Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fractionalization and the Fight over Natural Resources: Ethnicity, language, religion, and the onset of civil war

We use three different measures of fractionalization (with varying potential for members of one fraction to “mendaciously” pass for a member of another) to revisit the correlation between natural resources and the onset of conflict. The combination of ethnic fractionalization and resource wealth seems to translate into a greater risk of war, but the same is not true for linguistic and religious fractionalization. This is consistent with the “greed hypothesis” as a driver of conflict. However, we also find that the direct effect of resource wealth tends to attenuate the risk of war, and the net effect of resources on conflict is ambiguous.
Tibiotalocalcaneal Arthrodesis With the Hindfoot Arthrodesis Nail: A Prospective Consecutive Series From a Single Institution

ABSTRACT Tibiotalocalcaneal arthrodesis (TTCA) is a salvage procedure. We report a series of 20 patients who underwent TTCA using an intramedullary nail. Of the 20 patients, 7 (35%) had diabetes mellitus. The patient experiences and outcomes were analyzed. Their mean age was 61.1 (range 39 to 78) years. The minimum follow‐up period was 13 (mean 28, range 13 to 49) months. Surgical indications included diabetic Charcot arthropathy in 7 (35%), hindfoot osteoarthritis in 10 (50%), and severe equinovarus deformity in 3 (15%). A calcaneal spiral blade was used in 2 patients (10%). Significant improvements (p < .05) were observed in 5 of 8 Short‐Form 36‐item Health Survey components, the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle‐Hindfoot scale (p < .001), and visual analog scale for pain (p < .001). The mean length of the hospital stay was 6.7 (range 1 to 27) days. Of the 20 patients, 76.9% had improvement in their activity postoperatively. Also, 81.8% were able to resume their preoperative work after a mean of 7.89 (range 3 to 24) months. Overall, 19 patients (95%) reported favorable outcomes. Superficial wound infection (n = 4; 20%) and deep wound infection (n = 3; 15%) were the most common complications (35%), with 1 case (5%) culminating in a below‐the‐knee amputation. Radiographic union was achieved in 16 of the tibiotalar joints (80%), 16 subtalar joints (80%), and 4 tibiocalcaneal fusions (20%). In a subgroup analysis of 7 patients with diabetes mellitus (35%), the incidence of wound complications and fusion was comparable to that of the primary cohort. TTCA performed with an intramedullary nail appears to offer a reliable and safe alternative for patients with severe ankle and hindfoot pathologic entities, including those with diabetes mellitus. Level of Clinical Evidence: 4
O2 binding and CO2 sensitivity in haemoglobins of subterranean African mole rats

ABSTRACT Inhabiting deep and sealed subterranean burrows, mole rats exhibit a remarkable suite of specializations, including eusociality (living in colonies with single breeding queens), extraordinary longevity, cancer immunity and poikilothermy, and extreme tolerance of hypoxia and hypercapnia. With little information available on adjustments in haemoglobin (Hb) function that may mitigate the impact of exogenous and endogenous constraints on the uptake and internal transport of O2, we measured haematological characteristics, as well as Hb–O2 binding affinity and sensitivity to pH (Bohr effect), CO2, temperature and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG, the major allosteric modulator of Hb–O2 affinity in red blood cells) in four social and two solitary species of African mole rats (family Bathyergidae) originating from different biomes and soil types across Central and Southern Africa. We found no consistent patterns in haematocrit (Hct) and blood and red cell DPG and Hb concentrations or in intrinsic Hb–O2 affinity and its sensitivity to pH and DPG that correlate with burrowing, sociality and soil type. However, the results reveal low specific (pH independent) effects of CO2 on Hb–O2 affinity compared with humans that predictably safeguard pulmonary loading under hypoxic and hypercapnic burrow conditions. The O2 binding characteristics are discussed in relation to available information on the primary structure of Hbs from adult and developmental stages of mammals subjected to hypoxia and hypercapnia and the molecular mechanisms underlying functional variation in rodent Hbs. Summary: Haemoglobin–O2 binding properties of African mole rats reveal low specific CO2 sensitivities compared with humans that predictably safeguard O2 uptake and transport under hypoxic and hypercapnic conditions.
Ethnic Ties and the Provision of Credit: Relationship-Level Evidence from African Firms

Abstract This paper studies the effect of ethnic ties on trade credit provision. Previous work in Africa has found that entrepreneurs of Asian and European descent are more likely to obtain credit from their suppliers. However, since these analyses use firm-level data, one cannot distinguish the effect of community ties from that of unobserved firm quality that is correlated with the owner's ethnic background. Using data on specific supplier relationships of African firms, this paper more directly examines the effect of ethnic ties on trade credit provision. Results from random and fixed-effects models indicate that firms are twice as likely to obtain credit from suppliers from within the owners' ethnic communities as from outsiders, suggestive of a very strong effect of communal ties. However, these ties accounts for only a small proportion (15 percent) of the overall preferential credit access enjoyed by entrepreneurs of non-African descent.
The Win Maximization Model Reconsidered

In this article, the author reconsiders the so-called win maximization model, taking into account a number of criticisms that have been raised in the literature. One of the main issues is the application of the more relevant Cournot-Nash equilibrium, rather than the Walrasian fixed-supply model, to the European football industry with its flexible talent supply in an open international player market. At the same time, the hypothesis of a simple market clearing salary level has been replaced with the theory of efficiency wages to determine the salary level. Some important consequences of the application of the efficiency wage theory have been investigated.
Regional networks of small and medium sized enterprises: evidence from the Metropolitan Area of Ottawa in Canada1

Innovation is currently seen as a process which results from various interactions among different actors. Recent theories of innovation emphasize clusters and geographical proximity as loci of knowledge, development and exchange, critical to higher levels of innovation and regional growth. As a consequence, there is a territorial dimension to innovation. This article investigates the innovation activities and networking of 53 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ottawa, Canada. Taking its point of departure from the proliferating literature on the localized nature of innovation processes, the article sets out to answer three empirical questions: How intensively are SMEs engaging in innovation activities? To what extent do they interact during innovation process activities? What is the relevance of spatial proximity in networking, and what is the relative importance of localized cooperation as compared to non‐localized cooperation. The results revealed SMEs rely as much on external networks of customers and suppliers, as they do on ones based in their own region, and that these are considerably more important, than other potential sources of ideas, to the innovation process within the firm.
Does alcohol consumption reduce human capital accumulation? Evidence from the College Alcohol Study

It is often conjectured that a significant cost of youthful drinking is the future labour market consequences of having accumulated a lower stock of human capital. While several studies have investigated the effect of youthful drinking on the quantity of human capital stock accumulated, measured by years of education completed or high-school graduation, this paper investigates the effect of alcohol consumption on the quality of human capital stock accumulated as measured by college students GPA. Using data from the Harvard School of Public Health's College Alcohol Study, the indirect effect of the quantity of alcohol consumed on GPA is estimated through hours spent studying as well as the direct effect. Results show that the net total effect of alcohol consumption on GPA is negative for the sample of college students, and that the main effect is via a reduction in the hours spent studying. This finding confirms that high levels of alcohol consumption have an overall negative consequence for academic achievement, and hence future labour market outcomes.
Predictors of non- hookah smoking among high-school students based on prototype/willingness model.

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to determine predictors of refraining from hookah smoking among high-school students in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran based on Prototype/Willingness model. METHODS This cross- sectional with analytic approach was performed on 240 high-school students selected by a cluster random sampling. The data of demographic and Prototype-Willingness Model constructs were acquired via a self-administrated questionnaire. Data were analyzed by mean, frequency, correlation, liner and logistic regression statistical tests. RESULTS Statistically significant determinants of the intention to refrain from hookah smoking were subjective norms, willingness, and attitude. Regression model indicated that the three items together explained 46.9% of the non-smoking hookah intention variance. Attitude and subjective norms predicted 36.0% of the non-smoking hookah intention variance. There was a significant relationship between the participants' negative prototype about the hookah smokers and the willingness to avoid from hookah smoking (P=0.002). Also willingness predicted non-smoking hookah better than the intention (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Deigning intervention to increase negative prototype about the hookah smokers and reducing situations and conditions which facilitate hookah smoking, such as easy access to tobacco products in the cafés, beaches can be useful results among adolescents to hookah smoking prevention.
Neuropathy in Rheumatoid Disease

Our attention was focused sharply on the prevalence of neuropathic disorder as part of rheumatoid arthritic disease, when some 12 months ago four out of eight patients in the ward at one time with rheumatoid arthritis complained of sensory or motor changes; on examination signs of a peripheral neuropathy were present in all four. This factor altered the symptomatology, treatment, and prognosis quite considerably. Since this time we have seen further cases, and it now appears to be worth reporting them in some detail and discussing their significance. The eleven *cases are listed in the Table. The literature on the subject is very scanty. In the current textbooks of neurology we see occasional references to "rheumatism" as a cause of peripheral neuritis, but there is no adequate description to give us greater details. Brain (1951) considers the so-called "rheumatic" polyneuritis following exposure to wet and cold to be in all probability the
Theories of Intelligence in Children with Reading Disabilities: A Training Proposal

A recent trend in the study of reading difficulties promotes multidimensional intervention, focusing on the reciprocal influences exerted by cognitive and emotional-motivational variables. This study evaluated improvements in reading performance as a function of metacognitive training in 36 children (M age = 8.7 yr.) with different representations of intelligence. Posttest evaluations show significantly more improvement in reading comprehension in children with an incremental theory of intelligence. These results indicate the importance of treatment programmes that take into account both the specificity of deficits and factors relating to the domain of motivation.
Behavioral Finance: Psychology, Decision-Making, and Markets

Discover a structured, applied approach to behavioral finance with the first academic text of its kind--Ackert/Deaves' BEHAVIORAL FINANCE: PSYCHOLOGY, DECISION MAKING, AND MARKETS. This comprehensive text--ideal for today's behavioral finance elective--links finance theory and practice to human behavior. The book begins by building upon the established, conventional principles of finance before moving into psychological principles of behavioral finance, including heuristics and biases, overconfidence, emotion and social forces. Readers learn how human behavior influences the decisions of individual investors and professional finance practitioners, managers, and markets. The book clearly explains what behavioral finance indicates about observed market outcomes as well as how psychological biases potentially impact the behavior of managers. Readers see, first-hand, the implications of behavioral finance on retirement, pensions, education, debiasing, and client management. This book spends a significant amount of time examining how behavioral finance can be used by practitioners today. Readers utilize theory and applications in every chapter with a wide variety of end-of-chapter exercises, discussion questions, simulations and experiments that reinforce the book's applied approach.
The expression of stem cell‐related indicators as a prognostic factor in human lung adenocarcinoma

The purpose of the present study was to detect the presence of BASC‐like stem cell‐related indicators, such as clara cell secretory protein (CCSP), Octamer‐4 (OCT4) and Bmi‐1, and evaluate their implications in the prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
The Ageing of Australia: Fiscal Sustainability, Intergenerational Equity and Inter-temporal Fiscal Balance

Australian public policy makers are presently confronted with significant demographic changes that will profoundly affect the formulation of rational economic and social policy over the long term. This paper seeks to outline the potential impact of this demographic change and place it in historical perspective. The challenges posed by an ageing population for fiscal policy are explored and it is stressed that policy inertia will invite severe costs in future. It is argued that an appropriate policy stance should be developed in the context of a framework for inter-temporal fiscal balance not only to focus on long-run fiscal sustainability, but also to include considerations of intergenerational equity.
Trends in antimicrobial drug use in the community--France, 1981-1992.

Trends in the use of antimicrobials in France between 1980-1981 and 1991-1992 were analyzed. Data were obtained from surveys of health and ambulatory care, which were based on national probability samples. In a 3-month period in 1980, 17% of the population of France was treated with an antibiotic, compared with 25% in 1991 (P < .001). The frequency of respiratory tract infections with a presumed viral etiology that were diagnosed and treated with antibiotics increased by 86% for adults and 115% for children in the 11-year period. The proper use of cephalosporins must be encouraged, and vigilance is required in view of the increased improper use of fluoroquinolones, mainly for respiratory tract infections with a presumed viral etiology.
Good Budgeting and Good Governance: A Comparative Discourse

The observed budgetary abuses including lack of transparency, poor accountability and budget indiscipline have called to question the rationale of budgeting in government and whether there is any significant positive relationship between good governance and public budgeting. The objective of this paper is to attempt to clear this doubt by an exploration of literature in the subject and specifically comparing the nature and features of good budgeting with good governance. From the conceptual and theoretical basis, it is clear that budget management is not just a technocratic phenomenon but also a political process. Thus, the quality of a government can be x-rayed from the quality of its budgetary process. It is therefore recommended that strict adherence to budgetary rules should not be compromised especially as it relates to discipline, transparency and accountability in the budgetary process as this will enhance good governance and deliver value to a large majority of Nigerians. However, this research discovered the crisis of development in Nigeria to be the absence of these socio eco-political virtues. Thus, a recommendation is made for the need to embrace these virtues in order to see our country come out of the doldrums of underdevelopment.
The role of servicescape and image perceptions of customers on behavioral intentions in the hotel industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between servicescape components, image and behavioral intentions within the framework of hotel businesses. Design/methodology/approach – Relationships between specified variables were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) using a sample of 410 hotel customers. Findings – It was found that servicescape components had a positive effect on overall image, and overall image had the same effect on word-of-mouth (WOM) and re-visiting. It was also determined that overall image played a mediating role between servicescape and behavioral intention components. Overall, image played a partial mediating role between substantive staging of servicescape (SSoS) and WOM and a full mediating role among the other variables. Practical implications – For a business to maintain a positive image perception, servicescape components must be positively perceived, as well. Therefore, managers who intend to present a positive business image should design se.
Social corporatism : a superior economic system?

Social corporatism and economic performance - introduction and conclusions, Jukka Pekkarinen et al lessons from "corporatist theorizations", Goran Therborn corporatism and wage bargaining, Matti Pohjola corporatism and labour market performance, Bob Rowthorn corporatism, patterns of employment and access to consumption, Andrew Glyn saving and economic growth from a Nordic perspective, Katri Kosonen social corporation and long-term economic performance, Michael Lanesmann and Juhana Vartiainen industrial policies and social corporatism, Michael Landesmann exchange rate policy and employment in small open economies, Sixten Korkman corporatism and economic performance in Sweden, Norway and Finland, Jukka Pekkarinen corporatism, success or failure? - Austrian experiences, Alois Guger the Swiss model - corporatism or liberal capitalism? , Wolfgang Blaas the unexpected emergence of Australian corporatism, Robin Archer.
The lipid accumulation product is associated with impaired glucose tolerance in PCOS women.

BACKGROUND Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) frequently suffer from metabolic disturbances. Lipid accumulation product (LAP) is an emerging cardiovascular risk factor. We aimed to investigate the association of LAP with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in PCOS and control women. METHODS The LAP was calculated as [waist circumference (centimeters) - 58] × [triglycerides (millimoles per liter)] in 392 PCOS and 140 body mass index (BMI)-matched control women within the same age range. Metabolic, endocrine, and anthropometric measurements and oral glucose tolerance tests were performed. RESULTS PCOS women had significantly higher LAP levels than control women in age-adjusted analyses [22.2 (10.9-46.2) and 18.2 (10.7-36.3), respectively, P = 0.001). In PCOS and control women, age, BMI, blood pressure, fasting and stimulated glucose, fasting and stimulated insulin, and free testosterone progressively increased, whereas SHBG decreased across LAP quartiles. In PCOS and control women, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the best cutoff value for LAP to define the presence of IGT was 44.1 and 41.8, respectively [sensitivity 79.5%, specificity 80.5%, and area under the curve (AUC) 0.86 and sensitivity 82.3%, specificity 90.5%, and AUC 0.86, respectively]. In PCOS and control women, receiver operating characteristic curve analyses for BMI (0.77 and 0.54, respectively) and waist circumference (0.80 and 0.72, respectively) to define IGT revealed lower AUC. Odds ratios for IGT for PCOS women in the highest LAP, BMI, and waist-to-hip ratio quartile were 41.81 (5.52-316.54), 10.24 (2.94-35.63), and 18.45 (4.19-81.30), respectively, when compared with PCOS women in the lowest LAP, BMI, and WHR quartile, respectively. CONCLUSION LAP is an easily obtainable and cheap marker associated with IGT in PCOS and control women.
Analysis of abrB Expression during the Infectious Cycle of Bacillus thuringiensis Reveals Population Heterogeneity

Using the model host/pathogen pair Galleria mellonella/Bacillus thuringiensis, we have shown that these bacteria could kill their insect host, survive in its cadaver and form spores by sequentially activating virulence, necrotrophism and sporulation genes. However, the population isolated from the cadavers was heterogeneous, including non-sporulating cells in an unknown physiological state. To characterize these bacteria, we used a transcriptional fusion between the promoter of a gene expressed during early exponential growth (abrB) and a reporter gene encoding a destabilized version of GFP, in combination with a fluorescent reporter of the necrotrophic state. The composition of the bacterial population during infection was then analyzed by flow cytometry. We showed that the PabrB promoter was activated in the population that had turned on the necrotrophic reporter, suggesting a re-entry into vegetative growth. Strikingly, the cells that did not go through the necrotrophic state did not activate the PabrB promoter and appear as a dormant subpopulation. We propose a new model describing the B. thuringiensis cell types during infection.
[3H]Citalopram Binding to Brain and Platelet Membranes of Human and Rat

Abstract: Citalopram, a selective serotonin (5‐HT) uptake inhibitor with antidepressant properties, was found to bind with high affinity to the 5‐HT transporter from human neuronal and platelet membranes. At 20°C, KD was about 1.5 nM in both tissues. [3H]Citalopram bound to rat neuronal membranes with higher affinity than to human neuronal and platelet membranes; at 20°C KD was about 0.7 nM. The Bmax value for the binding of [3H]citalopram to platelet membranes was close to that found using the 5‐HT uptake inhibitors [3H]imipramine and [3H]paroxetine, suggesting that all three 5‐HT uptake inhibitors bind to the 5‐HT transporter. The dissociation rate of [3H]citalopram increased twofold with each 4–5°C increase in temperature in both human and rat membranes, although at any given temperature, the dissociation rate was about four times faster in the human neuronal and platelet membranes than in rat neuronal membranes.