Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk of sexually transmitted disease among black adolescent crack users in Oakland and San Francisco, Calif.

Crack cocaine is a smokable form of cocaine hydrochloride that has been associated with increases in admissions to drug treatment programs, and, recently, increases in the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among black teenagers. In an exploratory, cross-sectional study of the prevalence of risk behaviors that would promote the dissemination of STDs (including human immunodeficiency virus) among 222 black teenaged crack users, 41% of those interviewed reported a history of an STD. A history of an STD was more likely to be reported by girls (55%) than by boys (34%) and by those who combined crack use with sexual relations (51%) than those who did not (32%). The number of risk behaviors for STDs or human immunodeficiency virus reported by respondents (including failure to use a condom in one's most recent sexual encounter, having had a history of an STD, engaging in exchanges of sex for drugs or money, combining sexual activity with drug use, and reporting five or more sexual partners per year) was evaluated using multiple regression analysis stratified by gender. For girls, a history of selling crack and the number of reported risk behaviors (R = .46); for boys who chose the description "I don't know ahead of time if I'm going to have sex--it just happens" and the number of drugs used on a daily basis were associated with the number of reported risk behaviors (R = .31). Because of the impetuous nature of some crack-related sexual activity and because 76% of respondents acknowledged that they were either "very worried" or "somewhat worried" that they might get acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, it is possible that a program of widespread distribution of condoms in neighborhoods where crack use is prevalent might make it possible for the worried, impulsive crack user to practice "safer sex. "
Forecast improvements using a volatility index

This paper explores the possibility of improved out of sample forecasting for stock returns and foreign exchange rates using observed nonlinearities in the two series. Forecasting is done using nonparametric techniques where important information is obtained from the current level of volatility in the series. For both series forecast improvements are observed, but for stock returns the improvements are only marginal. These results indicate the usefulness and stability of some types of nonlinear modelling for financial markets. Copyright 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Internal audit effectiveness: an Ethiopian public sector case study

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to identify factors impacting the effectiveness of internal audit services.Design/methodology/approachBased upon a case study of a large public sector higher educational institution in Ethiopia, the paper examines how internal audit quality, management support, organizational setting, auditee attributes, and the interplay among these factors, influence internal audit effectiveness.FindingsThe findings of the study highlight that internal audit effectiveness is strongly influenced by internal audit quality and management support, whereas organizational setting and auditee attributes do not have a strong impact on audit effectiveness.Research limitation/implicationsAs in all case studies, the generalisability of the conclusions is limited.Originality/valueInternal audit services have apparently hitherto been the subject of limited examination. However, this study, in arguably the most thorough treatment so far, highlights the areas requiring improvement.
MACROECONOMICS OF ECONOMIC TRANSITION - DETERMINANTS OF THE PATTERN OF DEVELOPMENT

Our objective is to try to understand the rationale for and the effectiveness of different economic policies in a transition. We provide consistent, comprehensive analysis covering the interlinked questions of: i) how to achieve sustained, balanced/diversified economic growth; the main constraints are: government failure, human capital limitation, and corruption; ii) "what break-ups do to countries"; breakup countries experience deeper and shorter economic crisis, growing afterwards faster; iii) is there a prospect for economic convergence in the "club" of the 28 former centrally planned economies; we explore for a first time the issue-they are expected to reach half the distance to their non-growth steady state in around 50 years; iv) what is the quality of governance relationship with the resource "curse" or "blessing"; negative effect would obtain only in countries with poor institutional structures; v) what insights to the Dutch disease transmission mechanism can be provided by the Salter-Swan model; vi) is the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis valid; we confirm its validity; and, vii) what are the most important sovereign yield spreads determinants, and propose the impact from financial market volatility; and, our empirical approach takes account of recent advances in econometric analysis of time series-fractional cointegration.
Scalp topography of the auditory evoked K‐complex in stage 2 and slow wave sleep

During NREM sleep a very large amplitude wave‐form, known as the K‐complex, may be elicited upon presentation of an external stimulus. The present study compared the scalp distribution of a prominent negative wave peaking at about 550 ms and a later positive wave peaking between 900 and 1300 ms in stage 2 and slow wave sleep (SWS). Nine subjects spent a single night in the laboratory. They were presented with an 80 dB SPL 2000 Hz auditory tone pip every 15 s. The EEG was recorded from 29 electrode sites and referenced to the nose. A K‐complex was elicited on 34% of trials in stage 2 and on 46% of trials in SWS. A negative wave peaking at 330 ms was larger on trials in which the K‐complex was elicited than on trials in which it was not. The large amplitude N550 was readily observable on trials in which the K‐complex was elicited but could not be observed on trials in which it was not. The N550 was bilaterally symmetrical and was maximum over fronto–central areas of the scalp in both stage 2 and SWS. It inverted in polarity at the mastoid and inferior parietal regions. The scalp distribution of N550 significantly differed between stage 2 and SWS. It showed a sharper decline in amplitude over parietal and posterior–inferior areas of the scalp in stage 2 compared to SWS. A later P900 was maximum over centro–frontal areas of the scalp and was also bilaterally symmetrical. It showed a significantly sharper decline in amplitude over widespread inferior areas during SWS. Because the scalp maps of the N550 and P900 are different in stage 2 and SWS, their intracranial sources must also be different.
Biomechanics of reaching: clinical implications for individuals with acquired brain injury

Purpose : Outline the biomechanics of reaching both in healthy individuals and in individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI), and to discuss the clinical implications for using valid biomechanical models to assess reaching. Methods : A review of current literature, including a MEDLINE search using keywords of reaching, ABI, stroke, biomechanics and motor control. Results : Current assessments of the upper extremity in ABI are focused on single-joint characteristics of range of motion, strength and spasticity. However, reaching is a functional multijoint task requiring interjoint coordination in addition to feedback and feedforward control to position the hand optimally at a desired location so that it may interact with the environment. From the literature, biomechanical measures of reaching such as movement time, movement distance and interjoint coordination have been shown to discriminate changes to hand path quality following brain injury. These measures have also been shown to correlate with measures of sensorimotor function (e.g. Fugl-Meyer) in the upper extremity. Conclusions : Further development of reliable and valid multi-joint biomechanical evaluations is required, particularly for natural and goal-oriented reaching movements. The biomechanical assessment of reaching in ABI can provide an understanding of the specific deficits in physiological structures or motor planning underlying altered reaching ability, assist in the evaluation of new therapies, and characterize the recovery process following ABI.
The origins of business groups in China: An empirical testing of the three paths and the three theories

The available empirical literature tends to focus on the performance comparison between business groups (BGs) and non-business groups, and there is no study that quantitatively verifies the origins of the business groups, particularly in China. This paper uses the survey data of SOEs (state-owned enterprises) in China to verify the three paths toward business groups, such as M&As (merger and acquisitions), spin-offs and joint ventures. This study discusses three alternative theories to explain the emergence of the business groups in China. These are the market-based view, the state-activism view and the resource-based view. This paper found that the greater autonomy given after changing into a shareholding corporation is one of the most consistent and significant factors leading to the business group, regardless of the paths. First, this implies that SOEs have gone from traditional SOEs, to shareholding corporations, and then finally to business groups. Second, it finds that there are certain differences among the three paths toward the business group. The degree of market competition and control by the city-level government are the significant variables in the path via M&A, toward the business group. This is consistent with the state activism view. The significant variables for the spin-off path are the low leverages and the connection with the state. This is consistent with the resource-based view. The JV (joint venture) path seems to be consistent with the market-based and resource-based view, with the significant variables of private/foreign owner-controller, high investment activity, low leverage and size.
Court Intervention as a Governance Mechanism over CEO Pay: Evidence from the Citigroup Derivative Lawsuit

Abstract We use an unanticipated court ruling in a lawsuit against Citigroup claiming corporate waste related to CEO pay to analyse court intervention as an alternative governance mechanism in cases of excess pay. We find a negative relation between announcement returns and excess pay, consistent with shareholders of these firms perceiving court intervention as net costly. However, we find a positive relation between announcement returns and excess pay accompanied by poor performance, suggesting that intervention is welcome when pay is more egregious. Finally, we find that firms with excess pay and whose shareholders welcome intervention reduce future pay relative to other firms, suggesting that the threat of court intervention is a potential mechanism to control excess pay.
Alcohol intoxication, injuries, and dangerous behaviors--and the revolving emergency department door.

Suicides, homicides, motor vehicle crashes, and other violent deaths and injuries are linked inextricably to alcoholism. The association of injury and alcoholism should be particularly obvious to Emergency Department (ED) physicians. We sought to determine the extent to which intoxicated patients in an ED were properly diagnosed, counselled, and referred for substance abuse care. We reviewed the charts of 153 consecutive patients seen in a teaching hospital ED who had blood alcohol levels above 100 mg%. Most were male (70%), white (62%), young (mean age, 34 years) and severely intoxicated (mean BAL, 245; range, 109-558 mg%). Forty-six per cent of visits were for trauma; half of the patients were victims of violent assaults. The intoxicated patients received extensive medical and surgical management: an average of five tests or X-rays were performed per patient; 75% received at least one medication; at discharge 48% were referred for followup to medical or surgical clinics. In contrast, few patients were evaluated for dangerous behaviors or referred for treatment of alcoholism: only 19 patients (12.5%) were asked about depression, suicide, or homicide; 15% were advised to stop drinking; 13% received a referral to a psychiatrist, mental health worker, or alcohol rehabilitation facility. Forty-seven per cent of patients received "stat" intravenous thiamine (although the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is rare). In contrast, only 16% received a stat on-site psychiatric consultation (although dangerous behaviors are common in alcoholics). There was a strong, statistically significant negative association between the occurrence of an injury and the decision to initiate treatment and referrals for alcoholism. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Fertility Model and Female Labour Force Participation in Selected ASEAN Countries

This paper tends to investigate the ambiguous relationship between fertility and women’s labour force participation in the case of Malaysia and other selected Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.Using a panel of observations for the period 1995 to 2009, this study examines the correlation and panel causality effect between fertility rate, female labour force participation, and other fertility factors.The panel analysis was done on the six selected ASEAN countries (ASEAN-6), as well as for each of the individual country. This study found that there is mixed correlation between the regression variables in ASEAN countries but none of them have a strong correlation.The results on causality tests show that primary education, health expenditure, life expectancy at birth, labour participation rate, and self-employed - female do not granger-cause fertility rate in all six ASEAN countries.However there is a unidirectional causality which runs from fertility rate to education primary, life expectancy at birth and labour participation rate.
Scenario-based, closed-loop model predictive control with application to emergency vehicle scheduling

Model predictive control has been a major success story in process control. More recently, the methodology has been used in other contexts, including automotive engine control, power electronics and telecommunications. Most applications focus on set-point tracking and use single-sequence optimisation. Here we consider an alternative class of problems motivated by the scheduling of emergency vehicles. Here disturbances are the dominant feature. We develop a novel closed-loop model predictive control strategy aimed at this class of problems. We motivate, and illustrate, the ideas via the problem of fluid deployment of ambulance resources.
Profit persistence in Brazil: a panel data study

O artigo investiga a persistencia dos lucros para firmas industriais no Brasil durante os periodos 1986-98 e 1994-1/1999-3. Uma formulacao teorica simples justifica uma formulacao auto-regressiva para lucros anormais. Uma forma forte de persistencia pode entao ser relacionada com a presenca de uma raiz unitaria. Testes de raiz unitaria para painel permitem a consideracao de periodos de tempo curtos. Os resultados assim obtidos para duas medidas diferentes de lucros anormais em geral favorecem a presenca de uma raiz unitaria. Portanto, apesar de um ambiente aparentemente mais competitivo na economia brasileira, pode-se observar lucros extremamente persistentes.
Effect of Liuweibuqi capsules on the balance between MMP-9 and TIMP1 and viability of alveolar macrophages in COPD

The present study aims to investigate the effect of Liuweibuqi (LWBQ) capsules on the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and TIMP1 and cell viability of alveolar macrophages (AMs) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Rats were randomly divided into normal control (NC) group, model control (MC) group, Jinshuibao (JSB) group, spleen aminopeptidase (PAT) group, and low dose of LWBQ (LWBQ low), mid dose of LWBQ (LWBQ mid), and high dose of LWBQ (LWBQ high) group (n=10). Lung function was measured with a spirometer. Serum cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected using ELISA. The expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP1 were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to measure cell viability and apoptosis. Compared with the NC group, body weight and lung function were reduced in the MC group. In addition, the serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were higher in the MC group than those in the NC group. The expression of MMP-9 protein in the AMs from rats was higher, and TIMP1 protein was lower in the MC group compared with the NC group. After LWBQ capsules treatment, compared with the MC group, the expression of inflammatory cytokines and MMP-9 were lower and TIMP1 was higher. Moreover, after LWBQ-medicated serum treatment, the release of inflammatory cytokines was reduced from AMs. Besides, LWBQ-medicated serum decreased the expression of MMP-9 and increased the expression of TIMP1 and cell viability compared with those in MC group. In conclusion, LWBQ capsules can inhibit the release of inflammatory cytokines, promote cell viability in AMs, and regulate the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP1.
Role for PADI6 in securing the mRNA-MSY2 complex to the oocyte cytoplasmic lattices

ABSTRACT The oocyte cytoplasmic lattices (CPLs) have long been predicted to function as a storage form for the maternal contribution of ribosomes to the early embryo. Our previous studies have demonstrated that ribosomal component S6 is stored in the oocyte CPLs and peptidylarginine deiminase 6 (PADI6) is critical for CPLs formation. Additionally, we found that depletion of PADI6 reduced de novo protein synthesis prior to the maternal-to-embryonic transition, therefore causing embryos to arrest at the 2-cell stage. Here, we present evidence further supporting the association of ribosomes with the CPLs by demonstrating that rRNAs are dramatically decreased in Padi6 KO oocytes. We also show that the abundance and localization of mRNAs is affected upon PADI6 depletion, suggesting that mRNAs are very possibly associated with CPLs. Consistent with this observation, the amount of the major RNA binding protein, MSY2, that is associated with the insoluble fraction of the oocytes after Triton X-100 extraction is also markedly decreased in the Padi6 KO oocytes. Furthermore, treatment of the oocytes with RNase A followed by Triton X-100 extraction severely impairs the localization of PADI6 and MSY2 in oocytes. These results indicate that mRNAs, possibly in a complex with MSY2 and PADI6, are bound in the CPLs and may play a role in securing the mRNA-MSY2 complex to the CPLs.
Wagner's Law, Relative Prices and the Size of the Public Sector

This paper examines the effects on the size of the government sector of changes in per capita income, population and relative output prices, using a recently revised internationally comparable data set for 117 countries. The main hypotheses considered are (1) does Wagner's 'law' hold? ( b) does government output respond to price changes? (c) does government produce mainly 'pure' private or public goods? Cross-section and time-series evidence suggests (i) almost no support for Wagner's 'law'; (ii) relative prices are important for government output; and (iii) the hypothesis that governments produce pure private goods is generally accepted. These results differ from most previous studies which have ignored relative price effects and constrained income and population elasticities. Copyright 1990 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Rethinking the Lintnerian Linear Valuation Model

This paper develops and tests a new valuation model. Callen and Morel (2000) apply the Lintner (1956) dividend model to the famous Ohlson (1995) valuation model and develop the Lintnerian linear accounting valuation model (henceforth, the CM model). However, Bauer and Bhattacharyya (2007) suggest that the Lintner dividend model does not fit firm dividend policy behaviour appropriately and decide to construct another dividend policy process. This study applies their dividend model to construct a new valuation model, which performs better than the original Ohlson and CM models empirically. Applying the Engle and Granger (1987) cointegration concepts, we examine the performance of the three models for the 1,564 firm-year panel data of US companies from 1973 to 2006. Our findings indicate that all tested variables are stationary after the first order difference process and that all three models exhibit long-run equilibrium relations among equity price and explanatory variables. However, our model has the highest cointegration ratio, which is almost 100 percent of sample firms. Hence, our model is more suitable to evaluate the equity value and provides improvement for the previous accounting valuation models.
The Hemispheric Lateralization for Processing Geometric Word/Shape Combinations: The Stroop-Shape Effect

ABSTRACT The authors conducted 4 experiments to test whether hemispheric lateralization occurs for the processing of geometric word–shape combinations. In 3 experiments, participants responded to geometric shapes combined with geometric words (square, circle, triangle). In the 4th experiment, stimuli were combinations of geometric shapes and nongeometric words. The authors predicted that it would take longer to respond in incongruent conditions (e.g., the word “square” combined with the shape of a circle) than in congruent conditions. The authors found the strongest incongruency effects for the dominant hemisphere—that is, the left hemisphere for responding to words and the right hemisphere for responding to shapes. A Shape Interfering Properties hypothesis (SIP) is a possible explanation for these results.
FORECASTING RECESSION IN SOUTH AFRICA: A COMPARISON OF THE YIELD CURVE AND OTHER ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The paper uses the standard probit model proposed by Estrella and Mishkin (1996) , as well as the modified probit model suggested by Dueker (1997) , to examine the ability of the yield curve to predict recessions in South Africa, and compares its predictive power with other commonly used variables such as the growth rate of real money supply, changes in stock prices and the index of leading economic indicators. Compared with other indicators, real M3 growth does not provide much information about future recessions, whilst movements in the All-Share index provide information for up to 12 months but do not do better than the yield curve. The index of leading economic indicators outperforms the yield spread in the short run up to 4 months but the yield spread performs better at longer horizons. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) Economic Society of South Africa 2007.
Bullwhip effect and inventory oscillations analysis using the beer game model

This work examines the bullwhip effect generated and suffered by each level of a four-stage beer game supply chain when different demand scenarios are considered. The paper shows that the actors who generate lower bullwhip are those who suffer more from its effects. Moreover, a new definition of an inventory oscillations measure based on bullwhip definition is introduced. Finally the paper verifies that the new measure of inventory oscillations provides more information on supply chain performance than the bullwhip measure.
The moral legitimacy of entrepreneurs: An analysis of early-stage entrepreneurship across 26 countries

This article develops our socio-cultural understanding of entrepreneurship by examining the influence of the moral legitimacy of entrepreneurs upon an individual’s engagement in early-stage entrepreneurship. A multilevel analysis conducted across 26 countries demonstrates that the higher the perceived degree of moral legitimacy, the more likely an individual is to consider starting a business, to begin preparing a business and to progress to actually found and run the business. We conclude that moral norms in society are an important influence upon early-stage entrepreneurship; thus, it is critical to legitimize the position of entrepreneurs as moral and beneficial for society as a whole.