factors. This is the first study to show that pregnancy increased the risk of female-to-male HIV-1 transmission, which may reflect biological changes of pregnancy that could increase HIV-1 infectiousness.
Estimation of tourism demand function for Australian destinations: a time-varying parameter approach

The main purpose of this paper is to estimate the foreign tourism demand for Australia during 1976–2012. This study applies the time-varying parameter approach to tourism demand modelling. To this end, the behavioural change of tourists over time is traced using the Kalman filter approach. The findings show that the income elasticity, price elasticity, and habit formation have a steady declining trend over time. The elasticity of tourism demand with respect to the world per capita income is greater than that of the “cost of living” and “habit formation” indicators. The foreign tourism appears to be a luxury good and inelastic to the domestic prices.