Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Income and educational inequalities and regional economic growth in the European Union : the role of urbanisation, geography and institutions

This thesis provides an empirical study of how changes in the distributions of income and education affect the evolution of regional economic growth in the EU. It uses microeconomic data from the European Community Household Panel, as well as macroeconomic data from the Eurostat's Regio databases for 102 regions over the period 1995-2002. Income distribution is measured in terms of income per capita and income inequality, not only for the population as a whole but also for those people normally in work; and educational distribution is measured in terms of educational attainment and inequality. Two proxies for educational distribution are considered: the distribution of the education level completed and the distribution of the age at which the highest education level was attained. These data are analysed using exploratory spatial data analysis methods and econometric analyses of static and dynamic panel data models. The results of the analysis reveal the complexity of the interaction between income and educational inequalities and economic performance in the EU. First, they highlight the positive relationship between income and educational inequality. This relationship is robust to changes in the specification of the model (static or dynamic), in the definition of income and educational distributions and to the inclusion of different control variables, such as population ageing, work access, unemployment and inactivity. This link is related to the higher than expected responsiveness of the EU labour market to differences in qualifications and skills, and to the presence of a level of income inequalities that does not discourage involvement in education. Urbanisation and geography (i.e. latitude), as well as institutional factors, also seem to matter for inequalities. Both income and educational inequalities are lower in social-democratic regimes, in Protestant areas and in regions with Nordic family structures. Second, the empirical analysis reveals that the increase in a region's inequality in the level of income and the education level completed has a significantly positive - but not causal - relationship with subsequent regional economic growth. The regression results also identify the presence of convergence across European regions, although this is sensitive to the inclusion of control variables. However, when the distribution of age at which the higher education level was completed was considered rather than the level of education attained, the results indicate a negative, but non-robust, association between educational inequality and economic growth. Finally, urbanisation appears to affect regional economic growth, while latitude and institutions, in contrast to what was the case with inequalities, do not matter for growth.
MMPI-2 Profiles in Civilian PTSD

The authors studied MMPI-2 profiles of workers (N = 83) diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a control group comprising workers with chronic pain (N = 40). Significant differences were seen in profiles between the PTSD groups and the control group, and the authors compared the PTSD profiles according to exposure to two different kinds of traumatic incidents: industrial accidents or criminal events. They found differences in profile elevations based on the type of event: The level of distress and fear is greater in PTSD victims of crime, and the results also suggest that victims of crime are more suspicious and guarded compared with accident victims. Theoretically based reasons for the differences in profile elevations between the two PTSD groups are discussed.
Sex-specific effects of yolk testosterone on survival, begging and growth of zebra finches

Yolk androgens affect offspring hatching, begging, growth and survival in many bird species. If these effects are sex-specific, yolk androgen deposition may constitute a mechanism for differential investment in male and female offspring. We tested this hypothesis in zebra finches. In this species, females increase yolk-testosterone levels and produce male-biased sex ratios when paired to more attractive males. We therefore predicted that especially sons benefit from elevated yolk androgens. Eggs were injected with testosterone or sesame oil (controls) after 2 days of incubation. Testosterone had no clear effect on sex-specific embryonic mortality and changed the pattern of early nestling mortality independent of offspring sex. Testosterone-treated eggs took longer to hatch than control eggs. Control males begged significantly longer than females during the first days after hatching and grew significantly faster. These sex differences were reduced in offspring from testosterone-treated eggs due to prolonged begging durations of daughters, enhanced growth of daughters and reduced growth of sons. The results show that variation in maternal testosterone can play an important role in avian sex allocation due to its sex-specific effects on offspring begging and growth.
Formal Land Rights Security and Agricultural Productivity: Can Factor Endowments Explain the Divergent Findings?

Institutions are commonly thought of as crucial determinants for economic development. This argument is also prominent in the literature regarding property rights institutions as many studies stress their significance for economic performance. In light of these studies, many international organizations have argued strongly for land rights reforms in developing countries as means to reduce poverty, because more secure formal land rights could provide incentives for farmers to undertake productivity-enhancing investments. Nonetheless, while some studies have found that there is a positive relationship between formal land rights security and agricultural productivity, other studies have not. A possible explanation to these divergent findings involves factor endowments, more precisely the relative abundance or scarcity of land. Since earlier studies overlook that factor endowments may constitute an explanation and tend to not attempt to place the land rights debate into a broader context of institutional economics, this thesis aims to make a unique contribution to the research area by drawing on new institutional economics, by systematically and critically reviewing earlier studies, and by evaluating the factor endowments explanation. The thesis concludes that the drawbacks of earlier studies are too many to infer any useful conclusions regarding the explanatory power of factor endowments. The thesis does, however, argue that a potential explanation regarding factor endowments at least should consider the existence of credit and leasing markets, as well as take into account the adequacy of utilized agricultural technologies in particular contexts, because these three factors could potentially constitute important considerations for future land rights reforms.
Concentration‐response curves for ethylene‐oxide‐induced heritable translocations and dominant lethal mutations

Male mice were subjected to repeated inhalation exposures to different concentrations (165, 204, 250, or 300 ppm) of ethylene oxide (EtO) during an 8.5‐week period. Transmitted clastogenic effects of these exposures were measured in terms of induction of dominant lethal mutations and heritable translocations. The concentration‐response curves for both endpoints are not linear but are markedly concave upward. Significant increases in dominant lethals were detected at all concentrations, except the lowest one. In comparison, the incidences of heritable translocations were significantly increased at all concentrations.
User Committees: A Potentially Damaging Second Wave of Decentralisation?

Decentralisations in the 1980s transferred powers to multi-purpose local governments. In recent years, international donors and central governments are increasingly turning towards single-purpose user committees. Although these committees appear to be less democratically accountable and less representative than local government, donors view user committees as a mechanism to give local peoples greater say over the development decisions that affect them. Central government officials establish user committees at the insistence of donors but then manipulate them by selecting committee members and by reigning in their powers. This contribution explores how these proliferating single-purpose committees are undermining the democratic processes that were presumably institutionalised with the creation and strengthening of elected local governments in Third World countries. This new approach fragments local participation, reducing its coherence and effectiveness; the poor may even be worse off than before. These co.
Real-Time Density Forecasts From Bayesian Vector Autoregressions With Stochastic Volatility

Central banks and other forecasters are increasingly interested in various aspects of density forecasts. However, recent sharp changes in macroeconomic volatility, including the Great Moderation and the more recent sharp rise in volatility associated with increased variation in energy prices and the deep global recession—pose significant challenges to density forecasting. Accordingly, this paper examines, with real-time data, density forecasts of U.S. GDP growth, unemployment, inflation, and the federal funds rate from Bayesian vector autoregression (BVAR) models with stochastic volatility. The results indicate that adding stochastic volatility to BVARs materially improves the real-time accuracy of density forecasts. This article has supplementary material online.
The Contribution Of Terminal Complement Components To Acute And Hyperacute Allograft Rejection In The Rat

Acute rejection and antibody-mediated hyperacute allograft rejection are affected by activation of the complement cascade. Split products of early complement components influence the localization, activation, and effector functions of platelets, granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes, while the formation of membrane attack complex (C5b-C9) can lead to rapid cell destruction. Therefore, we compared acute and Ab-mediated hyperacute allograft rejection in a recently described model of C6 deficient PVG (C-) (RT1c) rats and their normal counterpart PVG (C+) (RT1c) rats. Cardiac allografts from fully MHC disparate ACI donors were heterotopically grafted into naive and skin graft sensitized PVG (C-) and PVG (C+) rats. ACI cardiac allografts were rejected acutely (8.3 +/- 2 days; n = 7) by naive PVG (C+) recipients, but survived significantly longer in PVG (C-) recipients (22 +/- 10 days; n = 10). Presensitized PVG (C+) rats rejected ACI cardiac allografts hyperacutely in 6.1 +/- 2.4 hr (n = 5). In contrast, ACI cardiac allografts transplanted into presensitized (PVG (C-) rats had markedly longer survival of 91 +/- 14 hr (n = 5). The alloantibody responses of naive PVG (C+) and PVG (C-) recipients 7 days after cardiac allografting, and of presensitized PVG (C+) and PVG (C-) recipients at time of cardiac allografting were not significantly different as measured by flow cytometry against ACI lymphocytes. Immunofluorescence demonstrated deposition of IgM, IgG and C3 in ACI allografts in PVG (C-) as well as in PVG (C+) recipients. Deposition of C6 was only found in grafts rejected by PVG (C+). The significantly longer survival of ACI cardiac allografts in C6-deficient PVG (C-) rats indicates that the membrane attack complex contributes to acute as well as antibody-mediated hyperacute allograft rejection.
Advances in Brief Constitutive Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Activation in Melanoma Is Mediated by Both BRAF Mutations and Autocrine Growth Factor Stimulation 1

Dysregulated activation of Ras or its downstream effectors such as mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase and ERK has been shown to play a critical role in tumorigenesis of many cancer types. However, in melanoma, activating mutations in Ras are rarely observed and are limited to N-Ras in UV-exposed cells. In this study, we identify constitutively activated ERK in almost all melanoma cell lines and in tumor tissues tested, which is in contrast to normal melanocytes and several early stage radial growth phase melanoma lines where ERK can be activated by serum or growth factors. Constitutive activation of ERK is preceded by phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase and c-RAF. In all of the melanoma cell lines tested, Ras is constitutively activated without underlying mutations. On the contrary, activating mutations in the kinase domain of BRAF are present in the majority of the cell lines tested. Furthermore, ERK activation can be partially inhibited from the cell surface using inhibitors of fibroblast growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor but not interleukin 8 signaling pathways. These data suggest that melanoma growth, invasion, and metastasis are attributable to constitutively activated ERK apparently mediated by excessive growth factors through autocrine mechanisms and BRAF kinase activation.
Personalized product recommendation in e-commerce

The purpose is to analyze customers' purchasing behaviors based on product features from transaction records and product feature databases. Customers' preferences toward particular features of products are analyzed and then rules of customer interest profiles are thus derived in order to recommend customer products that have potential attraction with customers. The approach of this paper has its strength to be able to recommend to customers brand new products or rarely purchased products as long as they fit customer interest profiles. This research also derives customers' interest profiles that can explain recommendation results. The interests on particular features of products can be referenced for product development.
Effect of B and Cr on Mechanical Properties and Magnetostriction of Iron-Gallium Alloy

Effects of B and Cr additions on magnetostriction and the mechanical properties ofpolycrystalline Fe 83 Ga 17 alloy were investigated. Small addition of B increased magnetostriction of Fe 83 Ga 17 alloy slightly, and improved the room temperature ductility and tensile strength significantly. The elongation and tensile strength of the (Fe 83 Ga 17 ) 99 B 1 alloy increased to 3.56% and 548 MPa compared with that of Fe 83 Ga 17 alloy respectively. The Cr addition was shown to improve the room temperature mechanical properties of Fe 83 Ga 17 alloy beneficially. The maximum magnetostriction of (Fe 83 Ga 17 ) 98 Cr 2 alloy was 70 x 10 -6 . The influences of B and Cr additions on the fracture mode of Fe 83 Ga 17 alloy were also studied in this paper.
Managing democracy: Political parties and the state in Russia

Since the first genuine multi-party elections in Russia were held in December 1993, party–state relations have followed a path that diverges markedly from the pattern in other post-communist states. As some accounts demonstrate, state capture in these conditions has followed diverse patterns, but the general trend seems to be towards increasing control by parties over the state. In Russia, however, it is the state that is colonizing the parties, rather than vice versa. Especially worthy of attention are the so-called parties of power, which reflect the extent to which, and the mechanisms by which, the state manages party politics and the administrative elites keep politics out of the state in Russia's managed democracy. Recent institutional reforms by the Putin administration point towards more, rather than less, encroachment of the state in party politics, which makes Russia less than a fully-fledged multi-party democracy.
Use of Noninvasive Ventilation in Adult Patients With Acute Asthma Exacerbation

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been found to be beneficial for respiratory failure in many disease states; however, limited data are available supporting its use in acute asthma exacerbation. A retrospective chart analysis of adult patients admitted for acute asthma exacerbation and treated with NIV between January 2007 and December 2009 at a tertiary care community hospital was done. Ninety-eight patient encounters were identified. Mean age of the patients was 48.3 years, and 46% were male. Nineteen patients failed NIV and required invasive ventilation. There was no significant difference in the mean age, sex, race, and initial blood gas between patients with successful versus failed NIV. Usage of drugs, smoking, and history of past hospital or intensive care unit admission or intubation did not significantly influence the rate of failure of NIV. Patients who needed higher initial FiO2 were more likely to get intubated during their hospital stay (46.2 vs. 20.4%, P = 0.019). Patients who failed NIV were found to have longer duration of hospital stay (6.8 vs. 3.9 days, P= 0.016) and longer intensive care unit stay (4 vs. 0.9 days, P = 0.002). Use of inhalers and other medications was not found to significantly influence the rate of failure of NIV. NIV can be used initially in patients with acute asthma exacerbation, as it is associated with shorter duration of hospital stay and can prevent the morbidity of mechanical intubation. Patients with initial requirement of higher FiO2 were more likely to fail NIV and should be carefully monitored.
Comparative study of 15% TCA peel versus 35% glycolic acid peel for the treatment of melasma

Background: Chemical peels are the mainstay of a cosmetic practitioner's armamentarium because they can be used to treat some skin disorders and can provide aesthetic benefit. Objectives: To compare 15% TCA peel and 35% glycolic acid peel for the treatment of melasma. Material and Methods: We selected 30 participants of melasma aged between 20 and 50 years from the dermatology outpatient department and treated equal numbers with 15% TCA and 35% glycolic acid. Results: Subjective response as graded by the patient showed good or very good response in 70% participants in the glycolic acid group and 64% in the TCA group. Conclusions: There was statistically insignificant difference in the efficacy between the two groups for the treatment of melasma.
Information Search Behavior of Mainland Chinese Air Travelers to Hong Kong

Abstract This study is to explore the information search behavior of Mainland Chinese visitors traveling to Hong Kong. The results of comparisons among travelers with different travel experiences to Hong Kong reveal that there is no significant difference between first-timers and repeat travelers on their pre-trip planning characteristics and perceived level of influence of the information sources used. There is no statistically significant difference between Mainland Chinese business and pleasure travelers on their perceptions on the importance of most of the information sources used except for “Corporate travel department. ” These two groups also display differences in the number of information sources used in making travel decisions to Hong Kong. Regardless of the respondents' purpose of the trip and prior travel experience to Hong Kong, empirical evidence clearly shows that travelers used several information sources in planning their trips. The results of this study will allow marketers in Hong Kong to better understand the Mainland Chinese travelers' information search behavior so that they can more effectively tailor marketing strategies to this major source market.
The Silent Board: How Language Diversity May Influence the Work Processes of Corporate Boards

Manuscript Type. Empirical. Research Question/Issue. Corporate boards often change their working language when they acquire foreign members. Consequently, boards “talk” in one language but “think” in another. The present study explores and explains how language diversity influences work processes of corporate boards. Research Findings/Insights. On the basis of a multiple case study of nine multinational corporations (MNCs) from four Nordic countries, we discovered evidence of impoverished and silenced discussions in board meetings in those case companies that were unprepared to switch to English as the new working language of the board. Some board members found it difficult to contribute to board meetings and articulate disagreement. In contrast, such effects were not revealed in the well‐prepared companies. Overall, the presence of employee representatives on the boards made it more difficult to conduct work processes in English because these members often lacked sufficient language proficiency. Thus, our findings suggest that the board co‐determination act of the Nordic corporate governance model may be associated with the hidden costs of using a non‐native language. Theoretical/Academic Implications. Our study makes four contributions to research on board diversity. Firstly, it highlights the “silencing effect” of language diversity on board processes. Secondly, it emphasizes the linkage between language diversity and board processes. Thirdly, it provides additional evidence that language is a distinct dimension of diversity. Fourthly, it discovers language in board work as a new research topic that is worthy of scholarly attention. Practitioner/Policy Implications. Firms need to anticipate the potential effects of language diversity on the work processes of their boards in order to ensure that “the voice of diversity” is heard. The board itself as well as the rest of the organization can take preparatory measures such as producing all board material in the new working language and selecting board members with the required language proficiency. Although these measures can be implemented gradually or at a faster pace, they need to be in place before foreign members join the board. Consistent use of one and the same language in the corporate board and the executive management team supports transparency and good corporate governance practices. In our opinion, reaping the benefits of board diversity is the particular responsibility of the chairperson. Even though English is generally well understood in the Nordic countries, chairpersons should also consider the possible negative effects associated with the use of a board language that is non‐native to most of its members.
An expenditure patterns segmentation of the music festivals' market

The importance of festivals is increasing in the tourism industry. Festivals are considered to be important generators of economic benefits. The aims of this paper are to segment the market of two music festivals that took place in two regions of Portugal (Oporto and the Coast of Alentejo) according to the participants' expenditure patterns, and, also, to analyse the differences among the segments identified in terms of socio-demographic profile and travel behaviour. In order to accomplish these objectives, a visitor survey was undertaken in the summer of 2008 yielding a total of 228 questionnaires. A hierarchical cluster analysis has been carried out. Three clusters emerged – 'residents with low expenditures', 'visitors with medium expenditures' and 'more attractive visitors'. The 'more attractive visitors' have almost the double of the expenditure of the other groups. This research enables us to obtain information in order to define more appropriate strategies to increase the positive economic impacts of events.
Asset Pricing in the Australian Industrial Equity Market

The two-moment, mean-variance model of asset pricing is tested against data from the Melbourne stock exchange. The model appears to describe the data quite well, though there are problems in experimental design which are yet to be cleared up. Neither variance nor skewness appears to explain additional price behaviour to that explained by covariance, as is predicted by the two-moment model.