Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tax , Lies and Redtape

Weak institutional environments in poor countries lead to low tax compliance, especially for firms where owners have high-powered incentives and managerial control. Using evidence for publicly-traded manufacturing firms in India, this paper shows that when there is continued involvement of the founding family, firms pay about 1.5% less excise tax than in other firms. In addition, firms respond by 0.1% less to an increase in the tax rate compared to non-family firms. Correcting for measurement error, these estimates go up to 3.5% less and a response lower by 0.2% respectively. Though the Indian government is aware of tax evasion, resource constraints prevent perfect enforcement. These family firm tend to be smaller and less productive, indicating that the lower effective tax rates may help them continue to enter the market and produce, instead of being driven out by competition. This diverts resources away from larger, more productive firms and reduces aggregate output and productivity. ∗Department of Economics, Stanford University (mpatnaik@stanford.edu). I thank Nick Bloom for guidance, as well as faculty and students at Stanford University for comments and suggestions. I thank the Ministry of Finance, India for valuable discussions and Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) for data support.
Insecure Property Rights and the Missing Middle

In the past two years alone, at least six systematic reviews or meta-analyses have examined the interventions that improve learning outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. However, these reviews have sometimes reached starkly different conclusions: reviews, in turn, recommend information technology, interventions that provide information about school quality, or even basic infrastructure (such as desks) to achieve the greatest improvements in student learning. This paper demonstrates that these divergent conclusions are largely driven by differences in the samples of research incorporated by each review. The top recommendations in a given review are often driven by the results of evaluations not included in other reviews. Of 227 studies with student learning results, the most inclusive review incorporates less than half of the total studies. Variance in classification also plays a role. Across the reviews, the three classes of programs that are recommended with some consistency (albeit under different names) are pedagogical interventions (including computer-assisted learning) that tailor teaching to student skills; repeated teacher training interventions, often linked to another pedagogical intervention; and improving accountability through contracts or performance incentives, at least in certain contexts. Future reviews will be most useful if they combine narrative review with meta-analysis, conduct more exhaustive searches, and maintain low aggregation of intervention categories.
Genetic and attachment influences on adolescents' regulation of autonomy and aggressiveness.

BACKGROUND Adolescence is a time when intense emotions are elicited within the parent-adolescent relationship, often when autonomy subjectively is endangered. As emotion dysregulation is one of the risk processes for the development of psychopathology, adolescence may be perceived as a highly sensitive period for maladjustment. Inter-individual differences in emotionality and emotion regulation have been shown to be influenced or moderated by molecular genetic differences in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT) and by attachment patterns. We investigated whether both the 5-HTT and attachment are associated with emotionality and emotion regulation in an observed adolescent-mother interaction and the personality traits aggressiveness and anxiety in adolescence. METHODS Ninety-one adolescents at age 12 were observed in interaction with their mothers during a standardized emotion-eliciting social task to assess emotionality and emotion regulation in relation to autonomy. Adolescents' aggressiveness and anxiety were assessed by mother report. Concurrent attachment quality was determined by an attachment interview. DNA samples were collected in order to assess the 5-HTTLPR, a repeat polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene. RESULTS While the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene was associated with a higher overall rate of autonomy behaviors, attachment security was related to more agreeable and less hostile autonomy. A significant interaction revealed a moderating effect of attachment security. Carriers of the short version of the 5-HTTLPR showed more agreeable autonomy when they had a secure attachment behavior strategy but showed more hostile autonomy when they were insecurely attached. Carriers of the short version of the 5-HTTLPR and insecurely attached adolescents were rated as more aggressive. CONCLUSIONS The study suggests a gene-attachment interaction in adolescents where the adolescent's attachment status moderates a genetically based higher negative reactivity in response to threats to autonomy in social interactions.
Hot extruded carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix composite materials

Carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced aluminum (Al) matrix composite materials were successfully fabricated by mechanical ball milling followed by powder hot extrusion processes. Microstructural analysis revealed that the CNTs were well dispersed at the boundaries and were aligned with the extrusion direction in the composites obtained. Although only a small quantity of CNTs were added to the composite (1 vol%), the Vickers hardness and the tensile strength were significantly enhanced, with an up to three-fold increase relative to that of pure Al. From the fractography of the extruded Al–CNT composite, several shapes were observed in the fracture surface, and this unique morphology is discussed based on the strengthening mechanism. The damage in the CNTs was investigated with Raman spectroscopy. However, the Al–CNT composite materials were not only strengthened by the addition of CNTs but also enhanced by several synergistic effects. The nanoindentation stress–strain curve was successfully constructed by setting the effective zero-load and zero-displacement points and was compared with the tensile stress–strain curve. The yield strengths of the Al–CNT composites from the nanoindentation and tensile tests were compared and discussed. We believe that the yield strength can be predicted using a simple nanoindentation stress/strain curve and that this method will be useful for materials that are difficult to machine, such as complex ceramics.
The operating efficiency of international tourist hotels in Taiwan

This study evaluates the operating efficiency of international tourist hotels in Taiwan. The actual operating data of 53 international tourist hotels in Taiwan are collected from 1996 to 1998. There are 6 output variables and 7 input variables in this study. By using the DEA technique, the efficiency of international tourist hotels is analyzed, and we can distinguish between efficient hotels and inefficient hotels. Moreover, the magnitude of inefficiency for input factors and output combinations could be clearly identified.
The Impact of Social Capital on Information Exchange and Well-Being in Virtual Communities

Abstract Virtual communities play a significant role in improving communication and well-being during disasters. A theoretical model is developed to investigate the mechanism by which social capital contributes to individual and collective well-being through information exchange. Research hypotheses are tested using data from surveys and computer archives in the context of a major natural disaster. We find that information quality is more critical to individuals and the community than information quantity after a disaster. Results also suggest four elements of social capital are important to improve information quality: trust, reciprocity, shared language and shared vision. Theoretical and practical implications for functionalities and communication structures on virtual communities across cultures and countries are provided.
Herding Behavior and Board Effectiveness

In this study, I argue that independent directors tend to follow a board leader. I theoretically analyze this behavior and show that under normal circumstances there is a tendency for board members to herd. Herding is inefficient because the information contained in the signals that directors’ receive is not aggregated and therefore it is wasted. Herding may be one of the reasons that no empirical relation exists between board composition and firm performance.
The Development and Transferability of Task Knowledge

This study provides experimental evidence related to the management of audit task knowledge. Specifically, the research explores whether a certain type of task knowledge, loan credit review knowledge, develops differently for in‐charge auditors working in different industry specializations. Since auditors are often asked to choose an industry specialization at the in‐charge level, understanding whether certain industries provide the opportunity for differential knowledge development is important (Libby and Frederick 1990), especially if such knowledge can be transferred to aid performance in tasks completed in several other industries. As such, the study explores whether the task knowledge under investigation can be transferred across both industry and task contexts to aid performance in the going concern judgment, a task that is required to be completed in all industries. An experiment was administered to 60 in‐charge auditors from one of the then Big 6 firms, with 32 participants specializing in the fin.
Cooperative patronage: The National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi in Kasungu District

This paper estimates the determinants of farmers' decisions to join a rural producer organisation, the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM), in Kasungu District. Data for the study were collected in June and August 2003 using household-level questionnaires and stratified random sampling, where strata were membership status and gender. Probit analysis of 250 farmers shows that off-farm sources of income, distance of the farmer's household from Kasungu District centre, age of the farmer, tobacco farming, education, household level land holding and gender determined the decision to join NASFAM. These results suggest that farmers should be informed of the potential benefits of participating in rural development efforts, and that rural communication and information infrastructure should be improved so as to reduce the costs of information access and transactions in general, if participation in organisations such as NASFAM is to be enhanced.
Recognition of Multiple Bird Species Based on Penalised Maximum Likelihood and HMM-Based Modelling of Individual Vocalisation Elements

This paper presents an extension of our recent work on recognition of multiple bird species from their vocalisations by incorporating an improved acoustic modelling. The acoustic scene is segmented into spectro-temporal isolated segments by employing a sinusoidal detection algorithm, which is able to handle multiple simultaneous bird vocalisations. Each segment is represented as a temporal sequence of frequencies of the detected sinusoid. Each bird species is represented by a set of hidden Markov models (HMMs), each HMM modelling a particular vocalisation element. A set of elements is discovered in an unsupervised manner using a partial dynamic time warping algorithm and agglomerative hierarchical clustering. Recognition of multiple bird species is performed based on maximising the likelihood of the set of detected segments on a subset of bird species models, with a penalisation applied for increasing the number of bird species. Experimental evaluations used audio field recordings containing 30 bird species. Detected segments from several bird species are joined to simulate the presence of multiple bird species. It is demonstrated that the use of improved acoustic modelling in conjunction with the maximum likelihood score combination method provides considerable improvements over previous results and the use of majority voting.
Diminished adenylate cyclase activity and aquaporin 2 expression in acute renal failure rats.

BACKGROUND The present study was aimed at investigating the changes of aquaporin 2 (AQP2) expression and its underlying mechanisms in ischemic acute renal failure (ARF). METHODS ARF was induced by clamping the both renal arteries for 60 minutes in rats. Two or seven days later, AQP2 expression and trafficking were determined in the kidney by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The activity of adenylate cyclase was also measured. RESULTS The urinary flow rates in ARF-2 and ARF-7 day were significantly increased in association with decreases of urine osmolality. While there was decreased expression of AQP2 in the cortex, outer medulla, and inner medulla in ARF, it was most pronounced in the outer medulla. The AQP2 expression was reduced in the apical membrane-enriched fraction as well the subapical vesicle-enriched fraction in ARF; however, the degree was greater in the former than in the latter. Immunohistochemical study also showed a markedly decreased expression of AQP2 in the collecting duct in ARF. cAMP generation in response to arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the kidney was attenuated in ARF, most prominently in the outer medulla. cAMP generation in the outer medulla in response to forskolin was not affected, but sodium fluoride was significantly blunted in ARF. CONCLUSIONS The AVP-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity is impaired in ARF, secondary to a defect at the level of the G protein. The expression of AQP2 was reduced as a consequence, which may in part account for urinary concentration defect in ARF.
Are Younger Cohorts Demanding Less Fresh Vegetables

The demand for vegetables is expected to increase with trends in the population of the United States. For example, having a college education increases demand, and more Americans are completing college. However, the possibility of a cohort effect has not been considered. A cohort includes people born in the same year, and is similar in concept to a generation. Using data collected over more than twenty years, we find younger cohorts spend less money on fresh vegetables for at-home consumption than their older counterparts do. These effects will decrease demand over time. Changing cooking habits may explain this effect. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Cloning and Characterization of a Gene,pbpF, Encoding a New Penicillin-Binding Protein, PBP2B, inStaphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT A previously unrecognized penicillin binding protein (PBP) gene,pbpF, was identified in Staphylococcus aureus. This gene encodes a protein of 691 amino acid residues with an estimated molecular mass of 78 kDa. The molecular mass is very close to that of S. aureus PBP2 (81 kDa), and the protein is tentatively named PBP2B. PBP2B has three motifs, SSVK, SSN, and KTG, that can be found in PBPs and β-lactamases. Recombinant PBP2B (rPBP2B), which lacks a putative signal peptide at the N terminus and has a histidine tag at the C terminus, was expressed inEscherichia coli. The purified rPBP2B was shown to have penicillin binding activity. A protein band was detected from S. aureus membrane fraction by immunoblotting with anti-rPBP2B serum. Also, penicillin binding activity of the protein immunoprecipitated with anti-rPBP2B serum was detected. These results suggest the presence of PBP2B in S. aureus cell membrane that covalently binds penicillin. The internal region ofpbpF and PBP2B protein were found in all 12 S. aureus strains tested by PCR and immunoblotting.
Disaggregating sorghum yield reductions under warming scenarios exposes narrow genetic diversity in US breeding programs

Significance Sorghum’s ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions has placed it in the forefront of discussions regarding potential adaptation paths under climate change. While sorghum may indeed be a good candidate to substitute for other major row crops as warming materializes in areas where it has not traditionally been grown, an equally important consideration is whether its production can be sustained in the warmer areas where it has traditionally been grown. Our findings suggest limited potential for climate change adaption using currently available cultivars but do not preclude the overall role of genetic innovation and enhanced decision making in adapting to climate change. Successful adaptation could perhaps best be facilitated by expanding the scope of genetic stock within sorghum breeding programs. Historical adaptation of sorghum production to arid and semiarid conditions has provided promise regarding its sustained productivity under future warming scenarios. Using Kansas field-trial sorghum data collected from 1985 to 2014 and spanning 408 hybrid cultivars, we show that sorghum productivity under increasing warming scenarios breaks down. Through extensive regression modeling, we identify a temperature threshold of 33 °C, beyond which yields start to decline. We show that this decline is robust across both field-trial and on-farm data. Moderate and higher warming scenarios of 2 °C and 4 °C resulted in roughly 17% and 44% yield reductions, respectively. The average reduction across warming scenarios from 1 to 5 °C is 10% per degree Celsius. Breeding efforts over the last few decades have developed high-yielding cultivars with considerable variability in heat resilience, but even the most tolerant cultivars did not offer much resilience to warming temperatures. This outcome points to two concerns regarding adaption to global warming, the first being that adaptation will not be as simple as producers’ switching among currently available cultivars and the second being that there is currently narrow genetic diversity for heat resilience in US breeding programs. Using observed flowering dates and disaggregating heat-stress impacts, both pre- and postflowering stages were identified to be equally important for overall yields. These findings suggest the adaptation potential for sorghum under climate change would be greatly facilitated by introducing wider genetic diversity for heat resilience into ongoing breeding programs, and that there should be additional efforts to improve resilience during the preflowering phase.
Work Relief and the Labor Force Participation of Married Women in 1940

Economic analysis of the labor supply of married women has long emphasized the impact of the unemployment of husbands—the added worker effect. This article re-examines the magnitude of the added worker effect in the waning years of the Great Depression. Previous studies of the labor supply of married women during this period failed to take account of various institutional features of New Deal work relief programs, which reduced the size of the added worker effect.
The relationship between isotonic plantar flexor endurance, navicular drop, and exercise-related leg pain in a cohort of collegiate cross-country runners.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between isotonic ankle plantar flexor endurance (PFE), foot pronation as measured by navicular drop, and exercise-related leg pain (ERLP). BACKGROUND Exercise-related leg pain is a common occurrence in competitive and recreational runners. The identification of factors contributing to the development of ERLP may help guide methods for the prevention and management of overuse injuries. METHODS Seventy-seven (44 males, 33 females) competitive runners from five collegiate cross-country (XC) teams consented to participate in the study. Isotonic ankle PFE and foot pronation were measured using the standing heel-rise and navicular drop (ND) tests, respectively. Demographic information, anthropometric measurements, and ERLP history were also recorded. Subjects were then prospectively tracked for occurrence of ERLP during the 2009 intercollegiate cross-country season. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between isotonic ankle joint PFE and ND and the occurrence of ERLP. RESULTS While no significant differences were identified for isotonic ankle PFE between groups of collegiate XC runners with and without ERLP, runners with a ND >10 mm were almost 7 times (OR=6.6, 95% CI=1.2-38.0) more likely to incur medial ERLP than runners with ND <10 mm. Runners with a history of ERLP in the month previous to the start of the XC season were 12 times (OR=12.3, 95% CI=3.1-48.9) more likely to develop an in-season occurrence of ERLP. CONCLUSION While PFE did not appear to be a risk factor in the development of ERLP in this group of collegiate XC runners, those with a ND greater than 10 mm may be at greater odds of incurring medial ERLP. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2b.
ATP‐mediated vasodilatation occurs via activation of inwardly rectifying potassium channels in humans

• ATP is a substance in the blood vessels that can cause vasodilatation and increase blood flow and oxygen delivery in humans. • The exact signalling pathways that ATP stimulates to cause vasodilatation are not well known. • We show that a large portion of ATP‐mediated vasodilatation occurs through the activation of inwardly rectifying potassium channels (Kir). • Our results lend insight into the vasodilator mechanisms of ATP, a substance that is important for vascular control. • Further, our results may stimulate additional investigations in humans regarding the activation of Kir channels and subsequent vascular hyperpolarization during other physiologically relevant conditions.
Adiponectin Is a Negative Regulator of Bone Mineral and Bone Strength in Growing Mice

Obesity is associated with increased bone mineral density (BMD) but the mechanism for this is unclear. Serum levels of the adipokine adiponectin are inversely correlated with obesity, but results from studies on its relationship to bone mass are conflicting. The objective of this study was to compare bone mineral content (BMC), BMD and biomechanical strength properties of femur and lumbar vertebrae in 8- and 16-week old adiponectin transgenic mice (AdTg). These mice exhibit significantly elevated circulating adiponectin but have similar body weights compared to wild-type (WT) littermates that were used as controls. Female AdTg mice displayed significantly lower femur BMC at 8 and 16 weeks of age and femur neck peak load was significantly lower in 8-week old AdTg mice of both genders compared to controls. The peak load from compression testing of an individual lumbar vertebra was significantly lower in female AdTg mice compared to WT at 8 weeks, and this difference persisted at 16 weeks of age. In addition, lumbar vertebrae BMC was significantly lower in 16-week old male AdTg mice compared to WT although vertebra peak load was not different. Serum adiponectin levels were inversely correlated with femur BMC. In summary, elevated circulating adiponectin inhibits the acquisition of bone mass in growing mice and results in decreased biomechanical measures of functional strength that are surrogate measures of susceptibility to fractures. These results support a role for circulating adiponectin as a metabolic link that can explain, at least in part, the positive relationship between obesity and both bone mass and reduced susceptibility to fractures.