Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The possible negative impacts of volunteer tourism

Volunteer tourism is an increasingly popular form of travel that is attracting growing research attention. Nevertheless, existing research has focused primarily on the benefits of volunteer tourism, and many studies have simply involved profiling volunteers or investigating their motivations. However, there are numerous possible negative impacts of volunteer tourism that deserve increased attention from both researchers and project managers: a neglect of locals' desires, a hindering of work progress and completion of unsatisfactory work, a disruption of local economies, a reinforcement of conceptualisations of the ‘other’ and rationalisations of poverty, and an instigation of cultural changes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Instantaneous Death Due to Transorbital Reverse Penetration of a Screw in an Accidental Fall: Unusual Autopsy Case Report and Review of the Literature

AbstractWe present a peculiar autopsy case of a transorbital penetrating head injury, in a male worker, after an accidental fall onto a screw not completely stuck into a wooden board.A 13-cm screw entered the cranium 9.5 cm deep, penetrating with the flat end, a condition defined in literature as “reverse penetration. ” The death was instantaneous and caused by a neurogenic shock due to injuries to the brain stem and the right cerebellar hemisphere.These injuries, enabled by the length of the screw, are generally described in literature as due to nontransorbital penetrations, frequently associated with posterior entry and a large intracranial injury.The ocular globe has been, furthermore, perfectly preserved thanks to its mobility in the orbit.Even the dynamic of the incident is peculiar because of the stationary nature of the penetrating object, which the victim actively fell on by accident.To the best of our knowledge, the matter is therefore a very peculiar mortal case of transorbital intracranial penetration, whose verified injuries and dynamics are absolutely atypical.The case is now under discussion, and a review of pertinent literature is performed.
Testing Hedges under the Standard Tranched Credit Model

We examine the performance of the standard tranched credit derivative (or synthetic CDO) pricing model over most of the lifetime of these derivatives. As the market for these derivatives is quite liquid, we focus on the application of the model for hedging, rather than for absolute pricing. We investigate first whether the standard model provides demonstrably better hedges than a simple linear regression, and second whether any of the typical variations on the standard model outperforms the others. Our findings demonstrate that the standard model does produce better hedges than a simple benchmark, but that within the numerous variations of the standard model, the simplest one is clearly the most consistent and reliable.
An Examination of Diamonds as an AlternativeAsset Class: Do They Have What It Takes to Make a Portfolio Sparkle?

The authors conduct an analysis of diamonds as an investable asset. They discuss the literature of alternative asset class investing and how diamonds fit into this investment framework. After examining the correlation of diamonds with several financial indices and a set of metal commodities, they demonstrate the ability of diamonds to enhance portfolio returns through diversification. They conclude by demonstrating the ability of a diamond return index to provide superior risk-adjusted returns.
Orange Juice and Weather

Frozen concentrated orange juice is an unusual commodity. It is concentrated not only hydrologically, but also geographically; more than 98 percent of U.S. production takes place in the central Florida region around Orlando. ' Weather is a major influence on orange juice production and un- like commodities such as corn and oats, which are produced over wide geographical areas, orange juice output is influenced primarily by the weather at a single location. This suggests that frozen concentrated orange juice is a relatively good candidate for a study of the interaction between prices and a truly exogenous determinant of value, the weather.
Debt , Equity , and Taxes

from the determinants of the choice between the two distribution methods and allow for any mix. In practice we observe both types of distributions, and prior research has not fully resolved why firms choose one method or the other. Although share repurchases are tax-advantaged relative to dividends, Chowdhry and Nanda (1994) demonstrate that under certain conditions the price impact of share repurchases could discourage their use. Hausch and Seward (1993) demonstrate that under certain conditions the signaling attributes of dividends are more effective than the signaling attributes of share repurchases. Jagannathan et al. (2000) and Guay and Harford (2000) provide evidence that firms with stable, permanent earnings tend to use dividends,
Image Completion Using Sample Synthesis

The issue of image completion is well developed in these years. Most of them reconstruct damaged area by referring to the under-repaired images themselves. However, they may fail if damaged portion collapse their structure which is unique and important. We propose to use an external reference image to repair the damaged image and the method provides the following three contributions: (1) an algorithm of fast contour matching is proposed to repair damaged images by referring to external sample images. Critical structural information can be rebuilt which is missing in original damaged area. (2) An algorithm of fragment color transform is proposed to resolve the problem of creating false transform to non-existent color if traditional histogram specification were used. (3) An algorithm of K map threshold weighted synthesis is proposed to resolve the problem of creating false textures caused by non-existence of similar block in original damaged area. Several experiments are executed and the results clearly indicate that defects mentioned above are able to fix more efficiently. Especially, the present method shows good performance for texture accommodation in the joint area. Therefore, it is ideal for the task of completing images with unique structure missing in the damaged area.
Strategy and Force in the Liquidation of Secured Debt

This article provides an empirical and theoretical study of the processes for the liquidation of secured debt. The empirical portion of the study includes an empirical base of 74 profiles of distressed secured loans randomly selected from the portfolios of three lenders (one finance company, one bank, and one insurance company). Those profiles include information on such topics as how the lenders decide which loans to terminate, what happens to the debtors after the lender decides to terminate the relationships, how successful the lenders are in obtaining repayment, and how much the process of termination costs. The theoretical portion of the study builds on the base of empirical evidence in two ways. The first part of the theoretical discussion presents a model of the economics of distressed debt. I argue that debtors are surprisingly capable of protecting themselves even in the face of demands for payment from their lenders, relying on the substantial incidence in my profiles of transactions where the debtors either refinanced their loans or paid them off with cash flow generated from continued operations or sale of the underlying collateral. As a related point, I argue that extremely poor results lenders face in cases where they foreclose rebut the concerns of some academics about the ability of lenders to use foreclosure to capture valuable assets from their borrowers. The second part of the theoretical discussion addresses broader questions about the connection between the market for distressed debt and the larger market for the initial issuance of debt. First, based on the very low frequency of liquidation and the poor results that lenders obtain on liquidation, I argue that the principal reasons that lenders take collateral are the strategic advantages it gives them; the enhancement of their power to liquidate collateral by force is of so little value that it cannot plausibly be viewed as a general justification for those transactions. Accordingly, legal reforms of the secured-credit system should focus more on the serious policy issues raised by those strategic advantages than on perceived difficulties in obtaining a reliable right to liquidate. I close by addressing the long-standing concern that rules hindering creditors' collection efforts will affect the willingness of lenders to issue new loans. My evidence of the low frequency of business failure and bankruptcy strongly suggests that the concern is for the most part unfounded.
Benign Rolandic Epilepsy—Perhaps Not So Benign: Use of Magnetic Source Imaging as a Predictor of Outcome

The purpose of this study was to evaluate children with benign rolandic epilepsy, a childhood epilepsy characterized by centrotemporal/rolandic spike-wave discharges with infrequent partial seizures that may secondarily generalize. Recently, some investigators have questioned whether benign rolandic epilepsy is indeed “benign” or whether long-term cognitive outcome may be adversely affected. We initiated an ongoing study to identify children with benign rolandic epilepsy. The children were evaluated in the Texas Comprehensive Epilepsy Program using outpatient or continuous video-electroencephalographic monitoring, brain magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography, and neuropsychological testing. Neuropsychological testing revealed fine motor dysfunction, visuomotor integration deficits, dyscalculia, and/or expressive language deficits in all of the 9 patients evaluated, reaffirming that benign rolandic epilepsy is not necessarily a benign disorder. Our study shows a high concordance of motor and cognitive deficits in benign rolandic epilepsy, as others have previously suggested. Furthermore, magnetic source imaging shows a higher resolution of dipole localization compared with conventional electroencephalography, which may ultimately improve prediction of deficits. This reaffirms that magnetoencephalography is a valuable diagnostic tool in the evaluation of children with benign rolandic epilepsy.
Humoral Immune Responses in Cr2−/− Mice: Enhanced Affinity Maturation but Impaired Antibody Persistence1

Deficiency in CD21/CD35 by disruption of the Cr2 loci leads to impaired humoral immune responses. In this study, we detail the role of CD21/CD35 on Ab responses to the hapten (4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenyl)acetyl conjugated to chicken gamma-globulin. Surprisingly, Cr2−/− mice generate significant Ab responses and germinal center (GC) reactions to low doses of this Ag in alum, although the magnitude of their responses is much reduced in comparison with those of Cr2+/− and C57BL/6 controls. Increasing Ag dose partially corrected this deficit. In situ study of the somatic genetics of GC B cells demonstrated that VDJ hypermutation does not require CD21/CD35, and Cr2−/− mice exhibited enhanced affinity maturation of serum Ab in the post-GC phase of the primary response. On the other hand, Cr2−/− mice displayed accelerated loss of serum Ab and long-lived Ab-forming cells. These observations suggest that B cell activation/survival signals mediated by CD21 and/or the retention of Ag by CD21/CD35 play important roles in the generation, quality, and maintenance of serum Ab.
Careers in Foreign-Owned Firms in Japan

This article examines how organizational environments affect labor market processes in Japan. I hypothesize that labor market inequality is generated through workers being “positioned” in either domestic or in foreign firms. I apply the concept of social versus economic exchange to distinguish the nature of transactions between domestic and foreign firms. I argue that foreign firms operate under an institutional context that is conducive to the economic mode of exchange, which has enormous consequences for their personnel practices and reward systems. Using a dataset of Japanese workers collected in 2000, I examine the extent to which employment practices in foreign firms deviate from the benchmark features observed in the Japanese labor market. My results confirm that employment in foreign firms significantly affects career outcomes. The highcommitment culture commonly associated with the Japanese workforce is an outcome of the organizational environment. I find little evidence of Japanese employment practices (e.g., seniority and lifetime employment) operating within foreign firms. I also find that workers in foreign firms trust their employers less and have a higher propensity to quit their jobs. My findings suggest that workers in domestic and foreign firms are subject to vastly different sets of institutional constraints.
DEPENDENCE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH ON CO2 EMISSIONS

This paper examines the effects of CO2 emissions on GDP by using a dynamic model for panel data from 19 OECD countries. The results indicate a significant decline in the dependence of economic growth on pollution, suggesting technological progress toward economic growth with less pollution, and providing indirect empirical support for the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.
Quality of vision in patients with fuchs endothelial dystrophy and after descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of vision (visual acuity and straylight) in patients with Fuchs dystrophy and the improvement in visual quality after Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK). METHODS There was an observational case series (Amsterdam group) and a prospective interventional case series (Mayo group). Corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), straylight, and corneal thickness were measured in patients with phakic and pseudophakic eyes with Fuchs dystrophy recruited at the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (99 eyes), and at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (48 eyes). The Mayo group was also examined at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after DSEK; all these eyes were rendered pseudophakic during DSEK. RESULTS Eyes with Fuchs dystrophy had decreased CDVA (mean [SD], 0.42 [0.26] logMAR; Snellen equivalent 20/53) and increased straylight (mean [SD], 1.54 [0.24] logarithm of the straylight parameter) compared with normal eyes. Younger patients were affected more by increased straylight than by decreased CDVA. Corrected distance visual acuity (r = 0.26; P = .003; n = 135) and straylight (r = 0.26; P = .003; n = 133) were correlated with corneal thickness. Corrected distance visual acuity and straylight improved at all postoperative examinations (P < .001), and improvement in straylight from before DSEK to 12 months after DSEK correlated with recipient age (r = -0.43; P = .01; n = 33). Improvement in straylight was more predictable than that of CDVA and was associated with preoperative straylight more than 1.33 logarithm of the straylight parameter. CONCLUSIONS Quality of vision is severely impaired in patients with Fuchs dystrophy and improves significantly after DSEK. Straylight improves more in younger than in older eyes after DSEK. Preoperative straylight can be a useful clinical metric to predict postoperative improvement, especially in cases where preoperative visual acuity is close to 20/20.
Monetary Policy Regimes, Expected Inflation, and the Response of Interest Rates to Money Announcements

This paper examines the response of the term structure of interest rates to weekly money announcements. Estimated responses for both the pre- and post-October 1979 periods are first presented. Then, two competing hypotheses involving the policy anticipations and expected inflation effects are formally specified and compared to the estimated responses.Both hypotheses are found to be consistent with the responses, but they have sharply different implications about the Federal Reserve's short-run monetary policy. The expected inflation hypothesis implies that weekly money surprises should have persistent effects on the level of the money stock, reflecting shifts in the Federal Reserve's long-run target. In contrast, the policy anticipations hypothesis implies that the effectof money surprises should diminish over time, reflecting the Federal Reserve's desire to offset deviations from target. Additional empirical results reported in the paper support this latter description of the money stock process.
Study of the embryofeto-toxicity of Crown-of-Thorns (Euphorbia milii) latex, a natural molluscicide.

The crude latex of Crown-of-Thorns (Euphorbia milii var. hislopii) is a potent plant molluscicide and a promising alternative to the synthetic molluscicides used in schistosomiasis control. The present study was undertaken to investigate the embryofeto-toxic potential of E. milii latex. The study is part of a comprehensive safety evaluation of this plant molluscicide. Lyophilized latex (0, 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight) in corn oil was given by gavage to Wistar rats (N = 100) from days 6 to 15 of pregnancy and cesarean sections were performed on day 21 of pregnancy. The numbers of implantation sites, living and dead fetuses, resorptions and corpora lutea were recorded. Fetuses were weighed, examined for external malformations, and fixed for visceral examination, or cleared and stained with Alizarin red S for skeleton evaluation. A reduction of body weight minus uterine weight at term indicated that E. milii latex was maternally toxic over the dose range tested. No latex-induced embryolethality was noted at the lowest dose (125 mg/kg) but the resorption rate was markedly increased at 250 mg/kg (62.5%) and 500 mg/kg (93.4%). A higher frequency of fetuses showing signs of delayed ossification (control: 17.4%; 125 mg/kg: 27.4% and 250 mg/kg: 62.8%; P < 0.05 vs control) indicated that fetal growth was retarded at doses > or = 125 mg latex/kg body weight. No increase in the proportion of fetuses with skeletal anomalies was observed at the lowest dose but the incidence of minor skeletal malformations was higher at 250 mg/kg body weight (control: 13.7%; 125 mg/kg: 14.8%; 250 mg/kg: 45.7%; P < 0.05 vs control). Since a higher frequency of minor malformations was noted only at very high doses of latex which are embryolethal and maternally toxic, it is reasonable to conclude that this plant molluscicide poses no teratogenic hazard or, at least, that this possibility is of a considerably low order of magnitude.
The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the Right to Strike

This article examines the industrial action provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) in the context of international labour standards which protect the right to strike, particularly the International Labour Organisations’ Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention 1948 (No. 87). The article reviews the Act in light of three central obligations with respect to the right to strike imposed under international standards: protection of the right of workers’ to take strike action in support of their economic and social interests; ensuring that the right to strike is not hindered in practice and providing for legal responses to illegitimate strike action that are measured and proportionate. The article concludes that there are substantial areas in which the Act fails to comply with these international obligations and that these failings stem from a broader reluctance by successive governments to respect the autonomy of industrial actors in collective bargaining.
Reconsidering ‘appropriate technology’: the effects of operating conditions on the bacterial removal performance of two household drinking-water filter systems

We examined the performance of two household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS) systems, the Danvor plastic biosand filter and the Potters for Peace Filtron ceramic filter, under ideal as well as modified operating conditions using systematic and comparable measurements. The operating variables for the biosand filter were (i) pause times between filtration runs, (ii) water-dosing volumes and (iii) the effluent volume at which a filtered water sample was collected. For the ceramic filter we examined overflow filtration versus standard filtration. We used the bacterial indicators of total coliforms and Escherichia coli to quantify microbiological removal. With the biosand filter, a 12 h pause time had significantly higher total coliform removal than a 36 h pause time at the 20 l collection point (79.1% versus 73.7%; p < 0.01) and borderline significance at the 10 l collection point (81.0% versus 78.3%; p = 0.07). High-volume filtration (20 l) had significantly lower total coliform removal efficacy than low-volume (10 l) filtration at the 10 l collection point (81.0% versus 84.2%; p = 0.03). We observed a decreasing trend in total coliform removal by sample collection volume with the highest removal efficacy at the 5 l sample collection point (versus at the 10 and 20 l collection points). Using the ceramic filter, mean total coliform and E. coli removal were significantly lower (p < 0.01) in overflow filtration than in standard filtration. The findings indicate that operating conditions can reduce the effectiveness of the systems in a field-based setting and increase environmental risk exposure.
Sustainable business models: corporate reasons, economic effects, social boundaries, environmental actions and organizational challenges in sustainable business practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe: corporate reasons for, and organizational challenges of sustainable business models; and the evolution of economic effects, social boundaries and environmental actions in sustainable business practices. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on insights gained from eight Norwegian companies in different industries. Purposeful sampling was employed to ensure that the companies had sustainable business models beyond the level of mere compliance, of sustainable business practices in the marketplace and society. A deductive approach to data collection ensured that the companies had sufficient understanding to relate their sustainable business practices to interviewers. The interviews were subsequently transcribed and analyzed systematically by the research team. Findings – The empirical findings indicate evolutionary changes as companies move on a continuum from superficial to embedded sustainable business models and the application of sustainable.
Lin28a Regulates Germ Cell Pool Size and Fertility

Overexpression of LIN28A is associated with human germ cell tumors and promotes primordial germ cell (PGC) development from embryonic stem cells in vitro and in chimeric mice. Knockdown of Lin28a inhibits PGC development in vitro, but how constitutional Lin28a deficiency affects the mammalian reproductive system in vivo remains unknown. Here, we generated Lin28a knockout (KO) mice and found that Lin28a deficiency compromises the size of the germ cell pool in both males and females by affecting PGC proliferation during embryogenesis. Interestingly however, in Lin28a KO males, the germ cell pool partially recovers during postnatal expansion, while fertility remains impaired in both males and females mated to wild‐type mice. Embryonic overexpression of let‐7, a microRNA negatively regulated by Lin28a, reduces the germ cell pool, corroborating the role of the Lin28a/let‐7 axis in regulating the germ lineage. STEM CELLS 2013;31:1001–1009