Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Gas Exploitation on the Environmental Radioactivity of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Area, Nigeria

A key component of the current national energy policy of Nigeria is to efficiently utilize her abundant natural gas reserves, especially in the energy sector. This paper reports a study of the terrestrial radioactivity in the industrial areas of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of Rivers State. These industrial areas and their host communities were divided into six (6) zones, each having an oil and gas facility. An in-situ measurement was done using two well calibrated nuclear radiation meters (digilert–100 and digilert–50) and geographical positioning system (GPS). Ten readings were taken in each of the six zones and the host community at randomly selected sites, making a total of 60 sampling points. The mean site radiation level ranges from 0.014 ± 00.001mRh−1 (1.183 ± 0.060mSvy−1) to 0.018 ± 0.002mRh−1 (1.689± 0.085mSvy−1) while the mean community radiation level ranges from 0.014 ± 0.001mRh−1 (1.183 ± 0.06mSvy−1) to 0.017 ± 0.001mRh−1 (1.435 ± 0.072mSvyr1). The equivalent dose has an average range of 1.056 mSvy−1 to 2.871 mSvy−1, which is far below the recommended dose limit for radiological workers (20mSvy−1) but averagely above that for the general public (1mSvyr−1). Comparison of the measured radiation level of site locations with the normal background level shows that 43 locations, representing 71.7% of the sampled area, exceed the normal background level of 0.013mRh−1. This study indicates that there is no immediate radiological health hazard for the host communities and workers, however there may be long-term health challenges.
Auditor Independence, Non‐Audit Services, and Restatements: Was the U.S. Government Right?

Do fees for non‐audit services compromise auditor's independence and result in reduced quality of financial reporting? The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 presumes that some fees do and bans these services for audit clients. Also, some registrants voluntarily restrict their audit firms from providing legally permitted non‐audit services. Assuming that restatements of previously issued financial statements reflect low‐quality financial reporting, we investigate detailed fees for restating registrants for 1995 to 2000 and for similar nonrestating registrants. We do not find a statistically significant positive association between fees for either financial information systems design and implementation or internal audit services and restatements, but we do find some such association for unspecified non‐audit services and restatements. We find a significant negative association between tax services fees and restatements, consistent with net benefits from acquiring tax services from a registrant's audit firm. The significant associations are driven primarily by larger registrants.
Neighborhood contributions to psychological distress among Latino New York City adults

ABSTRACT Objective: Neighborhood-level factors such as ethnic densities and social cohesion have been negatively associated with psychological distress among Latino Americans. Yet, existing evidence is based on either specific neighborhood factors or particular Latino subgroups. The objective of the study was to assess difference in psychological distress between each of four Latino subgroups (Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, other Latinos) and non-Latino white adults in New York City, and quantify total neighborhood-level influence on these differences. Design: We used the combined Community Health Survey data from 2009, 2010, and 2012 surveys. We estimated the odds ratios (ORs) for self-reported non-specific psychological distress (Kessler-6 questions scale ≥ 13) by race/ethnicity using logistic regression models. We further adjusted these estimates for both observed and unobserved neighborhood-level confounding using the conditional pseudolikelihood method for complex survey data. Results: Puerto Ricans were more likely to be psychologically distressed (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.18, 2.12) compared with non-Latino whites, whereas the opposite was seen in other Latino subgroups. Accounting for full neighborhood-level confounding increased the disparity for Puerto Ricans (OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.26–2.54). For the other subgroups, lower odds of psychological distress were no longer observed or attenuated after accounting for neighborhood-level confounding. Overall neighborhood-level factors were associated with lower psychological distress at greater extent among all Latinos subgroups versus non-Latino whites in New York City. Conclusion: Despite substantial variations of psychological distress across Latino subgroups, the study shows evidence that neighborhood-level factors might play a protective role in all Latino subgroups.
Estimating Exponential Affine Models with Correlated Measurement Errors: Applications to Fixed Income and Commodities

Exponential affine models (EAMs) are factor models popular in financial asset pricing requiring a dynamic term structure, such as for interest rates and commodity futures. When implementing EAMs it is usual to first specify the model in state-space form (SSF) and then to estimate it using the Kalman filter. To specify the SSF, a structure of the measurement error must be provided which is not specified in the EAM itself. Different specifications of the measurement errors will result in different SSFs, leading to different parameter estimates. In this paper we investigate the influence of the measurement error specification on the parameter estimates. Using market data for both fixed income and commodities we provide evidence that measurement errors are cross-sectionally and serially correlated, which is not consistent with the independent identically distributed (iid) assumptions commonly adopted in the literature. Using simulated data we show that measurement error assumptions affect parameter estimates, especially in the presence of serial correlation. We provide a new specification, the augmented state-space form (ASSF), as a solution to these biases and show that the ASSF gives much better estimates than the basic SSF.
Induction with propofol target‐concentration infusion vs. 8% sevoflurane inhalation and alfentanil in hypertensive patients

Haemodynamic parameters during an inhalation induction with 8% sevoflurane were compared with those obtained with a target‐controlled infusion of propofol in 50 hypertensive patients in a prospective randomised study. Heart rate and arterial pressure were recorded continuously. End‐tidal sevoflurane and nitrous oxide concentration, Spo2 and bispectral index (BIS) were also collected from the beginning of anaesthesia until 8 min after tracheal intubation. Patients either received 4 mg.l−1 target‐concentration propofol or performed a vital capacity inhalation of 8% sevoflurane in a high flow of oxygen (8 l.min−1) supplemented with 50% nitrous oxide at loss of consciousness. As soon as BIS was < 60, 20 µg. kg−1 alfentanil and 0.6 mg.kg−1 rocuronium were injected and orotracheal intubation was then performed 1 min later. Thereafter, the end‐tidal concentration of sevoflurane was reduced to 1.3 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC). Hypotension was defined as a 30% decrease in arterial pressure and was treated with repeated 3‐mg boluses of ephedrine. When 12 mg ephedrine was unable to correct hypotension, the concentration of propofol was reduced by 1 mg.l−1 and that of sevoflurane by 0.5%. Hypotension occurred in 22 patients in the sevoflurane group and 21 in the propofol group, and hypertension occurred in two and three patients in each group, respectively. The maximal reduction in mean (SD) arterial pressure was similar in the sevoflurane (45 (4) mmHg) and propofol (41.3 (2.6) mmHg) groups, as were the ephedrine requirements (9.6 (1.1) vs. 9.1 (1.1) mg, sevoflurane vs. propofol, p > 0.05), the duration of hypotension (276 (37) vs. 292 (38) s, sevoflurane vs. propofol, p > 0.05), and the number of hypotensive episodes or anaesthetic changes and depth of anaesthesia. Nevertheless, heart rate was lower during the 8 min following tracheal intubation in the sevoflurane group. In both groups, the duration of hypotension was easily controlled either by ephedrine or by adjusting the anaesthetic concentrations. Overall, haemodynamic tolerance appears to be similar in the two techniques. Because hypotension occurred after alfentanil in most patients, this study questioned which is the best opioid dose, if any, to associate with propofol or sevoflurane for the induction in hypertensive patients.
Effects of sociodemographic factors and maternal anxiety on preoperative anxiety in children

Objective To investigate the effects of sociodemographic factors and maternal anxiety levels on behaviour in children undergoing surgery. Methods This study included children aged 3–12 years who were scheduled for surgery, and their respective mothers. Each mother completed a questionnaire concerning sociodemographic and economic characteristics. Maternal anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) form Tx-1, following transfer of the child to the operating room. An anaesthesiologist rated preoperative anxiety in each child using the Frankl Behaviour Rating Scale (FBRS) and Venham Picture Test (VPT). Results One hundred children (mean ± SD age 7 ± 2.7 years) who received dental (47%), plastic (39%) or urological (14%) surgery, and 100 mothers (mean ± SD age 34 ± 6.6 years) were included. A statistically significant difference between maternal STAI Tx-1 scores and children’s VPT scores was revealed. There was no significant difference between maternal STAI Tx-1 scores and children’s FBRS scores. Maternal education level and socioeconomic status had no effect on FBRS, VPT and STAI Tx-1 scores. Conclusion Maternal knowledge and experience of anaesthesia, and high levels of maternal anxiety, may be related to increased anxiety in children undergoing surgery.
Accounting Choice and Earnings Quality: The Case of Software Development

In this study I explore how accounting choice affects earnings quality in the software development industry. SFAS No. 86, which requires capitalization of software development costs (SDC), is the only exception in the US to SFAS No. 2, which requires immediate expensing of all research and development (R&D) expenditures. Aboody and Lev (1998) suggest that capitalized SDC are value-relevant. Thus, expensing of these costs might introduce noise into earnings. However, it has been suggested that future benefits associated with SDC are highly uncertain (Software Publishers Association). Consequently, capitalization might introduce noise into earnings by capitalizing unproductive expenditures. Hence, it is not clear how managers' choice between capitalization and expensing will affect earnings quality. I first find that there is a decline in the quality of earnings in the software industry after the adoption of SFAS No. 86, whereas no such decline is observed in other high-tech industries. Second, I find that, within the software industry, the quality of earnings for expensers is greater than for capitalizers. Finally, I find that, among the capitalizers, those with a large increase in software capital have lower earnings quality than others. Overall, the results suggest that capitalization of software costs does not improve earnings quality.
Population differentiation and evolution in the common guillemot Uria aalge

Common (Uria aalge) and Brünnich's guillemots (U. Iomvia) are colonial seabirds that nest in temperate to arctic oceans throughout the Northern hemisphere. They are very similar in the characteristics of ecology, demography and life history that are thought to determine the extent of differentiation among populations, yet geographic variation in morphology is notably greater in common guillemots. Despite evidence of strong natal philopatry, previous analyses of allozymes and the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene revealed little genetic differentiation among North Atlantic colonies of Brünnich's guillemots. To determine if the more extensive morphological variability in common guillemots reflects greater genetic variability, we sequenced part of the cytochrome b gene for 160 common guillemots from 10 colonies distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere. Genotype frequencies and phylogenetic relationships among genotypes both indicated that Atlantic and Pacific populations are genetically distinct. Genetic divergence among genotypes suggested that differentiation of these populations has resulted from separation by Pleistocene glaciers and the Bering Landbridge, as well as by currently unsuitable breeding habitat in the Arctic Ocean. Cytochrome b genotype frequencies also differed among Atlantic colonies, and appeared to define a cline similar to that described for morphological characters. Analyses of sequence variation suggested that this variation probably results from secondary contact between two refugial populations from the Pleistocene glaciations, rather than from isolation by distance or selection. In contrast, the Atlantic population of Brünnich's guillemots appears to have arisen through recent expansion of a single homogeneous refugial population.
Public Capital Expenditure and Debt Dynamics: Evidence from the EU

This paper investigates the relationship between public capital expenditure and public debt in the European Union (EU) on a panel of fifteen countries in 1980-2013. We find robust evidence of a negative cointegrating relation, whereby increases in the capital expenditure-GDP ratio cause reductions in the long-run debt-GDP ratio. Our empirical results suggest that current EU fiscal austerity can trigger upward debt spirals if cuts in total expenditure disregard its composition. The findings appear to give support to the view, consistent with the «golden rule of public finance», that EU fiscal rules should allow for higher levels of capital expenditure in order to foster debt consolidation through growth dividends.
Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are They Compatible? Part 3. Income Redistribution via Taxes and Transfers Across OECD Countries

Taxes and transfers reduce inequality in disposable income relative to market income. The effect varies, however, across OECD countries. The redistributive impact of taxes and transfers depends on the size, mix and the progressivity of each component. Some countries with a relatively small tax and welfare system (e.g. Australia) achieve the same redistributive impact as countries characterised by much higher taxes and transfers (e.g. Germany) because they rely more on income taxes, which are more progressive than other taxes, and on means-tested cash transfers. This paper provides an assessment of the redistributive effect of the main taxes and cash transfers based on a set of policy indicators and a literature review. It also identifies empirically four groups of countries with tax and transfer systems that share broadly similar features. The paper then assesses potential trade-offs and complementarities between economic growth and income redistribution objectives associated with various tax and transfer reform options. Moins d'inegalites de revenu et plus de croissance – Ces deux objectifs sont-ils compatibles ? : Partie 3. Redistribution du revenu par le biais de l'impot et des transferts dans les pays de l'OCDE Les impots et les transferts amenent les inegalites de revenu disponible a un niveau inferieur a celles du revenu marchand. Cet effet redistributif des impots et transferts n’a pas la meme ampleur dans tous les pays de l’OCDE. Il depend de la taille, de la composition des impots et transferts ainsi que de la progressivite de chaque composante. Certains pays ayant un systeme fiscal et de protection sociale relativement peu importants (comme l’Australie, par exemple) obtiennent le meme effet redistributif que des pays ou les impots et les transferts sont beaucoup plus eleves (comme l’Allemagne) du fait qu’ils recourent davantage aux impots sur le revenu, plus progressifs que les autres impots, et a des transferts en especes cibles sur les menages les plus demunis. Ce document donne une evaluation de l’effet redistributif des principaux impots et transferts a partir d’une serie d’indicateurs de l’action publique et d’une revue des etudes existantes. Il identifie aussi, de maniere empirique, quatre groupes de pays dont les systemes fiscaux et de protection sociale presentent des caracteristiques a peu pres similaires. Le document evalue ensuite les arbitrages et complementarites potentiels entre les objectifs de croissance economique et de redistribution du revenu relatifs aux diverses possibilites de reforme des systemes fiscaux et de protection sociale.
Transforming teaching in math and science : how schools and districts can support change

Teachers often want to learn new ideas and approaches to improve their teaching, but their efforts are often blocked by structural constraints in their districts and schools. How can schools overcome these barriers to provide more supportive environments for change? The authors answer this question through the study of six cases of schools and districts where teachers and researchers collaborated to develop teaching for understanding in math and science.
Cattle as Capital Goods and Ranchers as Portfolio Managers: An Application to the Argentine Cattle Sector

Microeconomic models, treating cattle as capital goods and producers as portfolio managers, provide a theoretical framework for an econometric model of the Argentine cattle sector. Argentine agricultural stagnation has been partially attributed to a lack of producer price response, but this paper shows that the cattle sector exhibits strong price response and that producers correctly differentiate their behavior toward animals of different age and sex. The long-run price response of slaughter is positive, but the short-run response is negative because animals must be withheld to permit increases in future output. This negative short-run response implies that devaluation is unlikely to increase beef exports for at least 2 years.
Informational Content of Options Trading on Acquirer Announcement Return

This study examines the informational content of options trading on acquirer announcement returns. We show that implied volatility spread predicts positively on the cumulative abnormal return (CAR), and implied volatility skew predicts negatively on the CAR. The predictability is much stronger around actual merger and acquisition (M&A) announcement days, compared with pseudo-event days. The prediction is weaker if pre-M&A stock price has incorporated part of the information, but stronger if acquirer’s options trading is more liquid. Finally, we find that higher relative trading volume of options to stock predicts higher absolute CARs. The relation also exists among the target firms.
Encouraging girls in math and science

Disclaimer The opinions and positions expressed in this practice guide are the authors' and do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the Institute of Education Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education. This practice guide should be reviewed and applied according to the specific needs of the educators and education agencies using it and with full realization that it represents only one approach that might be taken, based on the research that was available at the time of publication. This practice guide should be used as a tool to assist in decision-making rather than as a " cookbook. " Any references within the document to specific education products are illustrative and do not imply endorsement of these products to the exclusion of other products that are not referenced. Alternative Formats On request, this publication can be made available in alternative formats, such as Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette. For more information, call the Alternative Format Center at (202) 205-8113. What is a practice guide? The health care professions have embraced a mechanism for assembling and communicating evidence-based advice to practitioners about care for specific clinical conditions. Variously called practice guidelines, treatment protocols, critical pathways, best-practice guides, or simply practice guides, these documents are systematically developed recommendations about the course of care for frequently encountered problems, ranging from physical conditions such as foot ulcers to socioemotional issues such as navigating the demands of adolescence. 1 Practice guides are similar to the products of typical expert consensus panels in that they reflect the views of those serving on the panel, as well as the social decision processes that come into play as the positions of individual panel members are forged into statements that all are willing to endorse. However, practice guides are generated under three constraints that do not typically apply to consensus panels. The first is that a practice guide consists of a list of discrete recommendations that are intended to be actionable. The second is that those recommendations taken together are intended to comprise a coherent approach to a multifaceted problem. The third, which is most important, is that each recommendation is explicitly connected to the level of evidence supporting it (e.g., strong, moderate, and low). The levels of evidence are usually constructed around the value of particular types of studies for drawing causal conclusions about what works. Thus one typically finds that the top level …
What is a realistic value for price adjustment costs in New Keynesian models?

Rotemberg's (1982) price adjustment costs framework is a popular sticky price specification; yet, the data provides little information on the magnitude of those costs. This article finds a plausible range of parameterizations for those price adjustment costs. Our results show that the specific size of the price adjustment costs depends on the average markup of price over real marginal cost and the average time firms wait to reoptimize their price. In particular, the price adjustment costs are higher when the average markup is lower and the mean time between price reoptimizations is longer.
Audit Fees and the Large Auditor Premium in the Italian Market

The objective of this research is to highlight the determinants of audit fees in the Italian audit market. As described later, Italy is not directly comparable with other countries where these kinds of studies have been conducted. Furthermore, the Big Italian audit firms were condemned by the Italian Antitrust Authority for price fixing in 2000. A fee model for the Italian market is developed. Consistent with previous studies, findings show that the size, the complexity of auditee, and audit risk have an impact on the audit fee paid by Italian clients. Moreover, auditor size is also relevant. After performing further tests, it was found that large auditor premium could be attributed only to KPMG. So although the Italian Antitrust Authority condemned all the Big Six, the results support the idea that these auditors as a group did not accrue a general premium.
Management Changes, Reputation, and 'Big Bath'-Earnings Management

We study the effects of managerial turnover on earnings management activities in a model in which managers care about their external reputation. We develop an overlapping generations model showing that both outgoing and incoming managers bias reported earnings such that typically very low returns are reported in the first period after a manager has been replaced. Outgoing managers shift earnings forward to their last period in office as they will not benefit from earnings realized after that. Incoming managers can have an incentive to shift earnings to the second period in office as reported earnings will, immediately after a management change, only be partly attributed to their own ability. Deferred compensation can reduce incentives for earnings management.