Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Institutional Structure of Eminence: Alignment of Prestige among Intra-University Academic Departments

Abstract This study examines the reputational ratings of twenty disciplines using data from the 1982 Conference Board of Associated Research Councils to identify the extent to which such ratings can produce meaningful rankings of universities. Given that perceptions of departments and universities reflect social psychological images about the relative value of the program or school, such images can have powerful implications for hiring, recognition and the rewards process if they remain stable over time. The result is a mental construct that can have powerful implications for structure of stratification among higher educational institutions and the careers of those who pass through these universities. Seen from this perspective, eminence based on reputation is a property of the university. As such, departments within given universities should be quite consistent with regard to their respective ratings. Findings from this paper reveal the reputations of programs within universities are quite similar to eac.
Nominal and real effective exchange rates of middle eastern countries and their trade performance

Indexes of real and nominal effective exchange rates that are published by the IMF, are mostly for industrial countries. None of the Middle Eastern countries have received any attention on this regard. This paper tries to close the gap by constructing such indexes for 11 middle eastern countries over 1971(I)–1994(IV) period. As an application, long-run response of their trade balance to devaluation is also investigated.
Effects of tetracycline on the pharmacokinetics of halofantrine in healthy volunteers.

AIMS To investigate the effect of tetracycline co-administration on the pharmacokinetics of halofantrine in healthy subjects. METHODS Eight healthy males were each given 500 mg single oral doses of halofantrine alone, or with tetracycline (500 mg 12 hourly for 7 days), in a crossover fashion. Blood samples collected at predetermined intervals were analyzed for halofantrine and its major metabolite, desbutylhalofantrine (HFM), using a validated HPLC method. RESULTS Co-administration of tetracycline and halofantrine resulted in a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the maximum plasma concentration (C(max)), total area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), and terminal elimination half-life (t(1/2,z)), compared with halofantrine alone. (C(max) 0.43 +/- 0.14 vs 1.06 +/- 0.44 microg ml(-1) (95% CI on the difference 0.30, 0.95); AUC 32.0 +/- 13.6 vs 63.7 +/- 20.1 microg ml(-1) h (95% CI 14.2, 49.1); t(1/2,z:) 90.8 +/- 17.9 vs 157.4 +/- 57.4 h (95% CI 21.7, 111.5)). Similarly, tetracycline caused a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the AUC and C(max) of HFM. CONCLUSIONS Tetracycline co-administration significantly increases the plasma concentrations of halofantrine and its major metabolite.
Web Traffic And Firm Performance: Evidence From The MENA Region

Does the traffic generated by websites of firms signal anything to stock market participants? Does higher web-traffic translate into availability of more information and therefore lower agency problems? And if answers to above questions are in affirmative, does higher web-traffic traffic translate into better firm performance? This paper aims to answer these questions by documenting a positive relationship between the extent of web-traffic and firm performance in the MENA region during the 2010. We argue that higher web-traffic lowers the agency problems in firms by disseminating more information to stock market participants. Consequently, lower agency problems translate into better performance. Furthermore, we also show that agency reducing role of web-traffic is more pronounced in regimes where information environment is already bad. For example, our results show stronger impact of web-traffic on firm performance in civil law countries, firms with concentrated ownership, and firms with more intangible assets. All of these groups are characterized by higher agency problems. Our results, therefore, indicate that web-traffic can play a substitute for traditional governance mechanisms in the MENA region.
CAPITAL, LABOR, AND THE FIRM: A STUDY OF GERMAN CODETERMINATION

Under the German corporate governance system of codetermination, employees are legally allocated control rights over corporate assets through seats on the supervisory board-that is, the board of nonexecutive directors. The supervisory board oversees the management board-the board of executive directors-approves or rejects its decisions, and appoints its members and sets their salaries.We empirically investigate the implications of this sort of labor participation in corporate decision making. We find that companies with equal representation of employees and shareholders on the supervisory board trade at a 31% stock market discount as compared with companies where employee representatives fill only one-third of the supervisory board seats. We show that under equal representation, management board compensation provides incentives that are not conducive to furthering shareholders' interests, possibly because labor maximizes a different objective function than shareholders. We document that, under equal representation, companies have longer payrolls than their one-third representation peers have. Finally, we provide evidence that shareholders respond to the allocation of control rights to labor by linking supervisory board compensation to firm performance and by leveraging up the firm. (JEL: G32, G34) Copyright (c) 2004 by the European Economic Association.
The Effects of Infrastructure Investment: A Two-Sector Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Analysis for Ohio

The effects of increased public investment on regional output and welfare in Ohio are investigated using a regional dynamic computable general equilibrium model. Public investment affects the growth of the state economy, although the magnitude of the effect depends on the public capital elasticity. Our simulations indicate that public capital is underprovided in Ohio in base year 1990. Accounting for congestion in the use of infrastructure diminishes the positive effects of increased public investment only slightly. Beyond some level, more infrastructure investment does not increase the household welfare and can actually reduce it.
Acceptability of HPV Vaccine Implementation Among Parents in India

Due to high cervical cancer rates and limited research on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine acceptability in India, the research team examined parental attitudes toward HPV vaccines. Thirty-six interviews with parents were conducted to assess sexually transmitted infection (STI)-related knowledge and HPV-specific vaccine awareness and acceptability. Despite limited knowledge, parents had positive views toward HPV vaccines. Common barriers included concerns about side effects, vaccine cost, and missing work to receive the vaccine. Parents were strongly influenced by health care providers’ recommendations. Our findings suggest that addressing parental concerns, health worker training and polices, and efforts to minimize cost will be central to successful HPV vaccine implementation.
A Model-Based Assessment of India's Progress in Reducing Poverty in the 1990s

An econometric model of poverty incidence is calibrated to 20 household surveys for India's 15 major states spanning 1960-1994. The model builds on past research suggesting that the key determinants of the rate of poverty reduction at state level are agricultural yields, growth of the non-farm sector (depending on the state's initial conditions), development spending, and inflation. The model is used to predict the rates of poverty reduction over the period 1994-2000. The overall incidence of poverty is projected to have fallen from 39 per cent to 34 per cent over this period, suggesting that the rate of poverty reduction in the 1990s is slightly lower than the 1980s and lower than one would have expected given the growth in the 1990s. We offer some explanations as to why the growth process in the 1990s has not done more to reduce poverty in India.
A Game of Accounting Numbers in Asset Pricing: Evidence from the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises

This study examines a public policy issue: whether government officials engage in earnings management to collude with private investors in the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). We find that the managers of listed Chinese SOEs, who are de facto bureaucrats, employ income-decreasing earnings management to reduce the price of shares to be sold to private investors. We also find that more aggressive income-decreasing earnings management is associated with a lower CEO turnover rate in the year following the privatization. These findings highlight the need to consider the opportunism of government agents when accounting information is used in redistribution of state assets.
Alloparental Responsiveness to Newborns by Nonreproductive, Adult Male, Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

Parental care in mammals is influenced by sensory stimuli from infants, and by changes in the hormone levels of caretakers. To determine the responsiveness to infant cues in nonreproductive adult male common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) with and without previous experience in caretaking, we exposed 12 males to newborn marmosets and assessed their cortisol plasma levels and behavioral response. Newborn marmosets housed in transparent enclosures were placed inside the cages of the adult male subjects. Males were exposed four times to two different experimental conditions: (a) newborn enclosures remained closed during the observation period and (b) newborn enclosures were opened during the observation period to allow direct social interaction by the adult males. Blood samples from adult males were collected after each behavioral observation trial to measure the levels of cortisol. The behavioral responses of adult males exposed to the closed and open newborn enclosures showed a significant difference only with respect to the frequency of displacements, where males moved among the quadrants of their own cages with greater frequency when the newborn enclosure was sealed. Experienced males approached newborn enclosures more frequently, spent more time in close proximity, and carried and recovered newborns more quickly than inexperienced males. The successive exposure to newborns increased the responsiveness in inexperienced males. The highest levels of plasma cortisol in adult males were recorded following periods of exposure to the sealed newborn enclosures. This suggests that successive exposure to newborns and previous alloparental caregiving experience while living in family groups influences the responsiveness of male marmosets to the sensory cues of newborns. Am. J. Primatol. 75:145‐152, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neurexin-1α Contributes to Insulin-containing Secretory Granule Docking*

Background: The cell surface, transmembrane protein neurexin may play a role in insulin secretion. Results: Knockdown and knock-out of neurexin-1α, the predominant β-cell isoform, increased insulin secretion and impaired secretory granule docking. Conclusion: Neurexin-1α helps mediate insulin granule docking and thereby constrains secretion. Significance: Neurexin-1α could couple localization and functioning of the insulin docking and secretory machinery to extracellular protein interactions. Neurexins are a family of transmembrane, synaptic adhesion molecules. In neurons, neurexins bind to both sub-plasma membrane and synaptic vesicle-associated constituents of the secretory machinery, play a key role in the organization and stabilization of the presynaptic active zone, and help mediate docking of synaptic vesicles. We have previously shown that neurexins, like many other protein constituents of the neurotransmitter exocytotic machinery, are expressed in pancreatic β cells. We hypothesized that the role of neurexins in β cells parallels their role in neurons, with β-cell neurexins helping to mediate insulin granule docking and secretion. Here we demonstrate that β cells express a more restricted pattern of neurexin transcripts than neurons, with a clear predominance of neurexin-1α expressed in isolated islets. Using INS-1E β cells, we found that neurexin-1α interacts with membrane-bound components of the secretory granule-docking machinery and with the granule-associated protein granuphilin. Decreased expression of neurexin-1α, like decreased expression of granuphilin, reduces granule docking at the β-cell membrane and improves insulin secretion. Perifusion of neurexin-1α KO mouse islets revealed a significant increase in second-phase insulin secretion with a trend toward increased first-phase secretion. Upon glucose stimulation, neurexin-1α protein levels decrease. This glucose-induced down-regulation may enhance glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. We conclude that neurexin-1α is a component of the β-cell secretory machinery and contributes to secretory granule docking, most likely through interactions with granuphilin. Neurexin-1α is the only transmembrane component of the docking machinery identified thus far. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of insulin granule docking and exocytosis.
Effects of three types of alpha‐1 adrenoceptor blocker on lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual function in males with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to explore the effects of three different types of alpha‐1 adrenoceptor blockers (α1‐blocker) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), erectile dysfunction (ED) and ejaculatory dysfunction (EjD) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Footloose and duty-free? Reflections on European Union – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Footwear from China

Abstract European Union (EU) anti-dumping duties imposed on Chinese leather footwear imports led to a challenge before the WTO Dispute Settlement body. The Panel ruled that the EU's presumption that Chinese exporters are subject to economy-wide non-market-economy anti-dumping duties was inconsistent with WTO obligations. The EU declined to appeal this outcome and subsequently changed its anti-dumping regulation in response. This dispute also illustrates the rapidly changing structure of global manufacturing and how these changes can scramble the traditional political economy of import restrictions. In addition, the case highlights how EU members' positions on trade remedy actions can depend importantly on national production patterns and firms' responses to economic pressures from globalization and the further development of global supply chains.
Spinal cord injury is accompanied by chronic progressive demyelination

Preceding the development of therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury is an identification of those pathological processes that might serve as therapeutic targets. Although demyelination has been documented as a secondary degenerative component of spinal cord injury in several species including humans, the extent of demyelination and its functional consequence remain unknown. In this report, we document the extent of demyelination and remyelination up to 450 days following contusive spinal cord injury in adult rats. The overall number of demyelinated axons peaked at 1 day post injury, declined by 7–14 days post injury, and then progressively increased up to 450 days post injury. Oligodendrocyte and Schwann cell remyelinated axons appeared by 14 days post injury. Although remyelinated axons were present from 14 to 450 days post injury, remyelination was incomplete, as indicated by the presence of demyelinated axons at every time point examined. These studies demonstrate for the first time that spinal cord injury is accompanied by chronic progressive demyelination, and they substantiate demyelination as a target for therapeutic intervention. J. Comp. Neurol. 486:373–383, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Intraregional Spillovers in South America: Is Brazil Systemic after All?

type="main" xml:id="twec12094-abs-0001"> The high business cycle correlation between Brazil (the large neighbour in South America) and other countries in the region has been a frequent source of concern for policymakers, as it has been viewed as evidence of the large influence of the former country on its neighbours. This paper studies the importance of such influence, documenting trade linkages over the last two decades and quantifying spillover effects in a vector autoregression setting. We find that, after controlling for common external factors, spillovers from Brazil are only relevant for Southern Cone economies (especially Mercosur's members) and Peru, but not for the rest of South America, and these findings are consistent with the extent of trade linkages between these countries. We find also that spillovers can take two different forms: the transmission of Brazil-specific shocks and the amplification of global shocks – through their impact on Brazil's output. Finally, we also find suggestive evidence that depreciations of Brazil's currency may not have significant impact on output of its key trading partners.
Turn taking-based conversation detection by using DOA estimation

We propose a new method that detects conversation groups when multi-conversation groups exist simultaneously. The proposed method uses hands-free microphone arrays without wearable microphones. It has two main features: (a) We integrate a conventional turn taking-based conversation detection method with Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation-based Voice Activity Detection (VAD). (b) The proposed method estimates the number of speakers for DOA estimation-based VAD by using the turn-taking rules. Experimental results indicate that the performance of the proposed method with only microphone arrays setup in rooms is comparable to that of the conventional meth-ods with wearable microphones.
LEDGF/p75 Determines Cellular Trafficking of Diverse Lentiviral but Not Murine Oncoretroviral Integrase Proteins and Is a Component of Functional Lentiviral Preintegration Complexes

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and Moloney murine leukemia virus (MoMLV) integrases were stably expressed to determine their intracellular trafficking. Each lentiviral integrase localized to cell nuclei in close association with chromatin while the murine oncoretroviral integrase was cytoplasmic. Fusions of pyruvate kinase to the lentiviral integrases did not reveal transferable nuclear localization signals. The intracellular trafficking of each was determined instead by the transcriptional coactivator LEDGF/p75, which was required for nuclear localization. Stable small interfering RNA expression eliminated detectable LEDGF/p75 expression and caused dramatic, stable redistribution of each lentiviral integrase from nucleus to cytoplasm while the distribution of MoMLV integrase was unaffected. In addition, endogenous LEDGF/p75 coimmunoprecipitated specifically with each lentiviral integrase. In vitro integration assays with preintegration complexes (PICs) showed that endogenous LEDGF/p75 is a component of functional HIV-1 and FIV PICs. However, HIV-1 and FIV infection and replication in LEDGF/p75-deficient cells was equivalent to that in control cells, whether cells were dividing or growth arrested. Two-long terminal repeat circle accumulation in nondividing cell nuclei was also equivalent to that of LEDGF/p75 wild-type cells. Virions produced in LEDGF/p75-deficient cells had normal infectivity. We conclude that LEDGF/p75 fully accounts for cellular trafficking of diverse lentiviral, but not oncoretroviral, integrases and is the main lentiviral integrase-to-chromatin tethering factor. While lentiviral PIC nuclear import is unaffected by LEDGF/p75 knockdown, this protein is a component of functional lentiviral PICs. A role in HIV-1 integration site distribution merits investigation.
Can Commitment be Managed? A Longitudinal Study of Employee Commitment and Human Resource Policies

Tim Morris, Helen Lydka and Mark Fenton O'Creevy present data on a group of graduates during the first five years of employment. Dividing the sample into those who have remained with their original employer and those who have changed, they examine attitudinal commitment and tenure intentions against a set of human resource policies measured at three points in time. They find that those policies significantly associated with high commitment change over time; that attitudinal and behavioural commitment are conceptually distinct constructs; and that behavioural commitment is a less stable construct than attitudinal commitment. Generally, it appears that employee commitment is more provisional than is implied by much of the literature.
Audit Pricing and Cost Strategies of Japanese Big 3 Firms

This study aims to investigate whether and how audit fee determinants examined in prior studies influence audit fees and costs in the Japanese audit market, and to examine whether audit pricing and cost strategies differ among Japanese Big 3 firms. Prior studies have not fully examined audit costs and differences in audit pricing and cost strategies among large audit firms. Based on data pertaining to the 2006 audits of publicly listed companies conducted by Japanese Big 3 firms, the present study reveals that many audit fee determinants, such as client size, complexity, risk, whether the client is an SEC registrant, the audit firm's market share in the industry, and client bargaining power, influence audit costs. Other variables, such as the client's location, fiscal year end, and the audit firm's differentiation, influence only either audit fees or costs, or affect both audit fees and costs in opposite directions. Furthermore, the relationships between audit fees/costs and the determinants vary among Big 3 firms.
A qualitative investigation of smaller firm e-business development

A previous paper by the authors drew on existing research on e‐business and the smaller firm, developed a conceptual model and a set of research propositions. This paper analyses a series of qualitative, in‐depth interviews of owner/managers of smaller firms in central Scotland in order to test the research propositions. Results indicate that industry and sectoral factors play an important role in the level of e‐business development achieved. In many cases the customer determines the need for e‐business adoption, rather than any internally planned programme of adoption. Other important factors include the degree of entrepreneurial orientation of the key decision maker and the ability to exploit appropriate competencies. Recommendations for encouragement of e‐business development are made and suggestions for future research are included.
Fiscal Policy Uncertainty and Its Macroeconomic Consequences

I examine fiscal policy uncertainty in a context where market participants learn about the conduct of fiscal policy with regression rules for dependent variables including tax revenue, net transfers, government spending, and government debt. The explanatory variables include lagged fiscal policy, lagged government debt, and macroeconomic outcomes including real GDP, consumption, investment, and the unemployment rate. They re-run these regressions each quarter as a new observation becomes available, updating their understanding of the conduct of fiscal policy. I use the root mean squared errors as measures for fiscal policy uncertainty. I use autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models to estimate the effect fiscal uncertainty has on macroeconomic outcomes including real GDP, consumption, investment and unemployment. I find that the common component for fiscal policy uncertainty has adverse effects on real GDP, consumption, and investment. I find the buildup of fiscal policy uncertainty from 2005 through 2009 leads to a decline in real GDP growth by about 2 percentage points. I demonstrate that these finding are robust to lag specifications for the ARDL models and parameter specifications for the learning process.