Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collective Action and Vulnerability: Burial Societies in Rural Ethiopia

"Collective action can help individuals, groups, and communities achieve common goals, thus contributing to poverty reduction. Drawing on longitudinal household and qualitative community data, the authors examine the impact of shocks on household living standards, study the correlates of participation in groups and formal and informal networks, and discuss the relationship of networks with access to other forms of capital. In this context, they assess how one form of collective action, iddir, or burial societies, help households attenuate the impact of illness. They find that iddir effectively deal with problems of asymmetric information by restricting membership geographically, imposing a membership fee, and conducting checks on how the funds were spent. The study also finds that while iddir help poor households cope with individual health shocks, but shows that the better-off households belong to more groups and have larger networks. In addition, where households have limited ability to develop spatial networks, collective action has limited ability to respond to covariate shocks. Therefore, realism is needed in terms of the ability of collective action to respond to shocks, and direct public action is more appropriate to deal with common shocks. " authors' abstract
An Empirical Study of the Audit Expectation-Performance Gap

Abstract The critical, litigious environment which characterises auditing today can be traced to the audit expectation-performance gap. Defined as the gap between society's expectations of auditors and auditors perceived performance, it is seen to comprise ‘reasonableness’ and ‘performance’ components, the latter being subdivided into ‘deficient standards’ and ‘deficient performance’. Empirical research was conducted in New Zealand in 1989 to investigate the audit expectation-performance gap. The study enables the duties which constitute the reasonableness, deficient standards and deficient performance components of the gap to be identified. It also provides the means to estimate the relative contribution of the duties to their respective components, and of the components to the overall gap between society's expectations of auditors and auditors' perceived performance. The research provides new insights into the structure, composition and extent of the audit expectation-performance gap but, more important.
Besov regularity of edge singularities for the Poisson equation in polyhedral domains

This paper is concerned with the regularity of the solutions to the Poisson equation in polyhedral domains Ω contained in R3. Especially, we consider the specific scale Bτα(Lτ(Ω)),1/τ = α/3 + ½, of Besov spaces. The regularity of the variational solution in these Besov spaces determines the order of approximation that can be achieved by adaptive and non‐linear numerical schemes. It is well‐known that in polyhedral domains different types of singularities according to edges and vertices occur. In this paper, we shall primarily be concerned with the Besov regularity of edge singularities. By the usual reduction procedure, these singularity functions are studied in an unfinite cylinder R × ϒ, where ϒ denotes a bounded polygonal domain contained in R2. We show that the singularity functions are much smoother in the specific Besov scale than in the usual L2–Sobolov scale which justifies the use of adaptive schemes. The proofs are based on specific representations of the solutions and on characterizations of Besov spaces by wavelet expansions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Liquidity and Welfare in a Heterogeneous-Agent Economy

This paper reconsiders the welfare costs of inflation and the welfare gains from financial intermediation in a heterogeneous-agent economy where money is held as a store of value (as in Bewley, 1980). The dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model recaptures some essential features of the liquidity-preference theory of Keynes (1930, 1936). Because of heterogeneous liquidity demand, transitory lump-sum money injections can have persistent expansionary effects despite flexible prices, and such effects can be greatly amplified by the banking system through the credit channel. However, permanent money growth can be extremely costly: With log utility functions, consumers are willing to reduce consumption by 15% (or more) to avoid a 10% annual inflation. For the same reason, financial intermediation can significantly improve welfare: The welfare costs of a collapse of the banking system is estimated as about 10-68% of aggregate output. These welfare implications differ dramatically from those of the existing literature.
Craniospinal radiation therapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy for newly diagnosed average-risk medulloblastoma.

Purpose To determine the event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival of children with average-risk medulloblastoma and treated with reduced-dose craniospinal radiotherapy (CSRT) and one of two postradiotherapy chemotherapies. Methods Four hundred twenty-one patients between 3 years and 21 years of age with nondisseminated medulloblastoma (MB) were prospectively randomly assigned to treatment with 23.4 Gy of CSRT, 55.8 Gy of posterior fossa RT, plus one of two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens: lomustine (CCNU), cisplatin, and vincristine; or cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and vincristine. Results Forty-two of 421 patients enrolled were excluded from analysis. Sixty-six of the remaining 379 patients had incompletely assessable postoperative studies. Five-year EFS and survival for the cohort of 379 patients was 81% 2.1% and 86% 9%, respectively (median follow-up over 5 years). EFS was unaffected by sex, race, age, treatment regimen, brainstem involvement, or excessive anaplasia. EFS was detrimentally affected by neuroradiographic unassessability. Patients with areas of frank dissemination had a 5-year EFS of 36% 15%. Sixty-seven percent of progressions had some component of dissemination. There were seven second malignancies. Infections occurred more frequently on the cyclophosphamide arm and electrolyte abnormalities were more common on the CCNU regimen. Conclusion This study discloses an encouraging EFS rate for children with nondisseminated MB treated with reduced-dose craniospinal radiation and chemotherapy. Additional, careful, step-wise reductions in CSRT in adequately staged patients may be possible. J Clin Oncol 24:4202-4208. © 2006 by American Society of Clinical Oncology
Motivation, participation, and preference: a multi-segmentation approach of the Australian nature travel market.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop a typology of nature travelers based on their motivations, activity participation, and destination preferences. A secondary analysis from the Pleasure Travel Market Survey for Australia (1994) was used. The results indicated that the proposed ‘motivation-participation-preference’ multi-segmentation bases could classify Australian nature travel market into six segments. They were ‘Physical Challenge Seekers,’ ‘Family Vacationers,’ ‘Culture & Entertainment Seekers,’ ‘Nature Tourists,’ ‘Escape & Relax Vacationers,’ and ‘Indifferent Travelers. ’ Travelers among groups exhibited significant differences in terms of their so-ciodemographics, trip-related characteristics, and travel philosophies. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Expression and Function of Renal Organic Anion Transporters in Cholestasis

Acute jaundice due to bile duct obstruction is defined as the retention of bile and bile components. Kidney and liver are largely responsible for inactivation and excretion of drugs, including organic anions, and other chemicals. In obstructive jaundice, adaptive mechanisms may permit urinary excretion of those potentially toxic compounds that could not be eliminated by the liver because biliary transport is impaired (Reichen & Simon, 1988; Klaassen & Aleksunes, 2010; Hagenbuch 2010).
“I don't know how to find my way in the world”: Contributions of User-Led Research to Transforming Mental Health Practice

Background: A number of forces have converged to promote participatory research in mental health. Aim: To present the findings of a user-led project in which eight people in recovery conducted narrative interviews with 80 peers. Method: Interviews focused on what participants' lives were like, what they would like their lives to be like, the role of mental health services, and how they would choose to spend their mental health dollars. Researchers used qualitative analysis to identify key themes from the first 30 interviews. Results: Participants described multiple, profound losses and feeling that they were existing day-to-day, with their symptoms under control but not knowing how to make their way in the world. They suggested it would be useful to have a “map” to guide them back to a normal life, and reported that mental health care was most useful when it attended both to controlling illness and enabling them to rebuild an ordinary life. If they had the choice, they would spend their mental health dollars at this point primarily on having other people act as guides in pursuit of normal activities that interest them. Conclusion: Mental health care can be more effective in helping people join in to normal activities.
A 1q42 deletion involving DISC1, DISC2, and TSNAX in an autism spectrum disorder

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders have impairments in social, communicative, and behavior development that are often accompanied by abnormalities in cognitive functioning, learning, attention, and sensory processing. In this report, we describe a 3‐year‐old male child with an autism spectrum disorder who carries a 2 Mb deletion of chromosome 1q42. Array comparative genome hybridization revealed that this deletion involves at least three genes—DISC1, DISC2, and TSNAX—which have been found to be associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and are likely to play key roles in normal CNS development. Further studies revealed that the deletion was inherited from his unaffected mother. This suggests that other genetic and/or environmental factors, some of which may be sex specific, may modify the phenotypic effects of this deletion. While this case provides evidence for the potential role of DISC1, DISC2, and TSNAX in the development of autism spectrum disorders, it is equally clear that caution must be taken when providing families with prognostic information and genetic counseling regarding such deletions. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Friends or Foes? Target Selection Decisions of Sovereign Wealth Funds and Their Consequences

This paper examines investment strategies of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), their effect on target firm valuation, and how both of these are related to SWF transparency. We find that SWFs prefer large and poorly performing firms facing financial difficulties. Their investments have a positive effect on target firms' stock prices around the announcement date but no substantial effect on firm performance and governance in the long run. We also find that transparent SWFs are more likely to invest in financially constrained firms and have a greater impact on target firm value than opaque SWFs. Overall, SWFs are similar to passive institutional investors in their preference for target characteristics and in their effect on target performance, and SWF transparency influences SWFs' investment activities and their impact on target firm value.
The Effect of Online Review Configurations, Prices, and Personality on Online Purchase Decisions: A Study of Online Review Profiles on eBay

Online reviews have been studied extensively because of their impact on online consumers’ purchase decisions. Little attention, however, has been paid to consumers’ perceptions of online review configurations. This study examines how a consumer's purchase decision is affected by online review configurations. Additionally, researchers analyze whether the purchase decision is affected by price level and personality. Results illustrate that a consumer's purchase decision is affected by the number of reviews only when price level is high. In terms of personality, openness significantly predicts purchase decision when price level is high, whereas neuroticism affects purchase decision when price level is low.
Interindustry Technology Flows and Productivity Growth: A Reexamination

The relationship between productivity growth and R and D intensity is reexamined using detailed data for 193 US manufacturing industries and a breakdown of R and D into own product and process improvement oriented components and ''imported'' R and D from other industries. A significant interindustry relationship between total factor productivity growth and R and D intensity is reconfirmed, with ''used'' R and D having larger coefficients than own product R and D components. But ''own'' product R and D is also significant and the explanatory power of the ''used'' R and D component rather than the embodied component imported from other industries. Thus, the evidence for R and D spillovers remains tenuous. 6 references, 2 tables.
Foreign direct investment behavior: Problemistic or slack search

This study examines the behaviors of firms that engage in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). The present study is unique in adopting the classification of underperforming or outperforming, relative to aspiration level, to examine FDI behaviors. An analysis of the fixed-effects panel regression shows that the attainment discrepancy and the behaviors of their peer firms affect the listed Taiwanese firms’ FDIs into China. However, slack search is more appropriate than problemistic search in explaining firms’ FDI behaviors. Shifts of managers’ attention occur when firms face different situations. Managers may shift their attention from aspiration to survival when threats are present. The focal point of managers’ attention can be more on unabsorbed slack or potential slack depending on whether firms are pursuing aspiration or survival. Understanding how the role of aspiration level and the shifts of managers’ attention play in FDI behaviors can help outsiders such as investors and policymakers to identify firms’ strategy and modify investment strategies or policies.
Non-targeted customers in individualistic versus collectivistic cultures

This research explores non-targeted customers in two countries displaying dominant collectivistic and individualistic characteristics. Using China and the UK as research contexts, the study investigates non-targeted customers' perceptions and responses to multiple marketing tactics (MT)' effectiveness. Non-targeted customers are interesting, as they exhibit feelings of inequity and unfairness, influencing their perceptions, responses, and behaviors. Given continuing globalization of retail services and diverse markets, more research that provides insights into cross-cultural shopping behavior is needed. The study fills an important gap in examining non-targeted customers in a cross-cultural framework. Findings reveal that non-targeted collectivists perceive marketing tactics differently than individualists. While the first group responds to price and reputation, the latter group responds to service, communication, and customization. The study posits that collectivists' concerns with loss of face, equality, and status evoke self-expression such as extensive price and reputation comparisons. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and future research directions offered.
Invited submission to Inquiry into the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Teaching Profession) Bill 2004, by the Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee

As indicated in the letter of invitation to provide a written submission to this inquiry, the Sex Discrimination Amendment (Teaching Profession) Bill 2004 proposes to permit the provision of scholarships to persons of one sex in relation to school teaching courses2. Specifically, the purpose of the Bill is to amend Section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to permit the provision of teaching scholarships to males, in order to address the imbalance in the number of male and female teachers in schools.
A human action recognition scheme based on spatio-temporal variation of region of interest in horizontal and vertical direction

In this paper, human action recognition scheme based on spatio-temporal variation pattern in region of interest (ROI) is proposed. In order to handle the multi-class human action problem in the proposed method two level classification is carried out. In the first level, the motion history image (MHI) is constructed based on optical flow vector, which is capable of classifying static and dynamic human actions because of its distinguishable spatio-temporal variation pattern. In the second stage, further classification of static and dynamic actions are performed. For static action classification, using the pixels inside ROI of MHI, some statistical parameters such as, standard deviation and mean along both vertical and horizontal directions are investigated and found very suitable in distinguishing different classes. However, for dynamic action classification, in view of analysing each frame separately, instead of using MHI, Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based ROI detection algorithm is used which provides detail oriented silhouette of a dynamic object. In order to extract features, first centroid based ROI shifting is performed and then it is segmented into a set of rectangular regions. From the extreme values of the pixels residing inside each region of ROI, within their respective temporal segments, representative features, such as maximum, minimum and mode are computed. It is found that the proposed action recognition scheme not only offers very low computational burden but also can provide satisfactory classification performance even by using simple Euclidean distance based classifier in leave one out cross validation technique.
Measuring Changes in Health Capital

This study is aimed to estimate the value of the change in health observed in Catalonia, from 1994 to 2002. Quality-adjusted years of life (QALYs) and years of life (YOL) for genders and different ages were calculated and then transformed in monetary values. Our results shown that the health capital stock has diminished from 1994 to 2002 due to a worsening in the quality of life of the population. Different estimation procedures have been applied for revealing relevant variables that help to explain this negative result.
Effects of Unitary vs. Nonunitary State Income Taxes on Interstate Resource Allocation: Some Analytical and Simulation Results

This study examines the optimal location choice decisions of a two‐state firm in response to changing state corporate income tax rates and tax structures. Because the firm can engineer its tax liability by manipulating between‐state location of sales, property, and payroll, changes in relative state tax rates should result in the firm making such location changes. Results of a model firm simulation, examining various combinations of state tax rates and unitary vs. nonunitary tax structures, found that the firm would make interstate resource changes to minimize company‐wide state income taxes. Important findings of the study are that tax rate changes in nonunitary states may cause little or no change in resources used in that state. Indeed, in one scenario, the resulting resource flows from a tax increase are favorable to the nonunitary state, making a tax increase a win‐win situation for the state government (higher tax revenue and more economic activity). In contrast, changes in unitary state tax rates c.
The determinants of rural and urban household poverty in the North West province of South Africa

Based on standard poverty measures, the extent of poverty in the North West province is on average worse than in South Africa. For instance, the poverty gap ratio for North West is twice that of the South African average, and the FGT index is three times as high. This article therefore aims to identify the determinants of rural and urban poverty in the North West province of South Africa. Using data gathered from a survey of 593 black households across the province, probit model estimates suggest that the major significant determinants of household poverty in both rural and urban areas are education and household size. A difference between rural and urban poverty is, first, that extra female adults in a rural household raise the probability of poverty. Secondly, having a migrant (out) worker as head of the household in rural areas lowers the probability of poverty, while this does not apply to urban households. A sensitivity analysis for the robustness of the results over a range of poverty lines reveals that the impact of education is much stronger for poorer households than for more wealthy households.
Market Responses to Dividend Increases and Changes in Payout Ratios

The effect of dividends on the valuation of securities has been a controversial subject in financial research in recent years. Since Miller and Modigliani [8] demonstrated the irrelevance of dividend policy, researchers have tested and attempted to explain market price reaction to firms’ dividend decisions. Explanations of market reactions to dividend policyhave centered around information issues and tax effects. Information issues have been empirically investigated by examining market reactions to announcements of dividend changes. The effect of differential tax treatments of dividends and capital gains usually has been examined through cross-sectional regression testing the significance of dividend yield in explaining returns. Any market return study of dividends, however, should consider both the potential information effect and the tax effect.
Post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder following pediatric heart transplantation

Abstract: Immunosuppression after heart transplantation is implicated in development of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). Despite a higher prevalence of PTLD in children, there is scarce knowledge about incidence, pathophysiologic mechanisms and risk factors for PTLD in pediatric recipients of cardiac allografts. We examined retrospectively the medical records of all 143 pediatric patients (mean age 9.2 ± 6.1 yr) who received donor allografts between 1984 and 2002 and survived over 30 days. Five children (3.5%) developed PTLD over a mean follow‐up period of 41.1 ± 46.0 months. Time from transplant to diagnosis of PTLD ranged from 3.9 to 112 months (mean 48.0 ± 41.9 months). Excluding PTLD, no other malignancies were found in this population. Actuarial freedom from PTLD was 99.2%, 99.2% and 96.2% at 1, 2, and 5 yr, respectively. Children who developed PTLD were more likely (by univariate analysis) to have been Rh negative (p = 0.01), Rh mismatched (p = 0.003), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) seronegative (p = 0.001) and transplanted for congenital heart disease (p < 0.02). PTLD was associated with significant morbidity and mortality with a mean survival following diagnosis of 21.2 months. PTLD is a serious complicating outcome of cardiac transplantation that occurs in approximately 3.5% of children. Aside of immunosuppression, risk factors in this series for developing PTLD include EBV seronegativity and Rh negative status and mismatch. Non‐hematogenous malignancies are rare in light of short allograft half‐life.