Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
When Betrayal Aversion Meets Loss Aversion : The Effect of Economic Downturn on Internal Control System Choices

Previous academic research has documented that people experience disutility from potentially being exploited by others beyond what this exploitation may do to their wealth. Such a tendency was labeled as the demand for accountability in accounting or more broadly as betrayal aversion in other fields such as sociology. Since the environment is not static for a decision maker, it is important to understand not only that betrayal aversion exists but also how/if its impact on individual decision making varies in response to environmental changes. In this study, we investigate if changed economic conditions (i.e., an economic downturn or upturn) would affect the level of betrayal aversion and its impact on a principal’s internal control system choices. The results of our experiment suggest that while the level of betrayal aversion does not change with changed economic conditions, its relative importance on principals’ control system choice decreases (does not change) in an economic downturn (upturn). These findings are consistent with the notion that loss aversion dominates betrayal aversion in control system choices when decision makers are facing an economic downturn. This study suggests that the initial decision motivated by betrayal aversion cannot be assumed to be unaltered when the environment changes.
Social Protection of Older People

Social protection is a major arena of government activity aimed at ensuring that vulnerable population groups receive appropriate and effective public support to ensure their financial security and to safeguard their health. However, despite the growth and extent of social protection programs in both developed and developing countries, most emerging economies have nascent systems and only a small portion of all such efforts address the specific vulnerabilities and needs of older people. This paper (a) discusses the vulnerabilities of older people and the benefits of crafting social programs to address them; (b) describes the nature of social protection and the forms it can take to address those vulnerabilities; (c) reports descriptive evidence on the availability and use of social protection programs; and (d) delineates steps that can be taken to remedy the shortfalls experienced by older people.
Prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C virus infection in the US military: a seroepidemiologic survey of 21,000 troops.

Because of a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (10-20%) among veterans seeking care in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, current US military forces were evaluated for HCV infection. Banked serum samples were randomly selected from military personnel serving in 1997 and were tested for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV). Overall prevalence of anti-HCV among 10,000 active-duty personnel was 0.48% (5/1,000 troops); prevalence increased with age from 0.1% among military recruits and active-duty personnel aged <30 years to 3.0% among troops aged >/=40 years. Prevalence among 2,000 Reservists and active-duty troops was similar. Based on sequential serum samples from 7,368 active-duty personnel (34,020 person-years of observation), annual incidence of infection was 2/10,000. Of 81 HCV RNA-positive troops for whom genotype was determined, genotypes 1a (63%) and 1b (22%) predominated, as in the civilian population. These data indicate that HCV infection risk among current military forces is lower than in VA studies and the general civilian population aged <40 years. The low level of HCV infection may be attributed to infrequent injection drug use in the military due to mandatory testing for illicit drugs prior to induction and throughout military service.
Unification neural networks: unification by error-correction learning

We show that the conventional first-order algorithm of unification can be simulated by finite artificial neural networks with one layer of neurons. In these unification neural networks, the unification algorithm is performed by error-correction learning. Each time-step of adaptation of the network corresponds to a single iteration of the unification algorithm. We present this result together with the library of learning functions and examples fully formalised in MATLAB Neural Network Toolbox.
Nanotoxicology of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

This review discusses recent advances in the synthesis, characterization and toxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles obtained mainly through biogenic (green) processes. The in vitro and in vivo toxicities of these oxides are discussed including a consideration of the factors important for safe use of these nanomaterials. The toxicities of different metal oxide nanoparticles are compared. The importance of biogenic synthesized metal oxide nanoparticles has been increasing in recent years; however, more studies aimed at better characterizing the potent toxicity of these nanoparticles are still necessary for nanosafely considerations and environmental perspectives. In this context, this review aims to inspire new research in the design of green approaches to obtain metal oxide nanoparticles for biomedical and technological applications and to highlight the critical need to fully investigate the nanotoxicity of these particles.
Bayesian Classification With Gaussian Processes

We consider the problem of assigning an input vector to one of m classes by predicting P(c|x) for c=1,. ,m. For a two-class problem, the probability of class one given x is estimated by /spl sigma/(y(x)), where /spl sigma/(y)=1/(1+e/sup -y/). A Gaussian process prior is placed on y(x), and is combined with the training data to obtain predictions for new x points. We provide a Bayesian treatment, integrating over uncertainty in y and in the parameters that control the Gaussian process prior the necessary integration over y is carried out using Laplace's approximation. The method is generalized to multiclass problems (m>2) using the softmax function. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method on a number of datasets.
Safety and efficacy of single-agent lenalidomide in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone is effective for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (MM); however, toxicities from dexamethasone can be dose limiting. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide monotherapy in patients with relapsed and refractory MM. Patients (N = 222) received lenalidomide 30 mg/day once daily (days 1-21 every 28 days) until disease progression or intolerance. Response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), and safety were assessed. Overall, 67% of patients had received 3 or more prior treatment regimens. Partial response or better was reported in 26% of patients, with minimal response 18%. There was no difference between patients who had received 2 or fewer versus 3 or more prior treatment regimens (45% vs 44%, respectively). Median values for TTP, PFS, and OS were 5.2, 4.9, and 23.2 months, respectively. The most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were neutropenia (60%), thrombocytopenia (39%), and anemia (20%), which proved manageable with dose reduction. Grade 3 or 4 febrile neutropenia occurred in 4% of patients. Lenalidomide monotherapy is active in relapsed and refractory MM with acceptable toxicities. These data support treatment with single-agent lenalidomide, as well as its use in steroid-sparing combination approaches. The study is registered at http://www.clinicaltrials. gov as NCT00065351.
Growth with imported resources: On the sustainability of U.S. growth and foreign debt

We provide a growth model with imported resources and foreign debt accumulation providing the basis for two questions and regression equations. 1) Under what conditions do growth rates of per capita income remain positive if imported inputs such as oil have increasing real prices? 2) Is accumulation of foreign debt driven by a current account deficit of which two percent of the GDP stem from oil imports, sustainable? For both questions we provide estimates for the USA with the following results. Oil price growth rates have only a marginal impact on those of GDP per capita as long as they exceed inflation rates by not much more than they did in the past. The US foreign debt/GDP ratio follows an unstable difference equation and therefore is not sustainable. We briefly discuss possible future stabilization through the market and through policies.
Criminal Justice in America

Table of Contents: Part I: CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. 1. The Criminal Justice System. 2. Crime and Crime Causation. 3. Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law. Part II: POLICE. 4. Police. 5. Policing: Contemporary Issues and Challenges. 6. Police and Law. Part III: COURTS. 7. Courts and Adjudication 8. Pretrial Procedures, Plea Bargaining, and the Criminal Trial. 9. Punishment and Sentencing. Part IV: CORRECTIONS. 10. Corrections. 11. Incarceration and Prison Society. 12. Probation and Intermediate Sanctions. Part V: SPECIAL ISSUES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE. 13. Reentry into the Community. 14. Technology and Criminal Justice. 15. Juvenile Justice.
The Pricing Effect of Certification on Syndicated Loans

To verify if a delegated monitor can certify its ability to perform its assigned tasks, we test whether syndicated loans in which a larger share of the facility is retained by the arranger have lower interest rates. For a large sample of syndicated loans in over 80 countries we find that this certification effect exists and is greater for facilities characterized by greater due diligence and monitoring efforts. Further, for listed companies the announcement effect of the new loan on the stock price is an increasing function of the portions of the loan retained by the arranger.
1 KNOWLEDGE AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN HRM PRACTICES AND INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY ( PAPER EN PRENSA : REVISTA HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT )

The objective of this paper is to test how HRM practices and employees’ knowledge influence the development of innovative capabilities, and by extension, firm’s performance. Results confirm that HRM practices are not directly associated with innovation unless they take into account employees’ knowledge. Specifically, our analyses establish a mediating role for the uniqueness of knowledge between collaborative HRM practices and innovative activity, a positive influence of knowledgebased HRM practices on valuable knowledge and a positive contribution of innovations to the company’s profit. Hypotheses are tested in a sample of firms from the most innovative Spanish industries through structural equation modelling.
Novel Compounds That Interact with Both Leukotriene B4 Receptors and Vanilloid TRPV1 Receptors

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of a series of novel compounds with leukotriene B4 receptors (BLT) and vanilloid receptor (TRPV1). First, we characterized leukotriene B4 (LTB4) ethanolamide. In guinea pig isolated lung parenchyma, LTB4 ethanolamide antagonized the contractile action of LTB4 with an apparent KB value of 7.28 nM. Using a Boyden chamber assay, we demonstrated that this compound stimulated human neutrophil migration in a similar manner to LTB4 but with lower efficacy. In rat TRPV1 (rTRPV1)-expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, LTB4 and LTB4 ethanolamide acted as low-efficacy agonists, increasing intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in a capsazepine-sensitive manner. These results prompted us to hypothesize that a molecule may possess pharmacophores such that it is capable of dual antagonism of BLT and TRPV1 receptors. Two novel compounds, N-{2-fluoro-4-[3-(11 hydroxyheptadec-8-enyl)-thioureiomethyl]-phenyl}-methanesulfonamide (O-3367) and N-{4-[3-(11 hydroxyheptadec-8-enyl)-thioureio-methyl]-phenyl}-methanesulfonamide (O-3383), were synthesized. In human neutrophils, both compounds acted as antagonists, significantly attenuating the BLT receptor-mediated ability of LTB4 to induce migration, with pIC50 values of 7.22 ± 0.17 and 5.95 ± 0.16, respectively. In rTRPV1-expressing CHO cells, they caused a significant rightward shift in the log concentration-response curve for the TRPV1 receptor agonist capsaicin (3-methoxy-4-hydroxy)benzyl-8-methyl-6-nonenamide). In DRG neurons O-3367 significantly attenuated the capsaicin-induced increases in [Ca2+]i with a pIC50 value of 5.94 ± 0.004. O-3367 and O-3383 represent novel structural templates for generating compounds possessing dual antagonism at BLT and TRPV1 receptors. In view of the crucial role of both TRPV1 and BLT receptors in the pathophysiology of inflammatory conditions, such compounds may betoken a novel class of highly effective therapeutics.
Child Labor, Crop Shocks, and Credit Constraints

This paper examines the relationship between household income shocks and child labor. In particular, we investigate the extent to which transitory income shocks lead to increases in child labor and whether household access to credit mitigates the effects of these shocks. Using panel data from a survey in Tanzania, we find that both relationships are significant. Our results suggest that credit constraints play a role in explaining child labor and consequently that child labor is inefficient, but we also discuss alternative interpretations.
Consumers' motivation for eating free-range meat or less meat

The present paper analyzed the motivational orientations of consumers who choose to eat (1) small portions of meat or (2) ethically distinctive meat, such as free-range meat, in relation to the motivational orientations of their opposites. Going beyond the conventional approach to consumer behavior, our work builds on recent insights in motivational psychology about the ways in which people may approach matches or avoid mismatches to a desired end-state. This provides a scientific basis for the aim to foster more sustainable food consumption and production patterns. Our approach involves a systematic analysis of consumers' goal orientations regarding meat choices in terms of their concerns with obtaining positive outcomes (i.e. promotion focus on good nutrition) and avoiding negative outcomes (i.e. prevention focus on moral and health aspects of eating). We examined how a sample of Dutch consumers (n = 939) described their chronic goal orientations regarding food, their own meat choices and, about two weeks later, their promotionand prevention-oriented associations favoring either small portions of meat and free-range meat or their opposites. Largely in line with our hypotheses we found that the meat choices of consumers with a chronic prevention orientation were often motivated by rejecting unacceptable alternatives from their choice set. They saw "eating small portions of meat" as a match and avoided the mismatch of "large portions". Also, those of them who used to eat free-range meat considered this behavior a match and eating "meat produced by intensive farming" a mismatch. Conversely, the meat choices of consumers with a chronic promotion orientation were often motivated by choosing the best alternatives from their choice set. This was in particular relevant for their choice between "free-range meat" and "meat produced by intensive farming". Accordingly, choosing a small portion of meat was often approached with a prevention orientation and choosing free-range meat with either a prevention or a promotion orientation. These differences in motivational orientation underline that the pursuit of sustainability requires careful consideration of not just undesirable but also desirable end-states. IVM Working Paper: I. 07/02 Date: December 2007
Radiation performance and profile comparison of all-dielectric phase-corrected electromagnetic bandgap resonator antennas and hyperbolic lens antennas

Recent research on the phase correction of classical electromagnetic bandgap resonator antennas (ERAs) has proved that their radiation performance can be significantly improved using phase-correcting structures (PCSs). Since lens antennas have some similarities, this work compares their far-field radiation performance and total height with phase-corrected ERAs. For this purpose, a previously reported all-dielectric phase-corrected ERA [1] is compared with eight lens antennas with different focal lengths. Each lens antenna consists of a hyperbolic lens and a patch feed antenna. For fair comparison, each lens has the same physical aperture area and is made out of the same material as those of the PCS. Further, both lens antennas and ERAs are fed by the same microstrip patch antenna. It was found that that the phase-corrected ERA has a higher directivity and better side-lobe levels, and is shorter, than all lens antennas. The lens antenna with the closest directivity to the phase-corrected ERA is 93% taller than the phase-corrected ERA. Even the shortest lens antenna is slightly taller than the phase-corrected ERA and its directivity is 4.16 dB less than that of the phase-corrected ERA.
Entropy of semiclassical measures in dimension 2

We study the asymptotic properties of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian in the case of a compact Riemannian surface of Anosov type. We show that the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy of a semiclassical measure for the geodesic flow is bounded from below by half of the Ruelle upper bound
Estimating Hedonic Models: Implications of the Theory

In this paper we consider the conditions under which instrumental variables methods are required in estimating a hedonic price function and its accompanying demand and supply relations. We assume simple functional forms that permit an explicit solution for the equilibrium hedonic price function. The principles are the same for models in which no analytic solution exists, but having the solutions makes the issues far more transparent. The need for instrumental variables estimation is directly analogous for the classical demand and supply model with undifferentiated products and for the hedonic model with differentiated products. In estimating individual demand and supply functions, instrumental variables estimation is required if the consumer and firm unobservables, which give rise to the error terms in the demand and supply functions, are correlated across consumers/firms within a community. In estimating inverse demand/supply functions, which are referred to as bid/offer functions in the hedonic model, instrumental variables estimation is required even if the unobservables are not correlated across agents within a community. If the unobservables are not correlated across agents within a community, then community binaries or the means of observable consumer and firm characteristics can be used as instruments. If the unobservables are correlated then only the latter can be used. The error term in the hedonic price function is often assumed to be uncorrelated with the chosen attributes. This assumption may be reasonable if consumers have quasilinear preferences. If not, then the error term in the price function may affect the utility-maximizing amounts of the attributes. The feasible instruments again depend upon whether the error term is correlated for agents within a community. If not, then community binaries or observed individual characteristics may be used as instruments. If so, then the community binaries are correlated with the error terms and cannot serve as instruments.
Adaptation and the Set-Point Model of Subjective Well-Being

Hedonic adaptation refers to the process by which individuals return to baseline levels of happiness following a change in life circumstances. Dominant models of subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that people can adapt to almost any life event and that happiness levels fluctuate around a biologically determined set point that rarely changes. Recent evidence from large-scale panel studies challenges aspects of this conclusion. Although inborn factors certainly matter and some adaptation does occur, events such as divorce, death of a spouse, unemployment, and disability are associated with lasting changes in SWB. These recent studies also show that there are considerable individual differences in the extent to which people adapt. Thus, happiness levels do change, and adaptation is not inevitable.
Debt, Maturity, and Corporate Governance: Evidence from Korea

ABSTRACT Using a unique survey data set, I examine how corporate governance practices of listed Korean firms can affect debt ratio and debt maturity structure. I find that firms with poor governance tend to have a higher debt ratio (especially short-term debt ratio) than firms with good governance. I also show that the documented relationships between corporate governance and debt ratio and between corporate governance and debt maturity are not significantly different between chaebol (Korean business group) and non-chaebol firms. These findings suggest that (short-term) debt financing can be used as a monitoring tool to mitigate agency problems because financial intermediaries monitor the managers of the borrowing firms. This study contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing evidence that debt capital, especially short-term debt, can be used as a complementary monitoring tool for poorly governed firms in an emerging economy.
Predicting Perceptual Performance From Neural Activity

A key aim of neuroergonomics is to gain an understanding of human neural function in relation to cognitive and behavioral performance in real world tasks. Here we investigated the relationship between neural activity and human performance in a rapid perceptual categorization task. We compared two different modalities to indirectly measure neural activity, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). We applied a multivariate pattern classifier to predict the individual variability in perceptual performance during a difficult visual categorization task using single trial EEG and fMRI separately. Twenty observers perceptually categorized images of cars and faces embedded in filtered noise while EEG activity from 64 electrodes was concurrently recorded. Another twenty observers performed the same task while their fMRIBOLD responses were recorded. Our results showed significant correlations between the neural measures and perceptual performance (p <0.05; r = 0.69 for EEG; r =0.66 for fMRI). We were able to reliably identify from their neural activity the best performing individual from two randomly sampled observers (84% for EEG; 75% for fMRI; chance = 50 %). Finally, we demonstrated that EEG activity predicting the performance across individuals was distributed through time starting at 120 ms and sustained for more than 400 ms post-stimulus presentation, indicating that both early and late components contain information correlated with observers’ behavioral performance. Together our results highlight the potential to relate individual’s neural activity to performance in difficult perceptual tasks and show a convergence in predictive ability across two different methods to measure neural activity.
Lossless Compression Schemes of Vector Quantization Indices Using State Codebook

In a memoryless vector quantization system, each image block is independently encoded as a corresponding index and then an index table will be generated. In this paper, we propose two novel schemes to compress the index table without introducing extra encoding distortion. Both our schemes exploit the characteristic that the blocks of images are highly correlated to find the same or similar ndex from the neighboring indices in the compression process. To increase the compression, the principal component analysis (PCA) technique is also employed to sort the codewords in the codebook for minimizing the difference of neighboring indices. In addition, our second scheme excludes the repetitive indices from the search path to further decrease the bit rate. Simulation results show that our schemes are superior to SOC and traditional memoryless VQ on the compression rate.