Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Across the Healthy Adult Lifespan

Objective:We sought to compare age-related performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) across the adult lifespan in an asymptomatic, presumably normal, sample. Background:The MMSE is the most commonly used brief cognitive screening test; however, the MoCA may be better at detecting early cognitive dysfunction. Methods:We gave the MMSE and MoCA to 254 community-dwelling participants ranging in age from 20 to 89, stratified by decade, and we compared their scores using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results:For the total sample, the MMSE and MoCA differed significantly in total scores as well as in visuospatial, language, and memory domains (for all of these scores, P<0.001). Mean MMSE scores declined only modestly across the decades; mean MoCA scores declined more dramatically. There were no consistent domain differences between the MMSE and MoCA during the third and fourth decades; however, significant differences in memory (P<0.05) and language (P<0.001) emerged in the fifth through ninth decades. Conclusions:We conclude that the MoCA may be a better detector of age-related decrements in cognitive performance than the MMSE, as shown in this community-dwelling adult population.
Minority current distribution in InGaAs/GaAs transistor-vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

We compare experimental data with three-dimensional numerical calculations of the local minority current in an InGaAs/GaAs transistor vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser at different bias levels. It is demonstrated that lateral potential variations within the device greatly affect the transistor operating conditions. As a result, it locally operates in the active mode in the center of the device, allowing for efficient stimulated recombination, while it globally operates in the saturation regime as reflected by the measured current-voltage characteristics. This allows for excellent laser performance, including mW-range output power, sub-mA threshold base current, and continuous-wave operation well above room temperature.
Perceived trustworthiness and inter‐firm governance: empirical evidence from the UK printing industry

The paper describes six representative theoretical positions regarding the impact of trustworthiness on the organisation of inter-firm relations. The positions are then assessed on the basis of a survey of 184 buyer--supplier relationships in the UK printing industry. The widely accepted transaction cost argument for trust as a parameter reducing hierarchy is dismissed. Instead, the so-called triadic forces argument based on Bradach, J. L. and Eccles, R. G. (1989. Price, authority and trust: from ideal types to plural forms, Annual Review of Sociology , vol. 15, 96--118) receives the strongest support. Market, hierarchy and trust represent alternative mechanisms that can be combined in a variety of ways. This pluralistic model is enriched further by the acknowledgement of variable roles for contracts and a sceptic stance regarding rationality in practice. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Stock Market Returns and Inflation: Evidence from Other Countries

This paper investigates the relation between common stock returns and inflation in twenty-six countries for the postwar period. Our results do not support the Fisher Hypothesis, which states that real rates of return on common stocks and expected inflation rates are independent and that nominal stock returns vary in one-to-one correspondence with expected inflation. There is a consistent lack of positive relation between stock returns and inflation in most of the countries.
Groundwater flow across spatial scales: importance for climate modeling

Current regional and global climate models generally do not represent groundwater flow between grid cells as a component of the water budget. We estimate the magnitude of between-cell groundwater flow as a function of grid cell size by aggregating results from a numerical model of equilibrium groundwater flow run and validated globally. We find that over a broad range of cell sizes spanning that of state-of-the-art regional and global climate models, mean between-cell groundwater flow magnitudes scale with the reciprocal of grid cell length. We also derive this scaling a priori from a simple statistical model of a flow network. We offer operational definitions of ‘significant’ groundwater flow contributions to the grid cell water budget in both relative and absolute terms (between-cell flow magnitude exceeding 10% of local recharge or 10 mm y−1, respectively). Groundwater flow is a significant part of the water budget, as measured by a combined test requiring both relative and absolute significance, over 42% of the land area at 0.1° grid cell size (typical of regional and mesoscale models), decreasing to 1.5% at 1° (typical of global models). Based on these findings, we suggest that between-cell groundwater flow should be represented in regional and mesoscale climate models to ensure realistic water budgets, but will have small effects on water exchanges in current global models. As well, parameterization of subgrid moisture heterogeneity should include the effects of within-cell groundwater flow.
Stock-picking and style-timing abilities: a comparative analysis of conventional and socially responsible mutual funds in the US market

This paper analyses stock-picking and style-timing abilities through comparative analysis of an extensive sample of conventional and socially responsible (SR) mutual funds in the US market. Our results show that there is a little difference between conventional and SR fund managers, and even less so when we control for the presence of atypical observations. Both types of manager show negative stock-picking skills, correct size and book-to-market style-timing skills, and an absence of ability to time the market as a whole and the momentum style. Other notable findings are that the size of the fund does not affect the style-timing abilities of both conventional and SR mutual fund managers. In terms of the age of the fund, we observe that the results obtained for conventional funds are driven by older funds, while younger funds, both conventional and SR mutual funds, show perverse market-timing skills. Finally, we observe that both conventional and SR mutual fund managers make use of superior information to time the book-to-market style.
Fear and the Fama-French Factors

Investors' expectations of market volatility, captured by the VIX (the Chicago Board Options Exchange's volatility index - also known as the "investor fear gauge"), affects the expected returns of US equities in two ways. Firstly, the VIX is a priced-factor in a five-factor model of daily returns (where Fama and French's three-factor model is augmented with a momentum factor and the VIX). Secondly, changes in the VIX drive variations in the expected returns of the other factors included in this model of returns, notably the market risk-premium (Rm-Rf) and the value-premium (HML).
Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth

This study examines the relationships among firm growth, firm size, and firm age for a sample of manufacturing firms between 1976 and 1982. Firm growth is found to decrease with firm age and firm size. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions concerning the effects of sample censoring and the functional form of the growth relationship. The inverse growth-age relationship is consistent with a theory of firm learning proposed by Boyan Jovanovic while the inverse growth-size relationship is inconsistent with a number of theories that assume or imply Gibrat's law. Copyright 1987 by University of Chicago Press.
Effect of Long‐Term Oral Contraceptive Therapy Before Pregnancy on Maternal and Fetal Zinc and Copper Status

Thirteen pregnant women who conceived within six months after terminating oral contraceptive agent therapy of at least three years' duration participated in this study. Nine pregnant women with no history of oral contraceptive agent use served as controls. At delivery, erythrocyte counts were reduced, and during the first trimester and at delivery mean corpuscular hemoglobin and volume values were increased and erythrocyte zinc values were reduced in the oral contraceptive agent group as compared with controls. These changes appeared to be subclinical in magnitude and oral contraceptive agents may have induced a macrocytic erythrocyte population. Because no changes in maternal plasma zinc and copper levels were observed and no hematologic, biochemical, or anthropometric differences were observed in neonates, long-term oral contraceptive agent usage appeared to have little or no effect on zinc and copper metabolism in a subsequent pregnancy.
Effect of hope therapy on depression, anxiety, and stress among the patients undergoing hemodialysis

Background: Renal failure is a major public health problem in the world. These patients experience high levels of psychological tension, anxiety, and depression, which leads to their lowered quality of life, increased health care costs, and early mortality. Due to medication side effects in these patients, non-medicational methods are more in demand now. This study aimed to investigate the effect of hope therapy on depression, anxiety, and stress among the patients undergoing hemodialysis. Materials and Methods: This is a clinical trial. Fifty patients undergoing hemodialysis were selected. Patients were assigned to two groups of hope therapy and placebo. Intervention of hope therapy was administered for 60–90 min during dialysis sessions once a week for eight sessions. In the placebo group, non-specific intervention was administered with the same number of sessions. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS)-21 questionnaire was completed at the end of the last session and 4 weeks later. Data were analyzed by paired t-test, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc test through SPSS 18. Results: There was a significant difference in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in hope therapy group before, immediately after, and 1 month after intervention (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress before and immediately after intervention in the placebo group. Changes in mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher in hope therapy group compared to placebo (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The obtained results showed that hope therapy is effective on reduction of depression, anxiety, and stress.
The Impacts of Regional Trade Agreements in Force in Europe on Trade in Services

Most of countries in the European continent are related to each other by a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) that includes services. The aim of this study is to analyze the pattern of trade in services in Europe. In considering the three main important RTAs in force in Europe, I find that all the RTAs do not have similar impacts on trade in services. Indeed, European Union and European Economic Area are trade creating while European Free Trade Association (EFTA) does not have a significant impact on intra-members trade and is more trade diverting than the other RTAs. Moreover, new entrants have a positive propensity to trade services with the members of the EFTA. Trade impacts of a given RTA vary substantially across signatories.
Non-Sationarity in the Consumption-Income Ratio: Further Evidence from Panel and Assymetric Unit Root Tests

In this paper we test the stationarity properties of the consumption-income ratio for a sample of 14 European Union countries over the period 1960-1999 utilizing recent advances in panel unit root and asymmetric unit root tests. We find that a failure to take account of asymmetries, would imply I(1) consumption income ratio although unit root tests based on TAR models indicate stationarity in at least one regime. This result provides more evidence in relation to Sarantis and Stewart (Economics Letters, 1999) who found that the consumption-income ratio is I(1).
Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in cerebrovascular disease

Objectives– The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the apo E genotype with acute cerebral infarction and primary intracerebral haemorrhage and to examine the relationship of the apo E genotype with mortality following acute stroke. Materials and methods– We studied 592 cases of acute stroke and 289 healthy control subjects clinically free of cerebrovascular disease. Pathological type of stroke was determined by cranial computed tomography and the subtype of cerebral infarction classified according to the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project Classification (OCSP). Apo E genotype was determined using polymerase chain reaction. Results– There was no difference in apo E genotype frequency between cases and controls (ξ2=3.58, 5 d.f., P=0.60). Apo E genotypes were not related to the pathological type of stroke (cerebral infarction, CI, n=532 and primary intracranial haemorrhage, PICH, n=60, (ξ2=3.738, 4 d.f., P=0.44) nor with the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project Classification subtypes of cerebral infarction, lacunar infarction, LACI (n=169), total anterior circulation infarction, TACI (n=117), partial anterior circulation infarction, PACI (n=173), posterior circulation infarction, POCS (n=54) and including those cerebral infarcts which could not be classified (n=19), ξ2=31.1, 20 d.f. , P=0.153). At the time of the analysis, 243 cases (41.0%) had died. The median follow‐up (including death) was 851 days. There was no relationship between time to death and apo E genotype in cases of either CI or PICH. Conclusion– In this population, there was no relationship between the apolipoprotein E polymorphism and the pathogenesis of cerebral infarction or primary intracerebral haemorrhage. Apo E genotype was not related to all‐cause mortality following stroke.
Illiquidity and Insolvency: A Double Cascade Model of Financial Crises

The scope of financial systemic risk research encompasses a wide range of channels and effects, including asset correlation shocks, default contagion, illiquidity contagion, and asset firesales. For example, insolvency of a given bank will create a shock to the asset side of the balance sheet of each of its creditor banks and under some circumstances, such "downstream'' shocks can cause further insolvencies that may build up to create what is called an insolvency or default cascade. On the other hand, funding illiquidity that hits a given bank will create a shock to the liability side of the balance sheet of each of its debtor banks. Under some circumstances, such "upstream'' shocks can cause illiquidity in further banks that may build up to create an illiquidity cascade. This paper introduces a deliberately simplified financial network model that combines the default and liquidity stress mechanisms into a "double cascade mapping''. The progress and eventual result of the crisis is obtained by iterating this mapping to its fixed point. Unlike simpler models, this model can therefore quantify how illiquidity or default of one bank influences the eventual overall level of liquidity stress and default in the system. Large-network asymptotic cascade mapping formulas are derived that can be used for efficient network computations of the double cascade. Numerical experiments then demonstrate that these asymptotic formulas agree qualitatively with Monte Carlo results for large finite networks, and quantitatively except when the initial system is placed in an exceptional "knife-edge'' configuration. The experiments clearly support the main conclusion that in the absence of fire sales, the average eventual level of defaults in a financial network is negatively related to the strength of banks' liquidity stress response and the eventual level of stress in the network.
Asymmetry in Cash Flows and Accounting Conservatism

In this paper, I present evidence that the asymmetry in cash flows biases standard measures of conditional conservatism. First, the magnitude of the asymmetric timeliness coefficient decreases substantially (by 28–58%) when the dependent variable is accruals in the Basu (1997) model. Second, the results show that both accruals and cash flows are less persistent for firms with negative returns. This result suggests that the Basu (1997) asymmetric earnings change specification cannot distinguish whether the lower persistence of earnings is due to accounting conservatism or a result of real activities. Third, I show that extant non-price proxies for economic loss are very poor at identifying the sign of economic income. Finally, I replicate a recent study and demonstrate that inferences change when using accruals as the dependent variable and after controlling for variables that are the determinants of nondiscretionary accruals.
The Causes of Preference Reversal

Observed preference reversal cannot be adequately explained by violations of independence, the reduction axiom, or transitivity. The primary cause of preference reversal is the failure of procedure invariance, especially the overpricing of low-probability, high-payoff bets. This result violates regret theory and generalized (nonindependent) utility models. Preference reversal and a new reversal involving time preferences are explained by scale compatibility, which implies that payoffs are weighted more heavily in pricing than in choice. Copyright 1990 by American Economic Association.
Evaluating the Markov Property in Studies of Economic Convergence

Markov chain theory, which has frequently been applied to analyze income convergence, imposes restrictive assumptions on the data-generating process. In most empirical studies, it is taken for granted that per capita income follows a stationary first-order Markov process. To examine the reliability of estimated Markov transition matrices, the authors propose Pearson X2 and likelihood ratio tests of the Markov property, spatial independence, and homogeneity over time and space. As an illustration, it is shown that per capita income in the forty-eight contiguous U.S. states did clearly not follow a common stationary first-order Markov process from 1929 to 2000.
Political Affiliation and Dividend Tax Avoidance: Evidence from the 2013 Fiscal Cliff

This paper uses the 2013 fiscal cliff as a natural experiment to examine how the political affiliation of the CEO affects a firm's response to an expected increase in personal taxes on dividends. Firms could avoid such additional taxes by paying extra dividends and accelerating dividends in the last 2months of 2012. These tax avoiders are compared with a sample of firms that did not accelerate the payment of their first quarterly dividend from the first 3months of 2013 to November or December 2012 (the deliberate taxpayers). Ceteris paribus, Republican CEOs are more likely to help their investors to save money on personal income taxes. However, the political affiliation has explanatory power in addition to previously documented effects (Hanlon and Hoopes, 2014), such as the consequences for the CEO's personal wealth as well as the percentage of insider holdings. Reputational concerns about “avoiding taxes for the rich” as well as corporate governance quality are also significant determinants of corporate behavior.
Cytogenetic and Genetic Trends in the Evolution of Unisexual Lizards

Extensive karyological, allozyme and molecular genetic analyses of many parthenogenetic lizards confirm the origin of these species by hybridization. The concept of reticulate (hybridogeneous) speciation based on 3 interrelated phenomena such as hybridization-unisexuality-polyploidy has been elaborated. Cytogenetic and genetic variability and some regular trends in the evolution of hybrid unisexual species have been demonstrated. Cytogenetic investigations of unisexual-bisexual complex lizards of the genus Darevskia (formerly Lacerta) in the family Lacertidae suggest that some characteristics of their karyotypes play a role in the evolution of parthenogenesis. The maternal species with advanced w sex microchromosomes (Zw type) appeared to be successful in hybridization and produced the diploid unisexual species. The polyploid back-cross hybrids between said diploids and bisexual parent species exhibited many chromosome aberrations which were associated with their complete or partial sterility. In addition, the karyotype and the structure of mitotic and meiotic lampbrush chromosomes in 2 species and in some back-cross hybrids of this unisexual-bisexual complex have been examined here using molecular cytogenetic techniques. The genomic and functional disturbances, genomic interactions between homeologous chromosomes, and possibly both genomic imprinting and the presence of mobile elements are some cytogenetic mechanisms that increase genetic diversity in hybrid parthenogenetic species.
Fertility and Spatial Mobility in the Life Course: Evidence from Austria

There is a growing body of literature looking at the interplay between an individual's residential and other careers in the life course. Previous research has mostly studied the impact of partnership and employment changes on spatial mobility. The author focuses on the effect of child-bearing on migrations and residential moves. The study is based on retrospective event-history data from Austria, to which intensity (or hazard) regression is applied. The analysis suggests, first, that the birth of a child triggers housing-related and environment-related residential relocations. These are mostly moves within a labour-market area, but there are also migrations from cities to rural areas. Second, growing family size significantly reduces couples' wishes to and chances of moving over long distances for a job. The event of first conception also induces moves related to partnership formation.
Is labour market flexibility harmful to innovation

In a neoclassical framework, one can argue that unemployment can be reduced by means of institutional changes that allow for a better working of the labor market and, notably, by achieving downward wage flexibility. The author argues that, although various policy recommendations about removing labor-market rigidities are indeed advantageous in the short run, they are detrimental from a Schumpeterian perspective since they discourage product and process innovation. Reduced innovation efforts will in turn weaken the supply-side strength of an economy. The paper explores the implications of Schumpeter's notion of creative destruction and of Schmookler's hypothesis of demand-pulled innovations, borrowing from recent empirical innovation research. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.
Use of e-government services: the role of trust

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust in understanding usage of e-government services in South Africa. Of interest are services that involve two way interactions between citizens and government. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from members of the public using in-depth interviews and a structured questionnaire, respectively. Findings – The findings show that trust in internet and in government as a provider of e-services are important factors that differentiates users and non-users of e-government services. The two factors are also significantly related to willingness to start using e-government services. Trust in e-service provider unlike trust in internet was however found to be a stronger differentiator of users and non-users and to have a stronger relationship with willingness to start using e-government services. Practical implications – Efforts aimed at promoting use of e-government services need to be based on a good un.