Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How Does Car Parking Availability and Public Transport Accessibility Influence Work-Related Travel Behaviors?

This study investigated the relationships between car parking, public transport, travel behaviors, and health outcomes for adults (n = 1,188) traveling to a worksite. Public transport was used for 12.1% of the work-related commute. Those who had higher levels of walking, no worksite car park access, lived proximal to a public transport stop, had limited automobile availability, traveled to the main business district, perceived public transport as accessible, or did not have company car access were more likely to use public transportation. Accordingly, proximal residential transit stops and restrictions for company car accessibility and parking at the worksite are needed.
An Empirical Investigation of Audit Pricing in the Public Sector: The Case of Greek LGOs

This paper investigates the associations between audit pricing and multidimensional characteristics of local governments by using a sample of Greek municipalities. The Greek institutional setting is interesting because it is politically pluralistic. Moreover, independent auditors appointed through a bid process exclusively perform the audits. Our results suggest a considerable variation on audit fees which is mainly driven by politically related factors indicating the importance of relevant theoretical anticipations in audit pricing in the public sector. Agency costs appear strong enough to explain audit pricing. We also confirm prior findings on the significance of audit complexity and size. Results also suggest that audit fees are reduced when an internal team dedicated to accrual accounting is appointed. Therefore, our conclusions offer practical implications for policy setters and regulators in the public sector in relation to audit quality.
The Korean textile industry: still competitive, after all these years?

Although a vital part of the economy, the Korean textile industry has been challenged by the recent reduction of international trade barriers, particularly as this industry was fully integrated into General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 2005. The textile industries in Japan and many other countries have also faced difficulties. This study examines future prospects for the Korean industry by investigating the presence of economies of scale and relationships among the inputs of domestic capital, labour and intermediate goods, as well as foreign intermediate goods. The findings are consistent with constant returns to scale and a substitutes relationship among all input pairs except for domestic capital and foreign intermediate goods. Thus, there appear to be no further cost reductions available through increased output and economies of scale. However, some reduction in industry output may not result in increased unit costs either. A reduction in the price of foreign intermediate goods will not only increase the demand for domestic capital, but also, at least in the short run, add stress to the industry as it decreases the demand for domestic labour and domestic intermediate goods.
Determinants of Government Bureaucrats' New PMIS Adoption

This study examines factors that influence adoption of new public management information systems (PMIS) by bureaucrats in the Korean government. The author proposes a theory that public bureaucrats' adoption of new PMIS depends on their power within the hierarchical structure, their ability to use existing computer applications, their administrative role, and their attitude toward the effect of information and telecommunication technologies (IT) on managerial values and on the interaction between organizational power and IT capability. The author uses 1998 survey data on electronic approval systems (EAS) of central government agencies and local governments in Korea and finds that at the early stage, public bureaucrats with less power adopted new EAS. However, public bureaucrats with more power adopted new EAS when they had greater IT capability. Public bureaucrats' organizational power influences their adoption of EAS but depends on their IT capability. Also, in central agencies, program professionals adopt EAS earlier, and in local government, IT staff do.
The Effect of Tax-Exempt Investors and Risk on Stock Ownership and Expected Returns

ABSTRACT: We investigate how shareholder taxes and risk preferences affect both a stock’s expected return, which reflects the capitalization of the dividend tax penalty into stock price, and the fraction of a firm’s stock held by tax-exempt investors. Our model demonstrates that the dividend tax capitalization effect reflects the weighted average tax rate of all investors, where the weighting depends on investors’ risk tolerances. This weighted average tax rate is not affected by the fraction of stock held by tax-exempt investors; however, tax-exempt investor ownership can be correlated with the weighted average tax rate if differences in tax-exempt investor ownership for different stocks reflect differences in investor risk tolerances for those stocks. Our empirical tests are consistent with the model’s predictions, and provide an equilibrium framework for interpreting prior empirical studies in accounting.
Mindfulness Broadens Awareness and Builds Eudaimonic Meaning: A Process Model of Mindful Positive Emotion Regulation

Contemporary scholarship on mindfulness casts it as a form of purely nonevaluative engagement with experience. Yet, traditionally mindfulness was not intended to operate in a vacuum of dispassionate observation, but was seen as facilitative of eudaimonic mental states. In spite of this historical context, modern psychological research has neglected to ask the question of how the practice of mindfulness affects downstream emotion regulatory processes to impact the sense of meaning in life. To fill this lacuna, here we describe the mindfulness-to-meaning theory, from which we derive a novel process model of mindful positive emotion regulation informed by affective science, in which mindfulness is proposed to introduce flexibility in the generation of cognitive appraisals by enhancing interoceptive attention, thereby expanding the scope of cognition to facilitate reappraisal of adversity and savoring of positive experience. This process is proposed to culminate in a deepened capacity for meaning-making and greater engagement with life.
Time Domain Analysis of Variability in Cygnus X-1: Constraints on the Emission Models

We use time domain analysis techniques to investigate the rapid variability of Cygnus X-1. We show that the cross-correlation functions between hard and soft energy bands reach values very close to unity and peak at a lag of less than 2 ms for energies separated by a factor of 10. This confirms that the process that produces X-ray photons at different energies is extremely coherent on short timescales and strongly constrains emission models proposed to explain Fourier-frequency-dependent time lags. We present autocorrelation functions at different energies and note that their widths decrease with increasing energy. We show that the extended Compton corona model produces autocorrelation functions whose widths increase with increasing energy and that the model of cylindrical waves moving inward through a transition disk has too large a peak lag in the cross-correlation function. Models of magnetic flaring and of drifting blobs in a hot corona can qualitatively fit the observations.
Epidemiology of Dengue/Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in Malaysia — A Retrospective Epidemiological Study 1973-1987. Part I: Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), though endemic in the sixties, emerged as a major public health problem in Malaysia from 1973 onwards. The incidence rate of DHF which was 10.1 per 100, 000 in 1973 has fallen down to 1.9 per 100, 000 in 1987 with a mean case fatality rate of 6.4 per 100 persons. The Chinese appear to be more prone to DHF with the highest mean morbidity rate of 5.5 per 100, 000 and case fatality rate of 6.1%. The incidence of DHF is higher in the males with a higher case fatality rate in females. Male Chinese appear to be mainly affected. The overall age-specific incidence rate is highest in two age groups, viz. 5-9 years and 10-19 years of age with a mean morbidity rate of 4.9 cases per 100, 000. The mean age-specific case fatality rate was highest in the 0-4 years age group. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is predominantly an urban disease in Malaysia with a mean incidence rate of 5.3 cases per 100, 000 as opposed to 1.2 cases per 100, 000 being reported from rural areas. The mean overall incidence of deaths in the urban area is 0.5 compared to 0.1 per 100, 000 for rural areas. There is a marked seasonal correlation between DHF cases and rainfall, with a peak in August. While all four serotypes of dengue viruses are found in Malaysia, Den 2 appears to be isolated with greater frequency during all the epidemics.
FACTORS AFFECTING BODY CONDITION SCORE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCES OF HOLSTEIN COWS

The objective of the present study was to determine factors affecting body condition score (BCS) and its association with productive and reproductive performances in Holstein cows. Mixed model analysis was performed on monthly records of BCS from April 2006 to July 2012 comprising 34666 records from 3134 dairy cows in a large commercial dairy herd under arid climatic conditions of Isfahan in Iran. Body condition scores were recorded on a scale of 1 to 5. Fixed factors included in the final mixed model of analysis were evaluation year, parity and evaluation season and also year by parity, season by parity and year by season interaction effects. Average BCS in the dairy herd was 3.06 ± 0.77. The results showed that there was an increasing trend for BCS over the years from 2006 to 2012 (P<0.001). Also, the recording season of winter provided greater BCS than other seasons (P<0.001). Mean BCS increased from first to third parity but then declined thereafter (P<0.05). The correlation between BCS and milk yield was negative and varied from -0.23 to -0.13 over the parities. The correlation between BCS and fat percentage was low and changed from 0 (fourth and greater parities) to 0.08 (first and second parities). There were low to medium correlations (0.14 to 0.29) between BCS and protein percentage over the parities. The correlation estimates between BCS and days open, calving interval and number of inseminations per conception were low and positive, but the correlation between BCS and conception rate was negative over the parities.
On the Secondary Discharge of an Atmospheric-Pressure Pulsed DBD in He with Impurities

The secondary discharge was induced at the end of a slow-falling voltage flank, when a semisine monopolar pulse voltage excites the dielectric-barrier discharge. Formation and properties of the secondary discharge with respect to different dielectric materials such as glass, ceramic, and polyethylene theraphtalate were studied. The tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry (at 777.194 nm) was used to analyze the time-space distribution of the density of the atomic oxygen in metastable state (35S2 rarr 35P3) in addition to both discharge voltage and discharge current versus time. The secondary discharge is always formed, and its amplitude, as well as the amplitude of the main discharge, depends on surface properties of the dielectric barrier.
Search on Rugged Landscapes: An Experimental Study

This paper presents findings from a laboratory experiment on human decision making in a complex combinatorial task. We draw on the canonical NK model to depict tasks with varying complexity and find strong evidence for a behavioral model of adaptive search. Success narrows down search to the neighborhood of the status quo, whereas failure promotes gradually more exploratory search. Task complexity does not have a direct effect on behavior but systematically affects the feedback conditions that guide success-induced exploitation and failure-induced exploration. The analysis also shows that human participants were prone to overexploration, since they broke off the search for local improvements too early. We derive stylized decision rules that generate the search behavior observed in the experiment and discuss the implications of our findings for individual decision making and organizational search.
The Effect of System Characteristics, Stage of Adoption, and Experience on Institutional Explanations for ERP Systems Choice

SYNOPSIS: Existing studies have found a linkage between institutional factors and systems adoption, but the literature has overlooked an important question: When is the decision to implement a system influenced by institutional factors? In this paper, the author argues that decisions to adopt systems are not influenced equally by institutional factors, and examines how system characteristics moderate the effects of institutional factors on adoption decisions, specifically decisions to adopt enterprise resource planning (hereafter, ERP) systems. The results of the study reveal that institutional factors, such as mimicry of peers, compliance with industry norms, and coercion from powerful entities influence ERP adoption decisions. The results also show that the effects of institutional factors on adoption decisions are amplified when participants have not already adopted an ERP system, the benefits of the system are difficult to quantify, and the system enhances organizational interaction throughout the sup.
Attitudes of general dental practitioners towards biopsy procedures

Objectives: A dentist is required to detect and recognise oral lesions and inform the patient accordingly by providing a diagnosis and adequate treatment plan. Biopsy serves as an important aid in achieving this goal; however, its use is not so widespread in general dental practice. The objective of the present study was to explore the attitudes of general dental practitioners in Belgaum city towards biopsy for diagnosis of oral lesions. Material and methods: A self designed questionnaire was administered to 74 general dental practitioners in Belgaum city, in the southern region of India, consisting of several items addressing the socio-demographic and professional aspects and their attitudes towards oral biopsy procedures. Results: The response rate was exceptionally high i.e. 90.54%. All the dentists felt that biopsy was an important tool in diagnosis of oral lesions but many still did not venture to undertake it on their own and preferred referring it to a specialist or higher care centre. This was mainly due to lack of experience and patient factors. There were also conflicting results regarding referral diagnostic pathology services and preservation of the biopsy specimens. Conclusion: This emphasizes the need for higher levels of importance to be placed on this aspect in undergraduate and postgraduate dental curriculum. Organisation of specific training or continuing dental education programmes to enhance their practical skills could aid in increasing the utility of this important tool in diagnosis of oral lesions.
A Shapley Value Analysis of the Proposed Canadian Constitutional Amendment Scheme

The interactions of a group of non-identical voting units may be studied by applying the concept of the Shapley value from n-person co-operative game theory. In this theory one assumes that voting units, or players, may form coalitions of various kinds in order to achieve success in the game, and one may assign a “value” to each such coalition based on what it can accomplish against arbitrary coalitions of the remaining players. The relative value of an individual player is calculated by considering how much he brings to each coalition he might join, that is, by how much the value of that coalition increases because of his membership, and summing this figure over all coalitions of which he could be a part.
On-Farm Diversity of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L) in Sudan: A Potential Genetic Resources Conservation Strategy

Although the main goal of traditional farming is to produce food, it can play an important role in conservation of genetic resources. This paper reports a study, which explored the diversity of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars grown by farmers and their preferences for different cultivars. The possibilities of using farms as sites for conserving genetic resources are discussed. The data for the study were collected from personal interviews that involved randomly selected date palm farmers in the Northern State and River Nile State, Sudan. Ordered and binary logit models were used to account for possible factors influencing the diversity of cultivars grown by farmers and preferences for different cultivars, respectively. The results showed that the cultivars grown by the respondents vary widely. On average, the Northern State respondents grew twice the number of cultivars as those in the River Nile State. Of all the date palm cultivars, the Barakawi was the most preferred. The diversity of the cultivars grown by the respondents and their preferences were mainly influenced by factors, such as farm location, drought, uses of date palm, years of farming experience, education, income from date palm and household size. The findings will help in designing a more sustainable date palm breeding program, as well as a genetic resources conservation strategy.
Do networks matter for innovation? The usefulness of the network approach in analysing innovation

Economic network theory emphasises the importance of external resource mobilisation. In this paper, the relations between the mobilisation and use of internal and external resources in innovation processes, and the innovative performance of firms, are explored empirically, using an adapted version of Hakansson's (1987) economic network model. The main research question was: to what extent do network variables contribute to the innovative performance of firms? To answer this question, we assessed the explanatory power of economic network theory within the empirical study of innovation. Firms were found to engage in various configurations of internal and external resource bases, enabling them to innovate with better results. The relations in the estimated models are strongly influenced by moderating variables such as sector, and type and level of innovations produced. Our main conclusion is that models that include both internal and external resources explain the innovative performance better than models in which only internal resources are used.
Diverse Immunoprofile of Ductal Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate with an Emphasis on the Prognostic Factors

Background Ductal adenocarcinoma (DAC) of the prostate is an uncommon histologic subtype whose prognostic factors and immunoprofile have not been fully defined. Methods To define its prognostic factors and immunoprofile, the clinicopathological features, including biochemical recurrence (BCR), of 61 cases of DAC were analyzed. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarray constructs to assess the expression of prostate cancer-related and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling-related proteins. Results During the median follow-up period of 19.3 months, BCR occurred in 26 cases (42.6%). DAC demonstrated a wide expression range of prostate cancer-related proteins, including nine cases (14.8%) that were totally negative for pan-cytokeratin (PanCK) immunostaining. The mTOR signaling-related proteins also showed diverse expression. On univariate analysis, BCR was associated with high preoperative serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), large tumor volume, predominant ductal component, high Gleason score (GS), comedo-necrosis, high tumor stage (pT), lymphovascular invasion, and positive surgical margin. High expressions of phospho-mTOR (p-mTOR) as well as low expressions of PSA, phospho-S6 ribosomal protein (pS6) and PanCK were associated with BCR. On multivariable analysis, GS, pT, and immunohistochemical expressions of PanCK and p-mTOR remained independent prognostic factors for BCR. Conclusions These results suggest GS, pT, and immunohistochemical expressions of PanCK and p-mTOR as independent prognostic factors for BCR in DAC. Since DAC showed diverse expression of prostate cancer–related proteins, this should be recognized in interpreting the immunoprofile of DAC. The diverse expression of mTOR-related proteins implicates their potential utility as predictive markers for mTOR targeted therapy.
Pay Equity in the States

Has any gender-based pay adjustment made by the states in the past 25 years had an effect on women’s relative pay? The authors utilize a panel set of EEO-4 data on public sector employment by state to investigate the pay of women relative to men for 1999-2005. The authors find that there is a significant difference in the relative pay of women employed in states that have had a major pay adjustment in female-dominated job classes upward at any time in the past quarter century. Utilizing GLS multiple regression to predict the relative pay gaps by state, the authors find that women are better paid relative to men in the public sector than the private. The authors also find that women are better paid relative to men in Elazar’s traditionalistic states as opposed to individualistic and moralistic ones, which are usually credited with having more progressive public policies.
Entrepreneurship Densities in APEC and Europe: How many entrepreneurs should there be in China, or other developing economies?

Abstract It is a characteristic of most developed economies that they have about one entrepreneur-manager for every 20 people. However less developed economies, especially China, have far fewer entrepreneur-managers with private sector entrepreneurial experience. This paper reviews evidence from the economies of two main free trade areas; APEC and the European Community. It is shown that there is a complex correlation between the density of entrepreneurs, and the level of per capita income, unemployment levels, and GDP growth. It is argued that for China to compete in an environment of freer trade (which it is now committed to) it will need to create about 50 to 60 million more entrepreneurs over the next ten to twenty years.
The Role of Class, Status, and Power in the Distribution of Toxic Superfund Sites in Texas and Louisiana

ABSTRACT Hazardous waste and environmental justice are important public issues as well as vital areas of academic discussion. The occurrence of hazardous waste sites in Texas and Louisiana is among the highest in the U.S. This study reexamines the claim that hazardous waste sites are disproportionately located in communities with higher percentages of minorities and poor in the population. Because of varying units of analysis and improper operationalization of variables, research based on this claim has produced inconsistent findings. This paper uses the case of Superfund hazardous waste site locations in Texas and Louisiana combined with a multi-dimensional conceptual frame to rectify weaknesses associated with conventional approaches to environmental justice issues. The goal of this analysis is to address two shortcomings in the environmental justice literature. First, we introduce the concept of relative deprivation and, second, we expand the traditional class focus of such research to include both status and power dimensions. The major hypothesis of this research is that environmental justice issues are better conceptualized as environmental classism rather than environmental racism. The results indicate that a multi-dimensional theoretical approach that includes class, status, and power indicators is superior to previous approaches. Furthermore, results indicate that race is not a significant correlate with the location of hazardous waste sites. We conclude that the operationalization of the concept of relative deprivation is valuable in sorting out the influence of race from other independent variables