Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trade Liberalization and Poverty: A Handbook

Sponsored by the UK Department for International Development, this book deals directly with concerns that reform may have adverse effects on poverty in developing countries. The first part of the book recaps the current debates over trade policy and anti-poverty policy and the connections between them. The second part explores ten areas of trade policy that are likely to figure in future trade negotiations and examines the possible impact upon poverty in each case. The authors argue that the poverty impact of trade liberalization is extremely country specific, being pro-poor in some cases and anti-poor in others. However, they believe that it is better to tackle poverty concerns directly (for example, by safety nets and investments to facilitate structural reform) rather than through the continuation of protectionist policies. Given the popular suspicions about trade liberalization, this handbook will make an important contribution to debate on globalization and poverty.
Segmented Assimilation, Transnationalism, and Educational Attainment of Brazilian Migrant Children in Japan

The process of international migration has recently become increasingly complex and diverse in many countries. In attempts to understand the complicated conditions for international migration, two important branches of theory have emerged: the segmented assimilation theory and theories of transnationalism. The segmented assimilation theory has emphasized that the trajectories of assimilation depend on the characteristics of the immigrants and the social environments for receiving these immigrants (Portes et al., 2005). The impact of transnationalism on educational attainment among immigrant children must also be considered, because recent technological developments in communication and transportation have enabled migrants to move regularly across borders and maintain their ties with people in the sending community (Tsuda, 2003). However, transnational activities among immigrants have not been conducted outside the local settings of immigrant communities (Itzigsohn and Saucedo, 2002). To understand the conditions for immigrants and their offspring, two important immigration theories must therefore be considered. These theoretical arguments, although useful in understanding immigrants in different settings, have been premised mainly on the experience of immigrants in the US. For instance, the model of downward assimilation in the segmented assimilation theory rests on the unique history of race relations in the US (Boyd, 2002). Widespread poverty and a high incidence of crime have been observed in American inner-city ghettos. While some immigrants in Europe reside in more deprived areas, these places have not been as seriously deprived, in terms of their social problems, as their US counterparts (Thomson and Crul, 2007). Furthermore, the segmented assimilation theory appears to neglect the national context within which immigrant children are accepted (Portes and Rumbaut, 2001). In contrast, research on immigrant children in European countries has revealed that national variations in educational systems can explain differing patterns of integration among immigrant children (Thomson and Crul, 2007). However, little is known about the integration of immigrant children in Asian countries, several of which have recently accepted large numbers of immigrants from other countries (Tsuda, 2006). The research on the educational attainment of immigrant offspring in Japan may contribute to the further development of immigration studies because the national context for the reception of immigrants differs widely between Asian and European countries (Skrentny et al., 2007).
Tripeptidyl peptidase II is dispensable for the generation of both proteasome‐dependent and proteasome‐independent ligands of HLA‐B27 and other class I molecules

A significant fraction of the HLA‐B27‐bound peptide repertoire is resistant to proteasome inhibitors. The possible implication of tripeptidyl peptidase II (TPPII) in generating this subset was analyzed by quantifying the surface re‐expression of HLA‐B*2705 after acid stripping in the presence of two TPPII inhibitors, butabindide and Ala‐Ala‐Phe‐chloromethylketone. Neither decreased HLA‐B27 re‐expression under conditions in which TPPII activity was largely inhibited. This was in contrast to a significant effect of the proteasome inhibitor epoxomicin. The failure of TPPII inhibition to decrease surface re‐expression was not limited to HLA‐B27, since it was also observed in several HLA‐B27‐negative cell lines, including Mel JuSo. Actually, HLA class I re‐expression in Mel JuSo cells increased as a function of butabindide concentration, which is consistent with an involvement of TPPII in destroying HLA class I ligands. Inhibition of TPPII with small interfering RNA also failed to decrease the surface expression of HLA class I molecules on 143B cells. Our results indicate that TPPII is dispensable for the generation of proteasome‐dependent HLA class I ligands and, without excluding its role in producing some individual epitopes, this enzyme is not involved to any quantitatively significant extent, in generating the proteasome‐independent HLA‐B27‐bound peptide repertoire.
Does Economics Education Make Bad Citizens? The Effect of Economics Education in Japan

Does studying economics discourage students’ cooperative mind? Several surveys conducted in the United States have concluded that the answer is yes. The authors conducted a series of economic experiments and questionnaires to consider the question in Japan. The results of the prisoner's dilemma experiment and public goods questionnaires showed no differences between the behaviors of economics majors and nonmajors. The uniqueness of economics majors was found in their answers to questions concerning whether they behave honestly if they pick up money. The percentage of economics majors who said that they behave honestly was significantly lower than that of students in other disciplines.
The Theory of Interindustry Wage Differentials: An Intertemporal Analysis

The authors develop an "intertemporal," two-period, two-sector, specific factor model, characterized by generalized wage differentials, and show that a number of pathological results in the domestic distortions literature are all but eliminated. In this model, in contrast to the standard two-sector model, savings and investment are endogeneously determined, and trade is not always balanced. They also obtain results pertaining to the implications of wage differentials for the pattern and volume of investment, and the balance-of-trade in the current account.
Blood lead levels in children.

Children can be given a blood test to measure the level of lead in their blood. Until recently, children were identified as having a blood lead level of concern if the test result is 10 or more micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood. Experts now use a new level based on the U.S. population of children ages 1-5 years who are in the top 2.5% of children when tested for lead in their blood (when compared to children who are exposed to more lead than most children). In the past, blood lead level tests below 10 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood may, or may not, have been reported to parents. The new, lower value means that more children likely will be identified as having lead exposure allowing parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities to take action earlier to reduce the child’s future exposure to lead. What has not changed is the recommendation for when to use medical treatment for children. These new recommendations do not change the recommendation that chelation therapy be considered when a child is found with a test result of greater than or equal to 45 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood.
The Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Questionnaire: validation in a New Zealand cohort

Aim: To examine the validity of the Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (ASQoL) in a New Zealand population with defined axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). Once validated, the ASQoL will be included as an outcome measure in a proposed multicentre New Zealand study.
Building a business case for diversity

Executive Overview While most companies acknowledge the importance of making diversity a business consideration, diversity is often not a top business priority. Other business initiatives that present more compelling, factual evidence of payback on investment win out over diversity initiatives, which seem to offer less predictable and tangible benefits. As a result, many human resource executives revert to the argument that “it's the right thing to do” and trust that management will back their suggestions to promote a diversity-friendly work environment, then wonder why nothing happens or why well-intended initiatives fail. The presentation of a solid business case increases the likelihood of obtaining the leadership commitment and resources needed to successfully implement diversity initiatives.
Health and productivity in a heterogeneous urban labour market

The effects of changes in various health indicators on hourly earnings in different sectors of the labour market are examined using survey data from Conakry, Guinea. Greater height, which is associated with greater strength, raises earnings of men both in self-employment and the private wage sector, where work is likely to involve physical labour. Height does not matter for women's earnings, which likely reflects the less physically strenuous nature of most women's activities. Body mass index, treated as an endogenous variable, appears to raise earnings of men in self- and private wage employment and of women in self-employment. No impacts are found for household per capita calorie and protein availability, also treated as endogenous. Overall, the results suggest that health matters for productivity in poor urban environments, with these effects depending on gender and the sector of employment or type of work.
Consistency of UK Pension Fund Investment Performance

"Transition matrix techniques are used to relate the past and present performance of pension fund portfolios. In particular, funds are ranked to study the tendency of portfolios to remain in the same quartile of the ranking as they were in the previous period. For raw returns, funds in both of the top quartiles are found to be more likely to remain in the same quartile than would be expected by chance. This result can be taken as limited evidence for the consistency of performance. Similar systemic effects are observed on a risk-adjusted basis. There appears to be clear evidence that some fund managers can offer a degree of consistent good performance. " Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1997.
A novel extreme learning machine for dimensionality reduction on finger movement classification using sEMG

Projecting a high dimensional feature into a low-dimensional feature without compromising the feature characteristic is a challenging task. This paper proposes a novel dimensionality reduction constituted from the integration of extreme learning machine (ELM) and spectral regression (SR). The ELM in the proposed method is built on the structure of the unsupervised ELM. The hidden layer weights are determined randomly while the output weight is calculated using the spectral regression. The flexibility of the SR that can take labels into consideration leads a new supervised dimensionality reduction called SRELM. Generally speaking, SRELM is an unsupervised system in term of ELM yet it is a supervised system in term of dimensionality reduction. In this paper, SRELM is implemented in the finger movement classification based on electromyography signals from two channels. The experimental results show that the SRELM can enhance the performance of its predecessor, spectral regression linear discriminant analysis (SRDA) because it has better class separability than SRDA. In addition, its performance is better than principal component analysis (PCA) and comparable to uncorrelated linear discriminant analysis (ULDA).
Prediction and Molecular Modeling of T-cell Epitopes Derived from Placental Alkaline Phosphatase for use in Cancer Immunotherapy

Abstract In our ongoing efforts to combat cancer, peptide-based tumor vaccines are promising as one of the several alternatives used for cancer immunotherapy and immunoprevention. We have attempted to identify T-cell epitopes suitable for the development of a peptide-based cancer vaccine directed towards placental isozyme of alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), an oncofetal antigen. After identifying amino acid residues specific to PLAP and distinct from other close PLAP homologs, we have used sequence-based immunoinformatics tools (BIMAS and SYF- PEITHI) and conducted molecular modeling studies using InsightII to investigate the binding affinity of the epitopes containing the unique residues with respective MHC class I molecules. Promiscuous epitopes binding to different alleles of different class I HLA loci were analyzed to get a population coverage that is widespread. Binding affinity deduced from the modeling studies corroborated the status of most of the epitopes scoring high in BIMAS and SYFPEITHI. We have thus identified specific epitopes from PLAP that have a potential for binding to their respective MHC class I alleles with high affinity. These peptides would be analysed in experiments to demonstrate their involvement in the induction of primary cytotoxic T-cell responses in vitro, using respective HLA-restricted T-cells in our way towards the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine in a background of diverse MHC haplotypes.
Net Present Value of Acquisitions

This paper discusses sources of value in acquisitions. Using the discounted cash-flow valuation method, we develop a model that explains sources of economic gains that can be attained through mergers. The model identifies three major sources of value in mergers, each of which can reduce or contribute to the combined wealth effect of a takeover deal. The overall value of the deal is a sum of the impacts of these factors on the combined value. The main contribution of this study is to highlight the role of the difference between the combined firm’s weighted average cost of capital and that of the acquirer and the target in value creation through mergers. The model suggests that this difference, along with the operating synergies, can explain total value effects of mergers.
The Bank of Canada's Version of the Global Economy Model (BoC-GEM)

The Bank of Canada's version of the Global Economy Model (BoC-GEM) is derived from the model created at the International Monetary Fund by Douglas Laxton (IMF) and Paolo Pesenti (Federal Reserve Bank of New York and National Bureau of Economic Research). The GEM is a dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model based on an optimizing representative-agent framework with balanced growth, and some additional features to help mimic the overlappinggenerations' class of models. Moreover, there is a concrete role for fiscal policy (albeit not fully optimized) and monetary policy. At the Bank, the model has been extended beyond the standard version with tradable and non-tradable goods sectors to include both oil and non-oil commodities. Furthermore, the oil sector is decomposed into oil for production and oil for retail consumption. The authors provide a detailed technical description of the model's structure and calibration. They also describe the model's simulation properties for Canadian and U.S. domestic shocks, and describe how the model can be used to analyze issues that currently are at the forefront for the Canadian and global economies, such as trade protectionism, global imbalances, and increasing oil prices.
Systemic Risk, Crises, and Macroprudential Regulation

The recent financial crisis has shattered all standard approaches to banking regulation. Regulators now recognize that banking regulation cannot be simply based on individual financial institutions’ risks. Instead, systemic risk and macroprudential regulation have come to the forefront of the new regulatory paradigm. Yet our knowledge of these two core aspects of regulation is still limited and fragmented. This book offers a framework for understanding the reasons for the regulatory shift from a microprudential to a macroprudential approach to financial regulation. It defines systemic risk and macroprudential policy, cutting through the generalized confusion as to their meaning; contrasts macroprudential to microprudential approaches; discusses the interaction of macroprudential policy with macroeconomic policy (monetary policy in particular); and describes macroprudential tools and experiences with macroprudential regulation around the world. The book also considers the remaining challenges for establishing effective macroprudential policy and broader issues in regulatory reform. These include the optimal size and structure of the financial system, the multiplicity of regulatory bodies in the United States, the supervision of cross-border financial institutions, and the need for international cooperation on macroprudential policies.
Domestic or Imported Beer Brands? Analysis and Assessment of Brand Equity in the Spanish Market

The Spanish brewing industry is a main economic sector and a major activity in the agrifood area; however, there are few studies regarding the analysis of brand equity in this product. This study aims to analyze brand equity for both a domestic beer brand—Estrella Galicia—and an imported beer brand—Carlsberg. For this purpose a quantitative study is carried out among consumers in order to assess the sources or dimensions of brand equity and its consequences, comparing the 2 brands present in the Spanish market. Results obtained suggest a better evaluation of the domestic brand and reveal that brand loyalty and perceived quality are the dimensions with a higher relevance in beer brand equity.
The power of proximity: A concept of political party strategies applied to Burkina Faso

Recent publications suggest that exclusively ethno-regional parties are as rare in sub-Saharan Africa as elsewhere. At the same time, the idea that ethnicity is a very special feature of African party politics persists. This article acknowledges the general relevance of ethnicity in party competition but emphasises the level at which it becomes important. It develops a micro-behavioural approach that pays particular attention to the strategic choices of party elites in order to supplement the dominant structuralist thinking in party research on Africa. An in-depth evaluation of detailed election data from Burkina Faso shows strategies that rely on personal proximity between the voter and the candidates influence the parties' success to a great extent. Parties maximise their chances of winning seats if they concentrate their limited resources on the home localities of leading party members. Hence, African party politics are less dependent on ethnic demography than is often implied but more open to change through elite behaviour.
Testing the effect of computer-assisted detection on interpretive performance in screening mammography.

OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to test whether the use of computer-assisted detection (CAD) improves sensitivity at no cost to specificity for the detection of breast cancer and enables more accurate assessment of fatty breast tissue compared with dense breast tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS We created a stratified random sample of screening mammograms weighted with difficult cases split evenly among women with fatty breast tissue and those with dense breast tissue: 114 patients were cancer-free, 114 had cancer 1 year after screening, and 113 had cancer 13-24 months after screening. In test settings 6 months apart, 19 community radiologists interpreted 341 bilateral screening mammograms with and without CAD. We compared the sensitivity and specificity using regression models adjusting for repeated measures. RESULTS CAD assistance did not affect overall sensitivity (cancer by 1 year: 63.2% without CAD and 62.0% with CAD; cancer in 13-24 months: 33.5% without CAD and 32.3% with CAD), but its effect differed for visible masses that were marked by CAD compared with those that were not marked by CAD (hereafter referred to as "unmarked"). CAD was associated with improved sensitivity for marked visible cancers and decreased sensitivity for unmarked visible masses; the sensitivities without and with CAD, respectively, were as follows: marked cancer by 1 year, 82.7% versus 83.1%; marked cancer in 13-24 months, 44.2% versus 57.9%; unmarked cancer by 1 year, 37.4% versus 30.1%; unmarked cancer in 13-24 months, 29.7% versus 23.0% (p < 0.03 for both interactions between assistance and CAD marking for cancer by 1 year and cancer in 13-24 months). CAD marked 77% (70/91) of the visible cancers by 1 year and 67.3% (37/55) of the visible cancers in 13-24 months. CAD marked more visible calcified lesions (86%) than masses and asymmetric densities (67%) (p < 0.05). Overall specificity was 72% without and 75% with CAD (p < 0.02). CAD had a greater effect on both specificity (p < 0.02) and sensitivity (p < 0.03) among radiologists who interpret more than 50 mammograms per week. The results were the same for fatty breast tissue and dense breast tissue. CONCLUSION In this experiment, CAD increased interpretive specificity but did not affect sensitivity because visible noncalcified lesions that went unmarked by CAD were less likely to be assessed as abnormal by radiologists. Breast density did not affect CAD's performance.
Arabidopsis Mutants with a Reduced Seed Dormancy

The development of seed dormancy is an aspect of seed maturation, the last stage of seed development. To isolate mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana that are affected in this process, we selected directly for the absence of dormancy among freshly harvested M2 seeds. The screen yielded two mutants exhibiting a reduced dormancy, rdo1 and rdo2, that are specifically affected in dormancy determined by the embryo. The rdo1 and rdo2 mutants show normal levels of abscisic acid and the same sensitivity to abscisic acid, ethylene, auxin, and cytokinin as the wild type. The rdo2 mutant but not the rdo1 mutant has a reduced sensitivity to the gibberellin biosynthesis inhibitor tetcyclacis. Double-mutant analysis suggested that the RDO1 and RDO2 genes are involved in separate pathways leading to the development of dormancy. We assume that the RDO2 gene controls a step in the induction of dormancy that is most likely induced by abscisic acid and is expressed as an increase of the gibberellin requirement for germination.
Host plant selection of two Mansonia blanchard species (Diptera: Culicidae) in a heterogeneous habitat of Buenos Aires City, Argentina.

Larvae and pupae of the genus Mansonia Blanchard attach to the roots of aquatic plants by means of modified structures to obtain oxygen. A study of the association of larval Ma. indubitans and Ma. titillans with floating macrophytes was conducted at Macies Pond, Argentina. Fifty-four sampling units were taken from January to May 2003. Three genera of host plants were considered: Pistia, Limnobium, and Salvinia. A total of 402 immatures of Ma. indubitans and 217 of Ma. titillans were captured and associations between Mansonia immatures and roots of each genera were assesed. Significant association was noted between Ma. indubitans and certain host plant species (K-W H=42.74, df=2, p<0.001). The same result was observed for Ma. titillans (K-W H=23.42, df=2, p<0.001). Both Mansonia species utilized roots of P. stratiotes in significantly higher proportions than expected by random selection. Both species showed significant negative association with Salvinia spp. , while no clear relationships were detected with L. laevigatum.