Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Change at the Checkout: Tracing the Impact of a Process Innovation

Barcode scanners, introduced in the early 1970s, were a foundational process innovation in the grocery supply chain. By 1984 scanners had been installed in 10% of food stores in the U.S. Difference-in-difference analysis of city-level price data shows that scanners reduced prices of groceries by about 1.4% in their first decade. The results are consistent with prior estimates of labor saving by scanners and better information available to stores. Early adopters and adopters in states that imposed fewer restrictions on complementary process innovations contributed disproportionately to the price decreases.
Choosing Among Alternative Long‐Run Event‐Study Techniques

This paper reviews the long-run event-study debate by outlining the strengths and weakness of the most commonly used alternative techniques. The fist part of the discussion highlights that prior literature has failed to provide a single risk-adjusted model of long-run abnormal returns with no biases. Subsequently, the paper provides guidance on how one can choose among pertinent alternative techniques. As a conclusion, researchers ought to choose among alternative techniques after considering issues such as (i) the nature of dataset and market of interest, (ii) the event type (regulatory or corporate), (iii) returns’ time-interval, (iv) association of the event with accounting data, (v) sample characteristics and prior evidence regarding similar events, as well as (vi) risk changes following the event. Robustness tests are essential, while the road for further research regarding the appropriate technique(s) is open.
The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax

The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax Arnold C. Harberger 215 Externalities, Welfare, and the Theory of Games Otto A. Davis and Andrew Whinston 241 Business Cycles, Residential Constrution Cycles, and the Mortgage Market William W. Alberts 263 Marshall's Principles after Guilebaud George 1. Stigler 282 The Saving-Wealth Relation and the Measure of the Real Value of Assets Syed Ahmad 287 Contracted Research and the Case for Big Business William L. Balduuin 294 Weinstein on Featherbedding: A Comment N. J. Sinter 299 Book Reviews (See inside front cover) 302 Books Received 319
Sustaining High Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Knowledge and the Structure of the Economy

This paper discusses the role of knowledge and the structure of the economy in sustaining high economic growth, with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. A model of growth, involving learning from different activities, is proposed. Within the context of that model, a discussion is provided on some of the recent issues and debates around structural change of economies, and in particular on the measures for measuring the change. Special attention is placed on the recent measures such as Hausmann et al.'s (2007) EXPY and Lall's (1998) technology measures and the popular Herfindahl and Revealed Comparative Advantage measures used for analysing the change in export mixes. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.
Biological effects of helium-neon laser irradiation on normal and wounded human skin fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate a number of structural, cellular, and molecular responses to heliumneon (632.8 nm) laser irradiation following a single dose of 0.5, 2.5, 5, or 10 J/cm2 on normal and wounded human skin fibroblasts. BACKGROUND DATA Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is a form of phototherapy, involving the application of low-power monochromatic and coherent light to injuries and lesions to stimulate healing. 1 This therapy has been successfully used for pain attenuation and to induce wound healing in nonhealing defects. 2 METHODS Changes in normal and wounded fibroblast cell morphology were evaluated by light microscopy. Cellular parameters evaluated cell proliferation, cell viability, and cytotoxicity while molecular parameters assessed the extent of DNA damage. RESULTS The results clearly demonstrate that LLLT has an effect on normal and wounded(3) human skin fibroblasts. The parameters showed that doses of 0.5, 2.5, 5, and 10 J/cm2 were sufficient to produce measurable changes in fibroblast cells. CONCLUSION A dose of 10 J/cm2 appeared to produce a significant amount of cellular and molecular damage, which could be an important consideration for other therapies, such as photodynamic therapy.
Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance in the UK

The relationship between HRM and performance was explored in 366 UK companies using objective and subjective performance measures and cross‐sectional and longitudinal data. Using objective measures of performance, greater use of HRM is associated with lower labour turnover and higher profit per employee but not higher productivity. After controlling for previous years’ performance, the association ceases to be significant. Using subjective performance estimates, there is a strong association between HRM and both productivity and financial performance. The study therefore confirms the association between HRM and performance but fails to show that HRM causes higher performance.
The role of palliative chemotherapy in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND Hospitalized patients with advanced cancer often have a poor performance status, which is considered a relative contraindication to cytotoxic chemotherapy. We investigated outcomes in hospitalized solid tumour oncology patients who received palliative chemotherapy (pct). METHODS With ethics approval, we performed a single-institution chart review of all patients hospitalized on our oncology unit who received pct between April 2008 and January 2010. Patient demographics, reasons for admission, cancer type, prior therapy, and administered chemotherapy were recorded. The primary endpoint was median survival from date of inpatient chemotherapy until death or last known follow up. We also investigated place of discharge and whether patients received additional therapy. RESULTS During the study period, 199 inpatients received pct. Median age was 61 years; 59% of the patients were women. Most had been admitted with dyspnea (31%) or pain (29%) as the dominant symptom. Common cancers represented were breast (23%), small-cell lung cancer (sclc, 22%), non-small-cell lung cancer (nsclc, 16%), and colorectal cancer (9%). Most patients (67%) were receiving first-line chemotherapy. Median overall survival duration was 4.5 months, and the 6-month survival rate was 41%. The longest and shortest survivals were seen in the sclc and nsclc groups (7.3 and 2.5 months respectively). Factors significantly associated with shorter survival were baseline hypoalbuminemia and therapy beyond the first line. In this cohort, 77% of patients were discharged home, and 72% received further chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Despite a short median survival, many patients are well enough to be discharged home and to receive further chemotherapy. The development of risk models to predict a higher chance of efficacy will have practical clinical utility.
Are Traditional Cooperatives an Endangered species? About Shrinking Satisfaction, Involvement and Trust

Several researchers, who have observed that traditional cooperatives have difficulties in modern markets, mention a number of behavioral concepts characterizing the members. This study attempts to empirically test these concepts. It is based on a survey among members of a large traditional Swedish cooperative. The members perceive the cooperative to be so large and complex that they have difficulties understanding the operations. Hence, they become dissatisfied and uninvolved, and they mistrust the leadership. Moreover, they do not believe that the cooperative can be remodeled to strengthen member control. The findings support the behavioral explanations presented in prior studies.
The Effect of World Income on the Economic Performance of African Countries

This paper examines how the output growths of 37 African countries’ are affected by the output growth of the world. The connection between the world output growth and that of each African country is represented by a block recursive VAR model allowing that world output growth affects each African countries’ output but not vice versa. The response of each African country’s output growth is analyzed when one standard deviation shock is given to the world’s output growth. Our results indicate that in 6 of the 37 countries, there exists a statistically significant and permanent effect for four periods (years), and the effect is positive for 5 of them. The statistically significant effect of the shock is observed starting from the first period for 16 countries, of which the effect is positive in 13. The initial (contemporaneous) effect of the shock can be observed in the output growths of 13 African countries of which the effect is positive in 9. For the output growths of 9 countries, a statistically significant effect could not be observed.
Superpixels of RGB-D Images for Indoor Scenes Based on Weighted Geodesic Driven Metric

Serving as a key step for applications of image processing, superpixel generation has been attracting increasing attention. RGB-D images are used pervasively in scenes reconstruction and representation, benefiting from their contained depth data. In this paper, we present a novel framework for generating superpixels focus on RGB-D images of indoor scenes, based on a weighted geodesic driven metric that combines both color and geometric information. In particular, taking into account the unique structures of indoor scenarios, we first denoise the given RGB-D image, and construct the corresponding triangular mesh. A new weighted geodesic driven metric is defined by introducing a weight function constrained with normal vectors and colors. Under this metric, an energy function is defined to measure our over-segmentation of the triangular mesh, by optimizing which, we can acquire an optimal over-segmentation of the triangular mesh with object boundaries respected, such that vertices in each sub-region have similar geometric structures and color intensities. Re-mapping the over-segmentation of the triangular mesh to the RGB-D image results in desired superpixels. We perform extensive experiments on a large-scale database of RGB-D images to verify the efficacy of our algorithm. The results show that our algorithm has considerable advantages over the existing state-of-the-art methods.
CD137‐induced apoptosis is independent of CD95

CD95 (APO‐1/Fas) and CD137 (ILA/4‐1BB) are members of the tumour necrosis factor receptor family, and both are involved in induction of apoptosis in lymphocytes. Contrary to the case of CD95, apoptosis by CD137 is caused by cross‐linking of the respective ligand rather than the receptor. Nothing is known so far about the mechanism of CD137‐induced cell death. Here, we show that immobilized CD137 protein induces expression of CD95 in resting primary T and B lymphocytes. However, induction of apoptosis by CD137 is independent of CD95, because: (1) antagonistic anti‐CD95 antibody fragments do not block CD137‐induced apoptosis; and (2) CD137, but not anti‐CD95, can induce apoptosis in resting lymphocytes.
Breastfeeding, Wage Labor, and insufficient milk in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal

This article presents a case study of breastfeeding mothers who are working as carpet-makers in peri-urban Kathmandu, Nepal. A sample of women surveyed about their current infant feeding practices revealed that half of the infants aged three to four months had been introduced to non-breast milk foods and liquids. During in-depth interviews some mothers explained that they supplemented breastfeeding with either milk or solids if they felt that they did not have enough breast milk for their infants. Reports of insufficient milk (IM) among these Nepali women is discussed within the larger context of IM as a worldwide phenomenon that is often associated with the cessation of breastfeeding and the switch to bottle-feeding based on commercial milk products. On average, the women in this study breastfed their infants until the latter were approximately three years of age. A status quo method for determining median duration of breastfeeding indicates that there is no significant difference in the duration of breastfeeding between mothers who work in carpet-making factories and those who spin wool at home. It is argued that reports of IM in this setting are not associated with the abandonment of breastfeeding, for a number of reasons including: the cultural approbation of breastfeeding; the low usage of baby bottles among peri-urban mothers, and the flexible labor practices of the carpet-making industry.
Entrepreneurial Orientation and Growth of SMEs: A Causal Model

The literature existing on entrepreneurship implicitly assumes that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and growth orientation are positively related with each other. However, few studies, whether theoretical or empirical, analyze such relation in an explicit manner. Instead, most previous works have focused on the EO–performance relation, even though growth and profitability do not always correlate positively. This work has been carried out on a sample of 434 SMEs, and contributes two novelties with regard to previous research: (1) the analysis focuses on the EO–growth relation; and (2) it uses a flexible method (Partial Least Squares) which allows the study of several simultaneous relationships. The results reveal the complexity of the relationships between EO, strategy, environment, resources and growth.
Culture and classroom communication: A case study of Asian students in New Zealand language schools.

This paper reports findings of a qualitative study conducted from December 2002 to March 2003 at two New Zealand English language schools. Forty Asian students participated in the survey. The study reveals that, in spite of the positive learning experiences in the schools, there also exists a significant mismatch with Asian students’ learning expectations. The recurring themes that reflect Asian students’ negative perceptions and experiences relate to issues of teacher competence, teacher quality, teaching approaches, course content and learning materials. It was found that the interactive teaching methods adopted by New Zealand teachers are culturally incompatible with Asian students’ learning conceptualisations. The findings suggest that some teachers’ adoption of the communicative or interactive teaching approach led to Asian students’ negative learning experience in New Zealand. The paper recommends that New Zealand teachers develop three sets of interrelated skills in order to cope with the complex ESOL teaching situations and to ensure quality teaching: linguistic skills, pedagogical skills and intercultural communication skills.
Marriage guidance counselling in general practice

Marital disharmony is a common social problem which general practitioners meet in various guises. Although some GPs are active counsellors, the best known form of counselling in the community is that provided by the Marriage Guidance Council. In 1977 The Marriage Guidance Council traced 50 schemes where counsellors worked from doctor’s surgeries or from Health Centres.1
A Direct Determination of the Orientation Parameters in the Collinearity Equations

Collinearity equations provide an essential basis for photogrammetry applications in which the observables in the image and object spaces are related within an imaging system. It has been routine practice to determine the exterior orientation parameters in these equations using observed control points. However, due to the nonlinearity of the collinearity equations, an appropriate set of approximate values for the orientation parameters must be previously given in order to initiate the parameter estimation procedure and result in a converged solution. In this letter, a quick algorithm for determining the orientation parameters is proposed based on the newly developed noniterative solutions to linear transformations technique. This algorithm does not require auxiliary attitude information (e.g., from inertial navigation system (INS) measurements or trajectory data), and a direct solution for the orientation parameters can be obtained using a closed-form expression. It is then demonstrated, in a real case study, that the proposed approach is capable of producing a set of orientation parameter estimates with a sufficient level of quality to support rigorous image analyses.
The Impact of Audit Committee Existence and Audit Committee Meeting Frequency on the External Audit: Perceptions of Australian Auditors

This article examines the impact of audit committee existence, the frequency of audit committee meetings and the auditor's attendance at meetings on aspects of the external audit. Using an experimental design, we find that the audit committee, the frequency of committee meetings and the auditor's attendance at meetings are significantly associated with a reduction in perceived audit risk. The impact on audit efficiency and audit testing is perceived to be minimal. Manager and partner hours are greater when meetings are more frequent and the partner attends all meetings. The audit committee is expected to provide assistance in resolving conflicts with management and to lead to some improvement in overall audit quality. In neither case is this affected by meeting frequency or the auditor's attendance at meetings. Participants expect the existence of an audit committee to lead to an increase in audit fees, particularly when meetings are more frequent and the auditor is required to attend meetings. Reasons given for any fee increase relate to the additional preparation for and attendance at meetings.
Rate detection for variable-rate data transmission in CDMA communication systems

Variable-rate data transmission is one of the key techniques to effectively reduce the mutual interference and as a result increase the link capacity in direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems. To avoid frame overhead, a blind rate detection scheme that does not explicitly transmit any rate information of transmitted data has been proposed for use in the third-generation DS-CDMA cellular communication systems. In this thesis, a novel joint rate detection and data decoding algorithm (JRDDDA) for variable-rate data transmission in DS-CDMA systems is proposed. Its performance in terms of frame error rate and false rate detection rate is investigated by means of computer simulation in three different, standard channels; namely, the additive white Gaussian noise channel, the frequency-flat Rayleigh fading channel, and the frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channel. The effect of channel estimation error on the system performance is also investigated in the considered channels. Moreover, a novel joint source and channel coding based rate detection algorithm (JSCCRDA) is proposed, which exploits rate sequence redundancy for combating the effect of the noisy channels. A first-order Markov process is used to model the rate sequence from the vocoder's output in the case of voice transmission. An instantaneous Maximum a posteriori algorithm is employed in our joint source and channel decoder due to the delay constraint on real-time cellular communication systems. The proposed JSCC-RDA is applied to two well-known rate detection algorithms and the JRDDDA as well for performance improvement in terms of false rate detection rate.
Vitamin E supplementation and oxidative status of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and lymphocyte subsets in hemodialysis patients.

Increased oxidative damage to cell membrane constituents causes profound changes in the membrane cytoarchitecture and modifications of the membrane physiological properties, e.g., the ability to respond to hormonal stimuli. In uremic patients receiving intermittent hemodialysis, a metabolic block of the phosphate pentose shunt has been described. This leads to insufficient detoxication of the hydroxyl radicals formed within the cells and therefore to increased oxidative damage to the polyunsaturated fatty acid constituents of the cell membranes. Vitamin E is known to reduce this oxidative damage and its harmful effects. We studied vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol acetate) administration in 10 chronically uremic patients receiving intermittent hemodialysis for positive effects on cell membrane-receptor response. The patients were studied before and after treatment for the extent of oxidative damage in peripheral mononuclear cells and for response to monoclonal antibodies to specific markers of T-lymphocyte subsets. After vitamin E treatment, oxidative damage decreased, and the membranes of peripheral mononuclear cells contained greater amounts of some unsaturated fatty acids. This is in agreement with a modification of the membrane phenotype markers of T-lymphocyte subsets and seems to confirm in vivo that changes in membrane structure first induced by increased oxidative damage due to the blockage of the phosphate pentose shunt can be reduced by the antioxidant action of vitamin E, which significantly influences the expression of membrane determinants.
New Method for the Simulation of Coherent K-distributed Clutter

In this study, a new method for the simulation of coherent K-distributed clutter is presented. This method is based on the principle of each quadrature component of K-distributed clutter can be modeled, exactly or approximately, by a weighted sum of products of two independent Gaussian variables. This method can generate correlated coherent clutter with arbitrary complex ACF (autocorrelation function). At the same time, compared with the classic methods ZMNL (zero memory nonlinear) and SIRP (spherically invariant random process), it doesn't need solving nonlinear equations, so the algorithm complexity is decreased dramatically
Social Value Orientation: Related to Empathy and the Ability to Read the Mind in the Eyes

This study explores correlates of social value orientation, a personality trait that reflects a stable individual difference in the way people evaluate outcomes for themselves and others in situations of interdependence. Previous findings (e.g., the triangle hypothesis) have indicated that people with a prosocial orientation tend to view their interacting partners as having heterogeneous social motives, whereas people with a proself orientation tend to believe all people are alike and selfish. Consistent with this idea that people vary in their perception of other's social motives, the data in this study indicate that a prosocial orientation correlated positively with the ability to adopt another person's point of view and infer mental states from eye gazes. These social skills correlated negatively with an individualistic orientation.