Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intra-Industry Effects of Privatization Announcements: Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries

We examine the stock price reaction of rival firms to privatization announcements to infer information about industry effects of privatization. We find that the rival firms reacted negatively to privatization announcements, thus suggesting that the announcement effects reflect competitive considerations rather than positive industry-wide effects. In comparison, we find that the adverse reaction of the rival firms to privatization announcements in developing countries is stronger than that in the developed countries. Interestingly also, we find that full privatization announcements generate larger negative abnormal returns for rival firms than partial privatization announcements where the firm gains only partial autonomy from the government. We present some, albeit weak evidence that the rival firms' reaction to privatization announcement is increasing in the degree of government ownership of the privatized firm. Thus as the proportion of government ownership reduces, subsequent partial privatization elicits stronger market reaction from rival firms. We further demonstrate that the negative abnormal returns earned by shareholders of the rival firms' are not due to price pressure effects.
Essays in labor economics

Essays in Labor Economics by Brooke Helppie McFall Chair: Robert J. Willis This dissertation is composed of two essays, both which use data from original survey projects to examine issues related to work choice. The rst essay examines the labor supply e ects of the wealth losses during the stock market crash of 2008 and 2009. A life-cycle model incorporating both consumption and retirement timing implies that exogenous wealth losses should delay optimal retirement timing. Using data from the Cognitive Economics Study and the Health and Retirement Study, this essay quanti es the wealth losses su ered by older Americans in terms of the additional length of time they would have to work to maintain the pre-crash consumption plan implied by their wealth holdings and expected retirement timing. Using these measures, Tobit regressions and a novel method for reducing the impact of error-ridden observations are used to examine the relationship between this measure of wealth loss and retirement planning. Several potential sources of heterogeneity in individuals' reactions to the crash are also examined. Results imply that wealth losses of 2008 and 2009 are associated with an increase in planned retirement age on the order of a few weeks to a few months for the average older American, but up to several months for some segments of the population. These results are consisxii tent with results of recent studies and the life-cycle model, but stand in contrast to other examinations of wealth shocks on the general population of older Americans. The second essay is a product of the Job Seekers Study. The essay extends Mincer's seminal theory of family migration to allow couples to adjust to migration constraints by living apart, and examine the ways in which new PhD economists adjust to migration constraints imposed on them by their spouses or partners. Both the impact of migration constraints on job outcomes and the impact of job considerations on relationship outcomes are analyzed. The essay nds that migration constraints result in small costs in terms of job outcomes, relative to many existing studies, and that adjustment through living apart is common. These results imply that existing studies may overestimate the job impact of migration constraints.
The Welfare Effects Of Congestion Tolls With Heterogeneous Commuters

Recent success in introducing road pricing, as well as recent polls suggest that road pricing schemes are politically viable if a large majority of drivers benefit. In this paper we analyze the welfare effects of an optimal time-varying toll impose during the morning commute. The toll tends to benefit drivers with high unit values of travel time and schedule delay. Other drivers can become worse off even with an equal per-capita rebate. A capacity expansion benefits drivers in proportion to their trip costs. If initial capacity is sufficiently small, a toll-financed expansion leaves all drivers better off.
Can ‘Open Science’ be Protected from the Evolving Regime of IPR Protections?

Increasing access charges and transactions costs arising from monopoly rights in data and information adversely affect the conduct of science, especially exploratory research programs. The latter are widely acknowledged to be critical for the sustained growth of knowledge-driven economies, but are most efficiently pursued in the “open science” mode. In some fields, informal cooperative norms of behavior among researchers– in regard to the sharing of timely access to raw data- steams and documented database resources – are being undermined by legal institutional innovations that accommodate the further privatising of the public domain in information. A variety of corrective measures are needed to restore proper balance to the IPR.
Smallness, islandness and foreign policy behaviour: aspects of island microstates foreign policy behaviour with special reference to Cook Islands and Kiribati

v Introduction 1 1. Size and Foreign Policy Behaviour 2 2. Islandness and Foreign Policy Behaviour 4 3. Methodology 5 4. Structure 8 PART I: CONCEPTS AND REVIEW OF LITERA TURE Chapter 1 Island Microstates: Definition and Credentials In the International System 10
A rewiew of transfer of training studies in the past decade

This article reviews some major studies that were conducted in the past decade ( 1989-1998) on the transfer of what employees from traning programmes back to their jobs. A conceptual framework is developed for this article to better present the "popular" constructs that have been tested empirically. The achievement is twofold. First, this review paper highlights that some individual, motivational and enviromental factors are related to transfer to training.Second, some directions for further studies have been suggested. For example, longitudinal study was highly recommanded for measuring transfer outcomes. Some new individual (e.g. achievement striving) motivational (e.g. trainee-control-over-training) and enviromental (e.g. transfer climate) constructs are recomended to be incorporated in newly created models.These models can then be examined using structural equation modelling. After extensive testing and refinment of these models, a set of critical constructs can be distilled. By that tiem, convergence of research efforts focusing on major themes can be achieved.
Calcium phosphate surfaces promote osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

Although studies in vivo revealed promising results in bone regeneration after implantation of scaffolds together with osteogenic progenitor cells, basic questions remain how material surfaces control the biology of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We used human MSC derived from bone marrow and studied the osteogenic differentiation on calcium phosphate surfaces. In osteogenic differentiation medium MSC differentiated to osteoblasts on hydroxyapatite and BONITmatrix®, a degradable xerogel composite, within 14 days. Cells revealed a higher alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and increased RNA expression of collagen I and osteocalcin using real‐time RTPCR compared with cells on tissue culture plastic. To test whether material surface characteristics alone are able to stimulate osteogenic differentiation, MSC were cultured on the materials in expansion medium without soluble additives for osteogenic differentiation. Indeed, cells on calcium phosphate without osteogenic differentiation additives developed to osteoblasts as shown by increased ALP activity and expression of osteogenic genes, which was not the case on tissue culture plastic. Because we reasoned that the stimulating effect on osteogenesis by calcium phosphate surfaces depends on an altered cell–extracellular matrix interaction we studied the dynamic behaviour of focal adhesions using cells transfected with GFP labelled vinculin. On BONITmatrix®, an increased mobility of focal adhesions was observed compared with cells on tissue culture plastic. In conclusion, calcium phosphate surfaces are able to drive MSC to osteoblasts in the absence of osteogenic differentiation supplements in the medium. An altered dynamic behaviour of focal adhesions on calcium phosphate surfaces might be involved in the molecular mechanisms which promote osteogenic differentiation.
A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-wk clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Low-fat vegetarian and vegan diets are associated with weight loss, increased insulin sensitivity, and improved cardiovascular health. OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of a low-fat vegan diet and conventional diabetes diet recommendations on glycemia, weight, and plasma lipids. DESIGN Free-living individuals with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to a low-fat vegan diet (n = 49) or a diet following 2003 American Diabetes Association guidelines (conventional, n = 50) for 74 wk. Glycated hemoglobin (Hb A(1c)) and plasma lipids were assessed at weeks 0, 11, 22, 35, 48, 61, and 74. Weight was measured at weeks 0, 22, and 74. RESULTS Weight loss was significant within each diet group but not significantly different between groups (-4.4 kg in the vegan group and -3.0 kg in the conventional diet group, P = 0.25) and related significantly to Hb A(1c) changes (r = 0.50, P = 0.001). Hb A(1c) changes from baseline to 74 wk or last available values were -0.34 and -0.14 for vegan and conventional diets, respectively (P = 0.43). Hb A(1c) changes from baseline to last available value or last value before any medication adjustment were -0.40 and 0.01 for vegan and conventional diets, respectively (P = 0.03). In analyses before alterations in lipid-lowering medications, total cholesterol decreased by 20.4 and 6.8 mg/dL in the vegan and conventional diet groups, respectively (P = 0.01); LDL cholesterol decreased by 13.5 and 3.4 mg/dL in the vegan and conventional groups, respectively (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Both diets were associated with sustained reductions in weight and plasma lipid concentrations. In an analysis controlling for medication changes, a low-fat vegan diet appeared to improve glycemia and plasma lipids more than did conventional diabetes diet recommendations. Whether the observed differences provide clinical benefit for the macro- or microvascular complications of diabetes remains to be established. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00276939.
Are “New Urban” Neighborhood Design Characteristics Associated with Greater Levels of Social Capital within Neighborhoods? : Evidence from Greenville, South Carolina

Proponents of “new urbanism” suggest that “new urban” neighborhood design characteristics promote social interaction within the neighborhood. In this paper we formally analyze the relationship between “new urban” neighborhood characteristics (e.g., grid street patterns, green space, mixed commercial and residential land use) and social capital formation. We conducted a survey in order to determine the presence of new urban characteristics in neighborhoods and levels of neighborhood-specific social capital in Greenville, South Carolina. We then constructed a social capital index, which we regressed against a set of new urban and control variables. We find that new urban characteristics which facilitate personal interactions are correlated with the social capital index, as are the “youthfulness” of the neighborhood, homeownership rates, fewer hours worked, and the presence of children 18 and under in the household. These results suggest that some aspects of new urbanism may help promote the development of social capital within neighborhoods. This article is available in Undergraduate Economic Review: http://digitalcommons.iwu. edu/uer/vol2/iss1/5 Undergraduate Economic Review A publication of Illinois Wesleyan University
Equity pedagogy in the secondary mathematics classrooms of three preservice teachers

EQUITY PEDAGOGY IN THE SECONDARY MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS OF THREE PRESERVICE TEACHERS by Pamela Annette Seda In the United States, diverse learners, defined by race, ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status, do poorly in mathematics in disproportionate numbers. Research suggests that teachers who use instructional practices that build on the cultural strengths of racial and ethnic minorities can increase academic achievement for these students. Using culturally relevant pedagogy as a theoretical framework, this qualitative case study investigated the equity pedagogy of three secondary mathematics student interns in an alternative teacher preparation program during their student teaching experience. The following research questions were also investigated: What school factors do the interns perceive to influence their decisions in implementing equity pedagogy? Which aspects of the teacher education program do the interns perceive to most influence their implementation of equity pedagogy? For the purpose of this study, equity pedagogy is defined as modifying instructional practices in order to facilitate the academic achievement of students from diverse racial, ethnic, and/or socioeconomic backgrounds by applying the components of Zeichner et al.'s (1998) curriculum and instruction principles specifically to the secondary mathematics classroom. Data collected through videotaped classroom observations, field notes, semistructured interviews, and examination of the participants’ reflective journals were analyzed and categorized as follows: building on prior knowledge, high expectations for diverse learners, knowing students well, culturally responsive pedagogical skills, critical consciousness, sharing of power, and multiple funds of knowledge. Data analysis showed evidence of all seven aspects of equity pedagogy by one or more of the participants, although they demonstrated these practices to varying degrees. Colorblindness, lack of appropriate mentors, time constraints, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards (NCTM, 2000), and culturally responsive pedagogical skills that had been modeled in their mathematics methods courses most affected the interns’ implementation of equity pedagogy. These results indicate that preservice teachers need a framework to critically reflect on issues of equity in education, time to develop equitable teaching practices, and teacher educators that go beyond didactic discussions of inequity to make explicit the equitable teaching practices they want their students to learn. EQUITY PEDAGOGY IN THE SECONDARY MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS OF THREE PRESERVICE TEACHERS by Pamela A. Seda
Experiences introducing a measurement program

Measurement is an integral part of total quality management and process improvement strategies. This paper describes our experiences using the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) paradigm to help design a company-wide measurement program for Engineering Ingegneria S.p.A. , an Italian software house. The introduction of the measurement program was supported by the Commission of the European Communities within the European Software and Systems Initiative (ESSI) as a Process Improvement Experiment (PIE). We found it necessary to supplement GQM into two ways. Firstly, we defined our measures rigorously in terms of entities, attributes, units and counting rules. Secondly, the original GQM plan was subject to an independent review. The most critical problem identified by the review was that the GQM plan identified too many productivity factors for any statistical analysis to handle concurrently. In order to address this issue, we developed an analysis technique based on a step-wise analysis of residuals. This has allowed us to identify the main factors affecting productivity and effort.
Power allocation for block-fading channels with arbitrary input constellations

We consider power allocation strategies for arbitrary input channels with peak, average and peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) constraints. We are focusing on systems with a fixed and finite input constellation, as encountered in most practical systems. Generalizing previous results, we derive the optimal power allocation scheme that minimizes the outage probability of block-fading channels with arbitrary input constellations, subject to PAPR constraints. We further show that the signal-to-noise ratio exponent for any finite peak-to-average power ratio is the same as that of the peak-power limited problem, resulting in an error floor. We also derive the optimal power allocation strategies that maximize the ergodic capacity for arbitrary input channels, subject to average and PAPR constraints.We show that capacities with peak-to-average power ratio constraints, even for small ratios, are close to capacities without peak-power restrictions. For both delay-limited and ergodic block-fading channels, the optimal power allocation strategies rely on the first derivative of the input-output mutual information, which may be computationally prohibitive for efficient practical implementation. To overcome this limitation, we develop suboptimal power allocation schemes that resemble the traditional water-filling technique. The suboptimal power allocation schemes significantly reduce computational and storage requirements, while enjoying minimal performance losses as compared to optimal schemes.
Is AGN feedback necessary to form red elliptical galaxies?

We have used the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code gadget-2 to simulate the formation of an elliptical galaxy in a group-size cosmological dark matter halo with mass Mhalo≃ 3 × 1012 h−1 M⊙ at z= 0. The use of a stellar population synthesis model has allowed us to compute magnitudes, colours and surface brightness profiles. We have included a model to follow the growth of a central black hole and we have compared the results of simulations with and without feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN). We have studied the interplay between cold gas accretion and merging in the development of galactic morphologies, the link between colour and morphology evolution, the effect of AGN feedback on the photometry of early-type galaxies, the redshift evolution in the properties of quasar hosts, and the impact of AGN winds on the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium (IGM). We have found that the early phases of galaxy formation are driven by the accretion of cold filamentary flows, which form a disc galaxy at the centre of the dark matter halo. Disc star formation rates in this mode of galaxy growth are about as high as the peak star formation rates attained at a later epoch in galaxy mergers. When the dark matter halo is sufficiently massive to support the propagation of a stable shock, the gas in the filaments is heated to the virial temperature, cold accretion is shut down, and the star formation rate begins to decline. Mergers transform the spiral galaxy into an elliptical one, but they also reactivate star formation by bringing gas into the galaxy. Without a mechanism that removes gas from the merger remnants, the galaxy ends up with blue colours, which are atypical for its elliptical morphology. We have demonstrated that AGN feedback can solve this problem even with a fairly low heating efficiency. Our simulations support a picture where AGN feedback is important for quenching star formation in the remnant of wet mergers and for moving them to the red sequence. This picture is consistent with recent observational results, which suggest that AGN hosts are galaxies in migration from the blue cloud to the red sequence on the colour–magnitude diagram. However, we have also seen a transition in the properties of AGN hosts from blue and star forming at z∼ 2 to mainly red and dead at z∼ 0. Ongoing merging is the primary but not the only triggering mechanism for luminous AGN activity. Quenching by AGN is only effective after the cold filaments have dried out, since otherwise the galaxy is constantly replenished with gas. AGN feedback also contributes to raising the entropy of the hot IGM by removing low-entropy tails vulnerable to developing cooling flows. We have also demonstrated that AGN winds are potentially important for the metal enrichment of the IGM a high redshift.
Secured document management through a third party auditor scheme in Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing has been envisioned as the next-generation architecture of IT Enterprise. Cloud storage moves the user's data to large data centers, which are remotely located, on which user does not have any control. However, this unique paradigm of the cloud poses many new security challenges which need to be clearly understood and resolved. This work studies the problem of ensuring the integrity of data storage in Cloud Computing. The Cloud Server provides a platform for the Cloud Client to manage their documents. In particular, we consider the task of allowing a third party auditor (TPA), on behalf of the cloud client, to verify the integrity of the dynamic data stored in the cloud. The introduction of TPA eliminates the involvement of the client through the auditing of whether his data stored in the cloud are indeed intact, which can be important in achieving economies of scale for Cloud Computing.
Inducible and Conditional Deletion of Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase 5 Disrupts Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis*

Background: Regulatory mechanisms of adult neurogenesis are not clearly defined. Results: Extracellular signal-regulated Kinase 5 is specifically expressed in adult neurogenic regions, and is critical for adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Conclusion: ERK5 signaling regulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis, a process that may be mediated through Neurogenin 2. Significance: Identification of signaling pathways involved in adult neurogenesis contributes toward delineating the molecular mechanisms regulating adult neurogenesis. Recent studies have led to the exciting idea that adult-born neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus may play a role in hippocampus-dependent memory formation. However, signaling mechanisms that regulate adult hippocampal neurogenesis are not well defined. Here we report that extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5), a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, is selectively expressed in the neurogenic regions of the adult mouse brain. We present evidence that shRNA suppression of ERK5 in adult hippocampal neural stem/progenitor cells (aNPCs) reduces the number of neurons while increasing the number of cells expressing markers for stem/progenitor cells or proliferation. Furthermore, shERK5 attenuates both transcription and neuronal differentiation mediated by Neurogenin 2, a transcription factor expressed in adult hippocampal neural progenitor cells. By contrast, ectopic activation of endogenous ERK5 signaling via expression of constitutive active MEK5, an upstream activating kinase for ERK5, promotes neurogenesis in cultured aNPCs and in the dentate gyrus of the mouse brain. Moreover, neurotrophins including NT3 activate ERK5 and stimulate neuronal differentiation in aNPCs in an ERK5-dependent manner. Finally, inducible and conditional deletion of ERK5 specifically in the neurogenic regions of the adult mouse brain delays the normal progression of neuronal differentiation and attenuates adult neurogenesis in vivo. These data suggest ERK5 signaling as a critical regulator of adult hippocampal neurogenesis.