Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why do governments invest in elite sport? A polemic

Elite sport currently enjoys high levels of investment in many advanced capitalist countries. The primary aim of this piece is to introduce and unpack the reasons generally given by states for prioritizing and investing in elite sport. While our core focus is the UK sport policy sector, many of the discussions will be relevant for other, advanced liberal capitalist systems (e.g. Australia and Canada) and even the now defunct dictatorships (e.g. the Soviet Union and the GDR). We show how commonsensical propositions (e.g. ‘elite sport success promotes participation among citizens’) are not always based on wide, existing research and evidence. The philosophy behind the United Kingdom's model of sport – and that of several other advanced states – we term a ‘virtuous cycle’ of sport, whereby elite sport success is seen to lead to both international prestige for the nation, a ‘feel-good factor’ among the population and, importantly, to an increase in participation among the masses. This, in turn, leads to a healthier nation and to a wider pool of people from which to pick the champions of the future. This article takes a closer look at the assumptions underlying such a model of sport.
Do Noise Traders “Create Their Own Space?”

Abstract We analyze myopic trader models of noisy prices in financial markets. Unlike extant analysis, such as De Long et al. (1990a), a classical equilibrium exists in our analysis, e.g., a riskless perpetuity is priced by arbitrage and its price does not vary with noise. A unique noisy equilibrium exists only when i) noise traders' beliefs are rational regarding volatility and irrational regarding expected returns, and ii) noise traders can hold infinite positions. In the absence of these strong assumptions, multiple noisy equilibria can coexist with the classical equilibrium, but these equilibria exhibit conflicting comparative statics. Furthermore, the price of a long-lived asset with risky cash flows can vary with noise even when investors are not myopic. One conclusion is that myopia is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for noisy prices. A second is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to use myopic trader models to derive implications for investment or regulatory policy.
Measuring Images of Developing Countries: A Scale Development Study

ABSTRACT Country image plays an important role in consumer purchase behavior. The extant measurement research on country image has serious limitations. This study outlines these measurement weaknesses and develops a more reliable multi-item, multidimensional scale for country image. Results of exploratory factor analysis conducted on a 31-item country image scale across six developing countries suggest that country image has seven dimensions. Results of confirmatory factor analysis validate the seven-factor solution. Internal consistency tests indicate that the proposed seven-dimension scale is very reliable. The implications of having a precisely defined, reliable country image measurement instrument for global marketing researchers, managers, and public policy-makers are discussed.
Comparison of the algorithms classifying the ABC and GCB subtypes in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Different immunohistochemical algorithms for the classification of the activated B-cell (ABC) and germinal center B-cell (GCB) subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) are applied in different laboratories. In the present study, 127 patients with DLCBL were investigated, all treated with rituximab and cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, oncovin and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP-like regimens between April 2004 and December 2010. Multi-tumor tissue microarrays were prepared and were tested according to 4 algorithms: Hans; modified Hans; Choi; and modified Choi. For 39 patients, the flow cytometric quantification of CD19 and CD20 antigen expression was performed and the level of expression presented as molecules of equivalent soluble fluorochrome units. The Choi algorithm was demonstrated to be prognostic for OS and classified patients into the GCB subgroup with an HR of 0.91. No difference in the expression of the CD19 antigen between the ABC and GCB groups was observed, but the ABC subtype exhibited a decreased expression of the CD20 antigen compared with the GCB subtype.
Gamma‐globulin treatment of recurrent acute otitis media in children

This study examined the hypothesis that children prone to acute otitis media have a reduced concentration of circulating antibodies of the IgG2 subclass and that this defect can be compensated for by gamma-globulin treatment. Infants and children below 18 months of age with at least three episodes of acute otitis media were randomized to intramuscular gamma-globulin or no treatment and were followed for 6 months. We could demonstrate neither reduced IgG2 nor specific anti-polysaccharide antibody activity in the otitis-prone children. In contrast they had higher concentrations of IgG2 and antibodies to phosphorylcholine than did age-matched controls. There was neither a relationship between the IgG2 concentration and the number of otitis episodes prior to enrollment nor a reduction in otitis frequency in the gamma-globulin-treated group.
Electromagnetic Energy Harvester Interface Design for Wearable Applications

This brief presents an interface design for electromagnetic energy harvesting for wearable applications. A transducer design is proposed. Multiple segments of coils with alternating winding directions improve the induced voltage and power. Due to the source’s wideband nature in target applications, we avoid the use of springs common in conventional designs. The corresponding equivalent circuit model is presented. A system-level analysis is then performed that leads to the following power interface circuit design. It includes a differential rectifier and a switched-inductor boost converter. The harvested power is maximized with a constant-resistance load that can be adjusted through a variable-gain amplifier’s gain. Implemented in a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${0.18{-}\mu }\text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process and tested at 20 Hz, measurement results show >80% impedance matching efficiency with >0.7-V input voltages. The system is able to harvest <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\sim }320~{\mu }\text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> when shaken by hand at 2.5~3 Hz.
An Aggregate Model for the European Union

We present the structure and properties of an aggregate model for the European Union, consisting of 34 equations estimated on annual data aggregated over the twelve-member EU, ranging from 1960 to 1997. Estimation was performed by a two-stage procedure taking into account the possible presence of structural breaks in the long-run parameters and allowing for nonlinearity and simultaneity of the dynamic equations. The estimated equations have a very good fit and pass a number of diagnostic tests, suggesting that EU-wide behavioural equations can be defined in a meaningful way. Simulation experiments show that the model is an agile and effective tool for the study of the European economy at an aggregate level. In particular, the model is shown to improve over previous aggregate explanations of the European economy, in that its dynamic multipliers provide a better account of the European unemployment and inflation dynamics in the last decade.
Foreign Workers and the Wage Distribution: Where Do They Fit in?

The presence of foreign workers is commonly deemed as driving wage inequality upwards. By 2006, seven in ten private sector workers in Luxembourg were foreign. This note builds on recentered influence function regression methods to identify where these foreign workers stand in the distribution of private sector wages, and assess whether and how much their wages contribute to overall wage inequality. Our analysis of the 2006 Structure of Earnings Survey reveals that foreign workers have generally lower wages than natives and therefore tend to haul the overall wage distribution downwards. Yet, surprizingly, their influence on wage inequality reveals small and negative. All impacts are further muted when accounting for human capital and, especially, job characteristics. Not observing any large positive inequality contribution on the Luxembourg labour market is a striking result given the sheer size of the foreign workforce and its polarization at both ends of the skill distribution.
Policies for sustainable development in the hillside areas of Honduras: a quantitative livelihoods approach

In this article, we use data for 376 households, 1,066 parcels, and 2,143 plots located in 95 villages in the hillside areas in Honduras to generate information needed by decision makers to assess the needs and opportunities for public investments, and design policies that stimulate natural resource conservation. We develop a quantitative livelihood approach, using factor and cluster analysis to group households based on the use of their main assets. This resulted in seven household categories that pursue similar livelihood strategies. We use a multinomial logit model to show that livelihood strategies are determined by comparative advantages as reflected by a combination of biophysical and socioeconomic variables. While 92% of the rural hillsides population in Honduras lives on US$1.00/capita/day or less, households that follow a livelihood strategy based on basic grain farming are the poorest because they often live in isolated areas with relatively poor agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions. Opportunities for off-farm work tend to be limited in these areas and household strategies that combine on-farm work with off-farm work earn higher incomes. Per capita incomes can be increased by improving road infrastructure, widening access to land, policies that reduce household size and dependency ratios, and adoption of sustainable land management technologies that restore soil fertility. We used probit models to show that the latter can be promoted by agricultural extension programs and land redistribution. Investments in physical assets should be directed toward households that pursue livelihood strategies based on off-farm employment or coffee production, while agricultural training programs are best focused on livestock producers.
Institutional Investment Horizon and Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity

This paper examines the relevance of institutional investors’ investment horizon, as reflected in the response of firm investment to internal cash flows. We argue that institutional investors with longer investment horizons have greater incentives and efficiencies to engage in effective monitoring. This improved monitoring mitigates asymmetric information and agency problems, and in turn reduces the wedge between the costs of internal and external funds. As a result, the sensitivity of firms’ investment outlays to internal cash flows decreases in the presence of institutional investors with long-term investment horizons. Using a sample of 8402 US firms over the period 1981–2008, we provide empirical evidence consistent with these arguments.
“No Wasting” and “Empty Nesters”: “Old Age” in Beijing

This paper explores the meaning of “old age” in reform-era Beijing from complementary perspectives. Based on extensive, multi-sited anthropological fieldwork and document analysis, it contrasts the experiences of older people in Beijing with a critical investigation of public debates about “old age”. The paper examines older people's narratives about their gains and losses in the reform era and analyses several of their strategies to deal with rapid social change. It is argued that current debates about “old age” in Beijing tend to view older people as a collective, quantitative threat to the social structure or as pitiful recipients of rapid social change. Older people as active agents of social change are largely absent from these debates. It is suggested that the tension between public portrayals of “old age” by younger and middle-aged people and the experiences of older people is indicative of different, generation-based judgements of continuity and change in the reform era.
Exchange rate movements and firm value: Evidence from European firms across the financial crisis period

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sensitivity of firm value to exchange rate (ER) movements, and the determinants of such exposure for 100 European blue chip companies over 2001-2012. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors adopt a disaggregated framework that distinguishes between Eurozone and non-Eurozone firms, and between financial and non-financial firms across the pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods of the recent financial crisis. Findings - – The authors find no significant difference between Eurozone and non-Eurozone, and financial and non-financial firms. Exposure is found to be higher during the financial crisis, across all sub-samples of firms. In the majority of cases the exposure coefficient is significantly positive, indicating that European firms’ stock returns are positively (negatively) affected by depreciation (appreciation) of ERs (indirect quotation). Practical implications - – It is recommended that firms’ financial plans budget for higher liquidity levels in order to build up, during “good times”, a natural hedge for the higher exposure likely to be faced during periods characterized by greater financial distress. Originality/value - – The main novelty lies in the adoption of a disaggregated framework that discriminates between pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods in order to ascertain the extent to which the recent financial crisis affected the relationship in question.
China's National System of Innovation and Uneven Technological Trajectory: The Case of China's Integrated Circuit Design Industry

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the limitations of the national system of innovation (NSI) approach in countries in developing economies with at best incomplete sets of market institutions. , – This paper employed a grounded theory approach using semi‐structured interviews to explore a case study of one industry segment (the IC design industry segment) in one developing economy, China. , – This paper argues that developing countries have institutions beyond the national system that can affect science and technology activities. Owing to co‐ethnic transnational technology networks and the politics of finance, China's firms experience distinct patterns of performance not explained by the NSI framework. A particular type of foreign firm, the hybrid foreign‐invested enterprise, combines foreign finance with commitment to China to drive China's technological development. Other firms, particularly those closely tied to the Chinese state, contribute less or even negatively to China's development. Strong ties to the state in the context of China actually undermine the incentive for innovation. , – This paper deconstructs both NSI and the idea of national political economies more broadly. The paper also offers value in presenting a detailed case study of on‐the‐ground innovation and upgrading in China.
Calcium Enables Photoreceptor Pigment Migration in a Mutant Fly

Upon bright illumination, pigment granules in the photoreceptors of the fly compound eye migrate transversely toward the rhabdomeres (Kirschfeld & Franceschini, 1969). The granules absorb light passing down the rhabdomeric light guide, thereby reducing the light available to the visual pigment. This light-regulating mechanism is found in a number of invertebrate eyes (Stavenga, 1979) and has been termed the 'longitudinal pupil' (Franceschini, 1972). Pigment migration is triggered by the absorption of light by the visual pigment (Franceschini, 1975) but is not directly caused by the accompanying depolarization of the photoreceptors (Kirschfeld & Vogt, 1980). Kirschfeld & Vogt showed that the extracellular application of the calcium-sequestering agent EGTA to the fly retina disables pigment migration. They suggested that an increase in intracellular free Ca concentration, which is known to accompany strong illumination of invertebrate photoreceptors (Brown & Blinks, 1974; Muijser, 1979), triggers pigment movement. Here I present evidence in support of this hypothesis by using Ca to promote pigment migration in a transduction mutant of the fly Lucilia which does not normally exhibit pigment migration: this is the converse to Kirschfeld & Vogt's experiment. Pigment migration was monitored in restrained, living flies by observing lightinduced changes in reflection from the deep pseudopupil (Franceschini & Kirschfeld, 1971). In wild-type Lucilia, the pupil reflects yellow light after adaptation with bright white light. The time constant of the reflection change from the dark-adapted to the light-adapted state is about 7 s at room temperature (Fig. 1A). The receptor potential in the wild-type fly has a characteristic initial transient followed by a steady-state plateau (Fig. IB). As reported by Kirschfeld & Vogt (1980), infiltration of the retina with EGTA (0-1M dissolved in 0-15M-NaCl and neutralized to pH7 with NaOH) blocks pigment migration without decreasing the amplitude of the receptor potential. The pigment remains in the 'dark-adapted' position independent of the light regime. A drop of solution, the dimensions of which were measured under the dissection microscope and the volume of which was calculated to be about 1 nl, was absorbed into the eye, which has a volume of about 250 nl, through a small hole cut in the cornea. EGTA takes effect about 1 min after infiltration and can be reversed by subsequent
Hippocampal Serotonin Responses in Short and Long Attack Latency Mice

Short and long attack latency mice, which are selected based on their offensive behaviour in a resident–intruder model, differ in their neuroendocrine regulation as well as in aspects of their brain serotonin system. Previous studies showed that the binding capacity and expression of serotonin‐1A receptors in the hippocampal CA1 field of long attack latency mice are significantly lower than that found in short attack latency mice. We tested whether the functional responses of CA1 hippocampal cells to serotonin are also reduced in long attack latency mice. To this end, serotonin‐induced changes in the membrane potential and input resistance were recorded in vitro with microelectrodes in CA1 pyramidal neurones of long and short attack latency mice. The data show that in long attack latency mice, along with a reduction of the serotonin‐1A receptor mRNA expression, the serotonin‐induced membrane hyperpolarization and decrease in resistance are attenuated. Basal membrane properties of CA1 neurones in the two mice lines were comparable. Plasma corticosterone levels in response to a novelty stress were elevated in long compared to short attack latency mice and inversely related to the serotonin‐induced responses. We tentatively conclude that long attack latency mice show attenuated functional responses to serotonin in the hippocampus, possibly linked to a chronic perturbation of hormonal levels.
Axon diameters and intradural trajectories of the dural innervation in the rat

Neurophysiological studies have characterized the sensory responses of primary afferent nociceptors that innervate the intracranial dura. The present study used anatomical methods to examine in greater detail the axonal trajectories within the dura, as well as the axonal size distribution of the dural innervation. Immunostaining for CGRP in dural wholemounts revealed a network of fibers extending across the entire dura, with an especially dense plexus running along the borders of the transverse and superior sagittal sinuses. The plexus along the caudal border of the transverse sinus partially overlapped the dural area that shows the greatest density of mast cells. Visualization of axon bundles by DiI application in formalin‐fixed tissue revealed two separate systems of fibers in the dura that could be distinguished by the orientation of their trajectories: one that runs parallel to the middle meningeal artery (MMA), and another with a more or less orthogonal orientation that runs rostromedially from the transverse sinus across the MMA. Axons traversed large distances across the dura, but the majority of the branching and arborization was usually concentrated in the distal part of the trajectory. In separate animals, measurement of myelinated axon diameters with electron microscopy showed that approximately one‐third of the myelinated axons in the nerves supplying the dura (nervus spinosus and tentorial nerves) could be classified as A‐beta, since they were comparable in size to the majority of axons in the trochlear nerve and the upper end of the size range in the trigeminal nerve (i.e., >5 μm). J. Comp. Neurol. 473:364–376, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Economic Rationality, Risk Presentation, and Retirement Portfolio Choice

This research studies the propensity of individuals to violate implications of expected utility maximization in allocating retirement savings within a compulsory defined contribution retirement plan. The paper develops the implications and describes the construction and administration of a discrete choice experiment to almost 1200 members of Australia's mandatory retirement savings scheme. The experiment finds overall rates of violation of roughly 25%, and substantial variation in rates, depending on the presentation of investment risk and the characteristics of the participants. Presentations based on frequency of returns below or above a threshold generate more violations than do presentations based on the probability of returns below or above thresholds. Individuals with low numeracy skills, assessed as part of the experiment, are several times more likely to violate implications of the conventional expected utility model than those with high numeracy skills. Older individuals are substantially less likely to violate these restrictions, when risk is presented in terms of event frequency, than are younger individuals. The results pose significant questions for public policy, in particular compulsory defined contribution retirement schemes, where the future welfare of participants in these schemes depends on quantitative decision-making skills that a significant number of them do not possess.
IPv6 communications over LoRa for future IoV services

The advantages of all-IP scenarios are clear for both high-level protocol and application developers. However, the usage of IPv6 together with new communication technologies especially designed for Internet of Things (IoT) deployments is not straightforward. This is the case of Low Power-Wide Area Networks (LP-WAN), where packets have a restricted length and the sole IPv6 header implies an excessive load. Fortunately, the arrival of the edge computing paradigm presents a perfect frame to locate adaptation mechanisms for embedding IPv6 datagrams within these networks at the frontier between the LP-WAN and the Internet. In this line, this work presents a solution in the area of vehicular IoT, which allows the IPv6 end-to-end connectivity between a moving device and an Internet node, by means of an adaptation mechanism performed in a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) node attached to the LP-WAN gateway. IPv6 datagrams are compressed following recent IETF guidelines to traverse a LoRa network segment in a transparent way for higher level applications. The solution has been implemented and a real test-bench has been set-up to validate the proposal and extract experimental results that reveal its suitability for traffic-efficiency and warning services in the vehicular domain.