Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Examination of the Content of Community Financial Reports in Queensland Local Government Authorities

Annual reports, including general purpose financial statements, have been adopted as a key mechanism by which public sector entities discharge their accountability. However, there is concern about the complexity of public sector general purpose financial statements and consequently their effectiveness as an accountability mechanism. In Australia, the Queensland government has moved to address this issue in local government authorities by introducing a Community Financial Report as a means of simplifying the financial statements. A feature of this initiative was the lack of prescription given to local government authorities in the preparation of this report. This paper examines the form and content included in Community Financial Reports and also uses a disclosure index to determine the level of disclosure in the reports. The results of this research show that the form and content of the Community Financial Reports varied considerably. There was no definitive style, with each report being unique. The disclosure index revealed low levels of disclosure by local government authorities in the first year of the report as well as a lack of analysis of the Statements of Financial Performance, Position and Cash Flows. As well, there was a significant difference in the disclosures made by rural local government authorities compared with urban local government authorities. The results of this research will be of interest to local government authorities and local government regulators as they aim to provide useful, understandable information for stakeholders.
An epidemic of respiratory syncytial virus in elderly people: Clinical and serological findings

In 1984–1985, an outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection occurred in two geriatric wards. Among 68 patients (mean age ± SD = 82.5 ± 12.5 years) with respiratory signs, 52 had signs caused by RSV infection. Among all patients, the clinical and serological attack rates were 61.2% and 75.0%, respectively. The most frequent clinical presentation was intensive coughing (96.1%) and fever (96.1%) associated with expectorate (63.5%). The duration of the respiratory symptoms was 5 to 7 days. The disease gradually resolved, although in eight (15.4%) patients complications occurred. For periods of up to 1 year after infection, 172 sera were obtained and tested by complement fixation test (CFT), fluorescent assays for titrating specific IgG, IgA, and IgM, and Western blotting. Specific IgM appeared in six (11.5%) of the infected patients and peaked 2 to 6 months after infection, and there was no significant correlation with severity of clinical symptoms. However, higher peak G and A antibody responses were observed in persons with rales (CFT: P=0.008; IgG: P=0.042; IgA: P=0.020), cough (IgG: P=0.034), sputum (IgG: P=0.030), dyspnea (CFT: P=0.024), conjunctivitis (CFT: P=0.025), and bronchitis (CFT: P=0.018). The temporal patterns of IgA and CFT results were found to be similar, whereas IgG peaked later, i.e., between 2 and 6 months. The patients with the most severe symptoms had the highest antibody titers obtained by conventional tests and by Western blots. Thus, RSV can be an epidemic pathogen among elderly persons, although this illness is usually mild.
Peace Among the Willows: The Political Philosophy of Francis Bacon

I. Political Faith and Utopian Thought. - II. Provisional Morality. - III. Civil Knowledge. - IV. The English Solomon. - V. Provisional Politics. - VI. Of Island Utopias. - VII. The Old and the New Atlantis. - VIII. The Society of Bensalem. - IX. The Festivals of Bensalem. - X. Definitive Morality. - XI. Definitive Politics. - XII. The Imitable Thunderbolt. - Name Index.
Blockchain-Based System for Secure Data Storage with Private Keyword Search

Traditional cloud storage has relied almost exclusively on large storage providers, who act as trusted third parties to transfer and store data. This model poses a number of issues including data availability, high operational cost, and data security. In this paper, we introduce a system that leverages blockchain technology to provide a secure distributed data storage with keyword search service. The system allows the client to upload their data in encrypted form, distributes the data content to cloud nodes and ensures data availability using cryptographic techniques. It also provides the data owner a capability to grant permission for others to search on her data. Finally, the system supports private keyword search over the encrypted dataset.
Metabolic Profile of the Colombian Economy from 1970 to 2007

This article characterizes the societal metabolism of the Colombian economy, identifying the main factors of natural resources use, overuse, or exhaustion. The environmental sustainability of a country depends to a large extent on the size of the economy compared to the available resource base. Material flow indicators provide an assessment of size or scale of economies. Direct material flow indicators are used to analyze the ecological dimension of economic activity in the period 1970–2007. Some resource extraction conflicts are briefly described in the light of material flow analysis. Foreign and domestic demand promotes increasing extraction and export of domestic natural resources. This is sometimes related to an irreversible deterioration of the local environment. The concept of “ecologically unequal exchange” with the rest of the world is analyzed in this context. Colombia has a large and growing negative physical trade balance, whereas per capita use of materials is still about half of the industrial countries’ average.
Aerodynamic shape optimization using adaptive remeshing

Adaptive mesh refinement is one of the most important tools in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for solving complex engineering design problems. The paper investigates two practical transonic aerofoil design optimization problems using a genetic algorithm coupled with an Euler aerodynamic analysis tool. The first problem consists in the minimization of transonic drag whereas the second is a reconstruction transonic problem solved by minimizing the pressure error. In both cases, the solutions obtained with and without adaptive mesh refinement are compared. Numerical results obtained by both drag minimization and reconstruction design clearly show that the use of adaptive mesh refinement reduces the computational cost and also produces a better solution.
Minimizing Cyber-Plagiarism through Turnitin: Faculty’s & Students’ Perspectives

This is an attempt to investigate and evaluate students’ and faculty’s experiences and understanding to the strengths and limitations of anti-plagiarism software, specifically, Turnitin and how it could be used to promote academic integrity among engineering students. 50 engineering students and 20 professors were surveyed and interviewed. The paper argues that although Turnitin is widely used these days to tackle and minimize plagiarism practices, however cyber-plagiarism is increasing and the software might be inadequate in fighting such practice. The paper also questions the effectiveness and limitations of the software in relation to current practices. The findings revealed that most of the respondents perceive Turnitin positively; limitations of the software are not many and they believed that the software is effective in detecting and minimizing plagiarism incidents among their students’ papers. The study puts forward some recommendations which might help practitioners in minimizing plagiarism practices.
Public Opinion Toward the European Union in Georgia

Georgia's association with the EU has become closer in recent years through foreign policy instruments including the European Neighborhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership, and the Black Sea Synergy. Against the background of this increasing formal cooperation, public opinion toward the European Union in Georgia is examined on the basis of a nationally representative survey conducted in 2009. Regression modeling is used to relate attitudes toward the EU to explanatory factors including support for continued European integration, expectations of benefits from Europeanization, political beliefs, perceptions of national security and territorial integrity, and attitudes toward Russia.
The Effect of Board's Quality on Performance: A Study of Canadian Firms

We investigate the impact of board's quality as defined by a Score published in a Canadian National Newspaper on the performance of the firm. Based on the current literature, we ranked the boards of 219 Canadian firms in terms of four board characteristics: composition of the board, compensation of board members, shareholder rights, and disclosure. Then, we defined firm performance by using traditional accounting-based measures such as ROI, ROE, EPS, and Market-to-book ratio and value creation-based measures such as EVA(R) and MVA. To test the effects of board's quality on firm performance, we adopted different models of univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors; Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Causes of financial distress of Portuguese municipalities: empirical evidence

This paper analyses the factors behind the financial distress of local government in Portugal. A Probit model is used to estimate the probability of a municipality entering into a financial recovery contract, regulated by the Portuguese Local Finance Law. Empirical results indicate that both structural and non-structural factors influence local financial distress. In addition to financial management practices, financial distress is also conditioned by political variables and socio-economic factors. Municipalities ruled by mayors that belong to a right-wing party are more prone to financial distress, and some municipalities are more financially vulnerable than others because of structural circumstances.
Cross-Border Listings, Capital Controls, and Equity Flows to Emerging Markets

We investigate the impact of two types of financial liberalizations on short- and long-horizon capital flows to emerging markets in a framework that controls for push and pull factors. The first type of liberalization, a reduction in capital controls, is countrywide but uncertain, because its extent and permanence are not known with certainty. The second type, a cross-border listing, is a firm-level liberalization that has no uncertainty. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find that the deterministic cross-listing results in an immediate but short-lived increase in capital inflows. In contrast, the uncertain reduction in capital controls results in increased inflows only over a longer horizon, if at all.
US inflation-indexed bonds in the long run: a hypothetical view

This paper investigates the role of US inflation-indexed bonds in the portfolios of expected utility maximizing investors. As there does not exist sufficient return data, holding period returns on inflation-indexed bonds are generated using three different assumptions concerning the behaviour of real yields over time. These returns are then allowed to enter the available asset set of risk-averse investors. Using data covering the period, 1927–1996, the results show that inflation-indexed bonds would have formed a large part of the portfolios of such investors. The result holds for various levels of risk-aversion and for holding periods of one month, one year, and five years. However, when this investment in inflation-indexed bonds is subjected to a statistical test the results indicate that investor utility is insignificantly affected by the inflation-indexed bond investment. Finally, sensitivity analysis shows that an unrealistically high real yield of 2.5% is required for inflation-indexed bond investment to be significant.
Motor Evoked Potential Monitoring Improves Outcome after Surgery for Intramedullary Spinal Cord Tumors: A Historical Control Study

OBJECTIVE:The value of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (INM) during intramedullary spinal cord tumor surgery remains debated. This historical control study tests the hypothesis that INM monitoring improves neurological outcome. METHODS:In 50 patients operated on after September 2000, we monitored somatosensory evoked potentials and transcranially elicited epidural (D-wave) and muscle motor evoked potentials (INM group). The historical control group consisted of 50 patients selected from among 301 patients who underwent intramedullary spinal cord tumor surgery, previously operated on by the same team without INM. Matching by preoperative neurological status (McCormick scale), histological findings, tumor location, and extent of removal were blind to outcome. A more than 50% somatosensory evoked potential amplitude decrement influenced only myelotomy. Muscle motor evoked potential disappearance modified surgery, but more than 50% D-wave amplitude decrement was the major indication to stop surgery. The postoperative to preoperative McCormick grade variation at discharge and at a follow-up of at least 3 months was compared between the two groups (Student's t tests). RESULTS:Follow-up McCormick grade variation in the INM group (mean, +0.28) was significantly better (P = 0.0016) than that of the historical control group (mean, –0.16). At discharge, there was a trend (P = 0.1224) toward better McCormick grade variation in the INM group (mean, –0.26) than in the historical control group (mean, –0.5). CONCLUSION:The applied motor evoked potential methods seem to improve long-term motor outcome significantly. Early motor outcome is similar because of transient motor deficits in the INM group, which can be predicted at the end of surgery by the neurophysiological profile of patients.
Papillary thyroid cancer with chest metastases only detected using radioactive iodine.

BACKGROUND Insufficient information exists on the prognostic factors of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) with chest metastases, which is detected only using a radioactive iodide (131I) whole body scan (WBS) but could not be detected using radiographic findings. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical features and treatment results of patients with PTC. METHODS This retrospective study includes 17 patients diagnosed from 1985 through 2002. The clinical features and responses to treatment were compared between patients with diffuse lung metastases and those with focal lung or mediastinal metastases, and at the end of follow up the results were also compared between disease-free patients and those with persistent chest metastases. RESULTS The mean age of the 17 patients was 32.2 +/- 19.1 years. After a mean follow up of 89.6 +/- 51.3 months, all 17 patients survived except for one who died of a non-thyroid-related disease. Six of the 17 patients were disease-free at the end of follow up, and eight of the 17 patients became free of chest metastases. The dose of 131I required to cure chest metastases was higher in the patients with diffuse lung uptake than those with focal chest uptake. The primary tumor size and serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level on the first finding of chest metastases differed markedly between disease-free patients and patients with persistent chest metastases. CONCLUSIONS 131I scans can effectively demonstrate early chest metastases, which are difficult to detect from chest X-ray or computed tomography (CT). The prognosis for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma with chest metastases detectable only using 131I is favorable. Additionally, the low serum Tg level on the first finding of chest metastases and the small size of the primary tumor may have favorable therapeutic outcomes.
Discretization error dominance over subgrid terms in large eddy simulation of compressible shear layers in 2D

Second- and fourth-order-accurate spatial discretization methods give rise to discretization errors which are large than the corresponding subgrid terms in large eddy simulation of compressible shear layers in 2D, if the ratio between the filter width and the grid spacing is close to one. Even if an exact representation for the subgrid-scale contributions is assumed, large eddy simulation is accurate only if this ratio is sufficiently larger than one. In that regime fourth-order methods are more accurate than second-order methods. An analysis of the data obtained from two-dimensional direct numerical simulations of compressible shear layers substantiates these assertions.
Land in Kwara'ae and development in Solomon Islands

This paper documents land tenure and the effects of economic development in Kwara'ae on the island of Malaita. It uses local histories to confirm the essential flexibility of a system of cognatic inheritance, based on social and economic values which contradict the more exclusive unilineal emphasis preferred and promoted by government land and development policy in Solomon Islands. In considering the resulting problem of land disputes, the paper questions the value of reforms which undermine the tradition of communal control of natural resources. Land tenure is a pressing concern for the peoples and governments of Melanesia, where the contradictions between tribal and capitalist economic values are being acted out on the ground in disputes between local people over what should become of their land. This concern is shared by the Kwara'ae people of Malaita Island, the largest of more than 80 local ethnic groups in Solomon Islands. Kwara'ae community leaders or 'chiefs' have long been engaged in a lively debate with government authorities over land law, which has not been helped by the difficulties each side seems to have in understanding the other's culture and values, the one heavily Westernised and the other based on local tradition. The problem is by no means confined to Malaita, and this paper documents Kwara'ae land tenure in the hope of contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between people, land and economic development elsewhere in Solomon Islands and Melanesia. For Kwara'ae, land represents their whole natural resource base, the foundation of their material and cultural existence. Relationships to land are an integral part of their relationships with one another. What we choose to distinguish as land tenure' entails values basic to the tribal social and economic system of earlier generations which are still invoked, if not always honoured, in the rapidly changing society of the present. But the actual claims to land which embody these traditional values are the histories of relationships, often over many generations, while the problems surrounding
The Legitimacy of the IASB

This paper takes issue with Burlaud and Colasse (Accounting in Europe, 8, pp. 23–47, 2011a) who suggest that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) lacks legitimacy and that this has led to a return of politics to standard-setting. We show that the IASB is supported by the leaders of the world's major economies (G20), and by the European Commission and European Parliament. The European Commission's policy is to pursue wider adoption of the IASB's standards. We go on to suggest that politics has never been absent from standard-setting and to note that a number of the positions taken by Burlaud and Colasse are not supported by the mainstream literature.
Unintended consequences in the evolution of affiliate marketing networks: a complexity approach

Although there is growing interest in affiliate marketing networking as a newly emerged electronic distribution channel, little empirical research has explored this topic. Similarly, despite being widely employed to analyse organisations' behaviour and responses to the turbulent environment, aspects of complexity theory like unintended consequences have yet to be researched in depth. This study bridges these gaps by investigating unintended consequences in the evolution of affiliate marketing networks within tourism distribution. The findings may also be applicable to other services industries, such as financial services, where the use of affiliate marketing is widespread. The results from in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis suggest that unintended consequences are an important factor in shaping the evolution of affiliate practice, and should not be underestimated by practitioners. Additionally, the study suggests that unintended consequences can be a tool for indicating areas for improvements, and can help to explain the nature of emergent affiliate marketing challenges, which might potentially assist marketing managers in the successful formation of affiliate marketing networks.
A Backward-traversal-based Approach for Symbolic Model Checking of Uniform Strategies for Constrained Reachability

Since the introduction of Alternating-time Temporal Logic (ATL), many logics have been proposed to reason about different strategic capabilities of the agents of a system. In particular, some logics have been designed to reason about the uniform memoryless strategies of such agents. These strategies are the ones the agents can effectively play by only looking at what they observe from the current state. ATL_ir can be seen as the core logic to reason about such uniform strategies. Nevertheless, its model-checking problem is difficult (it requires a polynomial number of calls to an NP oracle), and practical algorithms to solve it appeared only recently. This paper proposes a technique for model checking uniform memoryless strategies. Existing techniques build the strategies from the states of interest, such as the initial states, through a forward traversal of the system. On the other hand, the proposed approach builds the winning strategies from the target states through a backward traversal, making sure that only uniform strategies are explored. Nevertheless, building the strategies from the ground up limits its applicability to constrained reachability objectives only. This paper describes the approach in details and compares it experimentally with existing approaches implemented into a BDD-based framework. These experiments show that the technique is competitive on the cases it can handle.
Statistical Properties of the Roll Serial Covariance Bid/Ask Spread Estimator

Exact small sample population moments of the standard serial covariance and variance estimators are derived under the assumptions of the Roll bid/ask spread models. Noise explains why serial covariance estimates are often positive in annual samples of daily and weekly returns. Small sample estimator bias partially explains why weekly estimates are more negative than daily estimates. Noise causes the Roll spread estimator to be severely biased by Jensen's inequality. The French-Roll adjusted variance estimator is unbiased but noisy. Empirical tests confirm the major implications. Copyright 1990 by American Finance Association.
Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment in Honduras

This thesis examines the possibilities for women's empowerment through microfinance. It utilizes the results of a survey conducted in 2009 with clients of the microfinance organization FINCA Honduras. The analysis of these survey results yields important conclusions on FINCA Honduras' ability to empower Honduran women economically, psychologically, and socio-culturally. The original hypothesis of this study stated that FINCA Honduras' financial services would help the female client to improve her standard of living, her psychological well-being, and her gender relationships in the home. FINCA Honduras has partially succeeded in empowering its female clients in these ways, but currently lacks the specific tools and/or motivations to fully empower women through its services. The findings presented by this thesis offer evidence against microfinance's ability to automatically empower the female client, and consequently challenge its growing reputation as a panacea for world poverty and gender inequality.