Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The High-Pressure U.S. Labor Market of the 1990s

This paper examines the impact of selected labor market changes on the decline in the unemployment rate in the 1990s. The first section provides an overview of aggregate unemployment trends, inflation, and price and wage Phillips curves. The second section examines the effect of demographic changes on the unemployment rate. The third section examines the impact of the 150 percent increase in the number of men in jail or prison since 1985 on the unemployment rate. The fourth section examines the impact of evolving labor market intermediaries (namely worker profiling by the Unemployment Insurance system and the growth of the temporary help industry) on the unemployment rate. The fifth section explores whether worker bargaining power has become weaker, allowing for low unemployment and only modest wage pressure, because of worker job anxiety, the decline in union membership, or increased competitive pressures. The final section examines the impact of the tightest labor market in a generation on poverty. Our main findings are that changes in the age structure of the labor force, the growth of the male prison population, and, more speculatively, the rise of the temporary help sector, are the main labor market forces behind the low unemployment rate in the late 1990s.
Adaptive Expectations, Time-Series Models, and Analyst Forecast Revision

The process by which analysts revise quarterly earnings forecasts is analyzed and compared to the way in which several time-series models of quarterly earnings revise forecasts. A significant portion of the analyst's forecast revision is explained by the most recent one-quarter-ahead forecast error. Analyst revisions are adaptive in the same manner that single-period ahead model forecasts are adaptive. At longer horizons, the evidence is that analysts revise forecasts in the same way that autoregressive models of quarterly earnings revise and not as moving average models do.
Managing the Stress of Change in the Public Sector

Outlines some of the dramatic changes which have had an impact on public sector organizations in the United Kingdom, and the likely effects for employees. Argues that enhanced demands which have accompanied these changes create a cumulative spiral of pressures for organization members, rendering them susceptible to the adverse effects of work stress. This view is supported by a case study which outlines the experiences of one large public sector organization subject to the change process. Consequently, it is essential that the issue of stress and its management features increasingly on the agenda of efficient and effective public sector managers. Presents a practical, all‐encompassing action model, total stress management, as one approach to enable organizations and their members to cope effectively with the stress of change in the public sector.
Putative causes and consequences of MHC variation within and between locally adapted stickleback demes

Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been a source of considerable research interest, owing in large part to the growing body of evidence that they may be subject to both natural and sexual selection. However, much remains to be learned about the dynamics of MHC genes in subdivided populations, particularly those characterized by divergent ecological pressures. In this study, we attempt to disentangle the relative roles of both parasite‐mediated selection and MHC‐mediated mate choice in an open estuarine system inhabited by two parapatric, adaptively divergent threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) demes. We sequenced the putative peptide‐binding region (PBR) of an estimated four Class IIβ loci from 127 individuals, identifying 329 sequence variants (276 translated amino acid sequences). Demes differed significantly both in the frequency of MHC alleles and in the communities of helminth parasites infecting resident sticklebacks. Strong signatures of natural selection were inferred from analyses of codon substitutions, particularly in the derived (freshwater) rather than the ancestral (marine) deme. Relationships between parasite load and MHC diversity were indicative of balancing selection, but only within the freshwater deme. Signals of MHC‐mediated mate choice were weak and differed significantly between demes. Moreover, MHC‐mediated mate choice was significantly influenced by environmental salinity and appeared of secondary importance to tendencies towards assortative mating. We discuss the implications of these findings in respect to ecological adaptation and the potential demographic consequences of possible outcomes of MHC‐mediated mate choice.
Heritability of hypocalcemia at first parturition in Norwegian cattle: genetic correlations with yield and weight.

Minimum plasma calcium level around parturition and its relation to BW at parturition, milk yield, and weight change in mo 1 of lactation were studied in 334 first lactation Norwegian cows. Minimum plasma calcium level was reached 18 to 30 h postpartum. Single observations for all animals were fitted with a multitrait animal model including all genetic relationships. Heritabilities of the traits were calcium postpartum, . 11; milk yield, . 35; BW, . 65; and weight change, . 17 with standard errors about . 10. Genetic correlations between calcium postpartum and the other traits were milk yield, -. 49; BW, -. 66; and weight change, . 42 with standard errors about . 25. Environmental factors with detectable effect on hypocalcemia were age at parturition and calving season. Regression of calcium postpartum on age was -2.66 x 10(-4) mmol/L per d. Calvings shortly after the pasture season were related to higher calcium postpartum than calvings after 3 to 4 mo with indoor feeding.
Women and Men's Employment in the Recessions of the 1990S and 2000S in Sweden

The segregation hypothesis predicts that women are sheltered in recessions, since they are over-represented in the public sector and this sector is less affected by the economic cycle, than are male-dominated manufacturing and construction. Gender segregation in the labour market is strong in Sweden, especially as the local government sector is big and many women work in this sector. It could then be expected that women’s employment should be protected relative to men’s. However this has not been the case. On the one hand, employment has been lost in local government, while on the other hand women have found jobs to a greater extent than men in the private sector. This is partly because of employment transfers from local government to the private sector, due to privatisation, outsourcing, etc. But structural transformations towards a bigger private service sector and the recruitment of employees with higher education may also benefit women.
Mouse models of multiple myeloma: technologic platforms and perspectives

Murine models of human multiple myeloma (MM) are key tools for the study of disease biology as well as for investigation and selection of novel candidate therapeutics for clinical translation. In the last years, a variety of pre-clinical models have been generated to recapitulate a wide spectrum of biological features of MM. These systems range from spontaneous or transgenic models of murine MM, to subcutaneous or orthothopic xenografts of human MM cell lines in immune compromised animals, to platform allowing the engraftment of primary/bone marrow-dependent MM cells within a human bone marrow milieu to fully recapitulate human disease. Selecting the right model for specific pre-clinical research is essential for the successful completion of investigation. We here review recent and most known pre-clinical murine, transgenic and humanized models of MM, focusing on major advantages and/or weaknesses in the light of different research aims.
Saving, Growth, and Aging in Taiwan

This paper examines issues of household saving, growth. and aging in Taiwan. The Taiwanese patterns of high income growth, declines in fertility, and increases in life expectancy all have implications for life-cycle saving. We use data from fifteen consecutive household income and expenditure surveys. from 1976 to 1990, to examine whether observed profiles of consumption and saving are consistent with life-cycle theory. The patterns of consumption and saving across households of different ages and cohorts appear to be broadly consistent with a life-cycle model. However. the data also indicate that household consumption tracks income closely. and this evidence casts doubt on simple life-cycle theory.
Equilibria and Indivisibilities: Gross Substitutes and Complements

This paper examines an exchange economy with heterogeneous indivisible objects that can be substitutable or complementary. We show that a competitive equilibrium exists in such economies, provided that all the objects can be partitioned into two groups, and from the viewpoint of each agent, objects in the same group are substitutes and objects across the two groups are complements. This condition generalizes the well-known Kelso-Crawford gross substitutes condition and is called gross substitutes and complements. We also provide practical and typical examples from which substitutes and complements are both jointly observed. Copyright The Econometric Society 2006.
Corporate Political Strategies

The paper offers a comprehensive and integrative review of the current literature on corporate political strategies sharing common boundaries with finance, accounting and corporate governance. While there appears to be a heightened interest among researchers in studying the value relevance of corporate political strategies [Chen etal. (2010), Goldman etal. (2009), Cooper etal. (2010), Richter etal. (2008), Hochberg etal. (2007), de Figueiredo and Edwards (2007), Faccio and Parsley (2009), and Myers (2009) among others], interestingly, finance and corporate governance scholars have yet to embrace the research on political strategies as part of their mainstream research. Taking a micro perspective at the firm level, we review the major scholarly works in the economics, finance and management disciplines with respect to the firm attributes shaping the corporate decision to engage politically, modes of corporate political participation, and the value impact of corporate political activity. The overarching theme of the review article is to integrate diverse political economy and management paradigms of corporate political participation and rationalize the value relevance within the corporate finance and corporate governance perspective. The paper also presents focused preliminary evidence on the determinants and value impact of corporate lobbying strategies. For the sample of 5452 firm-year observations, the results indicate that while for large firms corporate lobbying may not be agency driven and may create value, for small firms, despite low shareholder rights associating with higher lobbying engagements, lobbying still relates positively to value added.
Tumescent liposuction in lipoedema yields good long‐term results

Background Lipoedema is a painful disease in women with circumscribed increased subcutaneous fatty tissue, oedema, pain and bruising. Whereas conservative methods with combined decongestive therapy (manual lymphatic drainage, compression garments) have been well established over the past 50 years, surgical therapy with tumescent liposuction has only been used for about 10 years and long‐term results are unknown.
Cortical Merging in S1 as a Substrate for Tactile Input Grouping

Abstract Perception is a reconstruction process guided by rules based on knowledge about the world. Little is known about the neural implementation of the rules of object formation in the tactile sensory system. When two close tactile stimuli are delivered simultaneously on the skin, subjects feel a unique sensation, spatially centered between the two stimuli. Voltage-sensitive dye imaging (VSDi) and electrophysiological recordings [local field potentials (LFPs) and single units] were used to extract the cortical representation of two-point tactile stimuli in the primary somatosensory cortex of anesthetized Long-Evans rats. Although layer 4 LFP responses to brief costimulation of the distal region of two digits resembled the sum of individual responses, approximately one-third of single units demonstrated merging-compatible changes. In contrast to previous intrinsic optical imaging studies, VSD activations reflecting layer 2/3 activity were centered between the representations of the digits stimulated alone. This merging was found for every tested distance between the stimulated digits. We discuss this laminar difference as evidence that merging occurs through a buildup stream and depends on the superposition of inputs, which increases with successive stages of sensory processing. These findings show that layers 2/3 are involved in the grouping of sensory inputs. This process that could be inscribed in the cortical computing routine and network organization is likely to promote object formation and implement perception rules.
Social and behavioural science education in UK medical schools: current practice and future directions

Introduction The increasing importance accorded the social and behavioural sciences in medical education presents opportunities for developing new and innovative forms of teaching and learning in this field. Yet social and behavioural scientists often feel isolated and marginalized. This research was designed to build a network of such practitioners to share and compare current practice, and to develop better models and resources.
Iterative distributed outlier detection for wireless sensor networks: Equilibrium and convergence analysis

This paper analyzes a distributed outlier detection mechanism for wireless sensor networks. Outliers are data produced by sensors which are corrupted in a way that cannot simply be explained by the effects of the measurement noise. The outlier detection mechanism assumes some generic test to be available, which is only able to determine whether a set of data contains outliers, without being able to determine which data are outliers. The focus of this paper is on the equilibrium and stability analysis of the proposed iterative distributed outlier detection mechanism. Some sufficient conditions to be satisfied by the generic outlier detection test are established. Simulation results are then provided for an outlier model.
Music Perception with Cochlear Implants: A Review

The acceptance of cochlear implantation as an effective and safe treatment for deafness has increased steadily over the past quarter century. The earliest devices were the first implanted prostheses found to be successful in compensating partially for lost sensory function by direct electrical stimulation of nerves. Initially, the main intention was to provide limited auditory sensations to people with profound or total sensorineural hearing impairment in both ears. Although the first cochlear implants aimed to provide patients with little more than awareness of environmental sounds and some cues to assist visual speech-reading, the technology has advanced rapidly. Currently, most people with modern cochlear implant systems can understand speech using the device alone, at least in favorable listening conditions. In recent years, an increasing research effort has been directed towards implant users’ perception of nonspeech sounds, especially music. This paper reviews that research, discusses the published experimental results in terms of both psychophysical observations and device function, and concludes with some practical suggestions about how perception of music might be enhanced for implant recipients in the future. The most significant findings of past research are: (1) On average, implant users perceive rhythm about as well as listeners with normal hearing; (2) Even with technically sophisticated multiple-channel sound processors, recognition of melodies, especially without rhythmic or verbal cues, is poor, with performance at little better than chance levels for many implant users; (3) Perception of timbre, which is usually evaluated by experimental procedures that require subjects to identify musical instrument sounds, is generally unsatisfactory; (4) Implant users tend to rate the quality of musical sounds as less pleasant than listeners with normal hearing; (5) Auditory training programs that have been devised specifically to provide implant users with structured musical listening experience may improve the subjective acceptability of music that is heard through a prosthesis; (6) Pitch perception might be improved by designing innovative sound processors that use both temporal and spatial patterns of electric stimulation more effectively and precisely to overcome the inherent limitations of signal coding in existing implant systems; (7) For the growing population of implant recipients who have usable acoustic hearing, at least for low-frequency sounds, perception of music is likely to be much better with combined acoustic and electric stimulation than is typical for deaf people who rely solely on the hearing provided by their prostheses.
An empirical study on continual usage intention of microblogging: the case of Sina

Purpose – Sina Microblog is the most popular microblog in China. The purpose of this research is to explore the factors that influence Sina microbloggers' intention to continue using this platform.Design/methodology/approach – This research proposes the effects of user satisfaction based on perceived usefulness, experiential value and knowledge sharing motivation and community norm on continual usage intention.Findings – The results suggest that continual usage intention is directly affected by perceived usefulness, experiential value, egoism, satisfaction and community norm. Theoretical and practical implications are considered.Originality/value – This paper is one of the earliest empirical studies in China to explore why Chinese consumers intend to rather than actually use Sina Microblog.
Real Exchange Rate Persistence and Monetary Policy Rules

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effects of alternative monetary rules on real exchange rate persistence. Using a two country stochastic dynamic general equilibrium with nominal price stickiness and local currency pricing, we will show how the persistence of PPP deviations can be related to a monetary theory of these deviations. There is no relationship of proportionality between the time during which prices remain sticky and the persistence of the response of the real exchange rate: high nominal price rigidity is not sufficient, per se, in generating any persistence following a monetary shock. Moreover, we emphasize the role of interest rates smoothing policies and relative price stickiness within countries in understanding the relationship between the real exchange rate and monetary shocks. With reasonable parameters values, a wide range of monetary policy rules can generate real exchange rate autocorrelations around . 8, close to the one observed in the data.
The 1990-91 recession in historical perspective

Nearly a decade has passed since the last U.S. recession ended, and memories of prior recessionary experiences may now have grown dim. The objective of this article is twofold: to provide a concise review of post-World War II recessions, with an eye to identifying their most distinctive features as well as their common elements; and to investigate the extent to which knowledge of a recessionary period provides insight into the subsequent expansion. ; The article’s conclusions are necessarily tentative as the date the 1990-91 recession ended had not been officially designated at the time of its writing. Even though this recession was characterized by several distinctive and still puzzling features, this is not uncommon for recessions. This article finds that, contrary to common assertion, the severity of a recession provides little guidance to the course of the subsequent expansion.
Basics of TGF-β and Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. The number of diagnoses per year equals the number of deaths per year, making it the deadliest of all malignancies. Modern advances and breakthroughs in molecular oncology have allowed researchers to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of this disease. The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) pathway is one of the signaling systems that has been identified as a major contributor. TGF-β plays a paradoxical role as both a tumor suppressor and a tumor promoter in pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this review is to provide the practicing clinician a thorough review of this molecule and its associated signaling partners in the context of its duplicitous role and behavior in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Central Bank and Government in a Speculative Attack Model

This paper studies the interaction between monetary and fiscal authorities while investors are coordinating on a speculative attack. The authorities want to achieve specific targets for output and inflation but also to avoid a regime change (i.e. sovereign default). They use the traditional policy instruments. The model examines the informational role of simultaneous implementation of monetary and fiscal policies in coordination environments. While endogenous information generated by the intervention of one policy maker has been shown to lead to multiple equilibria, we show that if the actions chosen by the central bank and the government not only deliver information to the markets but also influence the fundamentals of the economy, when the authorities have a strong incentive to preserve the status quo over other objectives, then there is no equilibrium in which investors' strategies depend monotonically on their private information on fundamentals.
How Can Psychological Theory Help Cities Increase Walking and Bicycling?

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Planners need a clear understanding of what influences walking and bicycling behavior to develop effective strategies to increase use of those modes. Transportation practitioners have largely focused on infrastructure and the built environment, although researchers have found that attitudes are also very important. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) suggests that behavior such as active transportation results from a mixture of personal attitudes toward these modes, subjective norms, and a person's perceived behavioral control, giving us a way to conceptualize psychological factors that influence travel behavior. Using data from a random phone survey of three neighborhoods in Portland (OR), we test whether TPB explains the possible causal relationships among the built environment, socio-demographics, and active transportation. We find that both the built environment and demographics influence cycling and walking, although indirectly, by influencing attitudes and perceived behavioral control. Moreover, it is important to look at bicycle-specific infrastructure separately from other environmental characteristics. For example, relatively flat neighborhoods with well-connected, low-traffic streets and multiple destinations were associated with more frequent bicycling, but striped bike lanes were not. Takeaway for practice: Practitioners cannot rely solely on changing the environment to increase bicycling. Programs such as public events and individualized marketing that influence attitudes may be necessary to reinforce positive environmental features. This is particularly true for women and older adults. Moreover, adding bike lanes to an otherwise poor bicycling environment may not increase bicycling in any significant way.