Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life

Your corn is ripe today; mine will be so tomorrow. ‘Tis profitable for us both, that I should labour with you today, and that you should aid me tomorrow. I have no kindness for you, and know you have as little for me. I will not, therefore, take any pains upon your account; and should I labour with you upon my own account, in expectation of a return, I know I should be disappointed, and that I should in vain depend upon your gratitude. Here then I leave you to labour alone; You treat me in the same manner. The seasons change; and both of us lose our harvests for want of mutual confidence and security.
Social Networkers' Attitudes Toward Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genome Testing

Purpose: This study explores social networkers' interest in and attitudes toward personal genome testing (PGT), focusing on expectations related to the clinical integration of PGT results. Methods: An online survey of 1,087 social networking users was conducted to assess 1) use and interest in PGT; 2) attitudes toward PGT companies and test results; and 3) expectations for the clinical integration of PGT. Descriptive statistics were calculated to summarize respondents' characteristics and responses. Results: Six percent of respondents have used PGT, 64% would consider using PGT, and 30% would not use PGT. Of those who would consider using PGT, 74% report they would use it to gain knowledge about disease in their family. 34% of all respondents consider the information obtained from PGT to be a medical diagnosis. 78% of those who would consider PGT would ask their physician for help interpreting test results, and 61% of all respondents believe physicians have a professional obligation to help individuals interpret PGT results. Conclusion: Respondents express interest in using PGT services, primarily for purposes related to their medical care and expect physicians to help interpret PGT results. Physicians should therefore be prepared for patient demands for information and counsel on the basis of PGT results.
Saving economic growth and demographic change.

How important is a high rate of savings to rapid economic growth and how does rapid economic growth affect efforts to raise the rate of savings? These are highly important issues to a debtor company trying to reduce its foreign debt. Study has shown that a higher national savings rate is an important macroeconomic goal in the developing world. Using the models of Japan and the U.S. it is apparent how a higher national rate of savings and investment leads to greater economic growth. Reduced fertility and a slowed population growth have lead to higher rates of saving. Surveys from industrialized countries and both Latin American and Asian countries indicate that when there are fewer children in a household there is less consumption and more savings. However slower population growth may have a reverse effect in other countries. 2 other studies have shown that households with fewer children have higher rates of consumption. This is most likely to occur in countries where there is slow or non-existent economic growth. The relationship between the number of children in a household and the impact on savings needs to be fully explored and tested. In addition the relationship between demographic factors and savings in developing countries is dependent upon the development of better models and the retrieval of improved data. A final conclusion observes that successful family planning can lead to an increase in family savings.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Veterans and Military Personnel: A Synthesis of Population Surveys

Background:Recent reports reinforce the widespread interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), not only among military personnel with combat-related disorders, but also among providers who are pressed to respond to patient demand for these therapies. However, an understanding of utilization of CAM therapies in this population is lacking. Objective:The goals of this study are to synthesize the content of self-report population surveys with information on use of CAM in military and veteran populations, assess gaps in knowledge, and suggest ways to address current limitations. Research Design:The research team conducted a literature review of population surveys to identify CAM definitions, whether military status was queried, the medical and psychological conditions queried, and each specific CAM question. Utilization estimates specific to military/veterans were summarized and limitations to knowledge was classified. Results:Seven surveys of CAM utilization were conducted with military/veteran groups. In addition, 7 household surveys queried military status, although there was no military/veteran subgroup analysis. Definition of CAM varied widely limiting cross-survey analysis. Among active duty and Reserve military, CAM use ranged between 37% and 46%. Survey estimates do not specify CAM use that is associated with a medical or behavioral health condition. Conclusions:Comparisons between surveys are hampered due to variation in methodologies. Too little is known about reasons for using CAM and conditions for which it is used. Additional information could be drawn from current surveys with additional subgroup analysis, and future surveys of CAM should include military status variable.
Rhinitis and its impact on quality of life in swimmers

Limited data suggest that swimmers might be affected by rhinitis significantly more often than the general population. This can have impact on quality of life but also on performance. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and impact of QOL of rhinitis in swimming compared to nonswimming athletes and controls.
Middlemen behaviour and generic advertising rents in competitive interrelated industries

This article focuses on the role of middlemen in determining the returns to generic advertising in a competitive industry where supply is uncontrolled, the price of marketing inputs is endogenous, and retail markets are interrelated through consumer preferences. Theoretical analysis suggests farm-gate returns (quasi-rents) are overstated when input substitution at middlemen level is ignored, a result confrmed in the empirical application. As for mark-up behaviour, represented by the farm-retail price transmission elasticity, a general result is that farm-gate returns to generic advertising always increase as the transmission elasticity decreases, provided retail demand is more elastic than input substitution. Endogenising the price of marketing inputs has little effect on advertising rents.
Three Essays on Macroeconomics with Incomplete Factor Markets

Author(s): Plotnikov, Dmitry | Advisor(s): Farmer, Roger | Abstract: This dissertation explores persistent unemployment dynamics in the U.S., alternative explanations for this phenomenon and potential policy implications. Chapter 1 develops and estimates a general equilibrium rational expectations model with search and multiple equilibria where aggregate shocks have a permanent effect on the unemployment rate. If agents' wealth decreases, the unemployment rate increases for a potentially indefinite period. This makes unemployment rate dynamics path dependent as in Blanchard and Summers (1987). I argue that this feature explains the persistence of the unemployment rate in the U.S. after the Great Recession and over the entire postwar period.Chapter 2 conducts an empirical exercise to analyze which assumptions prevent a standard model from matching the persistence of the unemployment rate. I do this by using business cycle accounting procedure (Chari et. al. (2007)) on data in wage units (Farmer (2010)). I find that most movements in the unemployment rate are accounted for by the labor supply wedge. In other words, a standard model fits data badly because the assumption that households are on their labor supply is flawed. This finding is consistent with other papers in the literature. It also motivates assumptions that I make in my job market paper.In Chapter 3, I with Roger Farmer focus on the persistent unemployment dynamics during the Great Depression. We explain the period between 1929 and 1950 within a single model whichis driven by the stock market as a measure of consumer confidence. We document that the stock market measured by the SaP 500 and unemployment were moving closely between 1929 and 1939, but after 1939 the relationship between the two series seems to completely disappear. In particular, the stock market kept falling, but the employment rate recovered to the pre-recession level by 1942. Using our model we analytically study the effects of temporary bond-financed fiscal expansions that are similar to the actual data. We plug the actual data for the stock market and government expenditures from the Great Depression and WWII in the model and show that the model does a good job replicating consumption and unemployment dynamics during this period.
Perceived Social Impacts of Tourism by Residents in the OTOP Tourism Village, Thailand

This study aims to investigate the impacts of tourism development at Baan Tawai, the first OTOP Tourism Village in Thailand, and to examine the relationship between demographic factors and Baan Tawai residents' perceptions of the social impacts of tourism development. Data were collected using questionnaires. The finding is that the residents positively perceive social impacts in term of job creation for women in the village. Additionally, they do not see any social changes brought in by tourism and do not think that tourism leads to an increase in prostitution, vandalism, burglary, or drug abuse.
Questioning the Assumptions of the "Tragedy of the Commons" Model of Fisheries

The "tragedy of the commons" argument predicts the overexploitation of resources held in common. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary. The descriptive accuracy and predictive validity of six categories of assumptions of the argument are examined. These include individual motivations, characteristics of individuals, nature of institutional arrangements, interactions among users, the ability of users to create new arrangements, and the behavior of regulatory authorities. The tragedy of the commons argument is seriously incomplete. It needs to be replaced by a richer and more accurate framework.
Article Commentary: The Arts and Family Business: Linking Family Business Resources and Performance to Industry Characteristics

There has been a good deal of debate regarding the performance of family firms. Explanations for divergent findings have ranged from variations in governance arrangements to particular organizational practices. One avenue that has not been much explored is the role played by industry. We theorize that market requirements, when coupled with firm–specific behaviors and resources, can account for why some family businesses do well in particular industries. More precisely, due to their long–term orientation and the intimate connection among family members, some family firms are especially adept at accumulating human capital, passing on tacit knowledge, protecting and leveraging reputation, and building strong relationships and slack resources. These capacities promote success in industries with high levels of uncertainty regarding product quality, product value, and demand. The arts–related industries, we shall argue, are one such environment, and we use it to demonstrate our thesis that family firms, if oriented appropriately, can thrive where relationships, tacit knowledge, and reputation are demanded.
Environmental risk factors in inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based case-control study in Asia-Pacific

Objective The rising incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Asia supports the importance of environmental risk factors in disease aetiology. This prospective population-based case-control study in Asia-Pacific examined risk factors prior to patients developing IBD. Design 442 incident cases (186 Crohn's disease (CD); 256 UC; 374 Asians) diagnosed between 2011 and 2013 from eight countries in Asia and Australia and 940 controls (frequency-matched by sex, age and geographical location; 789 Asians) completed an environmental factor questionnaire at diagnosis. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted ORs (aOR) and 95% CIs. Results In multivariate model, being breast fed >12 months (aOR 0.10; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.30), antibiotic use (aOR 0.19; 0.07 to 0.52), having dogs (aOR 0.54; 0.35 to 0.83), daily tea consumption (aOR 0.62; 0.43 to 0.91) and daily physical activity (aOR 0.58; 0.35 to 0.96) decreased the odds for CD in Asians. In UC, being breast fed >12 months (aOR 0.16; 0.08 to 0.31), antibiotic use (aOR 0.48; 0.27 to 0.87), daily tea (aOR 0.63; 0.46 to 0.86) or coffee consumption (aOR 0.51; 0.36 to 0.72), presence of hot water tap (aOR 0.65; 0.46 to 0.91) and flush toilet in childhood (aOR 0.71; 0.51 to 0.98) were protective for UC development whereas ex-smoking (aOR 2.02; 1.22 to 3.35) increased the risk of UC. Conclusions This first population-based study of IBD risk factors in Asia-Pacific supports the importance of childhood immunological, hygiene and dietary factors in the development of IBD, suggesting that markers of altered intestinal microbiota may modulate risk of IBD later in life.
Simple Contracts for Reliable Supply

Supply reliability may suffer due to events such as labor strikes that disrupt capacity (random capacity) or manufacturing defects that result in yield losses (random yield). Suppliers can enhance reliability by process improvement and overproduction, but these mitigating actions are often not contractible. Moreover, the investment in mitigation depends critically on the design of the procurement process: whether the buyer determines the production quantity (control) or the supplier does (delegation). Complex contracts, typically with a penalty clause, can be used to coordinate the supply chain. However, evidence suggests that simple wholesale price contracts are widely used. Our main finding is that such simple contracts can perform well (in terms of supply-chain profits) depending on the type of supply risk and the procurement process design. We find that for random capacity, irrespective of the process design, contract performance is monotonically increasing in the supplier’s bargaining power, suggesting that simple contracts perform well when the supplier is powerful. However, this monotonicity trend is reversed for random yield with control: in that case, simple contracts perform well when the buyer is powerful. For random yield with delegation, simple contracts perform well when either party is powerful. Our findings provide insight and guidance regarding when simple contracts suffice, and when more complex coordinating contracts are warranted.
Mycobacterium smegmatis PhoU Proteins Have Overlapping Functions in Phosphate Signaling and Are Essential

Many bacteria regulate gene expression in response to phosphate availability using a two-component signal transduction system, the activity of which is controlled by interaction with the Pst phosphate specific transporter and a cytoplasmic protein PhoU. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, requires its phosphate sensing signal transduction system for virulence and antibiotic tolerance, but the molecular mechanisms of phosphate sensing remain poorly characterized. M. smegmatis serves as a model for studying mycobacterial pathogens including M. tuberculosis. M. smegmatis encodes two proteins with similarity to PhoU, but it was unknown if both proteins participated in signal transduction with the phosphate-responsive SenX3-RegX3 two-component system. We constructed phoU single and double deletion mutants and tested expression of genes in the RegX3 regulon. Only the ΔphoU1ΔphoU2 mutant exhibited constitutive activation of all the RegX3-regulated genes examined, suggesting that M. smegmatis PhoU1 and PhoU2 have overlapping functions in inhibiting activity of the SenX3-RegX3 two-component system when phosphate is readily available. The ΔphoU1ΔphoU2 mutant also exhibited decreased tolerance to several anti-tubercular drugs. However, a complex plasmid swapping strategy was required to generate the ΔphoU1ΔphoU2 mutant, suggesting that either phoU1 or phoU2 is essential for in vitro growth of M. smegmatis. Using whole-genome sequencing, we demonstrated that all five of the ΔphoU1ΔphoU2 mutants we isolated had independent suppressor mutations predicted to disrupt the function of the Pst phosphate transporter, suggesting that in the absence of the PhoU proteins phosphate uptake by the Pst system is toxic. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the two M. smegmatis PhoU orthologs have overlapping functions in both controlling SenX3-RegX3 activity in response to phosphate availability and regulating phosphate transport by the Pst system. Our results suggest that M. smegmatis can serve as a tractable model for further characterization of the molecular mechanism of phosphate sensing in mycobacteria and to screen for compounds that would interfere with signal transduction and thereby increase the efficacy of existing anti-tubercular antibiotics.
Insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) for malaria control : factors relevant for utilization in a western Kenyan community

A study of sleeping patterns and malaria-related knowledge and practices was conducted in western Kenya, prior to a trial of insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs). The study aimed to describe a general representation of local sleeping arrangements, especially for children, and malaria-related knowledge and practices, including existing bednet use. Caregivers for children 2 years are relocated to sleep with siblings or alone. Children mostly slept in kitchens and living rooms. Bednet coverage was low (<5%), due to perceived costs, heat and daily re-hanging. Net maintenance was poor; the majority were old and torn. Two-thirds of 26 households lacking bednets knew of no disadvantages. Those perceiving disadvantages cited heat, fire risk, and detergent needs for washing nets. Bednets were valued for avoidance of nuisance biting for adults. Malaria was perceived to be from multiple causes. While ITNs prevented mosquito biting they were thus not perceived to affect other causes of malaria, and the risk of malaria. To maximize ITN use, information on the role of mosquitoes as the sole cause of malaria, and prevention of biting through ITNs will need to be disseminated. ITN success would require coverage of all sleeping spaces to ensure children also benefit from the intervention. 34 Chapter 2
‘The Ebb and Flow’ of Euroscepticism in Italy

This paper analyses the ‘ebb and flow’ of party-based and popular euroscepticism in Italy, arguing that, when examined over a long period of time, euroscepticism has shifted from left to right. Moreover, whereas party-based euroscepticism has been transformed from ideological to strategic, popular euroscepticism seems to be better explained by economic reasons rather than political ones. The empirical material is organised in three periods, on the basis of the turning points in the evolution of euroscepticism in Italy: from 1957 to the late 1960s; from the early 1970s to the end of the so-called ‘First Republic’ in the early 1990s; and the ‘Second Republic’.
Seminal Plasma Affects Prostaglandin Synthesis and Angiogenesis in the Porcine Uterus1

ABSTRACT Introduction of semen into the female reproductive tract may induce molecular and cellular changes facilitating conception and pregnancy. Because prostaglandins (PGs) and appropriate vascularization of the endometrium are crucial for pregnancy success, the effect of seminal plasma (SP) on PG synthesis and angiogenesis was investigated. Gilts at estrus received an infusion of 100 ml of either SP or PBS (control). Uterine horns were collected on Days 1, 3, 5, and 10 after each treatment. Concentrations of PGE2, PGF2alpha , and PGFM were measured in the uterine lumen and endometrial tissue. Expression of PG synthesis pathway enzymes and angiogenic factors, infiltration of immune cells, and vascular bed development were assessed. One day after SP infusion, the PGE2:PGF2alpha ratio in the uterine lumen was lower than in controls. In endometrial tissue, however, PGE2 levels and the PGE2:PGF2alpha ratio were elevated on Day 10. PG-endoperoxide synthase expression in the endometrium was up-regulated on Day 1 and decreased on Day 5 after SP treatment compared to that in controls. PGF2alpha synthase levels were decreased on Day 5 and 10 in SP-treated animals when compared to controls. SP-induced vascular bed development was apparent shortly before the time corresponding to maternal recognition of pregnancy in the pig. Together, these data indicate that the porcine uterus can be sensitized shortly after SP exposure to evoke prolonged effects on PG synthesis and angiogenesis in the endometrium, persisting over the course of the prereceptive phase. Thus, SP can affect uterine receptivity and embryo-maternal interactions in pigs through locally direct and/or indirect mechanisms.
What drives inequality and poverty in the EU? Exploring the impact of macroeconomic and institutional factors

Employing panel data techniques, we investigate the macroeconomic and institutional determinants of inequality and poverty in the EU over the period 1994–2008. We pay particular attention to the effects of macroeconomic environment, social protection and labour market institutions. The empirical analysis shows that the social transfers in cash, and principally the transfers that do not include pensions, exert a prominent impact on inequality and poverty. Also significant is the effect of the GDP per capita. The impact of employment on inequality and poverty is not empirically sound. The same holds for the labour market institutions; an exception is the union density, which appears conducive to a less dispersed personal income distribution. Importantly, the results support the view that the social protection system acts as a catalyst in determining the effectiveness of social spending and the distributive role of economic growth and employment.
Institutional investments in private equity funds: social ties and the reduction of information asymmetry

The reduction of information asymmetry between institutional investors and private equity (PE) firms is one of the key challenges for the successful fundraising of PE funds in an increasingly competitive market. Social ties provide a potential mechanism to reduce information asymmetry. Therefore, this paper investigates the role of social ties for institutional investments in PE funds. Based on our fieldwork and a data set of 136 institutional investors and PE firms in Germany, we show that both direct and indirect social ties influence the investment decisions of institutional investors for PE firms. This influence is not restricted to functions of information transfer but also includes mechanisms of trust building. Interestingly, direct and indirect ties reveal different effects. Direct ties transfer information and increase goodwill trust. Indirect ties also transfer information but show no effect on trust building. Our results suggest that social ties can reduce information asymmetry between institutional investors and PE firms and thereby help to establish a financing relationship.