Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What every worker wants? Evidence about employee demand for learning

In order to boost learning, recent UK governments have invested in trade union-led workplace learning. Investing in the supply of learning is useful but ignores the demand for learning by workers, about which there is little research. This paper addresses this lacunae by analysing worker demand for learning, which workers want learning, what learning is demanded and why, and what factors might best lever learning. Data come from two surveys of potential learners and union learning representatives. Findings reveal a large demand for learning and that unions can lever this learning. Findings also suggest further policy development to address problems associated with union-led learning.
Dimensions of Attention Impairment and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A Multidimensional Approach Using the Conners Continuous Performance Test in a Spanish Population

Objectives:The aim of this study was to assess the specific features of attention impairment in patients with schizophrenia and the correlation between those features and the patients' clinical status. Methods:We administered the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II), with cognitive and clinical scales, to 40 Spanish inpatients with schizophrenia and 40 healthy controls, and used a cross-sectional design to compare the groups' performances. We identified correlations between the measures and used multiple regression analyses to develop models showing how attention impairment contributed to clinical status. Results:The patients with schizophrenia showed significantly poorer performance than controls in 5 CPT-II measures that were related to focused attention. We also found that CPT-II measures primarily linked to focused attention had a significant association with negative symptoms. These CPT-II measures predicted 37% of the variability in negative symptoms in the regression model. We observed a more modest relationship among CPT-II measures of disorganized thought symptoms, global functioning, and general cognitive performance. Conclusions:Attention impairment in schizophrenia primarily involves difficulty in focusing attention, mainly related to negative symptoms. By contrast, sustained attention and vigilance seem to be affected only as a secondary consequence of the impairment to focusing attention.
Impact of endovascular treatment of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis on endothelial function and arterial blood pressure.

AIM Renovascular disease may cause arterial hypertension and decreases renal function, which both impair endothelial function. Endothelial function, a surrogate marker for cardiovascular risk, can be assessed non-invasively by ultrasound. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of percutaneous transluminal renal artery angioplasty (PTRA) with stenting on endothelial function and arterial blood pressure in patients with renal artery stenosis (RAS). METHODS Flow mediated dilatation of the brachial artery, flow velocities and shear stress were measured with high resolution ultrasound in 24 hypertensive patients with renal artery stenosis prior and one day after revascularization by PTRA with stenting. Endothelial-independent brachial dilatation was measured after application of nitroglycerin. RESULTS Endothelial-dependent dilatation improved from 2.4±0.9% to 6.1±1.4% (P=0.03), whereas endothelial-independent dilatation did not change after PTRA. Endothelial-dependent reactive hyperemic blood flow increased from 195±40 mL/min to 536±94 mL/min (P=0.0008), whereas endothelial-independent hyperemia did not increase after revascularization. After PTRA, shear stress at rest decreased from 37±11 to 23±3 dyne/cm² (P<0.0001), and reactive hyperemic shear stress increased from 89±29 to 107±12 dyne/cm² (P=0.014). The impact of PTRA on arterial blood pressure resulted in a mean decrease of 21±5 mmHg in systolic pressure (P<0.0001), of 9±2 mmHg in diastolic pressure (P=0.03), and of 14±5 mmHg in peripheral pulse pressure (P=0.0003), respectively. CONCLUSION Endovascular treatment of renovascular disease improves endothelial function and decreases in resting shear stress.
A comparison of the costs of and quality of life after coronary angioplasty or coronary surgery for multivessel coronary artery disease. Results from the Emory Angioplasty Versus Surgery Trial (EAST).

BACKGROUND The Emory Angioplasty Versus Surgery Trial (EAST) is a randomized trial that compares, by intention to treat, the clinical outcome and costs of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and coronary surgery for multivessel coronary artery disease. METHODS AND RESULTS The primary end point was a composite of death, Q-wave myocardial infarction, and a large reversible thallium defect at 3 years. Multiple measures of quality of life also were made. Charges were assessed from the hospital UB-82 bills; professional charges were assessed from the Emory Clinic. Hospital charges were reduced to cost through step-down accounting methods. All costs and charges were deflated to 1987 dollars. Costs were assessed for the initial hospitalization and the cumulative costs of the initial hospitalization and additional revascularization procedures for up to 3 years. There was no difference in mortality or the primary end point. Mean initial hospital charges were $12,654 for the PTCA group and $20,214 for the surgery group (P < .0001). Professional charges were 4538 for PTCA and $9426 for surgery (P < .0001). Three-year hospital charges were $19,047 for PTCA and $21,174 for coronary surgery (P < .0001). Three-year professional charges were $6412 for PTCA and $9861 for surgery (P < .0001). Three-year total charges were $25,458 for PTCA and $31,033 for surgery (P < .0001). Total 3-year costs were $23,734 for PTCA and $25,310 for coronary surgery (P < .0001). There were more hospitalizations for angina and more antianginal medications used in the PTCA group, which would further narrow the differences in cost. CONCLUSIONS There was no difference in the primary end point or its components at 3 years. Although the primary procedural costs of coronary surgery are more than for coronary angioplasty, this cost advantage is largely, although probably not completely, lost by 3 years because of more frequent additional procedures and other resource consumption after a first revascularization by PTCA.
Immunophenotypic Characterization and Quantification of the Epithelial Inflammatory Infiltrate in Eosinophilic Esophagitis Through Stereology: An Analysis of the Cellular Mechanisms of the Disease and the Immunologic Capacity of the Esophagus

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is an emerging disease caused by dense infiltration of the esophageal epithelium by eosinophilic leucocytes. It is originated from local hypersensitivity to food or airborne allergens. Although the physiopathologic mechanisms of the illness have not been fully discovered, EE is a loss of immunologic tolerance by the esophagus, meaning that it should be considered as an active immunologic organ. In our study, we investigated the immunologic capacity of the epithelium using immunohistochemistry and stereology, to determine the cellular density of eosinophils, T and B lymphocytes, Langerhans cells, mast cells, and cells manufacturing immunoglobulin E in endoscopic biopsies of patients with EE (taken before and after topical treatment with fluticasone propionate) compared with normal individuals and patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We have observed that the density of eosinophils in EE is 300 times greater than in normal conditions and it is only in this disease where eosinophils show signs of activation and degranulation (positivity to major basic protein immunostaining). The number of T intraepithelial lymphocytes also significantly rose in EE, compared with other entities, where CD8+ cells were predominant. However, the human esophagus is deficient in B lymphocytes and we only found intraepithelial plasma cells that excreted immunoglobulin E in EE. Under normal conditions mast cells exist in the thickness of the epithelium that are slightly higher in GERD and multiply in density by 17 in EE. Langerhans cells did not show any significant variation in density under the different tested conditions. After topical treatment with steroids, the density of the different cell components fell to similar levels to GERD. Using our study, we can conclude that the human esophagus may contribute to the development of local immunologic responses as it contains all the necessary cell components. EE represents growth of this esophageal capacity and its pathogeny could respond to mixed cellular and humoral mechanisms.
Controversial Issues in Marxist Economic Theory

This article surveys critically the theoretical debates that have occupied Marxist economists in Britain during recent years. In order to understand the debates it is necessary to clarify two things: how Marx saw the structure of the capitalist economy, and what is the structure of Marx's Capital. These will give us a benchmark for evaluating the contributions of the new Marxist economists.
Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Comparative Perspective.

Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) are institutions for inducing firms to produce environmental goods beyond legal requirements. A comparative perspective on VEPs shows how incentives to sponsor and participate in VEPs vary across countries in ways that reveal their potential and limitations. Our brief survey examines conditions under which VEPs emerge, attract participants, and improve participants' environmental performance. We focus on the costs and bene-fits for actors seeking to supply (or sponsor) these governance mechanisms as well as the costs and benefits for firms who are considering joining VEPs and adhering to their program obligations. © 2011 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
An exploratory assessment of the purposes of performance appraisals in north and central america and the pacific rim

While performance appraisals are considered important management tools in many countries, their purposes and practices vary significantly between countries. Unfortunately, there is little empirical data on the specific practices of appraisals across countries. The focus of this study is to empirically examine the current purposes of performance appraisals in ten different countries and regions in Asia, North America, and Latin America. The purposes of appraisals studied here include documentation, development, administrative (pay and promotions), and subordinate expression. This paper also examines how the respondents believe the purposes of appraisals should ideally be practiced. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The (Im)Possibility of Distinguishing Horizontal and Vertical Motivations for FDI

Skill differences between parent and host countries are considered a key variable for distinguishing horizontal and vertical motivations within aggregate foreign direct investment (FDI). This paper tests the robustness of the skill difference term in the knowledge-capital model for FDI in a sample of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The evidence in this paper indicates that skill differences per se do not properly explain FDI: the skill level of the host country is also important. This paper argues that both horizontal and vertical FDI may increase in the skill level of the host. It follows that the distinction between vertical and horizontal motivations for FDI with respect to skills is less straightforward than generally assumed in the literature.
Does Accounting Choice Influence Us Investment in Non-Us Companies? Evidence from Us Institutional Investment in Australian Companies

Previous research asserts that companies that choose accounting methods more familiar to investors reduce information asymmetry and increase credibility of their financial statements to those investors, thereby attracting higher levels of foreign investment. This study examines the variation in accounting policies associated with institutional investment in Australian equity. The results suggest that large US institutional holdings in Australian companies are associated with American Depositary Receipt listing and, incrementally, choice of accounting methods that conform to US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Although making accounting choices in compliance with US GAAP is significantly associated with higher levels of institutional ownership in a statistical sense, examination of the specific differences in accounting choices suggests that the differences in informational content are relatively minor.
Peer Group Training of Pragmatic Skills in Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injury

Objective:To empirically evaluate a method of treating adolescents with cognitive communication disorders, including pragmatic deficits, secondary to acquired brain injury (ABO in a group setting by objectively measuring outcomes before treatment and immediately after treatment and at 6 months posttreatment. Design:A before-after trial with follow-up in a consecutive sample, with no control group. Setting: Inpatlent and outpatient pcdiatric rehabilitation center. Subjects:Adolescents who demonstrated pragmatic deficits and scored a rating of 3 or less on each subdomain of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Rating Scale of Pragmatic Communication Skills (R1CE-RSPCS) were eligible for the study. Eight subjects were recruited into the study, and two subjects were lost to follow-up. Thus, six of the eight completed the study. Main Outcome Measures:RICE-RSPCS, Communication Performance Scale (CPS). Results: Clinically relevant and statistically significant (P<.01) changes occurred during the treatment and were maintained at follow-up for the four RICE-RSPCS subscales and the CPS. Conclusion:These results suggest that the potential and often typical long-term pragmatic and subsequent social difficulties associated with ABI can possibly be lessened through effective intervention.
A cost-minimization approach to the international transfer of HRM/IR practices: Anglo-Saxon multinationals in the Federal Republic of Germany

The existence of host-country and country-of-origin effects is analysed by using the concept of fiscal federalism as a theoretical analogy. It is argued that multinationals try to minimize the costs of centralization and decentralization associated with cross-national personnel policy. The higher the costs of decentralization, the more likely is the existence of country-of-origin effects. The opposite holds true for increasing costs of centralization. This is tested empirically by comparing the human resource management and industrial relations (HRM/IR) practices of US and British subsidiaries operating in Germany with those of native German firms. Based on 297 valid cases, it is shown that the existence of decentralization costs is associated with country-of-origin effects in various areas of personnel management, such as the use of variable compensation, employee ownership and initial vocational training. In contrast, in the field of industrial relations (co-determination, compliance with collective bargaining), there are strong pressures to adapt to local norms, leading to host-country effects. These results indicate that a rationalistic cost-minimization approach is well suited to explaining the patterns of host- and home-country effects in regard to the HRM/IR practices of multinational enterprises.
Integer-valued moving average modelling of the number of transactions in stocks

The Integer-valued Moving Average Model (INMA) is advanced to model the number of transactions in intra-day data of stocks. The conditional mean and variance properties are discussed and model extensions to include explanatory variables are offered. Least squares and generalized method of moment estimators are presented. In a small Monte Carlo study a feasible least squares estimator comes out as the best choice. Empirically we find support for the use of long-lag moving average models in a Swedish stock series. There is evidence of asymmetric effects of news about prices on the number of transactions.
Work While in High School in Canada: Its Labour Market and Educational Attainment Effects

Based on Statistics Canada's 1991 School Leavers Survey and its 1995 Follow-up, the objective of this paper is to assess the impact of working while in high school both on the probability of graduating from high school and on future wages. The results for both men and women show a strong negative effect of working while in school on the probability of graduation, although the results for females are more sensitive to the specifications used. There is very little evidence that working while in school has a positive effect on the wage at the time of the 1995 interview.
The nonobese diabetic scid mouse: model for spontaneous thymomagenesis associated with immunodeficiency.

Homozygosity for the severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mutation results in a block in T- and B-lymphocyte development. An unusually high incidence of spontaneous thymic lymphoma development was observed after transfer of this mutation from the C.B-17 congenic strain background onto the diabetes-susceptible nonobese diabetic (NOD) background. Thymomagenesis in the NOD-scid/scid mouse was associated with expression of an NOD mouse-unique endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia provirus locus (Emv-30, mapped to proximal region of chromosome 11) not expressed in the standard substrain NOD/Lt thymus. All tumors exhibited insertions of ecotropic proviruses, whereas only a subset also exhibited proviral integrations of mink cell focus-forming retrovirus. Neither class of retrovirus was associated with consistent integration into genes previously associated with activation of oncogenesis. We propose that the unusual features of T-cell ontogeny characteristic of the NOD inbred strain synergize with the scid-imparted block in thymocyte development, leading to activation of the NOD-unique Emv-30 to initiate thymomagenesis.
Detecting long‐run relationships in regional house prices in the UK

Recent developments in the analysis of cointegration in the presence of asymmetric adjustment are extended and applied to data on regional house prices in the UK. This extension is found to have a dramatic impact upon the results derived. In contrast to recent studies employing standard methods, allowance for the possibility of asymmetric behaviour results in the detection of a large number of long‐run relationships between house prices in different regions. A consistent pattern of asymmetric adjustment is observed, with reversion to equilibrium occurring more rapidly (slowly) when house prices in the South of England decrease (increase) relative to other regions. While the results derived support the existence of a ripple effect underlying the observed movements in regional house prices, the extent of cointegration uncovered casts doubt upon the recently proposed notion of weak segmentation in the UK housing market.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Early Reading Programs: A Demonstration With Recommendations for Future Research

Abstract We review the value of cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluation and decision making with respect to educational programs and discuss its application to early reading interventions. We describe the conditions for a rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis and illustrate the challenges of applying the method in practice, providing examples of programs for which we have estimated costs, but find effectiveness data lacking in comparability. We provide a demonstration of how cost-effectiveness analysis can be applied to two early reading programs: the Wilson Reading System and Corrective Reading. We use existing effectiveness data from an experimental evaluation in which the programs were implemented under similar conditions and the use of common outcomes measures for both programs yielded data that are comparable. We combine these data with cost data we collected using the ingredients method to calculate cost-effectiveness ratios for the alphabetics domain. A complete picture of the relative cost-effectiveness of each program could be provided if effectiveness metrics were available for fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. We highlight the obstacles to applying cost-effectiveness analysis more frequently and recommend strategies for improving the availability of the requisite data.
비대칭 금리기간구조에 대한 실증분석 (An Empirical Analysis of Asymmetries in the Term Structure of Korean Government Bonds)

Korean Abstract: 장기금리와 단기금리 간의 차이를 나타내는 금리 스프레드 혹은 금리기간 구조는 경제주체들에 있어서 미래 인플레이션 및 경제활동에 대한 정보를 제공해 주는 주요 지표의 하나이다. 본고에서는 우리나라 국채수익률에 대한 일별자료를 이용하여 장단기 금리(3개월만기 국채수익률과 3년만기 국채수익률)간에 비대칭적인 장기관계가 존재하는지 여부를 새로운 기법을 이용하여 공적분검정해 보았다. 금리기간구조에 대한 기존 연구에서는 암묵적으로 대칭적인 공적분관계를 전제하고 있다. 그러나 공적분관계가 비대칭적일 가능성을 사전적으로 배제할 이유는 없다. 독일의 경우 지난 20여 년간 금리기간구조가 비대칭적으로 나타난 데에는 분데스방크의 정책행태가 큰 영향을 주었다는 주장이 제기된 바 있다 (Bohl and Siklos, 2004). 실증분석 결과 우리나라 장. 단기 금리 간에는 비대칭적 금리기간구조가 존재하는 것으로 나타났다. 장단기 금리 사이의 관계뿐만 아니라, 단기 관계인 오차수정과정에서도 비대칭성이 존재하는 것으로 분석되었는데, 오차조정속도를 보면 장기 금리가 상승할 때는 균형으로 조정되는 속도가 완만한 반면 하락하는 경우에는 빠르게 조정되는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 분석을 위해 정준공적분회귀(Canonical Cointegrating regression; 이하 CCR) 잔차에 대한 CUSUM검정을 실시하여 공적분관계를 검정하는 새로운 공적분검정기법을 제안하고 실증분석에 활용하였다. 동 검정법은 공적분관계의 유무를 판단하기 위해 공적분 추정식의 회귀잔차에 대한 단위근검정을 실시하는 대신 OLS 추정 잔차가 아니라 CCR 추정 잔차의 절대값의 누적항을 검정통계량으로 사용하는 CUSUM방식이다. English Abstract: The term structure of interest rates is a key information variable, which indicates the movements of future inflation and economic activities. This paper finds that the yields on KGBs (3-month and 3-year Korean Government Bonds) involve asymmetric term structure. While the existing literature on the term structure of interest rates assumes that cointegrating relationship is symmetric, but empirical results suggest an asymmetric term structure for KGBs. Asymmetric term structure is found in not only the long-run relationship but also short-run error correction mechanism for KGBs. Specifically, the estimated long-run relationship depends on whether or not the long-term rate is rising. Also, an equilibrium is restored swiftly when the yield on 3-year KGBs is falling, but the speed of adjustment is slow when increasing. This finding reflects that central banks may be apt to raise short-term interest rates gradually but lower them quickly in response to recessions or economic crises. This result is consistent with asymmetric central banks’ policy (Enders and Siklos, 2001; Bohl and Siklos, 2004). This paper suggests CCR (Canonical-Cointegrating-Regression based)-CUSUM test and applies the test to the detection of asymmetric cointegrating relationship between KGBs.