Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysing the perceptions of UK building contractors on the contributors to the cost of construction plant theft

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the significance of the sources of cost of construction plant theft identified in previous studies and derive rates which can enhance proper estimation of the cost of plant theft to the construction industry. The direct and indirect costs of plant theft include replacement cost (new‐for‐old/depreciated), emergency cost, hire replacement cost, productivity loss, increased labour cost, loss of goodwill, administration cost, increased insurance premium and social cost.Design/methodology/approach – The cost‐contribution of these various sources was studied, using a structured questionnaire which was administered to building contractors in the UK construction industry, to measure their opinions of the frequency and severity of the contribution of the sources to the cost of construction plant theft. The questionnaires were administered to 220 companies and 51 of them were fully completed, representing 23.1 per cent of the original sample. The responses were ana.
Capacity Utilization under Increasing Returns to Scale

Abstract This paper overcomes an important objection against the empirical relevance of the Benhabib-Farmer model as a potential account of actual business cycle fluctuations. This is attributable to an elasticity effect and a returns-to-scale effect of capacity utilization. These effects are closely related to the empirical puzzles that capital appears to play an insignificant role in explaining cyclical movements in output and that the estimated labor elasticity appears to be larger than labor's share. Due to these effects, multiple equilibria and persistent fluctuations can easily occur in a growth model for externalities mild enough so that the aggregate-labor-demand curve is downward sloping. Analyses show that the propagation mechanism generated by capacity utilization under mild increasing returns is capable of explaining the periodic patterns of U.S. business cycles documented by Watson. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E32, E22, C52.
Preserving knowledge legacies: workforce aging, turnover and human resource issues in the US electric power industry

The aging of the workforce is believed to be a potential threat to productivity of companies both in the US and worldwide. High levels of turnover that may result from workforce aging could cause short-term as well as permanent loss of knowledge critical to firm operations and customer service. While there is a wealth of research regarding the causes of turnover, there is comparatively little research on the actual effects of turnover, particularly involuntary forms of turnover such as retirement. Focusing on the US electric power industry, whose employees have average ages and company tenures among the highest in the world, this paper explores the aging workforce issue both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results from an executive survey encompassing companies representing over 75 per cent of the industry's workers affirm that workforce aging is the electricity industry's dominant human resource (HR) concern but that it is interrelated with many other top HR issues, including skill shortages, leadership, and transition from an ‘entitlement-based’ to a ‘performance-based’ culture. Implications of prior literature on organizational learning, turnover and socio-technical systems theories are discussed, and propositions are offered as a framework for further research on the general effects of potential knowledge loss due to aging-related turnover.
Measuring ERP success: the ultimate users' view

Purpose – Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is now considered to be the price of entry for running a business. However, ERP systems are complex and expensive, and the decision to install an ERP system necessitates a choice of mechanisms for determining whether ERP is needed and, once implemented, whether it is successful. User satisfaction is one evaluation mechanism for determining system success. This study develops a reliable and valid instrument for measuring ERP ultimate‐user satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – Initial ERP system characteristics and the implementation context were investigated. Some previously validated instruments were selected for examination using rigorous interview techniques. A modified version was developed and pre‐tested. The instrument was then used to administer a test to 264 Taiwanese users that interact directly with an ERP system.Findings – The results suggest a ten‐item instrument to measure three components of ultimate‐user satisfaction in an ERP environment: ER.
Small-Target Detection in High-Resolution Heterogeneous Sea-Clutter: An Empirical Analysis

This paper presents the results of an extensive experimental parametric analysis of coherent radar detectors exploiting a new Ka-band high-resolution sea-clutter database. The statistical analysis of the submeter range resolution real data shows strong fluctuations of both the spectral shape and power between adjacent range cells. This highly heterogeneous dataset is therefore ideally suited to characterize the performance degradation to be expected in real conditions, relative to the homogeneous finite-sample-support case. The impact of spectral heterogeneity within the reference window of the detectors is quantified by resorting to simulated datafiles. The analysis focuses on both the experimental constant false alarm rate (CFAR) behavior and the synthetic Swerling I target probability of detection. Finally, a comparison with a practical detection scheme is included, allowing the trade-off between increased computational complexity and improvement in performance over conventional approaches to be assessed.
Unintended Consequences of Intimacy: Political Economies of Peacekeeping and Sex Tourism

This article assess whether peacekeeping economies are disposed to become sex tourism economies. It argues that, like sex tourism economies, peacekeeping economies are to a greater or lesser degree dependent on the exploitation of women's and girls’ sexual labour. The article examines some of the gendered roles and relations that are established or reinforced by peacekeeping economies, and whether these will likely continue beyond the life of the peacekeeping operation. It argues that the similarities between peacekeeping and sex tourism economies are indicative of a possible link between foreign military presence and sex tourism, but also that the UN's position as a political, humanitarian and development actor gives it a special responsibility to prevent this happening.
Examining the Value and Quality of Health Economic Analyses: Implications of Utilizing the QHES

OBJECTIVES: To examine the increasing use of health economic studies and practical implications of evaluating their quality utilizing the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) instrument. METHODS: We first reviewed secondary references to examine ways in which health economic analyses are used in different health care settings, the manner in which these data are appraised and evaluated, and their relevance and value in decision making. The QHES, a new instrument designed to support fast, accurate initial assessments of study quality, was then introduced and validated. A case study was performed using the QHES to score the quality of 30 cost-effectiveness studies in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) published since 1985. Areas where additional research could guide efforts to identify and enhance the use of higher-quality cost-effectiveness studies were suggested. RESULTS: Results from the published validation study of the QHES demonstrated the validity of this new instrument. The resulting QHES scores in the case study of GERD papers ranged from 43 to 91 with a mean of 63.6 (SD=14.7). Approximately 27% of the studies rated had scores less than 50, and 27% had scores above or equal to 75. All 30 studies made conclusions and recommendations and justified them based on their study results. Most studies used appropriate cost and health outcome measures. Very few studies stated the perspective of their analysis and reasons for its selection. The majority of the studies did not perform incremental analysis. CONCLUSIONS: An examination of the QHES validation study and the case study in GERD suggests that there is a rationale and potential utility to use a quality scoring system for cost-effectiveness studies. The QHES may play an important role in discriminating higher-quality cost-effectiveness information to enhance decision making. The QHES can also serve as a guideline for conducting and reporting future cost-effectiveness studies, as an aid in the editorial process, and for stratification in systematic reviews. Complex decisions regarding resource allocation rarely rely solely on economic considerations but do increasingly use health economic analyses. To the extent that such analyses are used, the QHES may help ensure that higher-quality analyses receive more analytic attention and greater weight in the decision-making process.
EXPLORING REGIONAL CONVERGENCE: EVIDENCE FROM 19 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, 1991-2008

We focus on regional convergence based upon a sample of 19 European countries (1991-2008). After covering theoretical issues on -convergence and -convergence, we focused on the income distribution details. Our evidence confirms some results presented elsewhere, such as the convergence process ephemeral nature, the trend towards polarization, the relative region's position high degree of persistence and the 'convergence clubs' hypothesis admissibility. Our main novelty is the estimated shape for the ergodic distribution, revealing a long run trend towards the formation of more clusters. In sum, the catching-up process underway in Europe seems to be transient.
Patterns and Implications of Lower Extremity Injuries in a Community Level I Trauma Center

This study examined specific types of lower extremity injuries, their treatment, and trends in length of stay (LOS) as seen in an academic community hospital. The authors’ trauma registry was queried for lower extremity injuries requiring surgical intervention from 1992 to 2000. A total of 5567 patients were identified. A total of 574 patients with 857 injuries met the criteria. The only significant difference in injury severity score among various injury types was found between traumatic amputations and open fractures (P = 0.006). However, there was no statistical difference between these 2 groups with regard to LOS. Patients requiring 1 or 2 procedures had a significantly shorter LOS than those requiring 3 procedures (P = 0.002 and P = 0.021 respectively). In this population of patients, it was not the manner of initial reconstruction, but the number of reconstructive procedures required that had an impact on LOS. LOS reduction might be possible when patients with lower injury severity scores can be treated in a more efficient manner.
The Role of Dividends in Valuation Models used by Analysts and Fund Managers

The value of a share is given by the dividend discount model as a simple function of future dividends; but the actual determination of the share price is rarely based upon the direct estimation of these future dividends. A ranking of the valuation models used by analysts and fund managers shows a preference for 'unsophisticated' valuation using, for example, the dividend yield rather than the dividend discount model. This finding is shown to depend upon the practical difficulty of using currently-available information to forecast future cash flows. This difficulty limits the quantitative basis of valuations to short forecast horizons, while the subjective, qualitative estimation of terminal value assumes great importance. Crucially, both analysts and fund managers use their own assessment of management quality to underpin the estimation of terminal value, on the basis that superior quality causes outperformance and that, whereas management quality can be assessed now, future performance itself is unobservable. Linked with this and with information asymmetry, valuation is a dynamic, company-specific process, focused on personal communication with management and embodying ongoing signalling and implicit contracting, using both dividends and other variables. This method of valuation causes formal valuation models such as the dividend yield to play only a limited role. They offer a benchmark of relative price differences, which serves as a basis from which to conduct subjective, company-specific analysis and to make investment decisions; but valuation models are not used exclusively, in themselves, to value shares.
Dental Caries Prevalence and Severity among Deaf and Hearing Impaired Male Students in Eastern Saudi Arabia

The risks of dental caries include poor oral hygiene, plaque accumulation, sugary diet, low income and education, in addition to other factors [2,3]. According to the World Health organization (WHO), in the year 2000, 68% of adults in 184 countries had less than 3 Decayed, Missed, and Filled teeth (DMFT) [4]. In Saudi Arabia, the prevalence of dental caries was 95% in the primary dentition with a mean DMFT of 7.34 [5,6] and around 91% in the permanent dentition with a mean DMF score of 7.35 [6,7]. Normal hearing is the ability to recognize, interoperate, and respond to the verbal, or noise stimuli by humans or animals capable of producing sounds. The term “hearing impairment” and “hearing loss” indicate that the audiometry is below the threshold for normal hearing, which is around 15dB. In cases of severe or complete loss of hearing, the term “deaf” is described. This disability can either be inherited, or acquired through time, or disease.
The Design Space for Robot Appearance and Behaviour for Social Robot Companions

To facilitate necessary task-based interactions and to avoid annoying or upsetting people a domestic robot will have to exhibit appropriate non-verbal social behaviour. Most current robots have the ability to sense and control for the distance of people and objects in their vicinity. An understanding of human robot proxemic and associated non-verbal social behaviour is crucial for humans to accept robots as domestic or servants. Therefore, this thesis addressed the following hypothesis: Attributes of robot appearance, behaviour, task context and situation will affect the distances that people will find comfortable between themselves and a robot. Initial exploratory Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) experiments replicated human-human studies into comfortable approach distances with a mechanoid robot in place of one of the human interactors. It was found that most human participants respected the robot's interpersonal space and there were systematic differences for participants' comfortable approach distances to robots with different voice styles. It was proposed that greater initial comfortable approach distances to the robot were due to perceived inconsistencies between the robots overall appearance and voice style. To investigate these issues further it was necessary to develop HRI experimental set-ups, a novel Video-based HRI (VHRI) trial methodology, trial data collection methods and analytical methodologies. An exploratory VHRI trial then investigated human perceptions and preferences for robot appearance and non-verbal social behaviour. The methodological approach highlighted the holistic and embodied nature of robot appearance and behaviour. Findings indicated that people tend to rate a particular behaviour less favourably when the behaviour is not consistent with the robot’s appearance. A live HRI experiment finally confirmed and extended from these previous findings that there were multiple factors which significantly affected participants preferences for robot to human approach distances. There was a significant general tendency for participants to prefer either a tall humanoid robot or a
PRODUCTIVITY IMPACT OF THE MODERN VARIETIES OF RICE IN INDIA

The present paper analyzed the long‐term yield growth and total factor productivity (TFP) growth by applying Tornqvist‐Theil index method for two periods, namely, 1970–85 (early Green Revolution) and 1986–2000 (late Green Revolution), for major rice‐growing states of India. The yield data shows an increasing long‐term growth trend throughout the Green Revolution period in irrigated states where modern variety (MV) adoption was nearly complete. However, yield advances started to slow down for intensive irrigated rice systems in the 1990s, whereas rainfed ecosystems have increased during the late Green Revolution period. The domestic spillovers of MV from irrigated to rainfed states is likely to be one of the contributing factors to increased TFP growth in ranifed areas after the 1980s. This implies that the MV of rice developed for irrigated ecosystems have also benefited substantially the rainfed‐dominant eastern Indian states in the long run where partial irrigation facilities such as shallow tube wells were created after the mid‐1980s.
Food security composite indices: implications for policy and practice

Food security is a major topic in academic and international debates. Numerous indicators have been proposed in order to establish which countries are in need of improved food security status, but the lack of consensus as to which indicator of food insecurity is the most appropriate has motivated scholars to propose composite indexes. Building composite indexes involves multiple choices. This Viewpoint warns how discretional choices of algorithms to compute composite indexes for food security may alter the findings. By commenting on the implications that different measurement choices may have in terms of global indexes, the Viewpoint raises provocative practical and political concerns.
A Note on "The Value Line Contest: A Test of the Predictability of Stock-Price Changes."

IN A recent article' in this Journal, Professor John Shelton presents a fascinating analysis of the results of the 1965-66 Value Line investment contest and its implications for the random walk hypothesis concerning stock market prices. He concludes that "the evidence from this study indicates that the stock market, during at least the six months of the contest, had enough elements of predictability that it is difficult to believe the price changes were generated randomly. "2 I wish to call attention to an inappropriate statistical test used in Shelton's paper, to consider a new null hypothesis which might explain the results of the Value Line contest and at the same time be consistent with the random walk hypothesis, and to present an illustration based on this hypothesis.
Suicide Rates in the Lundby Cohort before and after the Introduction of Tricyclic Antidepressant Drugs

The Lundby cohort consisting of 3563 subjects was investigated in 1947, 1957, 1972, and 1997. It represents a rural, but gradually urbanized Swedish sample without non-Nordic immigrants and offers an opportunity to study suicide rates before and after the introduction of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in Sweden in 1962. Since then, a fall in suicide rate among depressed individuals was observed, while there was an increase in the overall suicide rate. In fact, in 1977–1992 other psychiatric diagnoses, alcohol disorder included, were more often associated with suicide than depression. No psychiatric or alcohol disorder was registered in 7% of the suicides.
Methodological Issues in Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Rorschach Research

Hermann Rorschach researched the utility of his inkblot experiment to understand psychopathology and cultural differences. Contemporary research with the Rorschach has evaluated its utility as a test, although it may more properly represent a clinical method with somewhat different evaluation criteria. Recent controversy regarding the adequacy of the Rorschach as a test and the adequacy of its normative data has at times distorted and oversimplified important methodological issues inherent in the study of cultural difference. Cultural processes remain a central and inadequately examined variable in Rorschach research; an important emergent area of inquiry is the Rorschach's clinical utility as a cross-cultural assessment instrument. We review multicultural and cross-cultural methodological issues intrinsic to contemporary Rorschach research here. Consideration of cultural issues enlarges and enriches the Rorschach clinical utility debate and suggests underexplored research strategies that can contribute to its resolution.
Epstein‐Barr virus envelope glycoprotein gp350 induces NF‐κB activation and IL‐1β synthesis in human monocytes‐macrophages involving PKC and PI3‐K

Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) is a highly immunotropic human herpesvirus with oncogenic potential and is involved in numerous pathologies. EBV utilizes its major envelope glycoprotein gp350 to bind to its receptor CR2/CD21 on target cells for initiating the infection. We have previously shown that EBV is able to modulate transcription and translation of a number of cytokine genes via its gp350‐mediated binding to this receptor. However, the effects of the binding of purified gp350 to CR2/CD21 on plastic‐adherent monocyte‐macro‐phages (AMM) have not been investigated. These cells are a rich source of potent proinflammatory and immune‐modulating cytokines, and express low levels of CR2/CD21. We show here for the first time that recombinant gp350 (rgp350) causes production of the potent proinflammatory cytokine IL‐1 β in human AMM. Surprisingly, rgp350 is comparable in this capacity to the phorbol ester 12–0‐tetradecanoylphorbol 13‐acetate. This induction of IL‐1 β production was accompanied by increased steady‐state levels of its mRNA in gp350‐treated AMM, and was dependent on the specific binding of rgp350 to the EBV receptor CR2/CD21. We also show that the signaling pathways resulting in the induction of IL‐1 β synthesis by rgp350 required protein kinase C and phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5 triphosphate kinase activities and occurred via activation of the NF‐κB family of transcription factors. —D’Addario, M. , Ahmad, A. , Xu, J. W. , Menezes, J. Epstein‐Barr virus envelope glycoprotein gp350 induces NF‐κB activation and IL‐1 β synthesis in human monocytes‐macrophages involving PKC and PI3‐K. FASEB J. 13, 2203–2213 (1999)
IF impedance and mixer gain of NbN hot electron bolometers

The intermediate frequency (IF) characteristics, the frequency dependent IF impedance, and the mixer conversion gain of a small area hot electron bolometer (HEB) have been measured and modeled. The device used is a twin slot antenna coupled NbN HEB mixer with a bridge area of 1×0.15? m2, and a critical temperature of 8.3? K. In the experiment the local oscillator frequency was 1.300? THz, and the (IF) 0.05–10? GHz. We find that the measured data can be described in a self-consistent manner with a thin film model presented by Nebosis et al. [Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Space Terahertz Technology, Charlottesville, VA, 1996 (unpublished), pp. 601–613] , that is based on the two temperature electron-phonon heat balance equations of Perrin-Vanneste [J. Phys. (Paris) 48, 1311 (1987)] . From these results the thermal time constant, governing the gain bandwidth of HEB mixers, is observed to be a function of the electron-phonon scattering time, phonon escape time, and the electron temperature. From the developed theory the maximum predicted gain bandwidth for a NbN HEB is found to be 5.5–6? GHz. In contrast, the gain bandwidth of the device under discussion was measured to be ? 2.3? GHz which, consistent with the outlined theory, is attributed to a somewhat low critical temperature and nonoptimal film thickness (6? nm).