Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Global Patent Design

The optimal patent breadth and length is derived for an innovating and a noninnovating country in the presence of imitation. It is found that the innovating country chooses longer or broader patent protection than the noninnovating country depending on the concavity or convexity of demand. These patents are compared to the optimal global patents designs and are found to be too weak from a global perspective. Finally, it is shown that where the optimal global patent design involves identical patents in each country that the innovating country is unambiguously better off, while the noninnovating country may be worse off with the optimal global patent design.
Managing Assets and Skills: The Key to a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Long-term success involves creating, managing, and exploiting assets and skills that competitors find difficult to match or counter. This involves a three-step process. The first step is to identify relevant skills and assets by observing successful and unsuccessful firms, key customer motivations, large value-added items, and mobility barriers. The second step is to select those skills and assets that will provide an advantage over competitors, will be relevant to the market, and will be feasible, sustainable, and appropriate for the furture. The third step is to develop and maintain those assets and skills and to neutralize those of competitors.
The cross-validated AUC for MCP-logistic regression with high-dimensional data

We propose a cross-validated area under the receiving operator characteristic (ROC) curve (CV-AUC) criterion for tuning parameter selection for penalized methods in sparse, high-dimensional logistic regression models. We use this criterion in combination with the minimax concave penalty (MCP) method for variable selection. The CV-AUC criterion is specifically designed for optimizing the classification performance for binary outcome data. To implement the proposed approach, we derive an efficient coordinate descent algorithm to compute the MCP-logistic regression solution surface. Simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the finite sample performance of the proposed method and its comparison with the existing methods including the Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC) or Extended BIC (EBIC). The model selected based on the CV-AUC criterion tends to have a larger predictive AUC and smaller classification error than those with tuning parameters selected using the AIC, BIC or EBIC. We illustrate the application of the MCP-logistic regression with the CV-AUC criterion on three microarray datasets from the studies that attempt to identify genes related to cancers. Our simulation studies and data examples demonstrate that the CV-AUC is an attractive method for tuning parameter selection for penalized methods in high-dimensional logistic regression models.
Money demand in Hungary and Poland

This paper analyses the determinants and the stability of money demand functions in Hungary and Poland, using an error-correction framework. The null of stable cointegration relationships cannot be rejected in some specifications. The results suggest that long-run parameters are in line with economic theory. While judging the appropriateness of different strategies of monetary policy on the basis of these findings alone would be premature, the paper suggests that money demand functions can serve as a useful reference for monetary authorities.
HIV‐related discrimination: a survey of New South Wales general practitioners

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the correlates of human immunodeficiency virus (HlV)‐related discrimination among general practitioners. The survey, conducted in 1993–1994, covered a random sample of 878 general practitioners from six of the 12 New South Wales health areas, augmented by 44 general practitioners from the same areas who were antiretroviral drug prescribers. The response rate was 51 per cent, and the final usable sample was 451. Variables examined were: demographic characteristics, the number of HIV‐infected patients, personal contact with people living with HIV or AIDS, personal contact with homosexuals, the degree of anxiety about HIV or AIDS, and the degree of HIV‐related discrimination. Discriminatory attitudes among general practitioners decreased as contact with HIV‐infected patients (P< 0.001), other people living with HIV or AIDS (P< 0.001), and homosexuals (P< 0.001) increased. Anxiety about HIV or AIDS also decreased as contact increased (P < 0.001). Higher levels of anxiety were strongly associated with higher levels of HIV‐related discrimination (P< 0.001). The demographic correlates of discrimination among general practitioners were the same as those found in the wider population. The professional care of people living with HIV and AIDS was concentrated among a small number of general practitioners, many of whom were homosexual. Ten general practitioners were carrying extraordinarily high caseloads of over 200 HIV‐infected patients each. Older, heterosexual and male general practitioners are an important target for education campaigns, and the professional care of people living with HIV or AIDS should be encouraged among a wider group of general practitioners.
Relationship of Myocardial Strain and Markers of Myocardial Injury to Predict Segmental Recovery After Acute ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background—Late gadolinium-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging overestimates infarct size and underestimates recovery of dysfunctional segments acutely post ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction. We assessed whether cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging–derived segmental myocardial strain and markers of myocardial injury could improve the accuracy of late gadolinium-enhancement in predicting functional recovery after ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction. Methods and Results—A total of 164 ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction patients underwent acute (median 3 days) and follow-up (median 9.4 months) cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging. Wall-motion scoring, feature tracking–derived circumferential strain (Ecc), segmental area of late gadolinium-enhancement (SEE), microvascular obstruction, intramyocardial hemorrhage, and salvage index (MSI) were assessed in 2624 segments. We used logistic regression analysis to identify markers that predict segmental recovery. At acute CMR 32% of segments were dysfunctional, and at follow-up CMR 19% were dysfunctional. Segmental function at acute imaging and odds ratio (OR) for functional recovery decreased with increasing SEE, although 33% of dysfunctional segments with SEE 76% to 100% improved. SEE was a strong predictor of functional improvement and normalization (area under the curve [AUC], 0.840 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.814–0.867]; OR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.97–0.98] per +1% SEE for improvement and AUC, 0.887 [95% CI, 0.865–0.909]; OR, 0.95 [95% CI, 0.94–0.96] per +1% SEE for normalization). Its predictive accuracy for improvement, as assessed by areas under the receiver operator curves, was similar to that of MSI (AUC, 0.840 [95% CI, 0.809–0.872]; OR, 1.03 [95% CI, 1.02–1.03] per +1% MSI for improvement and AUC, 0.862 [0.832–0.891]; OR, 1.04 [95% CI, 1.03–1.04] per +1% SEE for normalization) and Ecc (AUC, 0.834 [95% CI, 0.807–0.862]; OR, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.03–1.07] per +1% MSI for improvement and AUC, 0.844 [95% CI, 0.818–0.871]; OR, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.05–1.10] per +1% SEE for normalization), and for normalization was greater than the other predictors. MSI and Ecc remained as significant after adjustment for SEE but provided no significant increase in predictive accuracy for improvement and normalization compared with SEE alone. MSI had similar predictive accuracy to SEE for functional recovery but was not assessable in 25% of patients. Microvascular obstruction provided no incremental predictive accuracy above SEE. Conclusions—This multicenter study confirms that SEE is a strong predictor of functional improvement post ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction, but recovery occurs in a substantial proportion of dysfunctional segments with SEE >75%. Feature tracking–derived Ecc and MSI provide minimal incremental benefit to SEE in predicting segmental recovery. Clinical Trial Registration—URL: http://www.isrctn. com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN70913605.
Does Property Rights Reform Improve the Efficiency of China's State‐Owned Banks?

China's state-owned banks have undergone radical changes over the past two decades, including partial privatization and listing in both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This paper evaluates the effects of these changes by analyzing the efficiency of Chinese banks over the period 1998–2012 using two frontier techniques and comparative analysis. The findings suggest that the performance and technical efficiency of the Big Four banks improved considerably after property rights reform, but this improvement is not sufficient to keep the banks at the production frontier. Tobit regressions confirm that static ownership effects are negative but that the property rights reform has had significant and positive effects on the technical efficiency of state-owned commercial banks. GDP growth and the financial crisis have had positive effects on the efficiency of Chinese banks, which is more significant for joint stock commercial banks than state-owned commercial banks. The results indicate the value of ownership reforms of state-owned asset management companies and insurance companies and the establishment of a countercyclical capital buffer.
Research on Leadership Education as a Reform Strategy

Leadership education has become the public education reform strategy of the new century. Spotlighting leadership education presumes that improved leadership preparation and development will yield better leadership, management, and organizational practices which, in turn, will improve teaching, student learning and student performance in schools and districts. But the hows and whats of leadership preparation have become hotly debated questions in recent years.
Structural insights into the functional versatility of WW domain-containing oxidoreductase tumor suppressor

Recent work on WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) tumor suppressor is beginning to shed new light on both the molecular mechanism of action of its WW domains as well as the contiguous catalytic domain. Herein, the structural basis underlying the ability of WW1 domain to bind to various physiological ligands and how the orphan WW2 tandem partner synergizes its ligand binding in the context of WW1–WW2 tandem module of WWOX is discussed. Notably, the WW domains within the WW1–WW2 tandem module physically associate so as to adopt a fixed spatial orientation relative to each other. In this manner, the association of WW2 domain with WW1 hinders ligand binding to the latter. Consequently, ligand binding to WW1 domain not only results in the displacement of WW2 lid but also disrupts the fixed orientation of WW domains in the liganded conformation. Equally importantly, structure-guided functional approach suggests that the catalytic domain of WWOX likely serves as a retinal oxidoreductase that catalyzes the reversible oxidation and reduction of all-trans-retinal. Collectively, this review provides structural insights into the functional versatility of a key signaling protein with important implications on its biology.
Factors affecting expatriates' performance when they work with Thai government organisations : an initial exploration

Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of M.C. M FACTORS AFFECTING EXPATRIATES' PERFORMANCE WHEN THEY WORK WITH THAI GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS: AN INITIAL EXPLORATION By Sirinart Theenanondhof a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of M.C. M FACTORS AFFECTING EXPATRIATES' PERFORMANCE WHEN THEY WORK WITH THAI GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS: AN INITIAL EXPLORATION By Sirinart Theenanondh Effective performance of expatriates is recognised as a major determinant in the success or failure of organisations. The literature on expatriate management emphasises that the intercultural adjustment and intercultural communication competence of the expatriates, as well as cross-cultural training for the expatriates and the family/spouse, are important indicators for expatriates' effectiveness. In addition, it has been shown that expatriates who develop network ties with host nationals can adjust to a foreign environment more easily than those who do not. However, there has been no empirical study regarding this in Thai government organisations. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study is to determine the factors affecting the performance of the expatriates working with the Ministry of Labour (MOL) in Thailand and to propose suggestions to the MOL on how to better manage the expatriates working for them. Drawing on a number of intercultural adjustment and intercultural communication theories, the Map, Bridge, Integrate (MBl) model is utilised to unpack the cultural differences between expatriates and host nationals. The strength of ties, based on social network theory, is drawn on to explain the pattern of relationships between expatriates and host nationals.
Green practices in the Chinese building industry: drivers and impediments

Purpose – Green building has become increasingly significant in China, with hundreds of projects being certified. While this has been the case, the driving and impeding factors behind this have remained unclear. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the green practices in China and to investigate the current status and the driving and impeding factors for green practices in the Chinese building industry.Design/methodology/approach – After a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature, this study first describes major environmental changes in China. Next, this study conducts an industry‐wide survey, with 65 completed responses received that form the analysis of this research.Findings – The results of the survey showed that “to obtain countenance and incentives from the government” appears to be the dominant motivation for green practices. “High fabrication cost” in design and “cost control” in construction were considered to be the largest obstacles encountered. “Lack of application e.
Resource and Output Equity as a Mechanism for Assessing Educational Opportunity in Korean Middle School Education

Korea is recognized as a high-performing country in international achievement studies; however, many researchers in and outside Korea have been worried about the existing gaps between high-socioeconomic and low-socioeconomic (SES) students in both student achievement and educational resources. We analyzed the resource and output equity of Korean middle school education to verify if educational opportunities are inequitably provided in terms of educational resources and outputs as international comparison surveys have reported. Contrary to previous studies, we find that there is a horizontally and vertically equitable distribution of educational resources corresponding to SES status and region in Korean middle school education. However, we find inequity in the distribution of educational resources for special needs students. The output equity analysis of student achievement shows evidence of equity—a possible indication that equitable educational resources, particularly throughput resources, are having desired effects on equitable, not equivalent, distribution of educational outputs. The vertical equity analysis of educational outputs implies that SES, region, percentage of non-tenured teachers, percentage of special education students, and the number of professional development programs should be considered criteria for ensuring adequate provisions of educational resources.
Price prospects in Western Europe for internationally traded fossil fuels until 2000

A methodology for the long-term assessment of prices is designed and applied to the international markets for coal, oil and natural gas and likely price developments between 1990 and 2000 are explored. The coal market will remain competitive, and the long-term price will be determined by the total cost of marginal supply. The oil price will be set, even in the long term, substantially above the competitive level, by those who control the exceptional Middle East resource base. The traditional link between gas and oil prices will erode in the 1990s, and gas will be independently and competively priced by the turn of the century. Resource constraints are not expected to push prices upwards within the time horizon of the study. The relative price of gas will fall over the forecast period, and its market share will increase as a consequence.
Income-related inequalities and inequities in health care utilisation: Belgium and the Netherlands compared

L'Enquete Belge sur la Sante realisee en 1997 est tres comparable a l'Enquete Neerlandaise sur la Sante de 1997. Les donnees provenant de ces deux enquetes ont ete utilisees afin de comparer le niveau et la distribution de l'utilisation des soins de santes dans chacun des pays. En plus de tester les differences de niveau et de distribution de l'utilisation des soins de sante, cette etude determine aussi dans quelle mesure ces differences sont imputables aux caracteristiques propres de chacun des systemes de soin de sante. Des indices de concentration standardises pour les besoins ont ete utilises afin de mesurer le degre d'inegalite et d'iniquite, lie au revenu, dans l'utilisation des soins. Les resultats montrent que, en general, les Belges recourent plus intensement aux soins de sante, avec une plus grande frequentation des medecins generalistes et specialistes, plus de sejours a l'hopital et un plus grand usage de medicaments prescrits. Les Neerlandais par contre, rapportent des contacts plus frequents avec les dentistes. Aucune iniquite significative n'a ete identifiee pour le recours aux medecins generalistes ou aux hospitalisations. Une telle iniquite est cependant observee pour le recours aux specialistes dans chacun des pays: il est significatif que les individus aux revenus eleves font davantage appel aux specialistes, ceci par rapport au niveau attendu sur base des indicateurs de besoin. La similarite de ces degres d'iniquite pour le recours aux specialistes est frappante etant donnees les importantes differences caracterisant les systemes de soins de sante de chacun des pays: systeme «d'envoi » du patient, contribution personnelle et proximite des generalistes. Ni l'offre abondante et l'acces direct aux specialistes en Belgique, ni le regime d'assurance privee propre a la tranche de population plus nantie aux Pays-Bas ne peuvent fournir une explication. Conclusion: Malgre d'importantes differences entre les systemes de ces pays, il existe aussi de remarquables similitudes, notamment dans l'utilisation des soins de sante en fonction du revenu. L'objectif d'acces egal a besoin egal, quel que soit le revenu, semble etre respecte pour le recours aux generalistes et aux hospitalisations, mais pas pour les specialistes. Des facteurs autre que les caracteristiques de l'offre des soins, tels que des differences en terme de preferences pour certains soins ou en terme de perception de la qualite entre riches et pauvres, peuvent etre responsables de l'utilisation plus importante que prevue des medecines specialistes par les individus a revenu eleve.
The effects of changes in functional residual capacity with posture on mouth occlusion pressure and ventilatory pattern.

The inspiratory pressure developed in the mouth after 0.1 sec of occlusion at functional residual capacity and the maximal rate of increase of this pressure within 0.2 sec after occlusion were measured at rest and during CO2 stimulation in the seated and supine postures assumed by 6 healthy normal subjects. Minute ventilation and respiratory frequency per min, and the pattern of ventilation of individual breaths in terms of inspired volume, inspiratory time, and the mean inspiratory flow rate were measured for the 2 postures. The resting mixed venous Pco2, the respiratory exchange ratio, and the functional residual capacity for the 2 postures were also measured. There was a significant decrease in functional residual capacity in the supine posture in comparison with the sitting position in all subjects (mean decrease 0.799 liters, P < 0.01), but there was no systematic change in the resting values of inspiratory pressure after 0.1 sec, in the maximum rate of increase of inspiratory pressure within 0.2 sec.
EL MERCADO DE TRABAJO ESPAÑOL EN LA CRISIS ECONÓMICA (2008-2012): DESEMPLEO Y REFORMA LABORAL

In this economic crisis the Spanish labor market has generated unemployment at a rate faster than all OECD countries, reaching the highest rate also. The most immediate cause of this is the massive job losses. The differential in unemployment rate and in job loss cannot be explained by a GDP growth much more negative. Similarly, Spain and the U.S. show job losses beyond what would correspond to the collapse of the building sector.The reasons for the Spanish exceptionality are two: the significant real wage rigidity and the high external flexibility. The article shows that insufficient wage flexibility prevents a wage dynamics according to the productivity growth and limits the wage response to changes in the unemployment rate. External flexibility is based on temporary contracts and generates a high sensitivity of employment and unemployment to changes in GDP growth. The explanation of both characteristics (great facility for external adjustment in the margin and great difficulty in adjusting wages) is the regulations that show the Spanish labour legislation in areas such as collective bargaining and firing costs.The labour market reform of 2012 modifies both elements, but not convincingly resolves contractual duality, which is the main mechanism generating volatility over the business cycle and unemployment in times of recession.
Patient Satisfaction and Use of Veterans Affairs Versus Non-Veterans Affairs Healthcare Services by Veterans

Objectives:Chronically ill patients who are not satisfied with their care may change healthcare providers or systems, which could disrupt continuity of care and impede management of their conditions. We examined whether patient satisfaction affected subsequent use of non-Veterans Affairs (VA) services among chronically ill veterans discharged from VA hospitals. Methods:The data used in this study came from a multicenter trial of increased access to primary care. We enrolled patients with diabetes, heart failure, and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were discharged from 1 of 9 VA medical centers. At baseline, we assessed satisfaction using the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. VA and non-VA utilization over the subsequent 6 months were assessed using VA and Medicare administrative data, non-VA billing data, and patient interviews. Using multivariable logistic regression analyses, we examined whether baseline patient satisfaction was associated with non-VA inpatient or outpatient utilization during the next 6 months. We conducted the same analysis for Medicare-eligible veterans, a group with better access to non-VA care. Results:Of 1375 study patients, 174 (13%) used non-VA healthcare. Patients with non-VA utilization were older and lived farther from a VA. The odds of non-VA use decreased by 11% as satisfaction increased (odds ratio 0.89; 95% confidence interval 0.83–0.97; P = 0.005). This relationship was strongest among Medicare-eligible veterans (odds ratio 0.85; 95% confidence interval 0.77–0.93; P = 0.001). Conclusions:Dissatisfied veterans discharged from the hospital were more likely to go outside VA for care. Thus, improvements in patient satisfaction may lead to improvements in continuity of care.