Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Success Factors for New Generation Cooperatives

The goal of this research was to determine success factors for New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs). A self-explicated approach was used to assess the importance of various factors grouped in broad categories using data collected from a mailout survey of NGC managers. Results suggest that factors in the “Planning and Development” and “Financing and Costs” categories are considered to be critically important by NGC managers, though differences in factor rankings exist between managers of enterprises involved in the processing of different commodities.
Representation of the Online Tourism Domain in Search Engines

With the growing importance of the Internet for travel planning, understanding the online domain of tourism is vital in order to identify the challenges and potential solutions for effectively marketing travel destinations. This study focuses attention on understanding the representation of the tourism domain on the Internet. Analyses of search results from a major search engine were conducted in order to assess: 1) the visibility of destination-related information; 2) the visibility of various industry sectors within destinations; and 3) the power structure of websites that represent a specific destination. The results show that although there is a huge amount of information indexed, travelers can only access a tiny fraction of the domain. Also, there are a relatively small number of websites dominating the search results. This study provides a number of important insights into the challenges facing the tourism industry with respect to representing a destination online.
A Two-Way Network Beamforming Approach Based on Total Power Minimization With Symmetric Relay Beamforming Matrices

We study the total transmit power minimization problem for a two-way relay network under two constraints on the transceivers’ received signal-to-noise-ratios. The network considered herein consists of multiple multi-antenna relay nodes and two single-antenna transceivers. Each relay transforms the vector of its received signals, by multiplying this vector with a complex beamforming matrix, thereby obtaining a new vector whose entries are transmitted over different antennas of that relay. Assuming the relay beamforming matrices and the transceivers’ transmit powers as the design parameters, we first study the total power minimization problem under the assumption that the relay beamforming matrices are symmetric. Under such an assumption, we show that the total power minimization problem is amenable to a semi-closed-form solution, and thus, it can be solved efficiently. We then consider the case, where the relay beamforming matrices may not be symmetric and show that in this case, the total power minimization problem can be solved using a computationally prohibitive algorithm which involves a 2-D search over a grid in the space of the transceivers’ transmit powers and semi-definite programming at each vertex of this grid. Our numerical results show that the symmetric assumption on the relay beamforming matrices incurs only insignificant loss, while this assumption allows us to significantly reduce the computational burden of solving the total power minimization problem.
Genes involved in hemorrhagic transformations that follow recombinant t-PA treatment in stroke patients.

AIM Despite the benefits of recombinant t-PA (rt-PA) for stroke patients some of them suffer from adverse hemorrhagic transformations (HTs) following treatment. Our objective is to study the transcriptomics of HTs patients. METHODS We studied by microarrays 11 blood samples from patients with stroke that had received rt-PA of whom six of them had suffered a HT. For replication step RNA was collected from 14 new subjects (seven with HT, seven without) and then analyzed by real-time PCR. Four proteins were measured by ELISA in 72 new subjects to analyze their role as potential protein biomarkers. RESULTS The microarray analysis revealed that 14 genes were altered among the HT patients. The replication study confirmed these results for six genes. Two of them (BCL2 and OLFM4) are associated with apoptosis, whereas the other four (LTF, LCN2 [also known as NGAL], CEACAM8 and CRISP3) are involved in the regulation of neutrophil processes. CONCLUSION Our data revealed that genes related to apoptosis and neutrophil regulation pathways could be associated with HTs after rt-PA.
Educational systems and labor market outcomes

Educational opportunities, and the specific structures of educational systems, are as consequential for mobility in labor markets as are the attributes of the individuals who make careers in those markets. The conceptual and empirical challenge is to understand how individual and environmental factors interactively affect mobility processes. The argument is developed in three steps. First, a typology for the classification of educational systems is presented. According to this typology, educational systems can be distinguished along the criteria of 'standardization' (the provision of equal educational standards nationwide) and 'stratification' (the selection procedures within the systems). Second, general hypotheses are stated on how educational system characteristics shape labor market outcomes. With a stratified educational system, occupational status is closely determined by individual educational attainment; with an unstratified system, occupational status is less determined by educational attainment. On the other hand, with a standardized system, job changes occur less frequently than with an unstandardized system. Third, empirical evidence is provided. The educational systems of Norway, West Germany and the United States are evaluated according to the typology of standardization and stratification. The connection of educational system attributes and labor market outcomes is analyzed on the basis of retrospective life history data from the United States, Norway and West Germany.
Mediterranean diet and health

Over the last decades, a considerable body of evidence supported the hypothesis that diet and dietary factors play a relevant role in the occurrence of diseases. To date, all the major scientific associations as well as the World Health Organization and the nonscientific organizations place an ever‐increasing emphasis on the role of diet in preventing noncommunicable diseases. Many studies have evaluated the associations between food groups, foods, or nutrients and chronic diseases, and a consensus about the role of nutritional factors in the etiology of common diseases, such as cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases, has gradually emerged. Indeed, data from analytical and experimental studies indicated a relation between increased consumption of some food categories such as fruits and vegetables, fiber and whole grains, fish, and moderate consumption of alcohol and reduced risk of major chronic degenerative diseases, whereas increased total caloric intake, body weight, meat, and fats are associated with greater risk. However, the appropriate dietary strategy to prevent chronic degenerative diseases remains a challenging and a highly relevant issue. Recently, Mediterranean diet has been extensively reported to be associated with a favorable health outcome and a better quality of life. In the present review, we encompass the updated evidence of the beneficial effects of Mediterranean diet in the occurrence of major chronic degenerative diseases. © 2013 BioFactors, 39(4):335–342, 2013
The U.S. Property and Liability Insurance Industry: Firm Growth, Size, and Age

The relationship between firm size, age, and growth is tested for the U.S. property and liability (P‐L) insurance industry, and the determinants of firm characteristics on firm growth are analyzed. Using Heckman's two‐stage methodology, this article examines the relationship between corporate growth and firm size. The relationship between firm growth and firm age is also investigated. Furthermore, to determine time‐varying effects, the analysis is conducted for the different subperiods. The results of this article strongly support Gibrat's Law in the U.S. P‐L insurance market for the testing periods. The results are consistent for longer time periods and for shorter subperiods. It also finds that young firms grow faster than old firms during the sample periods. Related to the determinants of firm characteristics on firm growth, insurers using less input cost tend to grow fast. Economies of scope are positively related to firm growth as well.
Signal classification via multi-scale PCA and empirical classification methods

Data coming from a real-world complex system are usually contaminated by noises or some irrelevant components, which do not contribute to improve signal classification accuracy. Also in the process of signal feature enhancement, the performance of any statistical method used to recover the original signals may be impacted by the noise. In this paper, we propose the multi-scale principal component analysis (PCA) method, which combines discrete wavelet transform with PCA for feature enhancement and signal decomposition in both spatial and temporal domains. We developed a new classification method, called empirical classification (EC), to classify the power spectra of the feature extracted signals after the multi-scale PCA procedure. These methods were applied to a publicly available EEG database for the purpose of signal classification. An overall accuracy of 99% for the classification of 500 real EEG recordings under different considered classification problems is obtained. Our results show that signal decomposition by multi-scale PCA coupled with the EC method, leads to a highly promising accuracy in classifying epileptic EEG signals.
Deletions Overlapping VCAN Exon 8 Are New Molecular Defects for Wagner Disease

Wagner disease is a rare nonsyndromic autosomal‐dominant vitreoretinopathy, associated with splice mutations specifically targeting VCAN exon 8. We report the extensive genetic analysis of two Wagner probands, previously found negative for disease‐associated splice mutations. Next‐generation sequencing (NGS), quantitative real‐time PCR, and long‐range PCR identified two deletions (3.4 and 10.5 kb) removing at least one exon–intron boundary of exon 8, and both correlating with an imbalance of VCAN mRNA isoforms. We showed that the 10.5‐kb deletion occurred de novo, causing somatic mosaicism in the proband's mother who had an unusually mild asymmetrical phenotype. Therefore, exon 8 deletions are novel VCAN genetic defects responsible for Wagner disease, and VCAN mosaic mutations may be involved in the pathogenesis of Wagner disease with attenuated phenotype. NGS is then an effective screening tool for genetic diagnosis of Wagner disease, improving the chance of identifying all disease‐causative variants as well as mosaic mutations in VCAN.
The Labor Market for New Ph.D. Economists

Presents results from a survey of 450 new (1996-97) Ph.D. economists, providing information about employment, underemployment, employers, work activities, salaries, and job satisfaction. Comparisons are made across ranks of the graduates' Ph.D. programs, sectors of employment and subfields of economics, as well as over time. Labor market outcomes for economists also are compared with those of seven other disciplines. Results indicate that a growing proportion of new economics Ph.D.s start their careers in business or industry, that an international market for new economics Ph.D.s is evolving, and that job outcomes for economists compare favorably with new Ph.D.s in many other disciplines.
COÛTS DE TRANSACTION ET CHOIX DES ÉLEVEURS LAITIERS DANS L'APPELLATION D'ORIGINE CONTROLÉE CANTAL

This paper focuses on the choices of producers in dairy systems in the department of Cantal in a particular context. The Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) of Cantal cheese meets some difficulties concerning the upgrading of the price of milk and the modifications of its specifications. The analysis concerns the choices of farmers confronted with two alternatives, namely the choice of a dairy to collect their milk and the choice of processing milk at the farm. By using the transaction costs theory and a survey with farmers, we show that the contractual relations between farmer and dairy and the uncertainty of the milk price are determining for the choice of the dairy, whereas processing requires specific investments that are very costly.
Women's Mobilization and Gender Outcomes in Transitions to Democracy

This article explores the conditions under which women's mobilizations during transitions to democracy can achieve some of their aims. It broadens the comparative analysis of gender and transitions undertaken to date by looking at a case in which gender outcomes, measured in terms of women's descriptive and substantive representation, have been relatively positive. Unusually women, organized as women, had some input into the negotiations during the South African transition. The article argues that a complex interaction of variables contributed to the achievement of certain positive gender outcomes. A broad women's coalition, the Women's National Coalition, did play an important role. However, two other sets of factors—a favorable political opportunity structure and the strategic actions and alliances of certain key women actors— made a crucial contribution to its effectiveness in influencing this transition, as women's mobilization on its own is no guarantee of success.
German Political Careers: The State Level as an Arena in its Own Right?

This article looks at political career patterns in Germany with a focus on the state level. After all, state legislators are a far more representative group of professional politicians in Germany than members of the federal parliament. Furthermore, by looking at pathways to the state legislatures, strategies to remain there (including office accumulation) and options of career advancement from a state mandate to other positions the authors substitute a dynamic career perspective for a mainly institution-centered one. The main finding of the article is contra-intuitive: Despite an institutional structure that allows for high levels of permeability between different territorial levels of government in Germany, there is actually very limited movement. The high degree of professionalization of state politics, a certain regionalization of the party system and some other factors seem to have turned state politics into a career arena in its own right.
How Customers Behave on the Gaming Floor: Revelations from Employees

This article explores the dimensions of customer use of cashless cards on the gaming floor from the perspective of employees of two Australian gaming venues to provide explanations for variations in usage behavior. Some tentative theories regarding patterns in the data vis a vis these behaviors are proposed, grouped according to whether customers are putting money into or taking money out of the machines. The results indicate that segmenting customers as either light or heavy users rather than along socio‐demographic lines would be useful to the design of adoption campaign messages. Further, for customers who have adopted the card, non use of the responsible gambling attributes and the associated lack of staff awareness of these features could be reversed through a simple communication and training program.
Participation of complement in host defense against encapsulated Haemophilus influenzae types a, c, and d

Each of the serotypes of Haemophilus influenzae (types a to f) may colonize the respiratory tract of humans, but only type b strains commonly cause invasive systemic infections. To investigate the role of complement in immunity to encapsulated non-type b strains, rats were depleted of C3 with cobra venom factor and challenged with representative serotypes of H. influenzae (type a, b, c, or d) by different routes. After intravenous challenge, rats depleted of C3 had a greater incidence and magnitude of bacteremia with each of the serotypes when compared with normal controls. Intraperitoneal inoculation of type b organisms resulted in meningitis in normal and C3-depleted rats, but only C3-depleted, and not normal, rats developed meningitis after inoculation of serotype a, c, or d. In contrast to systemic inoculation, intranasal challenge with the different serotypes resulted in bloodstream invasion and meningitis only after challenge with type b organisms. These data suggest that complement plays a significant role in immunity to encapsulated, non-type b H. influenzae through its effect on bloodstream clearance.
Beekeeping innovation for sustaining rural livelihoods. A success story

Over the last six decades, international development assistance agencies have tried to introduce innovations in developing countries to stimulate development and improve the quality of life of the poor. The results have been mixed. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of a project introducing modern beekeeping practices to increase household incomes among small farmers in Vietnam. The Project exceeded its targets in terms of the number of farmers who adopted the innovation and the number of households with increased incomes. The farmers also reported development benefits beyond those originally envisioned - improved health, happier family relationships, and greater respect. The successful diffusion is attributed to the readily observable, personally and collectively felt benefits of beekeeping, harmony with the social practice of sharing, and the efforts of the change agent to reduce the complexity of the innovation and to integrate local farmers' knowledge in the training and extension activities.
Planning and task management in Parkinson's disease: Differential emphasis in dual-task performance

Seventeen patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease completed a complex computer-based task that involved planning and management while also performing an attention-demanding secondary task. The tasks were performed concurrently, but it was necessary to switch from one to the other. Performance was compared to a group of healthy age-matched control participants and a group of young participants. Parkinson's patients performed better than the age-matched controls on almost all measures and as well as the young controls in many cases. However, the Parkinson's patients achieved this by paying relatively less attention to the secondary task and focusing attention more on the primary task. Thus, Parkinson's patients can apparently improve their performance on some aspects of a multidimensional task by simplifying task demands. This benefit may occur as a consequence of their inflexible exaggerated attention to some aspects of a complex task to the relative neglect of other aspects. (JINS, 2008, 14, 257–265.)
Is Labour Market Training a Curse for the Unemployed? Evidence from a Social Experiment

In this paper, we investigate the impact of classroom training programmes on individual unemployment rates in Denmark. In 1994 a social experiment was conducted, where unemployed applicants for labour market training were randomised into treatment and control groups. We formulate and estimate experimental impact estimators of the effect of treatment on the treated. The experimental data is polluted by the presence of no-shows and crossovers, which implies that traditional experimental estimators are biased. Therefore we formulate and estimate an endogenous variables model (using the randomisation indicator as a perfect exclusion restriction) and implement various matching estimators. We find – surprisingly – that classroom training significantly increases individual unemployment rates. We discuss some possible reasons for this surprising finding and some related policy issues.
Selective Loss of either the Epimerase or Kinase Activity of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-Epimerase/N-Acetylmannosamine Kinase due to Site-directed Mutagenesis Based on Sequence Alignments*

N-Acetylneuraminic acid is the most common naturally occurring sialic acid, as well as being the biosynthetic precursor of this group of compounds. UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase has been shown to be the key enzyme of N-acetylneuraminic acid biosynthesis in rat liver, and it is a regulator of cell surface sialylation. The N-terminal region of this bifunctional enzyme displays sequence similarities with prokaryotic UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerases, whereas the sequence of its C-terminal region is similar to sequences of members of the sugar kinase superfamily. High level overexpression of active enzyme was established by using the baculovirus/Sf9 system. For functional characterization, site-directed mutagenesis was performed on different conserved amino acid residues. The histidine mutants H45A, H110A, H132A, H155A, and H157A showed a drastic loss of epimerase activity with almost unchanged kinase activity. Conversely, the mutants D413N, D413K, and R420M in the putative kinase active site lost their kinase activity but retained their epimerase activity. To estimate the structural perturbation effect due to site-directed mutagenesis, the oligomeric state of all mutants was determined by gel filtration analysis. The mutants D413N, D413K, and R420M as well as H45A were shown to form a hexamer like the wild-type enzyme, indicating little influence of mutation on protein folding. Histidine mutants H155A and H157A formed mainly trimeric enzyme with small amounts of hexamer. Oligomerization of mutants H110A and H132A was also significantly different from that of the wild-type enzyme. Therefore the loss of epimerase activity in mutants H110A, H132A, H155A, and H157A can largely be attributed to incorrect protein folding. In contrast, the mutation site of mutant H45A seems to be involved directly in the epimerization process, and the amino acids Asp-413 and Arg-420 of UDP-GlcNAc 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase are essential for the phosphorylation process. The fact that either epimerase or kinase activity are lost selectively provides evidence for the existence of two active sites working quite independently.
A Supply Model of the Equity Premium

In 2002, Grinold and Kroner proposed a model of the equity risk premium (ERP) that linked equity returns to GDP growth. In this shortened and updated version of Grinold and Kroner’s 2002 paper, we assess their expected ERP estimate and calculate a new estimate for the next 10 years.