Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Life Cycle Schooling and Dynamic Selection Bias: Models and Evidence for Five Cohorts of American Males

This paper examines an empirical regularity found in many societies: that family influences on the probability of transiting from one grade level to the next diminish at higher levels of education. We examine the statistical model used to establish the empirical regularity and the intuitive behavioral interpretation often used to rationalize it. We show that the implicit economic model assumes myopia. The intuitive interpretive model is identified only by imposing arbitrary distributional assumptions onto the data. We produce an alternative choice‐theoretic model with fewer parameters that rationalizes the same data and is not based on arbitrary distributional assumptions.
Trust and the Public Interest in the Micropolitics of Planning Practice

In neoliberal democracies, regulatory planning systems are often characterized by tension between (1) efforts to treat developers as consumers and (2) the regulatory aspect of planning, frequently involving decisions that sacrifice individual interests in favor of a collective but ill-defined “public interest. ” This unresolved tension creates a crisis of trust, as the underlying values of the planning system are rarely made explicit. Using an ethnographic methodology to investigate the embedded nature of trust relationships in one planning office, this article suggests that the prerequisite for invigorating trust in planning is a careful and coherent theorization of the relationship of individual to collective interests.
Spatial Voting in Spain

This work evaluates the receptivity of the Spanish electorate to policy positions that are distant from the status quo. To that end, two spatial voting models are considered: the proximity and the directional model. The analysis also evaluates the econometric consequences of employing subsidiary measures of the status quo in policy spaces. The result suggests that the majority of the Spanish electorate adjusts to a hybrid model of spatial voting, where proximity dominates. Only the supporters of the main opposition party are receptive to non-moderate policy declarations. Altogether, this work helps unravel the microfoundations of party competition in Spain.
Roth versus traditional accounts in a life-cycle model with tax risk*

Abstract This paper analytically solves a life-cycle model that compares traditional and Roth retirement accounts. It includes realistic features such as tax deductibility of contributions and taxation of withdrawals, tax bracket structure with deductions, taxation of Social Security benefits, and tax risk at retirement. With current taxes, choosing a traditional account over a Roth creates small welfare losses in only a few cases, largely for those with higher incomes and pensions who are subject to the taxation of Social Security benefits. We also investigate tax variability and find that diversified strategies offer only small risk reduction benefits in our illustrations.
Coupling from AII amacrine cells to ON cone bipolar cells is bidirectional

The AII amacrine cell is a critical interneuron in the rod pathway of the mammalian retina. Rod signals pass into cone pathways by means of gap junctions between AII amacrine cells and ON cone bipolar cells. Filling AII amacrine cells with Neurobiotin produces labeling of cone bipolar cells by means of these gap junctions. However, tracer injections into bipolar cells do not produce labeling of the AII network (Vaney [1997] Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 38:267–273), which suggests that the AII/bipolar gap junctions allow the passage of tracer in only one direction. This mechanism stands in contrast to physiological results, which indicate that light adapted signals can pass from ON cone bipolar cells into the AII network (Xin and Bloomfield [1999] Vis Neurosci. 16:653–665). Here, we report that a variety of ON and OFF bipolar cells are sometimes anomalously coupled to the A‐type horizontal cell network. These relatively rare examples do not result from dye injection errors, but seem to represent minor developmental errors. However, this provides a method to obtain Neurobiotin‐filled cone bipolar cells without the necessity of impaling them with a microelectrode. Under these conditions, Neurobiotin spreads from ON cone bipolar cells into neighboring AII amacrine cells. The dye‐coupled AII amacrine cells, positively identified by double labeling with an antibody against calretinin, were centered around anomalously coupled ON bipolar cells. These results indicate that AII/bipolar cell gap junctions allow tracer coupling in both directions, consistent with previous physiological results. The previous failure to detect the passage of neuronal tracer from injected bipolar cells to AII amacrine cells may reflect electrode damage or perhaps the asymmetrical voltage sensitivity of a heterotypic gap junction. J. Comp. Neurol. 437:408–422, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Enhanced autophagy in pulmonary endothelial cells on exposure to HIV-Tat and morphine: Role in HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension

ABSTRACT Intravenous drug use is one of the major risk factors for HIV-infection in HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension patients. We previously demonstrated exaggerated pulmonary vascular remodeling with enhanced apoptosis followed by increased proliferation of pulmonary endothelial cells on simultaneous exposure to both opioids and HIV protein(s). Here we hypothesize that the exacerbation of autophagy may be involved in the switching of endothelial cells from an early apoptotic state to later hyper-proliferative state. Treatment of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) with both the HIV-protein Tat and morphine resulted in an oxidative stress-dependent increase in the expression of various markers of autophagy and formation of autophagosomes when compared to either Tat or morphine monotreatments as demonstrated by western blot, transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence. Autophagy flux experiments suggested increased formation rather than decreased clearance of autolysosomes. Inhibition of autophagy resulted in a significant increase in apoptosis and reduction in proliferation of HPMECs with combined morphine and Tat (M+T) treatment compared to monotreatments whereas stimulation of autophagy resulted in opposite effects. Significant increases in the expression of autophagy markers as well as the number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes was observed in the lungs of SIV-infected macaques and HIV-infected humans exposed to opioids. Overall our findings indicate that morphine in combination with viral protein(s) results in the induction of autophagy in pulmonary endothelial cells that may lead to an increase in severity of angio-proliferative remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature on simian and human immunodeficiency virus infection in the presence of opioids.
The Time and Timing Costs of Market Work

Retirement ages among older Americans have only recently begun to increase after their precipitous fifty-year decline. Early retirement may result from incentives provided by retirement systems; but it may also result from the rigidities imposed by market work schedules. Using the American Time Use Survey of 2003, I first examine whether additional market work is neutral with respect to the mix of non-market activities. The estimates indicate that there are fixed time costs of remaining in the labor market that alter the pattern of non-market activities, reducing leisure time and mostly increasing time devoted to household production. These costs impose a larger burden on households with lower full incomes, since wealthier households apparently purchase market substitutes that allow them to maintain the mix of non-market activities when they undertake market work. Market work also raises the set-up costs of switching among different non-market activities, thus raising the costs of generating utility-increasing variety. It also alters the daily distribution of a fixed amount of non-market activities, away from the distribution chosen when the constraint of a work schedule is not present. All these effects are mitigated by higher family income, presumably because higher-income people can purchase market substitutes that enable them to overcome the fixed time costs of market work.
The Impact of Liquidity Risk: A Fresh Look

This paper takes a fresh look at the importance of liquidity risk using a comprehensive liquidity measure, weighted spread, in a Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) framework. The weighted spread measure extracts liquidity costs by order size from the limit order book. Using a unique, representative data set of 160 German stocks over 5.5 years, we show that liquidity risk is an important risk component. Actually, liquidity risk is increasing the total price risk by over 25%, even at 10‐day horizons and for liquid blue chip stocks and especially in larger, yet realistic order sizes beyond €1 million. When correcting for liquidity risk, it is commonly assumed that liquidity risk can be simply added to price risk. Our empirical results show that this is not correct, as the correlation between liquidity and price is non‐perfect and total risk is thus overestimated.
Dynamic regional competitiveness in the creative economy: can peripheral communities have a place?

This article makes a contribution to the debate on regional economic development based on the increasing importance of the knowledge-driven or creative economy. The empirical data stems from research conducted on the structure of the creative economy in Sweden, where the results point to a few areas of importance for the concentration of the creative class. The results are compared with Canadian studies that reflect similar economic development patterns. The article seeks to contribute to the understanding of these results in a peripheral economic geographical context. The article argues for caution in applying the same kind of policy recommendations for urban and peripheral regions based on the analysis of the creative class.
Monetary Policy and External Shocks in a Dollarized Economy with Credit Market Imperfections

Using different combinations of culture, development and openness to international trade, we test the variability in the incidences of corruption at different stages of development or in other words the non-linearities in the relationship between corruption and development. We employ formal threshold model developed by Hansen (2000), and unlike the existing literature, we find that: (1) non-linear models that search for the break points in the relationship between corruption and development are statistically preferable than linear regressions; (2) the effect of development at any stage is much lower than that has been suggested by studies using linear regressions approach; (3) both culture and openness do not affect corruption directly; rather they have an effect on the location of break points in the relationship between corruption and development.
Morphologic, histochemical, and functional analysis of platelet‐rich plasma activity on skeletal cultured cells

BACKGROUND: Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) is a medium containing concentrated amounts of growth factors in a form that is easy to handle in regenerative sites. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of PRP on the differentiation of cultured skeletal cells and the capability of PRP to induce the production of some osteogenesis‐related molecules and mineralization.
Participation Strategy of the NYSE Specialists to the Posted Quotes

Using 2001 NYSE system order data in the decimal pricing environment, we analyze how the specialists react to the changes in market variables while making participation decisions to the posted quotes. We find that the primary factors that affect the specialists’ strategy are the changes in the best prices and depths on the limit order book. Specialists participate to the posted quotes more for low-volume or high-price stocks. Unlike some previous studies, we find significant inventory effects. The levels of specialists’ participation to the posted quotes have predictive power over future stock returns, which is stronger for short-term returns.
Subdural motor cortex stimulation in Parkinson's disease does not modify movement‐related rCBF pattern

There has been some evidence that electrical stimulation of the primary motor cortex (MCS) may relieve motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). This surgical technique is being studied as alternative for PD patients who are considered poor candidates for deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subthalamic nucleus (STN). In 4 PD patients with unilateral MCS, we used [15O] H2O positron emission tomography to measure changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) while testing motor performance with a joystick motor task during different stimulation frequencies, OFF‐condition, 50 and 130 Hz. We found that different stimulation settings did neither improve performance on joystick task nor modify the pattern of movement‐related rCBF. Similarly, no changes were observed in UPDRS motor score between Off and On stimulation while off medication. We conclude that while MCS may be a simpler and safer surgical procedure than DBS of STN, it failed to provide evidence of clear effect on motor performance and movement‐related activation pattern in patients with advanced PD. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
Analysis of gender and poverty effects on loan defaults rate among arable crop farmers in Rivers State, Nigeria

This study assessed possible differences in access to loans across gender lines and determined the factors influencing their repayment capacities among arable crop farmers in Rivers State. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to select 120 farmers who supplied data via a set of structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Tobit model was used to analyze the data gathered from the field. It was noted that mean repayment rate of loans in the area was relatively low (59%). [EA1] The study found that gender was not a major determinant of loan default; rather, four variables to watch when disbursing loan to crop farmers in the area should include poverty status of the borrowers, sales volume of the farmers’ products, extent of diversification of the farms and farm households’ sizes. These four variables had slope coefficients that conformed to theoretical expectations and were statistically significant at 1% level. It was recommended that donors, commercial banks and credit institutions should aim at empowering farmers with loans (especially those who are well diversified to minimize risks of loan default). Government should encourage farmers to diversify their enterprises and improve their technologies to increase their sales and profit levels through a well-articulated agricultural extension programme. Key words: Gender, poverty, farm credit, arable crop farming, loan default, credit rationing, Tobit model.
Business strategy and performance: the role of human resource management control

Purpose – To illuminate how the alignment of HRM control and business strategy affects firm performance.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data are collected from computer and peripheral equipment industries via questionnaire. The measures include business strategy, HRM control, and performance. The major analytical technique used in this study is moderated hierarchical regression analysis.Findings – The value of any approach to HRM control can be augmented or diminished by simultaneously matching the HRM to the type of business strategy adopted by firms.Research limitations/implications – It is unknown how the selection of industries and geographical areas would affect this study's findings.Practical implications – Firms should use an appropriate combination of HRM control systems aligned with their strategic goals in order to improve business performance.Originality/value – This paper identifies the match between HRM control and business strategy and offers practical help to a firm when they are us.
Aggregating and Decomposing Productivity

We illustrate how the aggregate level of total factor productivity, as obtained from aggregate input and output statistics, can be replicated by summing appropriately weighted firm-level measures. This exact aggregation has a number of advantages over existing practices. First, the contribution of different sub-samples to a well-defined aggregate is easily identified. Second, the importance of patterns at the micro level, such as larger size or higher capital intensity for more productive firms, for the aggregate can be calculated. Third, it allows the exact decomposition of aggregate output growth into the contribution of several factors, among which firm-level total factor productivity growth, an inherently relative concept. A sample of all Chinese manufacturing firms with annual sales above five million RMB is used to illustrate the usefulness of the different decompositions.
Age Differences in Multiple Outcome Measures of Time-Based Prospective Memory

ABSTRACT This study examined time-based prospective memory performance in relation to age, monitoring strategy, response accuracy, and dual-task demands. Young, middle-aged and older adults (N = 115) completed a prospective memory task, in which they indicated the passing of time every 5 min while listening to a short story (low task demands) or completing a series of cognitive tasks (high task demands). Young and older adults showed similar patterns of monitoring behavior, with low rates of clock checking during the early phase of each 5-min interval, followed by linearly accelerating monitoring functions. However, to obtain the same level of prospective memory performance older adults needed more frequent clock checks than young adults. Furthermore, older adults' compensatory monitoring strategy was associated with an additional cost in primary task performance. Finally, increased primary task demands shifted age differences in prospective memory from monitoring frequency to response accuracy. These findings suggest that goal-directed behavior requires efficient task coordination and resource allocation, and that age-related differences in time-based prospective memory should be evaluated by using multiple outcome measures.
Measuring Africa's e-readiness in the global networked economy: A nine-country data analysis

This paper assesses the integration of Africa into the global economy by computing the ereadiness for nine African countries. The measuring tool used is simple and incorporates a variety of indicators used by comparable tools. Overall, the mean e-readiness of Africa is poor in comparison to other economies. Particularly, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - with the exception of South Africa and its neighbors - has a poor e-readiness score; on the other hand, North African countries fared better than those in SSA. Furthermore, the paper highlights areas of relative strengths where policy makers in the region could exploit as efforts are made towards integrating Africa into the global networked economy.
Leaving hospital against medical advice among HIV-positive patients.

BACKGROUND Hospital discharge against medical advice, especially among substance-abusing populations, is a frustrating problem for health care providers. Because of the high prevalence of injection drug use among HIV-positive patients admitted to hospital in Vancouver, we explored the factors associated with leaving hospital against medical advice in this population. METHODS We reviewed records for all HIV/AIDS patients admitted to St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, between Apr. 1, 1997, and Mar. 1, 1999. After identifying the first ("index") admission during this period, we followed the patients' records for 1 year. Multivariate models were applied to identify the determinants of discharge against medical advice and to estimate the impact of such discharge on readmission rate, readmission frequency and length of stay in hospital. RESULTS Of 981 index admissions among HIV/AIDS patients, 125 (13%) of the patients left the hospital against medical advice. Departure on the day on which welfare cheques were issued and a history of injection drug use were significant predictors of leaving against medical advice. After adjusting for sex, age, severity of illness, injection drug use and homelessness, we found that patients leaving against medical advice were readmitted more frequently than those who were formally discharged (frequency ratio 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.42), were more likely to be readmitted with a related diagnosis within 30 days (odds ratio 5.00, 95% Cl 3.04-8.24) and had significantly longer lengths of stay in the follow-up period. INTERPRETATION Discharge against medical advice among HIV-positive patients was associated with frequent readmissions with the same diagnosis. Preventing such discharges is likely to benefit patients (by improving their health status) and the health care system (by reducing unnecessary readmissions).
Students’ perceptions of the usefulness of an annual report project for the development of skills and knowledge

This study looks at an annual report project that simulates a real‐life situation to encourage students to integrate knowledge, develop skills and values appropriate to self‐directed enquiry and research, use technology, work in groups and be active participants in the learning process, question, seek answers and learn independently. Students selected the annual report of a Top 150 JSE‐listed company and answered questions on aspects of financial and managerial accounting, auditing and finance. A questionnaire investigated whether project participation enhances skills (such as judgment, interpretative, listening and problem‐solving skills) and abilities (such as thinking critically, asking pertinent questions, organising). There were significant differences in students’ perceptions, including gender and language differences. The results show accounting educators using such projects which skills and knowledge areas need to be addressed elsewhere in the curriculum and whether to include such a project in their programmes.
Epigenetic silencing in non‐neoplastic epithelia identifies E‐cadherin (CDH1) as a target for chemoprevention of lobular neoplasia

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast is believed to develop from in situ lesions, atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH), and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Down‐regulation of the cell–cell adhesion protein E‐cadherin is a defining feature of lobular breast cancer (LBC) and already occurs in ALH and LCIS. Apart from mutational mechanisms, epigenetic silencing of the E‐cadherin gene (CDH1) is thought to be involved in E‐cadherin down‐regulation and has been observed at a high frequency in ILC. Whether CDH1 promoter methylation is already present in in situ lesions and thus contributes to the initiation of LBC is not established. We thus examined microdissected archived tissue from 20 LBCs by methylation‐specific PCR to determine the CDH1 methylation status of lobular lesions. Nineteen of the 20 LBCs had a hypermethylated CDH1 promoter, including 13/14 ILCs and 13/13 ALHs or LCIS. Bisulphite sequencing indicated that methylation was complete within the investigated promoter fragment. Intriguingly, CDH1 methylation was likewise present in 8/8 adjacent non‐neoplastic epithelia, but not in 6/6 mammary epithelia from healthy subjects. E‐cadherin protein and mRNA were down‐regulated in in situ lesions relative to adjacent epithelia. Together, these results indicate that CDH1 promoter methylation occurs in LBC prior to E‐cadherin down‐regulation and neoplastic formation. We thus propose that epigenetic silencing represents the first of the two hits required to silence both CDH1 alleles for LBC to develop. Because promoter methylation is in principle reversible, our findings suggest that chemoprevention of LBC by epigenetic drugs should be feasible. Furthermore, the presence of CDH1 methylation in pre‐neoplastic epithelia suggests the existence of mammary regions with increased disease susceptibility, providing an explanation for the often multifocal presentation of LBC. Copyright © 2009 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.