Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety Regulation and Firm Size: Effects of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969

The Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 has contributed to the decline in mine productivity, which must be weighed against safer working conditions for the miners. There may be some overstatement of the benefits if only fatalities are considered, however, because there was an increase in non-fatal accidents after 1970. Safety regulations have forced the closure of some small mines and raised some questions about the tradeoffs necessary when work safety reduces competition. A review of pertinent legislation, a hedonic wage-differential model, and the effects of union wage policy are applied to these questions. 4 tables. (DCK)
Food Enthusiasts and Tourism

Involvement is a much theorized construct in the consumer behavior literature, yet extant food involvement scales have not been developed for leisure- or tourism-based contexts. Adopting a phenomenological approach, this article reports a study with two primary aims: to develop a customized food involvement scale and to administer the instrument to a sample of self-declared “food enthusiasts” with analysis focusing on identifying the underlying constructs of food involvement. An exploratory factor analysis finds four dimensions of food involvement: Food-Related Identity, Food Quality, Social Bonding, and Food Consciousness. The four dimensions are validated by discriminant analysis between the food enthusiast sample and a general population sample and logistic regression reveals that identity is the most powerful predictor of being a food enthusiast. We demonstrate the utility of the four factors by operationalizing them as variables in tests of difference vis-à-vis demographic variables and conclude the study by summarizing the theoretical and tourism destination implications. This research addresses a need for theory-driven knowledge to inform the burgeoning special interest tourism of food tourism.
The development of a conceptual model of greening in the business events tourism sector

This paper examines the process of corporate greening, and proposes a general conceptual model of the process, which may be relevant in a number of different corporate sectors. The model includes drivers of greening and barriers to greening and also the organisational context in which greening decisions are taken. In addition, this paper considers the role of media coverage in influencing pro-environmental behaviour amongst organisations. The paper then tests the model in one particular tourism context – that of business events – in order to ascertain the specific nature of the corporate greening process in that context. The paper concludes that the general model may be applied to a number of industry sectors, and the model specific to business events tourism may be used to underpin future research in this area.
Overlooked and undervalued: the caring contribution of older people

Purpose - – Older people are often perceived to be a drain on health care resources. This ignores their caring contribution to the health care sector. The purpose of this paper is to address this imbalance and highlight the role of older people as carers. Design/methodology/approach - – The study uses a unique data set supplied by a charity. It covers 1,985 caregivers, their characteristics, type and amount of care provided and the characteristics and needs of those cared-for. Binary and ordered logistic regression is used to examine determinates of the supply of care. Fairlie-Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions are used to disentangle the extent to which differences in the supply of care by age are due to observable endowment effects or coefficient effects. Nationally representative British Household Panel Survey data provide contextualization. Findings - – Older caregivers are more intensive carers, caring for longer hours, providing more co-residential and personal care. They are therefore more likely to be in greater need of assistance. The decompositions show that their more intensive caring contribution is partly explained by the largely exogenous characteristics and needs of the people they care for. Research limitations/implications - – The data are regional and constrained by the supplier's design. Social implications - – Older carers make a significant contribution to health care provision. Their allocation of time to caregiving is not a free choice, it is constrained by the needs of those cared-for. Originality/value - – If the burden of care and caring contribution are measured by hours supplied and provision of intimate personal care, then a case is made that older carers experience the greatest burden and contribute the most to the community.
Effect of trichostatin A on cell growth and expression of cell cycle‐ and apoptosis‐related molecules in human gastric and oral carcinoma cell lines

The effect of trichostatin A (TSA), histone deacetylase inhibitor, on cell growth and the mechanism of growth modulation was examined in 8 gastric and 3 oral carcinoma cell lines which included 9‐cis‐retinoic acid resistant (MKN‐7 and Ho‐1‐N‐1) and IFN‐β resistant cell lines (MKN‐7, ‐28 and ‐45). TSA inhibited growth in all cell lines examined. Apoptotic cell death was confirmed by apoptotic ladder formation and induction of a cleaved form (85 kDa) of poly (ADP‐ribose) polymerase (PARP) induction. TSA enhanced the protein expression of p21WAF1, CREB‐binding protein, cyclinE, cyclin A, Bak and Bax, while it reduced the expression of E2F‐1, E2F‐4, HDAC1, p53 and hyperphosphorylated form of Rb. Furthermore, TSA induced morphological changes, such as elongation of cytoplasm and cell‐to‐cell detachment, in gastric and oral carcinoma cell lines. These results suggest that TSA may inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis of gastric and oral carcinoma cells through modulation of the expression of cell cycle regulators and apoptosis‐regulating proteins. Int. J. Cancer 88:992–997, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Escape from New York: The Market Impact of Loosening Disclosure Requirements

We examine the first significant deregulation of U.S. disclosure requirements since the passage of the 1933/1934 Exchange and Securities Acts: the 2007 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 12h-6. Rule 12h-6 has made it easier for foreign firms to deregister with the SEC and thereby terminate their U.S. disclosure obligations. We show that the market reacted negatively to the announcement by the SEC that firms from countries with weak disclosure and governance regimes could more easily opt out of the stringent U.S. reporting and legal environment. We also find that since the rule's passage, an unprecedented number of firms have deregistered, and these firms often had been previous targets of U.S. class action securities lawsuits or SEC enforcement actions. Our findings suggest that shareholders of non-U.S firms place significant value on U.S. securities regulations, especially when the home country investor protections are weak.
Homo Economus? Economic Information and Economic Voting

Although retrospective economic voting does not require voters to have precise information about recent economic conditions, it is arguably the case that the quality of retrospective voting as a democratic accountability mechanism hinges on the degree to which citizens have reasonably accu rate perceptions of the state of the economy In this paper we test a model of the accuracy of individuals' perceptions of national economic condi tions. Utilizing data collected in a survey of residents of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, during the 1992 presidential campaign, we depict perceptual accuracy as a function of four sets of independent variables: (1) personal characteristics likely to enhance citizens' political and economic cognition; (2) perceptions of economic threat; (3) interest in politics and/or econom ics ; and (4) exposure to media sources. Our findings point to the impor tance of personal characteristics, such as socioeconomic status, gender, race, and age, as well as retrospective personal evaluations, political inter est, and media exposure in determining the accuracy of citizens' economic perceptions. Moreover, we provide preliminary evidence that perceptual inaccuracy has an indirect effect on vote choice in 1992 through its effect on retrospective sociotropic economic evaluations.
Economics, extension and the adoption of land conservation innovations in agriculture

It is argued that there are three broad conditions that are necessary for an individual farmer to adopt a farming‐system innovation: awareness of the innovation, perception that it is feasible and worthwhile to trial the innovation, and perception that the innovation promotes the farmer’s objectives. Challenges involved in meeting each of these conditions are discussed, with particular attention to land conservation practices. In Australia, agricultural extension is the main method of intervention that has been used to promote land conservation. Insights from the framework presented here are used to suggest the particular types of approaches to agricultural extension that are most likely to contribute to positive outcomes.
Spatial Distribution of Shopping Malls and Analysis of their Trade Areas in Istanbul

Abstract This paper investigates the spatial distribution of shopping malls with respect to population and analyses the factors which effect the shopping mall location. According to the results, while the shopping mall space ratio is higher than population ratio in the intermediate zone, the reverse is true in the periphery. The relationships between the shopping mall space and income, population and distance to the central business district (CBD) of the locations are investigated by the use of regression analysis. The results reveal that income is the only factor affecting the location of shopping malls among those considered. In addition, three shopping malls from the inner and peripheral zones of Istanbul were analysed with respect to frequency to shopping centres and characteristics of trade areas. According to the results, the size of the catchment area of the shopping mall from the inner zone is larger then the peripheral ones due to higher accessibility with alternative transportation systems and supporting functions in its surrounding areas. The results fall within the concept of central place theory. Further research is suggested by expending the study to the other areas of the city with different characteristics to calculate their retail potential and their spatial implications.
Which industries are shifting the Beveridge curve

The negative relationship between the unemployment rate and the job openings rate, known as the Beveridge curve, has been relatively stable in the U.S. over the last decade. Since the summer of 2009, however, the U.S. unemployment rate has hovered between 9.4 and 10.1 percent in spite of firms reporting more job openings. We decompose the recent deviation from the Beveridge curve into different parts using data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). We find that most of the current deviation from the Beveridge curve can be attributed to a shortfall in the vacancy yield, which measures hires per vacancy. This shortfall is broad-based across all industries and is particularly pronounced in construction, transportation, trade, and utilities, and leisure and hospitality. Construction alone accounts for more than a third of the Beveridge curve gap.
Application of an Improved Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Method for Serological Diagnosis of Canine Leishmaniasis

ABSTRACT Accurate diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is essential toward a more efficient control of this zoonosis, but it remains problematic due to the high incidence of asymptomatic infections. In this study, we present data on the development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based techniques for the detection of antibodies against the recombinant protein Leishmania infantum cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase (LicTXNPx) and a comparison of the results with those employing soluble Leishmania antigens from promastigote or amastigote forms and the homologue recombinant protein L. infantum mitochondrial TXNPx (LimTXNPx). Moreover, we offer an evaluation of the diagnostic potential of rK39 for CanL in the Portuguese canine population and propose an improvement to the existing ELISA-based serological techniques by combining the LicTXNPx and rK39 antigens as a Leishmania antigen mixture (LAM). The data demonstrated that ELISAs based on soluble promastigote or amastigote antigens had generally higher levels of sensitivity for detection of antibodies in symptomatic or asymptomatic dogs than for detection of those against isolated recombinant proteins. Nevertheless, the specificities were found to be similar for all target antigens used. Importantly, the LAM-ELISA methodology improved the overall sensitivity, maintaining a high overall level of specificity. In addition, it was demonstrated that the detection of anti-LAM IgG2 can increase the accuracy of the serological diagnosis. Overall, the obtained results showed that the strategy of combining two well-defined Leishmania antigens, LicTXNPx and rK39, proved to be a sensitive and specific improvement to current serological diagnosis of CanL, being a useful tool for the detection of both clinical and subclinical forms of canine Leishmania infection.
Managing the Impact of Volatility in International Capital Markets in an Uncertain World

International financial flows are the propagation mechanism for transmitting financial instability across borders; they are also the source of unsustainable external debt. Managing volatility thus requires institutions that promote domestic financial stability, ensure that domestic instability is contained, and guarantee that international institutions and rules of the game are not themselves a cause of volatility. This paper analyzes proposals to increase stability in domestic markets, in international markets, and in the structure of the international financial system from the point of view of Hyman P. Minsky's financial instability hypothesis, and outlines how each of these three channels can produce financial fragility that lays the system open to financial instability and financial crisis.
Preoperative biliary drainage for distal biliary obstruction and post‐operative infectious complications

Preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) for distal bile duct obstruction may increase post‐operative complications. This study examined the effect of PBD on positive bile culture (PBC) rates and complications after biliary bypass or pancreaticoduodenectomy. Bilirubin levels in the non‐PBD cohort were also analysed to determine the impact on outcome.
Tourism Cluster Positioning and Performance Evaluation: The Case of Portugal

The tourism sector has truly strategic importance for any future national or regional economy. Previous research on clusters has largely been restricted to industrial sectors and the application of conceptual methodologies. An empirical study might prove more suitable for evaluating the performance of tourism clusters, and yet the literature in this respect is scarce and there is a need for more research. This paper evaluates tourism clusters in Portugal and maps them through multivariate analysis. The empirical results validate the need to apply statistical tests and reveal that substantial differences in cluster performance do exist. In particular, the study identifies three different clusters in Portugal with varying performance levels – low, medium and high. The paper also provides a contribution to the assessment of tourism industry clusters.
Cyclical versus Structural Sustainability of Homeownership: Is Counter-cyclical Intervention in Housing Markets Enough?

The economic and housing market difficulties that emerged as a result of the recent global financial crisis (GFC) have encouraged a focus on the cyclical sustainability of homeownership. As a result, there has been inadequate attention paid to the impact of increased real household incomes and wealth on the structural sustainability of a housing system built on homeownership as the dominant tenure. This paper argues that, where housing supply is relatively inelastic in the long run, underlying demand pressures may keep house prices on a path which continues to diverge from household incomes. This will add to borrowing constraints already faced by aspiring first homeowners with low and moderate incomes and with limited wealth. If financial institutions tighten lending standards in response to the GFC, households with limited equity and limited capacity to pay will find it even more difficult to gain access to finance than has been the case in the past. This raises the question of whether homeownership can be sustained at its current levels. The paper uses outcomes in Australia to illustrate the points made and suggests that other countries, such as the UK, may well be about to follow the same path.
Intercomparison of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Ground-Based Narrow Band Spectrometers Applied to Crop Trait Monitoring in Organic Potato Production

Vegetation properties can be estimated using optical sensors, acquiring data on board of different platforms. For instance, ground-based and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-borne spectrometers can measure reflectance in narrow spectral bands, while different modelling approaches, like regressions fitted to vegetation indices, can relate spectra with crop traits. Although monitoring frameworks using multiple sensors can be more flexible, they may result in higher inaccuracy due to differences related to the sensors characteristics, which can affect information sampling. Also organic production systems can benefit from continuous monitoring focusing on crop management and stress detection, but few studies have evaluated applications with this objective. In this study, ground-based and UAV spectrometers were compared in the context of organic potato cultivation. Relatively accurate estimates were obtained for leaf chlorophyll (RMSE = 6.07 µg·cm−2), leaf area index (RMSE = 0.67 m2·m−2), canopy chlorophyll (RMSE = 0.24 g·m−2) and ground cover (RMSE = 5.5%) using five UAV-based data acquisitions, from 43 to 99 days after planting. These retrievals are slightly better than those derived from ground-based measurements (RMSE = 7.25 µg·cm−2, 0.85 m2·m−2, 0.28 g·m−2 and 6.8%, respectively), for the same period. Excluding observations corresponding to the first acquisition increased retrieval accuracy and made outputs more comparable between sensors, due to relatively low vegetation cover on this date. Intercomparison of vegetation indices indicated that indices based on the contrast between spectral bands in the visible and near-infrared, like OSAVI, MCARI2 and CIg provided, at certain extent, robust outputs that could be transferred between sensors. Information sampling at plot level by both sensing solutions resulted in comparable discriminative potential concerning advanced stages of late blight incidence. These results indicate that optical sensors, and their integration, have great potential for monitoring this specific organic cropping system.
Management reform in Flemish Public Centres for Social Welfare: Examining organisational change

Abstract This research empirically examines the establishment of organisational change through management reform by studying the level of compliance with the reformed management legislation. A management index is constructed and applied on a sample of 100 Public Centres for Social Welfare in Flanders using a questionnaire, their annual accounts and interviews. The institutional framework proves to be a useful base for considering the level of adoption and testing cross-sectional differences on a number of explanatory factors. This study reveals that in practice the level of adoption of the governmental reform is restricted and mediated by both local organisational aspects and widerinstitutional influences.
Multi-Agent Moral Hazard and Expectation-Based Reference-Dependent Preferences

This paper studies a multi-agent moral hazard model in which the agents have expectation-based reference-dependent preferences developed by Köszegi and Rabin （ 2006, 2007 ） . The agents' utilities depend not only on the realized outcomes but also on the comparisons of them with the reference outcomes. Due to loss aversion, the agents dislike wage uncertainty, and reducing it by partially compensating their failure may be beneficial for a principal. We show that when the agents are loss-averse, the optimal contract is based on team incentives （ joint performance evaluation or relative performance evaluation ） in which the agents partly share their wage uncertainty. Our results provide a new insight that team incentives serve as a loss-sharing device among agents.
Natural resources, export structure and investment

We present cross-country empirical evidence on the role of natural resources in explaining long-run differences in private investment as a share of GDP in a sample of 72 developing countries. Our empirical results suggest important differences between oil and non-oil resources. While revenue from oil exports tends to increase private (and public) investment, there is also a robust negative effect from a measure of export concentration. After controlling for these two aspects of export structure, there is little additional information in other measures of resource abundance, or in other suggested investment determinants, such as measures of the quality of institutions, political instability or macroeconomic volatility.
The platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist WEB 2170 prevents neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis in rats.

UNLABELLED To evaluate the role of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in a neonatal rat model of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). METHODS NEC was reproduced in newborn rats following exposure to formula feeding, asphyxia, and bacterial colonization. The role of endogenous PAF in neonatal NEC was studied by pretreating animals with PAF receptor antagonists (WEB 2170 and WEB 2086) and by measuring intestinal PAF content in animals with NEC, WEB-treated animals, and controls. RESULTS We found that WEB 2170 (dosed using 10 mg/kg in a.m. and 30 mg/kg in p.m.) markedly reduced the incidence of NEC (3/17 vs. 14/18 control: p < 0.001) and death (6/17 vs. 17/18 control; p < 0.001) compared with saline-treated animals. Although lower WEB 2170 doses prevented NEC, neither fourfold higher dosing with WEB 2170 nor similar dosing with WEB 2086 affected the incidence of disease in this study. PAF content in intestine was elevated in NEC animals (270 +/- 80 pg/g) compared with WEB 2170-treated animals (0 pg/g) and maternally fed controls (70 +/- 50 pg/g). CONCLUSIONS The data support the role of PAF in the final common pathway of neonatal NEC.