Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Taxing the Rent of Non-Renewable Resource Sectors

This study analyses the economic rent generated by the exploitation of a non-renewable resource, and the taxation of this rent. We present a synthetic model of a non-renewable-resource sector where deposits must be costly developed before they are exploited; the analysis emphasizes the effect of resource taxation on the discouragement to the development of new reserves. We discuss the limitations of neutral profit-taxation schemes and examine the distortions caused by various resource-taxation systems on the rent and its allocation: tax evasion, royalty-induced distortions, imperfect tax commitment, agency issues. We also discuss the measurement of resource rents for taxation purposes, and issues with the management of the resource tax income.
Validity of Divided Attention Tasks In Predicting Falls in Older Individuals: A Preliminary Study

OBJECTIVES: Although cognitive impairment is known to be a major risk factor for falls in older individuals, the role of cognitive tests in predicting falls has not been established. Limited attentional resources may increase the risk for falls in older individuals. We examined the reliability and validity of divided attention tasks, walking while talking (WWT), in predicting falls.
Banks' Demand for Excess Reserves

A bank's demand function for excess reserves is derived using inventory theory. In the model, banks hold excess reserves as a means of reducing the cost of meeting their reserve requirements in a world in which they are faced with random reserve flows and transaction costs. The resulting demand curve is kinked at very low interest rates (estimated to be between 0.3 and 0.5 percent for the Treasury bill rate). This kinked demand curve offers an explanation of the large accumulation of excess reserves during the 1930s that compares favorably with alternative hypotheses.
Portfolio choice and asset pricing with endogenous beliefs and skewness preference

This thesis studies portfolio choice and asset pricing with preferences which go beyond the standard expected utility and mean-variance preferences. The first part of this thesis analyses a decision model in which the decision maker forms endogenous beliefs given his anticipation utility and his ex-post disappointment. Portfolio choice and asset pricing implications of the model are derived and compared to the implications of the standard expected utility framework. The second part of this thesis analyses investors choice when preferences are derived from the first three moments of portfolio returns. We derive and test the conditions under which additional assets can improve the investment opportunity set of investors with mean-variance-skewness preferences. The implications of these preferences for the equilibrium cross-section of asset returns are then analyzed and tested with stock returns.
Constraints and the Emergence of 'Free' Exploratory Behavior in Rat Ontogeny

The present study attempts to combine the study of spatial learning with the study of open field behavior. We examine rat moment-to-moment behavior in the wide context of i) a large testing environment, ii) repeated exposures, and iii) development. Previous studies have shown that in adult rats, exploratory behavior of a novel environment is organized around a reference place termed the rat's home base. In this study we show that the appearance of a homebase is a singular stage in ontogeny, marking the transition from a low to a high scatter of movement in the environment. The increase in scatter is characterized by the appearance of several additional reference places. We suggest that the rat connects these reference places gradually and in a regular fashion. To do so we employ statistical filters which extract the principal places visited by the rat, and use measures of diversity which estimate the scatter of movement around these places. The presented data are the first derived from unconstrained behavior, supporting the hypothesis that the rat's cognitive space is represented in terms of local charts eventually combined into a global map.
Does Short Selling Enhance the Allocational Role of Stock Price? Evidence from Hong Kong

We investigate the real effect of short selling on corporate investments and, in particular, examine whether short selling improves managerial learning from stock prices in making investment decisions. We find that short selling improves investment sensitivity to stock price, most likely through a channel that short selling increases stock price informativeness. Using the lifting of uptick rule for index arbitrageurs and market makers as an exogenous shock to short selling intensity, we confirm the causal effect of short selling on managerial learning. Overall, our evidence suggests that short selling enhances the role of stock price in resource allocation.
Construction of the Literature Graph in Semantic Scholar

We describe a deployed scalable system for organizing published scientific literature into a heterogeneous graph to facilitate algorithmic manipulation and discovery. The resulting literature graph consists of more than 280M nodes, representing papers, authors, entities and various interactions between them (e.g., authorships, citations, entity mentions). We reduce literature graph construction into familiar NLP tasks (e.g., entity extraction and linking), point out research challenges due to differences from standard formulations of these tasks, and report empirical results for each task. The methods described in this paper are used to enable semantic features in www.semanticscholar. org.
Crystal chemistry and dissolution of calcium phosphate in dental enamel

Abstract The mineral component (at least 95 wt. %) of dental enamel is hydroxyapatite (hydroxylapatite) with multiple substitutions. The biogenic origin of enamel is reflected in the unusual ribbon-like morphology of the crystals, which are extremely elongated in the c-axis direction, and their organized arrangement within the tissue. The study of enamel dissolution has been driven by the very high prevalence of dental caries. In enamel caries, the initial demineralization results in subsurface dissolution of mineral. While the surface remains intact, reversal of the lesion by remineralization is possible. Problems of understanding the physico-chemical processes in enamel demineralization include the general problems concerning the structure and chemistry of apatites formed in aqueous media. Added to these are the general problem of dissolution in an inhomogeneous porous medium and the complication that enamel apatite has a naturally variable composition which changes during demineralization. The use of model systems in caries research is illustrated by reference to X-ray absorption studies of enamel and synthetic analogues.
Problematizing the Place of Victims in Reformasi Indonesia: A Contested Truth about the May 1998 Violence

The bloody massacre in Bangladesh quickly covered over the memory of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, the assassination of Allende drowned out the groans of Bangladesh, the war in the Sinai Desert made people forget Allende, the Cambodian massacre made people forget Sinai, and so on and so forth until ultimately everyone lets everything be forgotten. —Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting1
Species Distribution Modelling of Aedes aegypti in two dengue‐endemic regions of Pakistan

Statistical tools are effectively used to determine the distribution of mosquitoes and to make ecological inferences about the vector‐borne disease dynamics. In this study, we utilised species distribution models to understand spatial patterns of Aedes aegypti in two dengue‐prevalent regions of Pakistan, Lahore and Swat. Species distribution models can potentially indicate the probability of suitability of Ae. aegypti once introduced to new regions like Swat, where invasion of this species is a recent phenomenon.
Immunohistochemical Analysis of Bcl-2, Bax, Bcl-X, and Mcl-1 Expression in Pancreatic Cancers

Expression of several members of the Bcl-2 family proteins was investigated by means of both immunohistochemical analysis in 30 invasive ductal adenocarcinomas and 23 intraductal papillary-mucinous tumors (IPMTs) and immunoblot analysis in 6 cancer tissues and 7 pancreatic cancer cell lines. We found that Bcl-2 was expressed in 23%, Bax in 53%, Bcl-X in 90%, and Mcl-1 in 90% of the invasive ductal adenocarcinomas. In intraductal papillary-mucinous adenocarcinomas, the expression rate of Bax was 44% and those of Bcl-XL and Mcl-1 were 88%; these values were higher than those for intraductal papillary-mucinous adenomas. Immunoblot analysis identified Bcl-XL as the predominant form of the Bcl-X protein in both pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines, and demonstrated that both Bcl-XL and Mcl-1 protein levels were uniformly high in all cell lines. These results suggest that an imbalance between antiapoptosis proteins (such as Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and Mcl-1) and proapoptotic proteins (such as Bax and Bcl-Xs) is involved in the distinctive biologic features of adenocarcinomas of the pancreas. Furthermore, predominantly high expressions of Bcl-XL and Mcl-1 in intraductal papillary-mucinous adenocarcinomas might be involved in the carcinogenesis in IPMT of the pancreas.
Understanding Countries’ Tax Effort

This paper presents a model to determine the tax effort and tax capacity of 113 countries and the main variables on which they depend. The results and the model allow a clear determination of which countries are near their tax capacity and which are some way from it, and therefore, could increase their tax revenue. This paper also determines central factors on which tax capacity depends: the level of development, trade, education, inflation, income distribution, corruption, and the ease of tax collection.
Financial inclusion and its determinants: evidence from India

Purpose – The objective of paper is to examine status of financial inclusion in India and study its determinants. Design/methodology/approach – Panel fixed effects and dynamic panel generalized methods of moments (GMM) methodologies have been applied to study determinants of financial inclusion. Additionally, Kendall's index of rank concordance has been derived to test for convergence of states in achieving financial inclusion. Findings – Branch network has unambiguous beneficial impact on financial inclusion. Both proportion of factories and employee base turn out to be significant determinants of penetration indicators. The findings reveal the importance of a region's socio-economic and environmental setup in shaping banking habit of masses. Using test for convergence it is found that regions tend to maintain their respective level of banking activity, with no support for closing gap. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, no panel data study has been performed for India based on data for large number of states and a reasonable time span. This study utilizes 29 major states and union territories encompassing 1995 to 2008, which helps to increase degree of freedom and provide reliable results. The study helps us to ascertain direction and strength of various causal factors in process offer policy makers' strategies, for improving financial inclusion.
Environment and value Does drinking water quality affect house prices

This research paper investigates the effect of drinking water quality on property values in Charlesbourg, a major municipality (70,000 inhabitants) of the Quebec City region where repeated water‐related health problems were experienced in 1990 and 1991. In this paper, 807 bungalow sales are sampled from the data bank of the Quebec Urban Community (QUC) Appraisal Division, and environmental information pertaining to local drinking water quality levels supplements data on physical, neighbourhood and access attributes. Our findings indicate that water‐related health hazards exert a detrimental and measurable impact on higher property values, with the average duration of the warning period per sector clearly emerging as the dominant factor. More precisely, market segmentation suggests that the higher the price of the property, the sharper the decline in market value because of this factor. In the current case study, the most severely affected properties of the upper third segment of the market experienced drops in value ranging from 5.2 to 10.3 percent of mean sale price.
Currency Unions, Export Margins, and Product Differentiation: An Empirical Assessment for European Monetary Union

This paper reconsiders the trade effects of the euro, providing a decomposition into its effects on the extensive margin and intensive margin. Furthermore, it relates the more disaggregated estimates for 93 two-digit HS product groups to the elasticity of substitution, thereby testing a key hypothesis of heterogenous firm trade theory. The estimates for the period 1996–2011 suggest a trade effect of the euro of some 28%, which has mainly materialized through the intensive margin. A negative net effect of the euro on the extensive margin is found for several product groups, supporting anecdotal evidence that firms have consolidated their product varieties in response to the elimination of exchange rate variability. Finally, the disaggregated estimates are in line with heterogenous firm trade theory models, suggesting that a large elasticity of substitution dampens the effect of a trade cost reduction on the extensive margin and amplifies its effect on the intensive margin.
Difference in microhabitat-related regeneration patterns between two subalpine conifers, Tsuga diversifolia and Abies mariesii, on Mount Hayachine, northern Honshu, Japan

Seedling and tree-establishment microhabitats of Tsuga diversifolia and Abies mariesii were examined on the herb- and dwarf bamboo-dominated forest floor on Mount Hayachine, a mountain under intermediate snow conditions in northern Honshu, Japan. The four microsite types were fallen logs, buttresses, rocks and ground. The ground substratum was further divided into four subtypes by dominant undergrowth species: Lycopodium, Pteridophyllum, Carex and dwarf bamboo. The establishment of T. diversifolia seedlings on the ground was scarce, and depended mostly on non-ground microsites (i.e. fallen logs, buttresses and rocks). The seedling establishment of A. mariesii was not dependent on specific substrata, although on the ground, establishment sites were limited to the Lycopodium subtype situated on convex sites. Among the microhabitats for seedling establishment, larger trees of A. mariesii rarely occurred on higher portions of the non-ground microsites. In contrast, T. diversifolia could grow up to the height of canopy-layer trees in such microsites. Thus, non-ground microsites seem to be unsuitable for tree establishment in A. mariesii, and are probably useful microhabitats for regenerating T. diversifolia to avoid competition with A. mariesii. We also compared seedling-establishment microhabitats for the two conifers between Mount Hayachine and two other mountain regions under different undergrowth conditions (moss-dominated and dense dwarf bamboo-dominated). Our findings suggested that seedling recruitment in non-ground microsites was primarily determined by undergrowth conditions; T. diversifolia preferred such microsites where the moss-covered area was low, and A. mariesii preferred where dwarf bamboo-covered area was high.
Foreign Direct Investment in Times of Crisis

This paper compares the current foreign direct investment (FDI) recession with FDI responses to past economic crises. The authors find that although developed country outflows have taken an equally big hit as major developed countries have after past crises, outflows seem to be bouncing back more slowly this time. By contrast with the overall decline in recent years, inflows to emerging markets often remained stable during their past economic crises. Both patterns indicate that the global scale of the current crisis has led to a greater FDI response than after individual country crises in the past. Compared with global economic downturns since the 1970s, the current FDI recession has also been greater in magnitude. The exception is the FDI plunge in the early 2000s, despite the much smaller economic crisis at the time. The authors conclude by recommending that policymakers not just further liberalize FDI regimes--as they find was the typical pattern during earlier crises--but rather use the downturn to rethink their FDI policies with an enhanced focus on "sustainable FDI" promotion.
Differential cellular effects in the toxicity of haloalkene and haloalkane cysteine conjugates to rabbit renal proximal tubules.

The relationship between the covalent binding, uptake, and toxicity produced by S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC) and S-(1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl)-L-cysteine (TFEC) was investigated in suspensions of rabbit renal proximal tubules (RPT). The DCVC and TFEC at concentrations of 25 microM produced a time-dependent (1-6 hours) loss of RPT viability. The TFEC was biotransformed rapidly by beta-lyase to a reactive metabolite which bound covalently to tubular protein. Approximately 63% of the TFEC-equivalents inside the cell were bound to protein. Covalent binding of TFEC-equivalents was associated with a 30% decrease in tubular basal and state 3 respiration, a sevenfold increase in lipid peroxidation, and, ultimately, cell death. The DCVC was biotransformed rapidly to a reactive metabolite which bound covalently to tubular protein. Approximately 90% of the DCVC-equivalents inside the cell were bound covalently to tubular protein. Following exposure to 25 microM DCVC, the binding of DCVC-equivalents was associated with a 17-fold increase in lipid peroxidation but, in contrast to TFEC, had no effect on tubular respiration. However, exposure of RPT to 100 microM DCVC resulted in a ninefold increase in the binding of DCVC-equivalents and a 30% decrease in tubular state 3 respiration. The beta-lyase inhibitor aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA) blocked the covalent binding, mitochondrial dysfunction, lipid peroxidation, and cell death produced by TFEC. The AOAA decreased the covalent binding and the lipid peroxidation produced by DCVC by approximately 60-70% but had no effect on cell death. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A non-structural test for competition in the container liner shipping industry

This study examines the competitive conditions of the Containerized Liner Shipping Industry (CLSI). The degree of competition prevailing in this industry will be assessed using the Panzar and Rosse H-statistic. The properties of this non-structural methodology (e.g. using firm level data, robustness in small samples, no need to specify a relevant market, etc.) make it an excellent framework for assessing the degree of competition in the CLSI. The empirical specifications are based on an unbalanced panel of data regarding a sample of 18 major liner operators covering the period 1999 to 2008. A significantly positive unscaled value of the H-statistic has been found. This means that the hypothesis can be rejected that the CLSI market structure corresponds to a neoclassical monopoly, a collusive oligopoly or a conjectural variations short-run oligopoly.
High-intensity interval training or continuous training, combined or not with fasting, in obese or overweight women with cardiometabolic risk factors: study protocol for a randomised clinical trial

Introduction Physical inactivity and increased caloric intake play important roles in the pathophysiology of obesity. Increasing physical activity and modifying eating behaviours are first-line interventions, frequently hampered by lack of time to exercise and difficulties in coping with different diets. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) may be a time-efficient method compared with moderate-intensity continuous training (CT). Conversely, diets with a fasting component may be more effective than other complex and restrictive diets, as it essentially limits caloric intake to a specified period without major diet composition changes. Therefore, the combination of HIIT and fasting may provide incremental benefits in terms of effectiveness and time efficiency in obese and sedentary populations. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of HIIT versus CT, combined or not with fasting, on microcirculatory function, cardiometabolic parameters, anthropometric indices, cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life in a population of sedentary overweight or obese women with cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods and analysis Sedentary women aged 30–50 years, with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 and cardiometabolic risk factors, will be randomised to HIIT performed in the fasting state, HIIT performed in the fed state, CT in the fasting state or CT in the fed state. Cardiometabolic parameters, anthropometric indices, cardiorespiratory fitness, quality of life and microvascular function (cutaneous capillary density and microvascular reactivity evaluated by laser speckle contrast imaging) will be evaluated before initiation of the interventions and 16 weeks thereafter. Ethics and dissemination The trial complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and has been approved by the local ethics committee (Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). All patients provide written informed consent before enrolment and randomisation. The study’s results will be disseminated to the healthcare community by publications and presentations at scientific meetings. Trial registration number NCT03236285.
Salaries of Recent Male and Female College Graduates: Educational and Labor Market Effects

Why do recent male college graduates earn more than their female counterparts? The author explores this question by estimating several salary regressions using data from the 1993–94 NCES Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study. The results suggest that labor market variables outweighed academic variables in their contribution to the gender salary gap. Of the academic variables, gender differences in total credits accounted for more of the salary gap than did gender differences in majors, grades, or institution attended. Of the labor market variables, gender differences in job sector, industry, and hours worked had the largest effect on gender differences in salaries. Differences in how men and women searched for and selected first jobs appear to have had little impact on gender differences in salary. Most important, as much as 75% of the wage gap remains unexplained by both the academic and labor market variables.
International Macroeconomic Fluctuations: A New Open Economy Macroeconomics Interpretation

This paper investigates international macroeconomic fluctuations in light of NOEM (New Open Economy Macroeconomics) models. A model with four major economic disturbances (technology shocks, labor supply shocks, preference shocks, and nominal shocks) is analytically solved to derive theoretical long-run identification restrictions. These restrictions are used to estimate a structural VAR model for the three largest economies (the U.S., the Euro Area, and Japan) over the post Bretton Woods period. The main findings are: (1) the signs of the dynamic responses are mostly consistent with theoretical predictions; (2) supply-side shocks (technology and labor supply shocks) explain most of the fluctuations in cross-country output deviations; (3) preference shocks are the dominant source of real exchange rate fluctuations; and (4) productivity shocks played a prominent role in the recent global imbalances (large U.S. external deficit), while the current account has usually been influenced by all four shocks, with no single shock dominant in all periods.