Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Foreign Directors Valuable Advisors or Ineffective Monitors ?

Foreign independent directors serve on the boards of 14.6% of S&P 1500 firms over the 1998-2003 period. Using firm level fixed effects regressions, we find that companies with foreign independent directors are associated with lower firm performance measured by Tobin’s Q. Furthermore, we find that Tobin’s Q is deceasing in the percentage of foreign independent directors. When firms have major foreign operations, the negative relation between foreign independent directors and firm performance is substantially weakened, but it remains negative. At best this evidence offers weak support for the hypothesis that foreign directors offer valuable advice and is limited to firms with major foreign operations. In contrast the evidence supports the hypothesis that foreign directors in general weaken the CEO monitoring and disciplining functions of boards of directors. Consistent with this hypothesis, we also document that foreign independent directors are more likely to miss board meetings than domestic independent directors. Finally, firms with foreign independent directors, and especially when they sit on board audit committees, are more likely to have restated their financial reports. This body of evidence suggests that foreign independent directors on average are less effective monitors and contribute to weak corporate governance, and that this effect dominates the benefits realized from the advice they offer firm.
Competition in Innovation and Imitation - A Theoretical and Experimental Study -

For given product specifications by two competing firms the demand levels are determined by a randomly generated ideal composition of aspects. Firms can vary some or all aspects of these products, based on information about own (and other's) previous demand. Although the product space is much too large to be explored systematically, we expect (and test for) rather reasonable innovative success and welfare levels due to own innovative attempts and imitation of a successful other. Parameter variations concern the pioneer advantage and search costs.
Creating a better world : interpreting global civil society

The term 'global civil society' has become a catchphrase of our times. But efforts to define and interpret what global civil society actually is have led to ambiguity and dispute. This major work of scholarship and advocacy pierces through the generalizations and debates. It presents cogent examples of groups within civil society - from the Seattle and Genoa protesters to transnational grassroots movements, such as Slum/Shack Dwellers International - that are creatively meeting the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly interconnected world. The contributors offer clarity and the hope that another world is possible - one in which civil society's global networks can effectively create a free, fair, and just global order. Scholars, students, and anyone interested in understanding new forces influencing contemporary world politics will want to have this book on their shelves.
The Boskin Commission Report: A Retrospective One Decade Later

This paper provides a retrospective on the 1996 Boskin Commission Report, Toward a More Accurate Measure of the Cost of Living, and its famous estimate that the CPI in 1995-96 was upward biased by 1.1 percent per year. The paper summarizes the report's methods, findings, and recommendations, and then reviews the criticisms that appeared soon after the Report was issued. Post-Boskin changes in the CPI are summarized and assessed, as is recent research on related issues. The paper sharply distinguishes two questions. First, with what we know now, what should the Commission have concluded about CPI bias in 1995-96? Second, what is the bias now after the many improvements introduced into the CPI since the Commission's Report? About the first question, my own recent research on apparel and rental housing indicates a substantial downward bias in the CPI over much of the twentieth century, diminishing in size after 1985. Incorporating these findings into the Boskin matrix would reduce its 0.6 percent annual upward bias due to quality change and new products to a smaller 0.4 percent bias. However, this is more than offset by the stunning discrepancy over 2000-06 in the chain-weighted C-CPI-U compared to the traditional CPI-U, indicating that the Commission greatly understated the magnitude of upper-level substitution bias. This retrospective evaluation suggests that the Boskin bias estimate for 1995-96 should have been 1.2 to 1.3 percent, not 1.1 percent. Current upward bias in the CPI is estimated to have declined from the revised 1.2-1.3 percent in the Boskin era to about 0.8 percent today. Yet the Boskin report, like most contemporary studies of quality change, failed to place sufficient value on the value of new products and on increased longevity. Allowing for these, today's bias is at least 1.0 percent per year or perhaps even higher.
Monetary Policy in Japan, Germany and the United States: Does One Size Fit All?

We study the post-war evidence for Japan to see if the same specification for both the economy and the monetary policy rule is useful for understanding Japan's economy and monetary policy. A recurrent theme in the literature on Japanese monetary policy is that there are significant differences in both the policy procedures and objectives as compared to other industrial countries. In this paper we propose an out of sample' test of a set of restrictions on a vector autoregression employed by Clarida and Gertler (1997) in their analysis of the Bundesbank's behavior. Our interpretation of the evidence is that, with minor adjustments, the same specification provides a useful framework for understanding monetary policy in Japan. Perhaps the most interesting finding is that the Bank of Japan appears to react to inflation over longer forecast horizons as compared to other central banks.
Heavy lifting at work and risk of retinal detachment: a population-based register study in Denmark

Objectives To investigate the relationship between rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and frequent heavy lifting in a Danish working population through national register data. Methods A dynamic cohort of all men aged 20–59 years in Denmark was followed through the Danish Occupational Hospitalisation Register from 1995 to 2010 for diagnosed RRD. Occupational categories were classified according to their potential for heavy lifting in 4 main groups: heavy lifters, manual workers unlikely to be heavy lifters, other manual workers and non-manual workers unlikely to be heavy lifters. The age-standardised rate of diagnosed RRD for heavy lifting occupations was compared with that experienced by the other 3 occupational categories. Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were estimated through a Poisson regression model adjusted for calendar period and age group. Results The highest age-standardised rate of diagnosed RRD was recorded among non-manual workers performing occupational activities unlikely to be associated with heavy lifting (18.0 cases per 100 000 person-years). The RR for workers in jobs expected to entail a high frequency of heavy lifting compared with manual workers whose occupation was unlikely to be associated with heavy lifting was 0.91 (95% CI 0.73 to 1.14), while in comparison with other manual workers, it was 0.93 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.11). The RR compared with non-manual workers in occupations unlikely to entail heavy lifting was 0.51 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.60). Conclusions These findings do not support an association of occupational heavy lifting with diagnosed RRD. The epidemiological evidence for this association is still inconclusive. Future studies should use a more specific measure of exposure to resolve the outstanding uncertainties.
Phase I Study of the Selective Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor MLN8054 in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Pharmacodynamics

This phase I trial examined the safety, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of MLN8054, an oral, selective, small-molecule inhibitor of Aurora A kinase. Patients with advanced solid tumors received increasing doses of MLN8054 in 28-day cycles until dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was seen in ≥2 of 3-6 patients in a cohort. For the 10-mg and 20-mg cohorts, treatment was administered once daily on days 1 to 5 and 8 to 12. Patients in later cohorts (25, 35, 45, 55, 60, 70, and 80 mg/day) were treated four times daily on days 1 to 14, with the largest dose at bedtime (QID-14D) to mitigate benzodiazepine-like effects possibly associated with peak plasma concentrations. Patients (n = 43) received a median of 1 cycle (range, 1–10). DLT of somnolence was first noted in the 20-mg cohort. Two DLTs of somnolence (n = 1) and transaminitis (n = 1) were seen at QID-14D 80 mg. Grade 2 oral mucositis (n = 1), predicted to be a mechanistic effect, was observed only at QID-14D 80 mg. MLN8054 exposure levels were roughly linear with dose; terminal half-life was 30 to 40 hours. Pharmacodynamic analyses of skin and tumor mitotic indices, mitotic cell chromosome alignment, and spindle bipolarity provided evidence of Aurora A inhibition. MLN8054 dosing for 10 to 14 days in 28-day cycles was feasible. Somnolence and transaminitis were DLTs. Pharmacodynamic analyses in mitotic cells of both skin and tumor provided proof of mechanism for Aurora A kinase inhibition. A more potent, selective, second-generation Aurora A kinase inhibitor, MLN8237, is in clinical development. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(10); 2844–52. ©2010 AACR.
Effects of surgery on the sensory deficits of syringomyelia and predictors of outcome: a long term prospective study

Objective: To quantify the effects of surgery on the thermal deficits of syringomyelia and assess the predictors for such effects. Methods: The subjects were 16 consecutive patients (12 men, 4 women; mean (SD) duration of sensory symptoms, 5.1 (4.5) years) presenting with the typical symptoms of syringomyelia related to Chiari I malformation or trauma, and requiring surgical treatment. They were evaluated before surgery, then at six months and two years. Sensory evaluation included determination of the extent of thermal deficits and quantitative assessment of thermal, mechanical, vibration detection, and pain thresholds. Neuropathic pain intensity was evaluated on visual analogue scales. Magnetic resonance imaging was done before and after surgery to measure syrinx dimensions. Results: The magnitude and extent of thermal deficits improved in a subgroup of patients and this was best predicted by the duration of sensory symptoms: patients operated on less than two years after the onset of their symptoms tended to improve, while those operated on later were stabilised or deteriorated slightly. The effect of surgery on thermal deficits was correlated with the duration of sensory symptoms. Surgery also affected vibration deficits in patients with the Chiari malformation, neuropathic pain on effort, and syrinx dimensions. Conclusions: The duration of sensory deficits is the best predictive factor of the efficacy of surgery for the thermal symptoms of syringomyelia. Early surgery is required if these deficits are to be minimised.
Technical Efficiency of Melon Farming in Kulon Progo: A Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA)

Melon is a high-value horticulture commodity which is expected to increase farmer household’s income in Kulon Progo Regency. The purpose of farming is not only to gain the highest resulting output but also the efficiency of input usage. Knowing the magnitude and distribution of technical efficiency has important implications for input allocations and farming managerial capability improvement. FRONTIER 4.1 software helps to estimate the stochastic production frontier and technical efficiency, as well as the ineffiency model as a one step process (simultaneously). The sample of this research were 100 melon farmers in Kulon Progo. Stochastic Frontier Approach using Cobb Douglas production function was applied in this research. The result reveals that 1) land use, quantity of seed, NPK fertilizer, organic fertilizer, pesticide, ricefield agroecosystem and wet season contributed significantly to melon production; 2) technical efficiency indeces ranged from 0.33 to 0.99, with a mean of 0.64; 3) farmer’s age, level of education and large portion of loan for farming capital give significant influence to technical efficiency General Terms Farm Management
Direct blind equalizers of multiple FIR channels: a deterministic approach

Relying upon diversity (sufficient number of multiple outputs) we by-pass the channel estimation step and derive direct blind FIR equalizers of co-prime FIR channels. There are no constraints on the inaccessible input apart from a minimum persistence of excitation condition; the input can be deterministic or random with unknown color or distribution. Complexity, persistence of excitation order, and mean-square error performance trade-offs are delineated for equalizers of single-shift, pair, or, multiple-shifts estimated separately, or simultaneously. Simulations illustrate the proposed algorithms and compare them with dual channel identification algorithms.
PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS IN TIGRAY, NORTH ETHIOPIA: A CROSS SECTIONAL HOSPITAL BASED STUDY

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression and associated factors among people attending ART clinics in Tigray, Ethiopia. Method: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on patients attending ART clinics for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at Adigrat, Mekelle and Maichew Hospitals in Tigray region. Sample size was calculated using Epi info statcalc and 269 PLWHA were included in the study. The patients were interviewed by psychiatric nurses using the 21 item Hamilton’s depression scale Questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 19.0). Levels of depression were calculated among various subgroups of patients, according to the Hamilton’s depression scale questionnaire. The possible associations of the presence and severity of depression with socio-demographic variables was explored using appropriate parametric and non-parametric tests. Specifically, the odds square and logistic regression was used in the exploration of associations; ethical clearance was obtained from Mekelle University College of health sciences. Result: Out of 269 total participants, 142(52%) were females, 213 (79.2%) were from urban area and 56(20.8) were from rural. One hundred nine (40%) of the study subjects’ age range was 35-44 and 129 (48%) were married. Orthodox religion constituted 80% followed by Muslim (11.5%) and Catholic (0.4%). Sixty (22.3%) were unemployed and majority, 229(85.2%) had a minimum of primary education. Among 269 participants 43.9 % were depressed. Depression was associated with urban dwellers, with lower socioeconomic class, unemployed and government employees, with OR of 3.19(1.5, 6.65), 4.43(1.35, 14.58), 2.74(1.34, 5.57), and 3.56(1.73, 7.30) respectively. Conclusion: In summary, the magnitude of depression in PLWHA on ART was found to be high and was positively associated with urban dwellers, with lower socio-economic class, unemployed, and government employees. Hence, depression among PLWHA on ART is still under diagnosed and under treated; there is a need to incorporate mental health service as an integral component of HIV care. Correspondence to Author:
Service-Learning and Community Service in K-12 Public Schools.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education used the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) to conduct the National Student Service-Learning and Community Service Survey in spring 1999. This is the first survey to provide reliable national estimates of the percentage of public elementary, middle, and high schools incorporating servicelearning into their course curriculum, as well as providing the most recent data on school engagement in community service. The survey found that:
Case studies and mathematical models of ecological speciation. 3: Ecotype formation in a Swedish snail

Formation of partially reproductively isolated ecotypes in the rough periwinkle, Littorina saxatilis, may be a case of incipient nonallopatric ecological speciation. To better understand the dynamics of ecotype formation, its timescale, driving forces and evolutionary consequences, we developed a spatially explicit, individual‐based model incorporating relevant ecological, spatial and mate selection data for Swedish L. saxatilis. We explore the impact of bounded hybrid superiority, ecological scenarios and mate selection systems on ecotype formation, gene flow and the evolution of prezygotic isolation. Our model shows that ecotypes are expected to form rapidly in parapatry under conditions applicable to Swedish L. saxatilis and may proceed to speciation. However, evolution of nonrandom mating had complex behaviour. Ecotype evolution was inhibited by pre‐existing mating preferences, but facilitated by the evolution of novel preferences. While in many scenarios positive assortative mating reduced gene flow between ecotypes, in others negative assortative mating arose, preferences were lost after ecotype formation, preferences were confined to one ecotype or the ancestral ecotype became extinct through sexual selection. Bounded hybrid superiority (as observed in nature) enhanced ecotype formation but increased gene flow. Our results highlight that ecotype formation and speciation are distinct processes: factors that contribute to ecotype formation can be detrimental to speciation and vice versa. The complex interactions observed between local adaptation and nonrandom mating imply that generalization from data is unreliable without quantitative theory for speciation.
Residual Long-Term Effects of Forest Fertilization on Tree Growth and Nitrogen Turnover in Boreal Forest

The growth enhancing effects of forest fertilizer is considered to level off within 10 years of the application, and be restricted to one forest stand rotation. However, fertilizer induced changes in plant community composition has been shown to occur in the following stand rotation. To clarify whether effects of forest fertilization have residual long-term effects, extending into the next rotation, we compared tree growth, needle N concentrations and the availability of mobile soil N in young (10 years) Pinus sylvestris L. and Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. stands. The sites were fertilized with 150 kg·N·ha−1 once or twice during the previous stand rotation, or unfertilized. Two fertilization events increased tree height by 24% compared to the controls. Needle N concentrations of the trees on previously fertilized sites were 15% higher than those of the controls. Soil N mineralization rates and the amounts of mobile soil NH4-N and NO3-N were higher on sites that were fertilized twice than on control sites. Our study demonstrates that operational forest fertilization can cause residual long-term effects on stand N dynamics, with subsequent effects on tree growth that may be more long-lasting than previously believed, i.e., extending beyond one stand rotation.
Opening a Stock Exchange

A large body of theoretical and empirical literature has established a positive relationship between levels of stock market development and economic growth. However, previous empirical work has been based on samples of approximately 40 countries with the most highly developed financial systems. Since 1950, over 70 countries have opened their first national stock exchanges. Can such exchanges increase economic growth? I present a data set of my construction that describes the exchange openings that occurred between 1960 and 1998, and find that these exchanges have generated increases in growth during their first 5Â years of existence, although the longer-term results are ambiguous.
Non-Scale Effects of International Technological-Knowledge Diffusion on Southern Growth and Wages

We develop a dynamic, general equilibrium non-scale endogenous growth model of North–South technological-knowledge diffusion by imitation. Countries differ in levels of exogenous productivity, human-capital levels and R&D capacity. Growth is driven by Northern innovative R&D and the South converges towards the North. Growth is also driven by human-capital accumulation, scale effects are removed, imitation is only feasible once a threshold distance to the frontier has been attained and is dependent on the South's relative level of employed human capital and on domestic policies promoting R&D. Imitation promotes partial convergence of inter-country wages and governs the path of intra-South wage inequality.
The Relationship Between Postsecondary Education and Labour Market Outcomes: Comparing Graduates Over a Four-Cohort Period

Drawing on data from the 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1995 National Graduates Surveys, this dissertation win build on previous research comparing graduates of different types of postsecondary programs on various outcome measures including earnings, employment, objective and subjective over-education, and the mismatch between education and work. Particular emphasis is placed on making field of study comparisons among graduates of different levels of postsecondary schooling (i.e. trades, college, university undergraduates, professional, master's, and Ph.D.), and identifying changes over time. The central theoretical issue addressed in this dissertation involves comparing the viability of human capital theory and the credentialist perspective with respect to the relationship between postsecondary education and skins. Statistical analyses are made using ordinary least squares, ordered logistic, and multinomial logistic regression models.
Structural and Functional Insights into the HIV-1 Maturation Inhibitor Binding Pocket

Processing of the Gag precursor protein by the viral protease during particle release triggers virion maturation, an essential step in the virus replication cycle. The first-in-class HIV-1 maturation inhibitor dimethylsuccinyl betulinic acid [PA-457 or bevirimat (BVM)] blocks HIV-1 maturation by inhibiting the cleavage of the capsid-spacer peptide 1 (CA-SP1) intermediate to mature CA. A structurally distinct molecule, PF-46396, was recently reported to have a similar mode of action to that of BVM. Because of the structural dissimilarity between BVM and PF-46396, we hypothesized that the two compounds might interact differentially with the putative maturation inhibitor-binding pocket in Gag. To test this hypothesis, PF-46396 resistance was selected for in vitro. Resistance mutations were identified in three regions of Gag: around the CA-SP1 cleavage site where BVM resistance maps, at CA amino acid 201, and in the CA major homology region (MHR). The MHR mutants are profoundly PF-46396-dependent in Gag assembly and release and virus replication. The severe defect exhibited by the inhibitor-dependent MHR mutants in the absence of the compound is also corrected by a second-site compensatory change far downstream in SP1, suggesting structural and functional cross-talk between the HIV-1 CA MHR and SP1. When PF-46396 and BVM were both present in infected cells they exhibited mutually antagonistic behavior. Together, these results identify Gag residues that line the maturation inhibitor-binding pocket and suggest that BVM and PF-46396 interact differentially with this putative pocket. These findings provide novel insights into the structure-function relationship between the CA MHR and SP1, two domains of Gag that are critical to both assembly and maturation. The highly conserved nature of the MHR across all orthoretroviridae suggests that these findings will be broadly relevant to retroviral assembly. Finally, the results presented here provide a framework for increased structural understanding of HIV-1 maturation inhibitor activity.