Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dynamics of Structure and Agency of Basketball Development in Taiwan: A Strategic Relations Theory Perspective

Purpose: This study sought to investigate the dynamics of structure and agency of basketball development in Taiwanese society by a strategic-relational approach. Methods: The empirical work drew on a qualitative case-study approach, which was based on documentary materials and semi-structured interviews. Interview transcripts and documents were subject to coding employing Nvivo 9 qualitative data analysis software, and coding and analysis were undertaken employing a content analysis approach. Results: The collapse of the Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) was a critical incident and the emergence of the Super Basketball League (SBL) was a critical process for the dynamic development of Taiwanese basketball. Conclusions: The study illustrates how the outcome of one set of struggles (the collapse of CBA) shapes the context for subsequent management decision decisions, specifically, the decision for the Sport Affairs Council, the SBL clubs and the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association decided to set up the SBL with a 'unique' semi-professional structure became a potential-problematic decision for its operation, and it also demonstrates how government or private resources (Sport Affairs Council's policy orientation or sport channel's TV rights fee), as a strategic context, constrains and/or facilitates the choices available to stakeholders. Theoretically, the dialectic relationship between strategic, reflexive actors and the strategic selectivity of the context of decision-making which privileges certain strategies and tactics, and explains the structural coherence (and/or patterns of incoherence) which have emerged in the evolving nature of the operation of basketball in Taiwan. In short, management decisions are taken in strategically selective contexts which facilitate and constrain certain actions and thus outcomes.
Anti-Lemons: School Reputation, Relative Diversity, and Educational Quality

Friedman (1962) observed that the ability of firms to acquire and maintain reputations for quality is a key ingredient for the efficient provision of goods and services in a market economy. This paper explores the implications of school reputation for skill acquisition and labor market outcomes in an otherwise competitive market. We find that reputation effects can explain several puzzling findings in the economics of education, including the fact that competition can, but does not always, improve skill acquisition. This result follows from an anti-lemons effect (in contrast to Akerlof's lemons effect) that arises when schools can enhance their reputation by positively selecting their students. This leads to excess demand for "high quality" selective schools that drive out non-selective schools. This in turn reduces "relative diversity", a measure of ability dispersion in a school, leading to lower skill acquisition.
Youth Minimum Wage Reform and the Labour Market

This paper analyses the effects of a large reform in the minimum wages affecting youth workers in New Zealand since 2001. Prior to this reform, a youth minimum wage, applying to 16-19 year-olds, was set at 60% of the adult minimum. The reform had two components. First, it lowered the eligible age for the adult minimum wage from 20 to 18 years, and resulted in a 69 percent increase in the minimum wage for 18 and 19 year-olds. Second, the reform raised the youth minimum wage in two annual steps from 60% to 80% of the adult minimum, and resulted in a 41 percent increase in the minimum wage for 16 and 17 year-olds over a two-year period. We use data from the New Zealand Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) to estimate the impact of these changes on a variety of labour market and related outcomes. We compare the average outcomes of these two groups of teenagers, before and after the policy reform, to those of 20-25 year-olds, who were unaffected by the reform. We find no robust evidence of adverse effects on youth employment or hours worked. In fact, we find stronger evidence of positive employment responses to the changes for both groups of teenagers, and that 16-17 year-olds increased their hours worked by 10-15 percent following the minimum wage changes. Given the absence of any adverse employment effects, we find significant increases in labour earnings and total income of teenagers relative to young adults. However, we do find some evidence of a decline in educational enrolment, and an increase in unemployment and inactivity, although these results depend on the specification adopted.
A Model of State Infrastructure with Decentralized Public Agents: Theory and Evidence

The imperative of the state, irrespective of its organization, is to provide law and order, contract enforcement, and property rights. The government provides the foundation for markets to function and for society to prosper. A common thread in any government is that, for a given society, the state holds a monopoly over most of its services. Although the state may choose not to exploit this market power, the public agents that represent the state within the aggregate production process, necessarily will. The following paper presents a macroeconomic framework that explicitly considers the local monopoly power of public agents. In the context of a representative agent model, I consider a private sector production function versus a public sector production function in which both sectors compete over labor and capital. Estimates are made of the productivity of private versus public capital, of private versus public labor, and of public infrastructure within the private sector production function. The theoretical implications of decentralized public agents are then analyzed within an endogenous growth framework. The results suggest that the elasticity of public infrastructure is significantly lower than previous estimates. They also confirm that the elasticity of private infrastructure is country specific. The theoretical results suggest that decentralization of public agents which, intuitively is greater in less developed countries than industrialized ones, is associated with steeper growth paths that lead to lower steady state capital labor ratios and per capita consumption levels. This implies that shocks to less developed countries have more dramatic effects but shorter life spans than shocks to industrialized countries, or more simply, business cycles in developing countries are shorter but more volatile. Â“You can make of human beings what you want. The way he is governed commends Man to good, or to evil. Â” - J.F. von Pfeiffer (1715-1787) Â“Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too. Â” - Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994)
Inflation and Inflation Uncertainty Revisited: Evidence from Egypt

The welfare costs of inflation and inflation uncertainty are well documented in the literature and empirical evidence on the link between the two is sparse in the case of Egypt. This paper investigates the causal relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty in Egypt using monthly time series data during the period January 1974–April 2015. To endogenously control for any potential structural breaks in the inflation time series, Zivot and Andrews (2002) and Clemente–Montanes–Reyes (1998) unit root tests are used. The inflation–inflation uncertainty relation is modeled by the standard two-step approach as well as simultaneously using various versions of the GARCH-M model to control for any potential feedback effects. The analyses explicitly control for the effect of the Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Program (ERSAP) undertaken by the Egyptian government in the early 1990s, which affected inflation rate and its associated volatility. Results show a high degree of inflation–volatility persistence in the response to inflationary shocks. Granger-causality test along with symmetric and asymmetric GARCH-M models indicate a statistically significant bi-directional positive relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty, supporting both the Friedman–Ball and the Cukierman–Meltzer hypotheses. The findings are robust to the various estimation methods and model specifications. The findings of this paper support the view of adopting inflation-targeting policy in Egypt, after fulfilling its preconditions, to reduce the welfare cost of inflation and its related uncertainties. Monetary authorities in Egypt should enhance the credibility of monetary policy and attempt to reduce inflation uncertainty, which will help lower inflation rates.
Cerebral 5-HT 2 A receptor binding is increased in patients with Tourette ’ s syndrome

Experimental and clinical data have suggested that abnormalities in the serotonergic neurotransmissions in frontal-subcortical circuits are involved in Tourette’s syndrome. To test the hypothesis that the brain’s 5-HT2A receptor binding is increased in patients with Tourette’s syndrome, PET imaging was performed. Twenty adults with Tourette’s syndrome and 20 healthy control subjects were investigated with PET[F]altanserin using a bolus-infusion protocol. Regions of interest were delineated automatically on co-registered MRI images, and partial volume-corrected binding parameters were extracted from the PET images. Comparison between control subjects and Tourette’s syndrome patients showed increased specific [F]altanserin binding, not only in the a-priori selected brain regions hypothesized to be involved in Tourette’s syndrome, but also post-hoc analysis showed a global up-regulation when testing for a overall difference with a randomization test (p<0.03). Increased 5-HT2A receptor binding was found not only in regions closely related to subcortical regions in patients with Tourette’s syndrome, but also in most other brain regions. Our data suggest that the serotonergic transmitter system is pathophysiologically involved in Tourette’s syndrome and that a clinical trial with 5-HT2A receptor antagonists may be justified. Received 4 October 2005 ; Reviewed 8 November 2005 ; Revised 6 January 2006 ; Accepted 12 January 2006; First published online 28 February 2006
Assessment of Lipocalin 2, Clusterin, Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-1, Interleukin-6, Homocysteine, and Uric Acid Levels in Patients with Psoriasis

Background. Chronic inflammation may play a role in psoriasis pathogenesis. Lipocalin 2, clusterin, soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (sTNFR-1), interleukin-6, homocysteine, and uric acid are inflammatory and/or biochemical markers. However, both the roles of these markers and the pathogenesis of psoriasis are unknown. Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of lipocalin 2, clusterin, sTNFR-1, interleukin-6, homocysteine, and uric acid in patients and controls groups. Methods. Fifty-six patients with psoriasis and 33 healthy controls were included in the study. Serum concentrations of the markers were evaluated by ELISA. The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) was evaluated in all psoriasis patients. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height (m) squared. Results. The serum value of lipocalin and sTNFR-1 were significantly higher in psoriasis patients than in controls (resp., P < 0.001, P < 0.05). The others showed no significant differences between psoriasis and the control groups (all of them P > 0.05). The mean PASI score in the patient group was 8.3 ± 6.5. Conclusions. These findings suggest that lipocalin 2 and sTNFR-1 might play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and can be used as markers of the disease.
A Survey on Security Threats and Detection Techniques in Cognitive Radio Networks

With the rapid proliferation of new technologies and services in the wireless domain, spectrum scarcity has become a major concern. The allocation of the Industrial, Medical and Scientific (ISM) band has enabled the explosion of new technologies (e.g. Wi-Fi) due to its licence-exempt characteristic. The widespread adoption of Wi-Fi technology, combined with the rapid penetration of smart phones running popular user services (e.g. social online networks) has overcrowded substantially the ISM band. On the other hand, according to a number of recent reports, several parts of the static allocated licensed bands are under-utilized. This has brought up the idea of the opportunistic use of these bands through the, so-called, cognitive radios and cognitive radio networks. Cognitive radios have enabled the opportunity to transmit in several licensed bands without causing harmful interference to licensed users. Along with the realization of cognitive radios, new security threats have been raised. Adversaries can exploit several vulnerabilities of this new technology and cause severe performance degradation. Security threats are mainly related to two fundamental characteristics of cognitive radios: cognitive capability, and reconfigurability. Threats related to the cognitive capability include attacks launched by adversaries that mimic primary transmitters, and transmission of false observations related to spectrum sensing. Reconfiguration can be exploited by attackers through the use of malicious code installed in cognitive radios. Furthermore, as cognitive radio networks are wireless in nature, they face all classic threats present in the conventional wireless networks. The scope of this work is to give an overview of the security threats and challenges that cognitive radios and cognitive radio networks face, along with the current state-of-the-art to detect the corresponding attacks. In addition, future challenges are addressed.
Estimating 3D tilt from local image cues in natural scenes

Estimating three-dimensional (3D) surface orientation (slant and tilt) is an important first step toward estimating 3D shape. Here, we examine how three local image cues from the same location (disparity gradient, luminance gradient, and dominant texture orientation) should be combined to estimate 3D tilt in natural scenes. We collected a database of natural stereoscopic images with precisely co-registered range images that provide the ground-truth distance at each pixel location. We then analyzed the relationship between ground-truth tilt and image cue values. Our analysis is free of assumptions about the joint probability distributions and yields the Bayes optimal estimates of tilt, given the cue values. Rich results emerge: (a) typical tilt estimates are only moderately accurate and strongly influenced by the cardinal bias in the prior probability distribution; (b) when cue values are similar, or when slant is greater than 40°, estimates are substantially more accurate; (c) when luminance and texture cues agree, they often veto the disparity cue, and when they disagree, they have little effect; and (d) simplifying assumptions common in the cue combination literature is often justified for estimating tilt in natural scenes. The fact that tilt estimates are typically not very accurate is consistent with subjective impressions from viewing small patches of natural scene. The fact that estimates are substantially more accurate for a subset of image locations is also consistent with subjective impressions and with the hypothesis that perceived surface orientation, at more global scales, is achieved by interpolation or extrapolation from estimates at key locations.
At the Crossroads of Divorce: A Formative Evaluation of a Self-Directed Intervention for Utah's Divorce Orientation Education Class for Divorcing Parents

At The Crossroads of Divorce: A Formative Evaluation of a Self-Directed Intervention for Participants of Utah’s Divorce Orientation Education Class for Divorcing Parents Carma Martino Needham School of Family Life Master of Marriage, Family, and Human Development This formative evaluation focuses on feedback regarding a self-guided educational intervention for those at the crossroads of divorce. Entitled Should I Keep Trying to Work It Out? A Guidebook for Individuals and Couples at the Crossroads of Divorce (And Before), this Guidebook aims to help individuals minimize possible ambiguity in the decision-making process surrounding divorce. Fifty-three participants were recruited through divorce orientation education classes to provide formative feedback via brief phone surveys. Eighteen of these provided in-depth interviews for additional feedback. Though the participants in this study were largely past the crossroads of divorce, most agreed or strongly agreed that the Guidebook was helpful (61%), trustworthy (88%), helped them change some of their attitudes about divorce (67%), and helped them be more prepared for the divorce (81%). Additionally, 64% reported feeling more confident about their decision to divorce, including three noteworthy cases that cited domestic violence as their reason for divorce. Overall, this Guidebook appears to be useful to those who are contemplating divorce. Options for improving the Guidebook and introducing it earlier in the decision-making process are discussed.
Effect of Euphorbia hirta plant leaf extract on immunostimulant response of Aeromonas hydrophila infected Cyprinus carpio

The main objective of the present study is to improve the immune power of Cyprinus carpio by using Euphorbia hirta plant leaf extract as immunostimulants. The haematological, immunological and enzymatic studies were conducted on the medicated fish infected with Aeromonas hydrophila pathogen. The results obtained from the haematological studies show that the RBC count, WBC count and haemoglobin content were increased in the infected fish at higher concentration of leaf extract. The feeds with leaf extract of Euphorbia hirta were able to stimulate the specific immune response by increasing the titre value of antibody. It was able to stimulate the antibody production only up to the 5th day, when fed with higher concentrations of (25 g and 50 g) plant leaf extract. The plant extract showed non-specific immune responses such as lysozyme activity, phagocytic ratio, NBT assay, etc. at higher concentration (50 g) and in the same concentration (50 g), the leaf extract of Euphorbia hirta significantly eliminated the pathogen in blood and kidney. It was observed that fish have survival percentage significantly at higher concentration (50 g) of Euphorbia hirta, when compared with the control. The obtained results are statistically significant at P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 levels. This research work suggests that the plant Euphorbia hirta has immunostimulant activity by stimulating both specific and non-specific immunity at higher concentrations.
Compressed Domain Video Zooming: Use of Motion Vectors

In this paper we propose a new method for video zooming from compressed video data. Novelty of the approach is that zooming is done by interpolating the motion vectors. Proposed method works very well for different compression methodologies. We first discuss zooming, when the video is compressed using the Discrete Cosine Transform Domain (DCT). Next we use the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) based video compression proposed in [9] and develop a zooming technique in the DWT domain. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed method.
Community-Based Conservation and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Implications for Social-Ecological Resilience

Our review highlights how traditional ecological knowledge influences people's adaptive capacity to social- ecological change and identifies a set of mechanisms that contribute to such capacity in the context of community-based biodiversity conservation initiatives. Twenty-three publications, including twenty-nine case studies, were reviewed with the aim of investigating how local knowledge, community-based conservation, and resilience interrelate in social-ecological systems. We highlight that such relationships have not been systematically addressed in regions where a great number of community conservation initiatives are found; and we identify a set of factors that foster people's adaptive capacity to social-ecological change and a number of social processes that, in contrast, undermine such capacity and the overall resilience of the social- ecological system. We suggest that there is a need to further investigate how climate variability and other events affect the joint evolution of conservation outcomes and traditional ecological knowledge, and there is a need to expand the current focus on social factors to explain changes in traditional ecological knowledge and adaptive capacity towards a broader approach that pays attention to ecosystem dynamics and environmental change.
Seroprevalence of brucellosis among high risk people in northern Jordan.

BACKGROUND Brucellosis is considered the most important zoonosis in Jordan with high prevalence among man and livestock. METHODS This study was carried out on high risk people in 1992 in order to assess the seroprevalence of brucellosis in northern Jordan. The sera of 1236 individuals (636 at high risk and 600 controls) were evaluated using the Rose Bengal plate agglutination test (RBPT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-IgG) tests. RESULTS A significantly (P < 0.05) higher seroprevalence of brucellosis among high risk people (8.2 percent) compared to the control sample (0.5 percent) was found. The overall seroprevalence was significantly higher among sheep farmers and meat handlers than in other occupations tested. The seroprevalence increased with age and years at work, but was not influenced by sex or locality. The results indicated a higher seroprevalence among veterinarians in northern Jordan, compared to central Jordan but the difference was not significant. Seroprevalence was present only among veterinarians working in clinics especially in the working age group (34-43 years). CONCLUSION The results of this study emphasized the importance of contact infections, namely contact with infected animals and their products, as a method of transmission of brucellosis compared to ingestion of contaminated animal products.
A molecular phylogeny of the Cephinae (Hymenoptera, Cephidae) based on mtDNA COI gene: a test of traditional classification

Abstract Cephinae is traditionally divided into three tribes and about 24 genera based on morphology and host utilization. There has been no study testing the monophyly of taxa under a strict phylogenetic criterion. A molecular phylogeny of Cephinae based on a total of 68 sequences of mtDNA COI gene, representing seven genera of Cephinae, is reconstructed to test the traditional limits and relationships of taxa. Monophyly of the traditional tribes is not supported. Monophyly of the genera are largely supported except for Pachycephus. A few host shift events are suggested based on phylogenetic relationships among taxa. These results indicate that a more robust phylogeny is required for a more plausible conclusion. We also report two species of Cephus for the first time from Turkey.