Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A phenotypic and functional characterization of NK cells in adenoids

Adenoids are part of the MALT. In the present study, we analyzed cell surface markers and cytolytic activity of adenoidal NK (A‐NK) cells and compared them with NK cells derived from blood of the same donors (B‐NK). NK cells comprised 0.67% (0.4–1.2%) of the total lymphoid population isolated from adenoids. The majority (median=92%) of the A‐NK cells was CD56brightCD16–. A‐NK cells were characterized by the increased expression of activation‐induced receptors. NKp44 was detected on >60%, CD25 on >40%, and HLA‐DR on >50% of freshly isolated A‐NK cells. Functional assays indicated that the cytotoxic machinery of A‐NK is intact, and sensitive target cells are killed via natural cytotoxicity receptors, such as NKG2D. Carcinoembryonic antigen‐related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1; CD66) expression was up‐regulated in 23% (median) of the A‐NK cells by IL‐2 activation but unchanged in B‐NK cells. CEACAM1 inhibited the A‐NK killing of target cells. CXCR4 was expressed on more than 40% A‐NK cells prior to activation. Its ligand, CXCL12, was found in endothelial cells of the capillaries within the adenoid and in cells of the epithelial lining. In addition, A‐NK cells migrated in vitro toward a gradient of CXCL12 in a dose‐responsive manner, suggesting a role for this chemokine in A‐NK cell recruitment and trafficking. We conclude that the A‐NK cells are unique in that they display an activated‐like phenotype and are different from their CD16– B‐NK cell counterparts. This phenotype presumably reflects the chronic interaction of A‐NK cells with antigens penetrating the body through the nasal route.
Domestic pricing under import threat

In markets for complex manufactured goods, existing product differentiation and market position will act to slow the rate at which newly more competitive imports penetrate. Established local firms thus face a tradeoff: maintain existing margins and lever off existing differentiation for short-term profit, or cut prices, hence slow the encroachment of import share and extend the life of the profit stream at the expense of lower unit margins. Chosen pricing behaviour is shown empirically to depend on structural features of the industry under threat, including the existing level of differentiation on the basis of attributes or marketing and distribution, domestic producer concentration, degree of multinational enterprise involvement, and the existing share of imports, as well as the extent to which the burden of price cutting can be shifted onto suppliers of labour and raw materials through reduced real wages and input prices. Some implications for public policy and corporate strategy are drawn.
A fast training method for OC-SVM based on the random sampling lemma

Recently, One-class Support Vector Machine (OC-SVM) has been introduced to detect novel data or outliers. The key problem of training an OC-SVM is how to solve the constrained quadratic programming problem. The optimization process suffers from the problem of memory and time consuming. We present a new method to efficiently train the OC-SVM. Based on the random sampling lemma, the training dataset was firstly decomposed into subsets and each OC-SVM of subset was trained by Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO). The combining lemmas of support vectors and outliers of OC-SVM were deduced. A new decision boundary was merged by decomposing and combining lemmas (DC). Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method not only can handle larger scale data sets than standard SMO, but also outperforms SMO in time consumption.
Price Differences in almost Competitive Markets

I. Introduction, 189. —II. Equilibria in models without learning—the case of knowledge, 191. —III. Equilibrium in models with learning, 196. —IV. Empirically observed distributions of prices quoted by different sellers, 204. —V. Qualifications, implications, and conclusions, 205.
Efficient Breast Cancer Classification Using Improved Fuzzy Cognitive Maps with Csonn

Breast Cancer is also called as the Carcinoma which is the main problem with the women. Breast Cancer is a malignant cell growth in the breast that causes to create the many symptoms such as abnormal enlargement of the all or part of the breast, skin irritation, pain, redness and nipple discharging. If this breast cancer is untreated, this spreads the whole body and creates the skin and breast cancer. This paper proposes Improved Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping based system for analyzing the classifying the Carcinoma from the Adayar Cancer Institute Chennai breast cancer database. Initially different features are derived from the women breast images, and then the features are trained by using the Cat Swarm Intelligent Optimization with Optimal Brain Damage (OBD) Pruning Neural Networks. The training algorithm trains the features based on the cat’s movement in terms of seeking and tracing method. The size or structure of the tree is limited by applying the Optimal Brain Damage algorithm. From the trained features the breast cancer is classified by using the Improved Fuzzy Cognitive Map approach in which this algorithm updates their weights based on the learning algorithm. So, in the proposed system the errors are reduced by applying an optimization algorithm. Then the performance of the system is analyzed with the help of mean square error, sensitivity, specificity and classification accuracy.
Nutrition policy in local discourse: A case study of food service work and policy

The rise of child obesity as a public health concern has instigated new nutrition policies in public schools. This study examines nutrition policy through policy text and the local discourse of two groups of food service employees at one elementary school. To expand on Weick’s sensemaking theory, this study engages work-life, sensemaking, and work identity in order to reveal what policy means to employees and their work. The study shows how policy shapes and is shaped by the organization through the relationship between work and policy. Furthermore, it compares two sets of local discourse, one from managerial employees and one from service employees, to find significant connections between work identity and sensemaking. The study employs qualitative research methods to collect data including participant observation at Columbine Elementary School and interviews with seven food service employees. The findings of this study provide insights into how nutrition policy functions through the work of employees and how policy discourses are interpreted by employees in local discourse. From these findings, the study identifies themes throughout local discourse to indicate what policy means to the employees. New understandings of the ways in which nutrition policy is at work in a public school setting could be useful in enlightening the policy creation and implementation process. Nutrition Policy at Work 3
First investigations on self trained speaker diarization

This paper investigates self trained cross-show speaker diarization applied to collections of French TV archives, based on an i-vector/PLDA framework. The parameters used for i-vectors extraction and PLDA scoring are trained in a unsupervised way, using the data of the collection itself. Performances are compared, using combinations of target data and external data for training. The experimental results on two distinct target cor- pora show that using data from the corpora themselves to perform unsupervised iterative training and domain adaptation of PLDA parameters can improve an existing system, trained on external annotated data. Such results indicate that perform- ing speaker indexation on small collections of unlabeled audio archives should only rely on the availability of a sufficient external corpus, which can be specifically adapted to every target collection. We show that a minimum collection size is required to exclude the use of such an external bootstrap.
Human-Pet Interaction and Loneliness: A Test of Concepts from Roy's Adaptation Model

This research used two key concepts from Roy's adaptation model of nursing to examine the relationship between human-pet interaction and loneliness in nursing home residents. These concepts included (a) envi ronmental stimuli as factors influencing adaptation and (b) interdepend ence as a mode of response to the environment. The hypothesis of this study asserted that the residents of a nursing home who had greater levels of interaction with a pet program would experience less loneliness than those who had lower levels of interaction with a pet. The study used an ex post facto nonexperimental design with 65 subjects. The simplified version of the revised UCLA loneliness scale was used to measure loneliness. Reported level of human-pet interaction was meas ured according to a four-point scale (1 = no interaction, 4 = quite a lot of interaction). The hypothesis was supported at the p < 0.03 level of significance. Implications for practice through organizing pet programs in situations where loneliness exists are discussed. Recommendations for future research include replicating the study using a larger sample and developing a comprehensive human-pet interaction tool.
How Does Corporate Social Responsibility in the Food Industry Matter

In recent decades, there has been a rapid growth in consumer awareness of the influence of corporate activities on the environment, and society at large. Firms operating in the food supply chain have not been exempted: the vulnerability of agrifood businesses towards public opinion incentivizes firms to implement social, environmental and ethical measures in collaboration with the other food supply chain stakeholders. Previous studies in the food sector have shown that corporate social responsibility has positive effects on firm performance, but what is still unclear is whether, and how much, consumers are willing to pay for such an intangible attribute. In tackling this issue, we attempt to offer insights into consumer willingness to pay for corporate social responsibility attributes, identifying the psychological constructs that are likely to influence consumer preferences. Our contingent valuation experiment involving Italian consumers shows that individual values behave as effective determinants of consumer willingness to pay for corporate social responsibility.
Tourism and Biodiversity: a Convergence of Interests?

In developed countries particularly, biodiversity is sometimes seen as a phenomenon that should be conserved for its own sake. However, it has become expensive to maintain, especially in those countries that have the greatest biodiversity. There is thus a need to look at how conservationists and other parties involved can work with business constructively. Tourism is arguably the main industry where there are at least some clear mutual benefits. Despite the convergence of interests, however, different groups within this arena express reservations. This article outlines the areas in which much still needs to be done to ensure that conservationists understand the priorities of the tourism industry and tourists themselves, and emphasizes the need for increased commercial development within the field of biodiversity, not least through education and communication.
Domestic tourist spending and economic development: The case of the North West Province

Globally, tourism is the largest and fastest growing industry, outpacing all other industries. In South Africa, tourism is widely regarded as a growth catalyst, able to generate much-needed income and employment opportunities. The market potential of domestic tourism has, however, been downplayed in favour of international tourism. This research argues that tourism – especially domestic tourism – can contribute significantly to regional growth and development in South Africa. A survey was carried out among domestic tourists in the North West Province, one of the poorest provinces in South Africa. This survey was used to draw up a demographic and spending profile of the average domestic tourist in the province, and to determine the possible implications of this spending on different macroeconomic variables in the province.
Do Independent Directors Add Value

The Australian Stock Exchange's Principles of Good Corporate Governance and Best Practice Recommendations require all listed companies that do not have a majority of independent directors to explain their reasons. We show that independent (outside) directors seem to add value only where their firms have substantial amounts invested in growth options. In these circumstances, outside directors add significant value in their first year on the board and where they have at least three other board positions.
Resumption of Car Driving after Total Hip Replacement

Purpose. To assess periods required for resuming car driving in 130 patients who had undergone total hip replacement (THR). Methods. 80 men and 50 women aged 39 to 80 years who had been driving automatic (n=49) or manual (n=81) cars in the previous 3 months and underwent unilateral primary THR of the right (n=85) or left (n=45) hip were recruited. Patients were advised to resume driving after 6 weeks if they felt comfortable to do so. Results. 105 (81%) patients were able to resume driving at week 6 to 8; 67 (64%) had had a right THR and 65 (62%) were manual car drivers. 22 (17%) patients were able to do so at week 12. The remaining 3 (2%) patients were not confident to drive even at week 12. No patient reported deterioration in driving ability, whereas 48 (38%) felt a subjective improvement in their driving ability. Conclusion. The time to resume driving varies in different patients. The advice should be individualised, depending on the patient's recovery and confidence level.
A Trust Value-Based Spectrum Allocation Algorithm in CWSNs

With the increase of congestible frequency spectrums and the rapid development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) applications, the new technology—combing cogitative radio technology with WSNs—called CWSNs will bring broad prospects to the field of radio and sensor networks. CWSN devotes itself to the solution of spectrum sharing in forms of networks, such as IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth. A new algorithm is proposed for allocating the idle spectrum to secondary users (SUs). This algorithm uses “the last diminisher” algorithm, which appears in fair division models. It can help solve complicated problems in a simple fashion. This article combines the trust value and the method of spectrum allocation. The concept of trust value in reputation management is introduced. All the factors are applied to solve the realistic problems of spectrum allocation. With the growing number of sensor nodes, the stable throughput is of vital importance.
Linking HR formality with employee job quality: The role of firm and workplace size

The process of managing a small firm differs from managing a large firm, because small firms face distinct forms of risk and organize their human resources differently, often informally (Kotey & Slade, 2005; Storey, 2002). This paper introduces and tests a new variable, self-reported job quality (SRJQ), as a key link in the causal chain between HR practices and outcomes. In comparing small firms with large ones, we present three key findings: (1) employee reports of job quality are highest in small firms and decrease as firm size increases; (2) in workplaces owned by large firms, job quality is highest in the smallest workplaces; and (3) workers in small workplaces owned by large firms report lower job quality than workers in comparable sized workplaces owned by small firms. Our findings are partially explained by how formally HR practices are implemented. We show that formality increases with firm size and workplace size. Importantly, evidence suggests that employing an HR professional (a key indicator of HR formality) lowers SRJQ in single-site SMEs. Implications for small business owners, HR professionals in large and small firms, and policy makers are discussed.
Debt, Taxes and Leasing A Note

This paper discusses the implications of Miller's paper "Debt and Taxes" for the valuation of leases. It shows that if Miller's equilibrium holds, leasing is only likely to dominate debt and equity for companies in temporary non-tax-paying positions. MILLER'S 1976 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS to the American Finance Association [2] analyzed the capital structure decision under certainty when investors are subject to different marginal rates of personal tax and equity income is taxed at a lower rate than bond income. In equilibrium the corporate sector will issue debt up to the point at which the marginal reduction in corporate tax is equal to the increase in personal tax incurred by the marginal debtholder. In the simplest case, where all bond income is taxed at the investor's personal tax rate and all equity income is free of personal tax, companies can afford to "bribe" investors to hold more bonds as long as the corporate tax rate is less than the personal tax rate of the marginal debtholder. Thus in equilibrium the aggregate debt ratio is equal to the proportion of aggregate wealth held by investors with tax rates below the corporate tax rate. At this equilibrium the required return on corporate debt is equal to the required return on equity grossed up by the corporate tax rate and the investor whose personal tax rate is equal to the corporate rate faces the same after-tax income from both debt and equity. In this note we analyze the implications of Miller's equilibrium for the cost of leasing. We show that in general in Miller's world leasing offers no advantages to companies that are either in a permanent tax-paying position or permanent nontax-paying position. However, there may be benefits for firms that are in a temporary non-tax-paying position.
Metabolic syndrome, lifestyle risk factors, and distal colon adenoma: a retrospective cohort study.

AIM To investigate relationships between colorectal adenoma incidence, metabolic syndrome (MS) components and lifestyle factors. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from individuals who had multiple sigmoidoscopies for colon cancer at the Health Promotion Center of Ulsan University Hospital in Korea from 1998 to 2007. RESULTS By multivariate analysis, the incidence of distal colon adenoma was increased by more than 1.76 times in individuals with at least one component of MS compared to those without a component of MS. After adjustment for age, gender, smoking, drinking, and physical exercise, only high body mass index (BMI) was significantly associated with the incidence of distal colon adenoma (Hazard ratio 1.66, 95% confidence interval 1.05-2.62). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that high BMI may increase the risk of colorectal adenoma in Korean adults.
Traded Options: Capital gains and the term structure of implied volatilities

A proposition concerning the term structure of options' implied volatilities is proposed and tested using data from the London Traded Options Market. Wealth maximizing behaviour on the part of market participants leads to a testable hypothesis concerning the term structure of volatilities from which the issue of overreaction in the options market may be examined. The evidence presented suggests that the options market does not overreact.
Penalty Rates and Labour Supply

* Associate Professor, National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University of South Australia, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001. The author acknowledges helpful comments from Robert Drago. With the move towards enterprise bargaining, penalty rate payments for work performed outside the traditional ’normal’ hours have come under increasing pressure, and there are now numerous awards and agreements that no longer specify premium payments for work during non-standard hours, such as weeknights or weekends. While a number of arguments have been advanced for why penalty rates should be abolished (see Dawkins 1985), it is often argued that in any
Agency Relations within the Family Business System: An Exploratory Approach

Researchers use various definitions to describe the family firm. The characteristics of family firms that are stressed in each of these definitions are somehow related to family control. All characteristics together reflect a spectrum of family firm types along one core dimension: family involvement in the firm. However, it is more helpful to distinguish among family firms by using their precise type. Each particular family firm type is characterised by a set of agency relations within and between the family system, ownership system and the business system. This paper is a first attempt to apply the insights from agency theory on a highly simplified (reference) family firm situation where the father is full owner and the daughter manager of the family firm. Agency theory establishes the foundation for the optimal contract conditions between father and daughter. While real life is often characterised by bounded rationality and incomplete information, future research should help identify the "optimal contract" between the family/shareholders and management in various family firm types under these circumstances.
The Three Ps in the NHS White Paper: Partnership, Privatisation and Predation: Which Way will it Go and Does it Matter?

The publication of the Coalition Government's NHS White Paper seems to be proposing a revitalised relationship between adult social care and the NHS. This article explores these proposals and concludes that, although they hold promise, they may be insufficiently robust to overcome the priority the White Paper gives to competition rather than collaboration. It is suggested that social care is in danger of becoming a handmaiden to health care in an increasingly privatised market that could move towards an insurance‐based model of funding.
Transactions in futures markets: Informed or uninformed?

Using a proprietary data set from the Sydney Futures Exchange, this study reconciles an inconsistency in futures microstructure literature. One strand of the literature documents that single trades in futures markets contain information, whereas another strand finds that trade packages in futures markets do not contain information. This study controls for methodological and sample differences in examining the price impact of individual trades and trade packages. We find little evidence that transactions in futures markets contain information. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 27:1159–1174, 2007
Managing change in process and people: Combining a maturity model with a competency-based approach

This study is concerned with an integrated approach to the management of change. The approach described combines a process improvement approach derived from the Capability Maturity Model with a model of competency derived from Benner's work in health care. The paper describes the original models and how they have been adapted for use. It then describes how they have been integrated and encapsulated within a software tool. A case study application is described together with some of the initial findings from its deployment. The paper concludes with some comments about future developments.
The path to impairment: do credit-rating agencies anticipate default events of structured finance transactions?

The global financial crisis (GFC) has led to a general discussion of the accuracy and declining standards of credit-rating agency ratings. Substantial criticism has been directed towards the securitisation market, which has been identified as one of the main sources of the crisis. This study focuses on the ability of rating agencies to adjust their ratings prior to impairments of structured finance transactions. We develop a new measure that quantifies a rating agency's performance in advance of defaults. By analysing a large number of impaired transactions rated by Moody's Investors Service, we find that rating quality deteriorated during the GFC. Furthermore, we identify tranche-specific and macroeconomic factors that explain differences in Moody's performance.