Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local Environmental Groups, the Creation of Social Capital, and Environmental Policy: Evidence from Vermont

Many scholars have documented the important role of national environmental groups in affecting environmental policies in the United States. The role of local environmental groups, however, has not been thoroughly documented. Using data from a complete census of all environmental groups in two Vermont counties, we :(1) offer a set of conceptual categories for local environmental groups; (2) analyze how civic engagement in these groups is creating different forms of social capital through stewardship activities, education and communication, partnerships with other organizations, and alliances with public agencies; and (3) explore how these groups are affecting the policy process, illustrated with two case studies. We argue that the prevalence and contribution of local environmental groups, particularly local autonomous groups, has been underappreciated. We conclude that the greeining of social capital is significantly affecting environmental outcomes in the United States.
Farmers’ markets in Tamil Nadu: increasing options for rural producers, improving access for urban consumers

This paper describes the organization of farmers’ markets that the state government initiated in most of the towns and cities in Tamil Nadu, South India in 1999. Drawing on research conducted in three districts, it examines these markets’ impact on the most vulnerable stakeholder groups: on the production side, small and marginal farmers, with special attention to farming women; among traders, vegetable headload vendors; and on the consumption side, the residents of low-income neighbourhoods. With the increasing popularity of farmers’ markets in other Indian states and in many other parts of the world, important lessons can be learnt from this experience, especially with regard to some important unintended or unanticipated benefits and costs, to the mechanisms for setting up such markets and to some additional measures which could have broadened and deepened the benefits for the poorest groups.
Oxidation-sensing Regulator AbfR Regulates Oxidative Stress Responses, Bacterial Aggregation, and Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus epidermidis*

Background: Staphylococcus epidermidis senses and responds to oxidative stress through an unknown mechanism. Results: The paper describes AbfR, the first oxidation sensor of S. epidermidis. Conclusion: AbfR plays key roles in oxidative stress responses, bacterial aggregation, and biofilm formation in S. epidermidis. Significance: Oxidative stress signals S. epidermidis to modulate key virulence properties through AbfR. Staphylococcus epidermidis is a notorious human pathogen that is the major cause of infections related to implanted medical devices. Although redox regulation involving reactive oxygen species is now recognized as a critical component of bacterial signaling and regulation, the mechanism by which S. epidermidis senses and responds to oxidative stress remains largely unknown. Here, we report a new oxidation-sensing regulator, AbfR (aggregation and biofilm formation regulator) in S. epidermidis. An environment of oxidative stress mediated by H2O2 or cumene hydroperoxide markedly up-regulates the expression of abfR gene. Similar to Pseudomonas aeruginosa OspR, AbfR is negatively autoregulated and dissociates from promoter DNA in the presence of oxidants. In vivo and in vitro analyses indicate that Cys-13 and Cys-116 are the key functional residues to form an intersubunit disulfide bond upon oxidation in AbfR. We further show that deletion of abfR leads to a significant induction in H2O2 or cumene hydroperoxide resistance, enhanced bacterial aggregation, and reduced biofilm formation. These effects are mediated by derepression of SERP2195 and gpxA-2 that lie immediately downstream of the abfR gene in the same operon. Thus, oxidative stress likely acts as a signal to modulate S. epidermidis key virulence properties through AbfR.
PD-1-Dependent Mechanisms Maintain Peripheral Tolerance of Donor-Reactive CD8+ T Cells to Transplanted Tissue

Peripheral mechanisms of self-tolerance often depend on the quiescent state of the immune system. To what degree such mechanisms can be engaged in the enhancement of allograft survival is unclear. To examine the role of the PD-1 pathway in the maintenance of graft survival following blockade of costimulatory pathways, we used a single-Ag mismatch model of graft rejection where we could track the donor-specific cells as they developed endogenously and emerged from the thymus. We found that graft-specific T cells arising under physiologic developmental conditions at low frequency were actively deleted at the time of transplantation under combined CD28/CD40L blockade. However, this deletion was incomplete, and donor-specific cells that failed to undergo deletion up-regulated expression of PD-1. Furthermore, blockade of PD-1 signaling on these cells via in vivo treatment with anti-PD-1 mAb resulted in rapid expansion of donor-specific T cells and graft loss. These results suggest that the PD-1 pathway was engaged in the continued regulation of the low-frequency graft-specific immune response and thus in maintenance of graft survival.
The Emergence of Entrepreneurship Education: Development, Trends, and Challenges

Entrepreneurship has emerged over the last two decades as arguably the most potent economic force the world has ever experienced. With that expansion has come a similar increase in the field of entrepreneurship education. The recent growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to entrepreneurship and new–venture creation have been remarkable. The number of colleges and universities that offer courses related to entrepreneurship has grown from a handful in the 1970s to over 1,600 in 2005. In the midst of this huge expansion remains the challenge of complete academic legitimacy for entrepreneurship. While it can be argued that some legitimacy has been attained in the current state of entrepreneurship education, there are critical challenges that lie ahead. This article focuses on the trends and challenges in entrepreneurship education for the 21st century.
Supply-Side and Demand-Side Explanations of Declining Apprentice Training Rates: A Critical Overview

Over the last decade numerous academic, industry and government studies have suggested that Australia has experienced a sustained decline in apprentice training rates and that this is contributing to shortages in core vocational occupations. This article redresses significant deficiencies in these studies by providing new data on long-run apprentice training rates by broad occupational group. This data confirms the existence of a sustained break in the long-run apprentice training rate from the early 1990s to the present. The article also provides an overview and critical assessment of the key explanations of this decline and policy recommendations to redress the decline. It is argued that these explanations may be classified into supply-side and demand-side approaches. The article concludes firstly, that, in general, demand-side explanations provide a superior understanding of declining training rates. Secondly, given the potential importance of trade skill shortages additional research is required both to quantify the effect of the various demand-side contributions to reduced training rates and to reorient current policies to better address these demand-side causes.
Assessing managers' awareness of TQM

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to analyze the rationale and the development of a measure that can be used in assessing managerial awareness and understanding of the concept of total quality management (TQM) within organizations.Design/methodology/approach – A total of nine “soft” concepts of TQM were identified among the leading literature in quality management. The awareness of each one of these items was investigated among nearly 400 managers. The quantitative evidence was further analyzed by factor analysis and reliability tests.Findings – The statistical analysis provided a distinctive and consistent, statistical measurement of the “soft” side of TQM. This measure consists of three items: continuous improvement and training, total employee empowerment and involvement and quality driven culture, which represent the whole concept of TQM approach.Research limitations/implications – The separate measurement of the “soft” side of TQM can result in a loss of information. It can be argued, however, that t.
The Effects of Monetary Policy Shocks in the USA: A Forecast‐Augmented VAR Approach

type="main"> This paper formulates a forward-looking monetary policy function for the USA in a structural vector autoregression (VAR) model, by using forecasts of key macroeconomic variables, in addition to the ex post realised variables used in a standard VAR. Since this forecast-augmented VAR (FOAVAR) uses both forecasted and realised variables, and the standard VAR uses only realised variables, the standard VAR is nested in the FOAVAR. I find that the Fed responds to forecasted macroeconomic variables more significantly than realised variables. I also find that the monetary policy shock in the FOAVAR generates impulse responses of variables that are consistent with the predictions of economic theories, while the policy shock in the standard VAR causes a price puzzle: an increase in the price level due to a contractionary policy shock. These results suggest that a monetary policy function identified in a standard VAR, by using only realised macroeconomic variables, may incorrectly represent the Fed's policy function.
Neoclassical and Keynesian perspectives on the regional macro-economy - a computable general equilibrium approach

Regional economic models typically either ignore prices altogether or simply treat them as exogenously determined. An unfortunate consequence of the neglect of prices is that model builders have been very much limited in the range of macroeconomic perspectives they have been able to bring to bear on regional economic issues. In this paper, we first explain how prices can be modeled endogenously at a regional level despite the paucity of data on regional prices. Using an illustrative interregional computable general equilibrium model for Malaysia, we then demonstrate how alternative macroeconomic visions of regional systems may be captured.
Transcellular sodium fluxes and pump activity in Necturus gall‐bladder epithelial cells.

1. Transepithelial Na transport in Necturus was determined by measuring the rate of isotonic fluid flow. The rate at 20 degrees C was equivalent to 175 pmol cm‐2 s‐1. 2. Ouabain was effective in Necturus, binding to the Na pump in gall‐bladder cells with a mean rate constant of 5.4 X 10(3) M‐1 s‐1. Measurement of the diffusive time constant of the free space for [3H]ouabain shows that the pump must be fully inhibited within 20 s when ouabain is applied to the serosa at 10(‐3) M. 3. The serosal Na efflux from loaded cells was inhibited 36% by ouabain equal to a flux of 73 pmol cm‐2 s‐1. The remaining flux could not be attributed to either exchange diffusion or electrodiffusion induced by ouabain. 4. The transepithelial potential was 0.3 mV serosa positive. The short‐circuit current measured was 6.33 +/‐ 1.9 microA cm‐2, equal to a positive univalent ion flux of 65.6 pmol cm‐2 s‐1 or 38% of the net Na transfer. The current was inhibited within 1‐5 min by 5 X 10(‐5) M‐amiloride. 5. Fluid secretion was immediately inhibited 34% by ouabain, equivalent to an isotonic transport of Na of 59.7 pmol cm‐2 s‐1. Thereafter it continued for at least an hour, sometimes declining slowly. Amiloride had little effect (13%). 6. The Na pump rate was measured by titrating the cell content with tracer Na at different times after ouabain treatment. The initial slope was equal to a rate of 61.6 pmol cm‐2 s‐1 or 35% of the net flux at time zero. 7. The Na pump rate has also been measured by recording the rise in cell Na activity with ion‐specific micro‐electrodes, and correcting for swelling effects. The Na pump rate was very similar to that estimated from the rise in tracer Na content, equal to 59.3 pmol cm‐2 s‐1 or 31.4% of the transepithelial rate. Examination of the same experiment in the literature shows a closely similar value, about one‐third of that expected from fluid secretion or net flux measurements. 8. A scheme is proposed to explain the results, which requires a flow of NaCl through a parallel pathway of small Na content involving exchange en route with the cytoplasmic Na.
Financial disclosure by SMEs listed on a semi-regulated market: evidence from the Euronext Free Market

This study investigates the financial disclosure policy of small and medium-sized enterprises listed on a stock market with very low disclosure requirements: the Free Market of the Euronext Stock Exchange. In contrast to firms listed on a regulated stock market, firms on the Free Market do not have any obligation to disclose periodic or price-sensitive information. We investigate the determinants of voluntary financial disclosure and its influence on stock liquidity. Our results suggest that firms disclose more financial information when they are likely to benefit from disclosure. Firms especially disclose when they issue equity. Voluntary disclosure also has a significant positive effect on stock liquidity, consistent with disclosure reducing information asymmetry.
An Econometric Analysis of Electricity Production in Turkey

In this study, the long-run and short-run relationships between Turkish electricity production and its energy sources, thermal and hydro, is empirically examined using cointegration, error correction technique, and the FIML method. Additionally, the Granger Causality between the mentioned series is searched and the behavior of the variables for the next decade is forecasted. The time frame of the study is from 1970 to 1999. The results indicate that lignite based electricity production has a positive elasticity equal to approximately 1.5. It means that there is a close relationship between total electricity production and lignite consumption in long-run. Furthermore, the long-run coefficients are bigger and more meaningful than the short-run coefficients.
The Pricing of SPI Futures Options with Daily Futures Style Margin Payments

Empirical evidence on the pricing behaviour of options on index futures contracts traded on USA and UK futures markets reveals that pricing errors and implied volatility estimates differ systematically across exercise price and time to maturity. The introduction on 17 June 1985 of options on share price index futures contracts on the Sydney Futures Exchange, presents the opportunity to examine the pricing of pure futures options, that is, options with daily futures style margin payments. This paper examines the pricing of SPI futures options The results reveal that the pricing of SPI futures options is not well described by a pure futures option pricing model derived under the assumptions of frictionless markets and non-stochastic interest rates. The model underprices both call and put options. Further, implied volatility increases as the option becomes more in/out-of-the-money.
PREPARATION OF AN AUTISTIC CHILD FOR SCHOOL

The aim of this paper is to present new opportunities of the individualized kindergarten teachers’ approach in the preparation of an autistic child for school. The paper presents a case of an autistic child who, in addition to receiving individual psychotherapy treatment, was worked with individually by two kindergarten teachers to realise school preparation program. Through the implementation of the program, which was primarily based on the development of affective communication in a dyadic relationship with the autistic child, there were positive results in the child's affective attachment to the kindergarten teachers. These changes helped the child to adopt basic graphical motor skills, naming and social speech, and enabled him to attend regular elementary school. This article can be a stimulus to many other such approaches in the preparation of autistic children for their regular elementary education.
The MARS questionnaire: quality of life survey for acute rhinosinusitis.

PURPOSE Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) significantly reduces the quality of life (QoL). While intensive research has focused on the QoL in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, data regarding the impact of ARS on the QoL are relatively sparse. The aim of this study was to construct and validate a simple, reliable QoL questionnaire for ARS patients, which is also one of the priorities set for EPOS 2012. METHODS The questionnaire was constructed as follows: a review of literature, collection of symptoms as well as social and emotional consequences by a panel of ENT specialists and general practitioners, interviews with patients experiencing ARS, and a pre-test with another patient group. The questionnaire was validated by determining its internal reliability, discriminant validity, and responsiveness. The survey was given to 50 ARS patients at the time of diagnosis and again 14 days after treatment. The ARS diagnosis was established using the EPOS 12 criteria. The control group consisted of 50 medical students without any sinonasal symptoms. RESULTS We developed a 13-item questionnaire, called the MARS (Measurement of Acute Rhinosinusitis). Cronbach's alpha was determined to be 0.679. The two-tailed t-test showed a statistically significant difference between the patient group and the control group (p = 0.0000). The SRM coefficient was 1.781. CONCLUSION The MARS questionnaire is a QoL instrument developed and validated especially for patients with ARS. This survey demonstrated good internal consistency and excellent discriminant validity, responsiveness, and feasibility for use in daily clinical practice and research.
Entry Mode Choice of SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe

Scholars (e.g., Burgel & Murray, 2000; Jones, 1999; Zacharakis, 1997) have suggested that small and medium–sized enterprise (SME) international entry mode selection is an important new research area. In this study we attempt to determine if a model of large firm entry mode selection can be applied to SME entry mode choice. Using Dunning's eclectic framework, we examined SME entry into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). We found that Dunning's eclectic framework did a good job of predicting SME entry mode selection in CEE markets. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
MICROFINANCE IN INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS: SOCIAL CAPITAL AS A TRIGGER FOR A VALUABLE DEVELOPMENT

The dissertation focuses on the concept of social capital, i.e. “the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit” (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998). My dissertation is composed by three articles which explore the concept of social capital, seeking to provide answer to what its contribute within the microfinance sector.
Mechanism of tissue‐specific farnesoid X receptor in suppressing the expression of genes in bile‐acid synthesis in mice

Activation of farnesoid X receptor (Fxr, Nr1h4) is a major mechanism in suppressing bile‐acid synthesis by reducing the expression levels of genes encoding key bile‐acid synthetic enzymes (e.g., cytochrome P450 [CYP]7A1/Cyp7a1 and CYP8B1/Cyp8b1). FXR‐mediated induction of hepatic small heterodimer partner (SHP/Shp, Nr0b2) and intestinal fibroblast growth factor 15 (Fgf15; FGF19 in humans) has been shown to be responsible for this suppression. However, the exact contribution of Shp/Fgf15 to this suppression, and the associated cell‐signaling pathway, is unclear. By using novel genetically modified mice, the current study showed that the intestinal Fxr/Fgf15 pathway was critical for suppressing both Cyp7a1 and Cyp8b1 gene expression, but the liver Fxr/Shp pathway was important for suppressing Cyp8b1 gene expression and had a minor role in suppressing Cyp7a1 gene expression. Furthermore, in vivo administration of Fgf15 protein to mice led to a strong activation of extracellular signal‐related kinase (ERK) and, to a smaller degree, Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) in the liver. In addition, deficiency of either the ERK or JNK pathway in mouse livers reduced the basal, but not the Fgf15‐mediated, suppression of Cyp7a1 and Cyp8b1 gene expression. However, deficiency of both ERK and JNK pathways prevented Fgf15‐mediated suppression of Cyp7a1 and Cyp8b1 gene expression. Conclusion: The current study clearly elucidates the underlying molecular mechanism of hepatic versus intestinal Fxr in regulating the expression of genes critical for bile‐acid synthesis and hydrophobicity in the liver. (HEPATOLOGY 2012;56:1034–1043)
Design of the miniaturized ultra-wide band (UWB) filter using the metamaterial characteristic

In this paper, a filter for the ultra-wide band (UWB) ranging 3GHz ~ 10.5GHz has been designed by taking the advantage of the metamaterial Composite Right & Left-Handed Transmission-line (CRLH-TL) with a Shorted Open Gap Ring Resonator (SOGRR) structure and an inter-digital line. In order to bring the remarkable improvement in an attempt to reduce the total metamaterial cell size, only one cell of the SOGRR with the inter-digital line is taken. This metamaterial filter will be shown to have the size of 15mm×15mm, the fractional bandwidth over 100%, the insertion loss much less than 1dB, and an acceptable return loss.
Promise and pitfalls of molecular markers of thyroid nodules

Thyroid nodules are common in the general population with a prevalence of 5-7% The initial evaluation of thyroid nodules commonly involves thyroid function tests, an ultrasound (USG) and fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). The optimal management of patients with thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology is plagued by the lack of highly sensitive and specific diagnostic modalities In this article we attempt to review the available literature on the molecular markers which are increasingly being studied for their diagnostic utility in assessing thyroid nodules. The various molecular markers consist of gene mutations, gene re arrangements, RNA based assays and immunohistochemical markers. The molecular markers definitely would help to optimise the management of such patients.
The Relationship of Joint Symptoms with Exercise Performance in Older Adults

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine if exercise increases joint symptoms in older adults with a history of arthritis or produces symptoms in older adults without such history. In addition, we examine whether joint symptoms explain the large observed variation in strength gain in older adults undergoing vigorous strength training exercise, and report the incidence of musculoskeletal injuries upon initiation of an exercise program.
Economic Analysis of Markets and Games: Essays in Honor of Frank Hahn

These original essays focus on a wide range of topics related to Frank Hahn's distinguished work in economics. Ranging from market analysis and game theory to the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomics and from equilibrium and optimality with missing markets to economics and society, they reflect the diversity of modern research in economic theory. What distinguishes Hahn's work and many of the essays in this book is that the motivation often comes from practical concerns about unemployment, savings and investment, poverty, or the stability of markets.