Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Policy Implementation in China’s Local State

Effective policy implementation is a core component of the Chinese political system’s adaptability and stability. A thorough investigation of local implementation mechanisms, however, is often hindered by an almost exclusive concentration on implementation efficiency. This article introduces a new analytical framework and suggests focusing on the interactions between the different administrative tiers—counties, townships, and villages—to understand local policy implementation in terms of procedural and outcome effectiveness. It argues that the triangle of central policy design, institutional constraints, and strategic agency of local implementers explains cases of effective policy implementation that can be observed throughout China. By way of studying the “Building of a New Socialist Countryside” in four cases, this article shows how effective policy implementation can be the result of what students of local governance have so far rather treated as obstructive factors, namely performance and cadre evaluation, financial scarcity, limited public participation, and the focus on models.
The SFB882-B3 Linked Employer-Employee Panel Survey (LEEP-B3)

The project B3 “Interactions between Capabilities in Work and Private Life: A Study of Employees in Different Work Organizations” is situated within the Collaborative Research Center 882 (SFB 882) at Bielefeld University. Its goal is to investigate the role of workplaces in the emergence of social inequalities focusing on the interaction between work and family life. To that end the project B3 created a unique and rich linked employer-employee data set, the B3 Linked Employer-Employee Panel Survey (LEEP-B3). The data was gathered in cooperation with the German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg.
Correction of Clotting Factor “Deficiencies” in Plasma from Patients with Lupus-Like Anticoagulants

Summary Identification of spurious coagulation factor deficiencies that are known to occur in association with lupus-like anticoagulants (LLACs) requires the use of cumbersome laboratory procedures. To determine whether single-stage assays employing the APTT system may be used to identify such artifacts, we measured multiple clotting factor levels by several techniques in plasma of six patients with typical LLACs. While normal activities of factors VIII, IX, XI and XII were measured in only 4/24 APTT assays (17%) employing human plasma substrate, normal factor activities were present in all 24 APTT assays employing bovine, canine or rabbit plasma substrate. Normal factor II, V and X activities were recorded in all but one case in assays that utilized a modified Stypven time, while normal factor VIII levels were determined in 5/6 plasmas when the thromboplastin generation test was employed. These results indicate that the use of heterologous plasma substrates in the APTT system may provide a simple method to identify such coagulation factor “deficiencies”.
Hedging Derivatives Risks - a Simulation Study

This paper undertakes a simulation study to investigate (a) the performance of alternative hedging strategies against various derivatives risks and (b) the impact of model misspecification on hedging performance. The hedging strategies considered in this paper include the single-instrument hedge, the delta-neutral hedge, and the ad hoc Black-Scholes delta-vega-(rho)-neutral hedge, while the risk factors of the derivatives include the underlying asset return risk, stochastic volatility risk, stochastic interest rate risk, and random jump or market crash risk. In addition, we investigate the performance of the delta-neutral hedge with the use of potentially traded volatility derivatives. Our simulation results provide guidance for how a risk factor can be hedged based on certain hedging strategies and evidence of how severe model risk can be when hedging strategies are based on misspecified models.
The Effect of Automation on Stock Market Efficiency: A Case of Nairobi Securities Exchange

The automation of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in 2006 was expected as one of its objectives to improve market efficiency. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of automation on market efficiency. This study investigated the effect of the automation on market efficiency of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) using monthly market returns from the closing NSE 20-Share index and monthly closing equity price list from 2002 to 2012. Two study periods were considered pre-automation period (January 2002 to June 2006) and post-automation period (July 2008 to December 2012). The study adopted a longitudinal research design. The firms considered were listed and had data spanning the study period. The study used secondary data in its analysis. The discussion of the effect of automation on security markets efficiency is very scanty in the literature, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings from the study will be useful to advancing knowledge in the literature on the effect of automation on security markets efficiency. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the study. The results indicate that the introduction of the ATS had no statistically significant effect on market efficiency at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Overall, the results indicate that automation had not yielded the anticipated benefits in improving efficiency of the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Keywords: Nairobi security exchange, NSE share index, market automation, market efficiency
Quality assurance of cervical smear slide inspection using a novel eye-tracking technique

A novel objective quality assurance system for smear slide screening is investigated in this thesis. A method of data validation was developed that compares data from an eye tracked image display, machine image colour texture analysis and expert judgements in a statistical manner to identify salient areas of cervical cytological images. These data are used to construct screener performance profiles, which have been compared to screener experience. The experimental methodology is described and how the screener performance profile is constructed. Results from a study of 10 screeners, checkers and pathologists are presented showing predicted trends of human performance. Relations to experience and strategy are also shown, though these relationships are not statistically significant. A standardised quality assurance test is developed that profiles screeners across many performance measures. Highly significant correlations were found between fixation saliency and machine colour texture (maxima density), though fixation saliency suffers from a lack of a significant statistical basis. Further fixation data is needed, however if it conforms to the existing trends then the results would support the new data validation method as a framework from which image analysis techniques applied to cytology may be objectively tested. Furthermore, this new approach to cervical cytology quality assurance would have the potential to further reduce human errors in the cervical smear inspection process by lowering levels of observer variation found in all aspects of the cervical screening process.
Student Travel Behavior

Abstract Tourism has become a large (and growing) industry in many countries-both the number of trips and the amount of money spent by US travelers have increased consistently (US bureau of Census, 1993). Moreover, tourism marketing is an ever-evolving industry (Hsu & Sung, 1997). However, relatively little is known about travel preferences of college students. Our study replicates the Hsu and Sung study, but assesses student travel preferences in three different countries: the US, South Africa, and Israel. We identify numerous differences between the three groups of students. These differences are used to derive research and managerial implication for scholars and practitioners in the travel and leisure industries.
Waveform analysis of tremor may help to differentiate Parkinson's disease from drug-induced parkinsonism

In this study, we analyzed the waveform characteristics of resting tremor by accelerometer recordings in patients with drug-induced parkinsonism (DIP) and Parkinson's disease (PD). We prospectively recruited 12 patients with tremulous PD and 12 patients with DIP presenting with resting tremor. Tremor was recorded from the more affected side and was recorded twice for a 60 s period in each patient. Peak frequency, amplitude and all harmonic peaks were obtained, and the asymmetry of the decay of the autocorrelation function, third momentum and time-reversal invariance were also computed using a mathematical algorithm. Among the parameters used in the waveform analysis, the harmonic ratio, time-reversal invariance and asymmetric decay of the autocorrelation function were different between PD and DIP at a statistically significant level (all p < 0.01). The total harmonic peak power and third momentum in the time series were not significantly different. The clinical characteristics of DIP patients may be similar to those of PD patients in some cases, which makes the clinical differentiation between DIP and PD challenging. Our study shows that the identification of parameters reflecting waveform asymmetry might be helpful in differentiating between DIP and PD.
Residual Squeeze VGG16

Deep learning has given way to a new era of machine learning, apart from computer vision. Convolutional neural networks have been implemented in image classification, segmentation and object detection. Despite recent advancements, we are still in the very early stages and have yet to settle on best practices for network architecture in terms of deep design, small in size and a short training time. In this work, we propose a very deep neural network comprised of 16 Convolutional layers compressed with the Fire Module adapted from the SQUEEZENET model. We also call for the addition of residual connections to help suppress degradation. This model can be implemented on almost every neural network model with fully incorporated residual learning. This proposed model Residual-Squeeze-VGG16 (ResSquVGG16) trained on the large-scale MIT Places365-Standard scene dataset. In our tests, the model performed with accuracy similar to the pre-trained VGG16 model in Top-1 and Top-5 validation accuracy while also enjoying a 23.86% reduction in training time and an 88.4% reduction in size. In our tests, this model was trained from scratch.
Transport changes rapidly initiated by serum addition to "contact inhibited" 3T3 cells.

Two- to fourfold increases in uridine and phosphate uptake were brought about within 10 to 15 minutes after adding fresh serum to confluent 3T3 cells. The stimulation of transport was specific, since no serum effect was observed for 3-O-methyl-D-glucose or amino acids. The early increase in RNA labeling, previously identified by (14)C-uridine incorporation, could be accounted for by this transport effect. Increased labeling with (32)P-phosphate of at least five phospholipids occurred soon after adding serum. This increase, however, could not be accounted for by increased transport. Both of these results suggest that specific early membrane changes are involved in "contact inhibition. "The following results are consistent with this suggestion. Uptake of uridine and phosphate by nonconfluent 3T3 cells was higher than by confluent cells and was only slightly increased by fresh serum. In contrast, uptake of these substrates by Polyoma virus-transformed 3T3 cells, which are not subject to "contact inhibition," was not significantly decreased after the cells became confluent, and serum addition had no effect on transport by either nonconfluent or confluent Polyoma virus-transformed 3T3 cells. Fractionation of serum on Sephadex G-200 demonstrated that the factor which stimulated phosphate transport was different from the previously identified factor which stimulates DNA synthesis by confluent 3T3 cells.
International migration under asymmetric information.

International migration under asymmetric information usually differs from international migration under symmetric information and often quite dramatically so and in counterintuitive ways. Since in real life information is indeed asymmetric it is somewhat surprising that hitherto the study of international migration has by and large proceeded without explicit recognition of the effect of informational asymmetry. In this paper we show that when at the lowest skill level migration is desirable; i.e. if the (discounted) wage differential is positive for the lowest skill level the introduction of asymmetric information results in a reduction of the quality and quantity of international migration or has no effect at all. When at the lowest skill level migration is not desirable--the (discounted) differential is not positive at the lowest skill level--the introduction of asymmetric information may either result in migration by all or none. When under asymmetric information workers can at some cost to themselves report to foreign employers their individual skill--thus dissociate themselves from the group effect--then provided the cost is small either a U pattern of migration with respect to skill level emerges or migration is uniformly pursued by all though some do and some do not invest in signalling. When the source consists of more than 1 (poor) country it is impossible to predict migration under asymmetric information from a given country without explicitly accounting for changes in the parameters of the other. For example a favorable change (encouraging less migration) taking place in 1 country will through a distinct impact on the overall composition of migration reduce migration from the other country. Finally allowing employers to discover after a while the true productivity of individual migrant workers we obtain the somewhat surprising result that (under a reasonable set of assumptions) eventual discovery may increase the quantity and quality of migration and also increase the wage enjoyed by the low quality migrants. Eventual discovery serves to mitigate the impact of group averaging that deters migration by the high skill workers. Due to migration of some such workers the prediscovery wage of the low skill workers arises in our case sufficiently to outweigh the effect of the future wage decline due to discovery. (authors)
Newsvendor problems with sequentially revealed demand information

This article analyzes a capacity/inventory planning problem with a one‐time uncertain demand. There is a long procurement leadtime, but as some partial demand information is revealed, the firm is allowed to cancel some of the original capacity reservation at a certain fee or sell off some inventory at a lower price. The problem can be viewed as a generalization of the classic newsvendor problem and can be found in many applications. One key observation of the analysis is that the dynamic programming formulation of the problem is closely related to a recursion that arises in the study of a far more complex system, a series inventory system with stochastic demand over an infinite horizon. Using this equivalence, we characterize the optimal policy and assess the value of the additional demand information. We also extend the analysis to a richer model of information. Here, demand is driven by an underlying Markov process, representing economic conditions, weather, market competition, and other environmental factors. Interestingly, under this more general model, the connection to the series inventory system is different. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 2012
Free Riding and Paid Riding in the Fight against Terrorism

Overt terrorist acts and the specter of terrorism impose significant costs on the community of civilized nations. These costs can be reduced by taking retaliatory action against terrorist organizations and the countries that sponsor them. Assuming a positive range over which retaliatory cost is less at the marginal than the resulting benefit from reduced terrorism, there exists some positive level of retaliation which is efficient from the perspective of the victimized countries. An obstacle to achieving the efficient level of retaliation against terrorists results from the fact that much of the benefit from retaliation is general and cannot be captured entirely by the retaliating country. A fully efficient policy of retaliation will therefore require a cooperative response from all victimized countries. Achieving this cooperation, however, may confront the well-known free rider or prisoner's dilemma problem. While collectively the targets, and potential targets, of terrorism are better off retaliating, each will likely see its advantage best served by not retaliating. In this case it is quite possible that no one will retaliate when the best response is for everyone to retaliate. A closer look at the problem of terrorism, however, suggests that the standard prisoner's dilemma may not be a significant obstacle to retaliation. Under plausible conditions, it will pay one country to retaliate even if other countries choose to free ride. Indeed, given the two options in the standard prisoner's dilemma setting, (cooperating (retaliating) or noncooperating (nonretaliating), it is very likely that all victimized countries will retaliate; that no country will take a free ride. But this does not mean that the prospects for genuine cooperation in confronting terrorism are good. In the case of retaliation against terrorist, free riding is only one way a country can increase the net benefit it receives from the public good provided by another. It is possible for one country to, in effect, "sell" the public good of reduced terrorism that is generated by the retaliation of another country. This paidrider possibility has important, and obviously adverse, implications for the prospects that retaliation will result from a cooperative effort on the part of those countries victimized by terrorists. In Section I, the implication of free riding and paid riding for retaliation against terrorists will be investigated in a two-country setting. In Section II, the circumstances that either encourage or discourage a country from being a paid rider on the retaliation of another country will be considered and some real world examples of paid riding will be discussed.
Directly Unproductive, Profit-Seeking (DUP) Activities

This paper propses directly unproductive, profit-seeking (DUP) activities as a general concept that embraces a wide range of recently analyzed economic activities, including the subset of rent-seeking activities considered by Krueger. It then proceeds to provide a synthesis and generalization of the welfare-theoretic analysis of such activities by developing a fourfold categorization of cases depending on the levels of distortions before and after the DUP activity. Thus a unification and overview of the subject are achieved.
Does downsizing improve organisational performance? An analysis of Spanish manufacturing firms

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of downsizing on corporate performance, considering a sample of manufacturing firms drawn from the Spanish Survey of Business Strategies for the 1993–2005 period. No significant difference in post-downsizing performance arises between companies that downsize and those that do not. Likewise, we find that substantial workforce reductions through collective layoffs do not lead to improved performance levels either. Downsizing may not, therefore, be a way for managers to enhance performance. This is particularly true of Spain, where the labour market is characterised by the ring-fencing of employees' rights and substantial severance costs.
The Missing Transmission Mechanism in the Monetary Explanation of the Great Depression

This paper examines an important gap in the monetary explanation of the Great Depression: the lack of a well-articulated and documented transmission mechanism of monetary shocks to the real economy. It begins by reviewing the challenge to Friedman and Schwartz's monetary explanation provided by the decline in nominal interest rates in the early 1930s. We show that the monetary explanation requires not just that there were expectations of deflation, but that those expectations were the result of monetary contraction. Using a detailed analysis of Business Week magazine, we find evidence that monetary contraction and Federal Reserve policy contributed to expectations of deflation during the central years of the downturn. This suggests that monetary shocks may have depressed spending and output in part by raising real interest rates.
Relationship Investment and Channel Performance: An Analysis of Mediating Forces

This study explores how relationship-specific investment (RSI) enhances interfirm cooperation in buyer–supplier partnerships in an emerging market. Building upon the logic of economic sociology, we argue that the contribution of RSI to the success in buyer–supplier partnerships will be mediated by reduced opportunism and reduced conflict and by heightened commitment and knowledge sharing. Our survey of 216 paired distributors (buyers) and manufacturers (suppliers) in China generally supports this argument, leading to a conclusion that RSI is not a direct performance propeller but an important builder of relational infrastructure in which mid-range processes are nourished. Theoretical implications in strategic management and supply chain management research are highlighted.
Mechanisms of noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury.

OBJECTIVE To examine and summarize previous retrospective and observational studies assessing noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury mechanisms and to examine such reported ACL injury mechanisms based on ACL loading patterns due to knee loadings reported in in vivo, in vitro, and computer simulation studies. DATA SOURCES We searched MEDLINE from 1950 through 2007 using the key words anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms; anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms + retrospective; and anterior cruciate ligament + injury + mechanisms + video analysis. STUDY SELECTION We selected retrospective studies and observational studies that specifically examined the noncontact ACL injury mechanisms (n = 7) and assessed ACL loading patterns in vivo, in vitro, and using computer simulations (n = 33). DATA EXTRACTION The motion patterns reported as noncontact ACL injury mechanisms in retrospective and observational studies were assessed and critically compared with ACL loading patterns measured during applied external or internal (or both) forces or moments to the knee. DATA SYNTHESIS Noncontact ACL injuries are likely to happen during deceleration and acceleration motions with excessive quadriceps contraction and reduced hamstrings co-contraction at or near full knee extension. Higher ACL loading during the application of a quadriceps force when combined with a knee internal rotation moment compared with an external rotation moment was noted. The ACL loading was also higher when a valgus load was combined with internal rotation as compared with external rotation. However, because the combination of knee valgus and external rotation motions may lead to ACL impingement, these combined motions cannot be excluded from the noncontact ACL injury mechanisms. Further, excessive valgus knee loads applied during weight-bearing, decelerating activities also increased ACL loading. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this review lend support to ACL injury prevention programs designed to prevent unopposed excessive quadriceps force and frontal-plane or transverse-plane (or both) moments to the knee and to encourage increased knee flexion angle during sudden deceleration and acceleration tasks.