Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decentralization, Local Taxation and Citizenship in Senegal

This article deals with the politics of revenue collection in a framework of decentralization, democratization and multiparty politics as experienced in the small village of Barkedji in the pastoral region of Senegal. In Senegal, revenue collection has recently been transferred from state administrators to locally elected councillors. Contrary to the assumption of the ‘good governance’ doctrine, this transfer of responsibility has not resulted in a strengthening of democratic structures where taxpayers demand (and gain) public services and more political representation in exchange for increasing taxes. In Barkedji, as elsewhere in Senegal, tax-compliance hit rock-bottom after tax collection became the responsibility of local councillors. Meanwhile other types of local institutions, with less clear state relations, are able to mobilize large amounts of revenue outside the normal tax channels for the provision of goods and service. These non-state institutions seem to have taken over as providers of political representation as well as suppliers of public goods and of access or rights to crucial local resources. The article explores the motivation among first-comers and newcomer populations to adopt or reject tax requirements to different types of organizations, and discusses the implications of this parallel tax collection for the exercise of public authority and the crafting of state and citizenry.
Effects of year-round stocking methods and stocking rates on seasonal forage response and cow-calf weight gain in the gulf coast region of the United States1

The present research is the second phase (2 yr) of a multiyear cow-calf study employing fixed stocking rates and examining the effect of stocking method, i.e., continuous and rotational, and stocking rate on beef cattle production. Two sets of 4 adjacent pastures, each containing a mixed warm-season, perennial grass sod [common bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. ; dallisgrass, Paspalum dilatatum Poir. ], were overseeded to ‘Marshall’ annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) in the autumn of 2 consecutive years. Within each set of 4 pastures, one of the following grazing treatments was randomly assigned each pasture: rotationally stocked (8 paddocks) at a low, medium, or high stocking rate and continuously stocked at a moderate stocking rate. Low, medium, and high stocking rates were 1.25, 2, and 2.75 cows/ha. Brangus cows and their suckling calves were stocked on treatment pastures in March 2004. Stocking treatment affected prebreeding cow BW (P < 0.01) and tended to affect precalving (P = 0.13), postbreeding (P = 0.07), weaning (P = 0.11), and subsequent precalving cow BW (P = 0.08). Stocking-method treatments were similar in forage allowance in the early- and late-spring periods (P = 0.67 and P = 0.65, respectively), but in the summer period, rotationally stocking at a medium stocking rate was greater (P < 0.01) than continuously stocking at a moderate stocking rate. There was a consistent trend across seasons for the percent CP in the simulated bite sample DM to be greater (P < 0.1) for the continuously stocking at a moderate stocking rate compared with the rotationally stocking at a medium stocking rate stocking methods. Based upon cow BW outcomes in this research, stocking rate is the most important consideration in design of a grazing program.
Performance Measurement in a Downside Risk Framework

is director o f the Pension Research Institute in Sun Francisco, where he has conducted research projects with such Jirms as Royal Dutch Shell and Aegon Insurance in the Netherlands, Manufacturers Liji Insurance Co. o f Toronto, The Cal@rnia State Teachers Retirement System, and the Marin County Employees Retirement System. Dr. Sortino is also professor offnance at Sun Francisco State University. He holds an M . B.A. fiom U. C. Berkeley, and a Ph.D. infinancefrom the University o f Oregon.
Association between Obesity and Cancer Incidence in the Population of the District Sumperk, Czech Republic

Excess body weight was shown to be associated with risk of several types of cancer. In the Czech Republic, malignant tumors are the second leading cause of death. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the most frequent types of cancer and obesity. Methods: A case-control study was accomplished, using data from the National Cancer Registry and from a preventive oncologic checkup database. Cases were defined as persons from the studied population who developed skin, breast, colorectal, prostate, lung, cervical, endometrial, kidney, ovarian, urinary bladder, stomach, pancreatic, or gallbladder cancers from 1987 to 2002. Controls were cancer-free men and women from the population. Among the cancer patients and healthy controls, proportions of obese, overweight, and nonobese individuals were compared, and odds ratios (OR) were computed. Results: After adjustment for confounders, obese men had a significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer (OR: 2.07, 95% CI: 1.56-2.76) and kidney cancer (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.14-3.24). Obese women were at higher risk of endometrial cancer (OR: 3.25, 95% CI: 1.65-6.37). An inverse association was observed between obesity and lung cancer (in men: OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.37-0.66; in women: OR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.21-0.80). Conclusion: Obesity is associated with several frequent types of tumors and represents an important preventable cause of cancer in the population of the District Sumperk, Czech Republic.
Impact of olive oil-rich diet on serum omentin and adiponectin levels: a randomized cross-over clinical trial among overweight women

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effect of olive oil-rich diet on omentin and adiponectin concentrations. This cross-over randomized trial included 17 overweight women. Participants were assigned to consume either a usual (16% saturated fatty acids [SFA] and 8% monounsaturated fatty acid [MUFA]) or an olive oil-rich diet (16% MUFA and 8% SFA) for 6 weeks crossing over after a 2-week washout period. There was no significant difference in the changes of omentin between two dietary interventions. However, in the adjusted model for polyunsaturated fatty acids and fat mass, usual diet tended to decrease omentin levels whilst olive oil-rich diet tended to increase (−56.1 ± 32.0 versus 40.6 ± 32.0 ng/mL; p = .056). Adiponectin levels increased during two periods, but changes were greater during olive oil-rich diet with a trend toward significance (4.8 ± 3.0 versus 13.4 ± 3.0 μg/mL; p = .06). Consumption of olive oil-rich diet tended to increase omentin and adiponectin in comparison with the usual diet.
Business and technology strategies and new venture performance: a study of the telecommunications equipment industry

In this paper, a set of hypotheses relating competitive and cooperative business strategies and technology strategies to new venture performance are developed. These hypotheses are tested using data collected from the Initial Public Offering (IPO) documents of a sample of 52 new ventures in the telecommunications equipment industry. This industry has experienced a great deal of technological change as computer and telephone technologies have merged allowing a variety of new ventures to successfully enter the industry. The results suggest that new ventures pursuing broad cost leadership strategies were more successful. Investments in innovation in terms of relative R&D expenditures were also related to higher performance. Finally, significant interaction effects between investments in innovation and competitive strategies and performance were found.
Epidemiology of Adamantiades-Behçet's disease.

Adamantiades-Behçet's disease is a universal disorder with varying prevalence, i.e. 80-370 patients per 100,000 inhabitants in Turkey, 2-30 patients per 100,000 inhabitants in the Asian continent and 0.1-7.5 patients per 100,000 inhabitants in Europe and the USA. Certain ethnic groups are mainly affected, while the prevalence of the disease seems to be strongly dependent on the geographic area of their residence. These data indicate environmental triggering of a genetically determined disorder. The disease usually occurs around the third decade of life, however, early and late onsets (first year of life to 72 years) have been reported. Juvenile onset disease rates from 7 to 44% in different ethnic groups; juvenile disease is less frequent, i.e. 2-21%. Both genders are equally affected. Familial occurrence has been reported in 1-18% of the patients, mostly of Turkish, Israeli and Korean origin, and is increased in patients with juvenile disease. Oral aphthous ulcers represent the onset sign in the majority of patients worldwide (47-86%). Oral aphthous ulcers (92-100%), genital ulcerations (57-93%), skin lesions (38-99%), ocular lesions (29-100%) and arthropathy (16-84%) are the most frequent clinical features; sterile pustules (28-66%) and erythema nodosum (15-78%) are the most common encountered skin lesions. The positivity of pathergy test varies widely in different populations (6-71%). HLA-B51 is associated with high relative risk for the disease in a small geographic area of the Mediterranean Sea countries and Southern Asia. Diagnosis can be established 2 to 15 years after the onset of the disease. Male gender, early development of the disease, and HLA-B51 positivity are markers of severe prognosis (mortality rates of 0-6%).
The Economic Value of Volatility Timing with Realized Jumps

This paper comprehensively investigates the role of realized jumps detected from high frequency data in predicting future volatility from both statistical and economic perspectives. Using seven major jump tests, we show that separating jumps from diffusion improves volatility forecasting both in-sample and out-of-sample. Moreover, we show that these statistical improvements can be translated into economic value. We find a risk-averse investor can significantly improve her portfolio performance by incorporating realized jumps into a volatility timing based portfolio strategy. Our results hold true across the majority of jump tests, and are robust to controlling for microstructure effects and transaction costs.
Government expenditure and growth in developing countries

Purpose This article investigates the impact of the growth of the share of various government expenditure programmes in the GDP on economic growth in developing countries while taking into consideration the major issue of potential simultaneity. Findings Based on data from the World Bank and using two samples of 28 developing economies, we find that per capita GDP growth is dependent upon the growth of per capita public health expenditure in the GDP, growth of per capita public spending on education in the GDP, population growth, growth of the share of total health expenditure in the GDP and the share of gross capital formation in the GDP. Practical implications Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist policy-makers in developing countries prioritize their government expenditure in order to stimulate economic growth. Methodology/approach Data for all variables are from the World Development Indicators (2008 and 2010). We specify and estimate a simultaneous equations model which consists of two government expenditure growth equations and a GDP growth equation. We observe that some coefficient estimates do not have the expected sign due to possible collinearity among some independent variables.
Liberalization, Industrial Nationalism, and the Malaysian Automotive Industry

Abstract This paper examines the attempts by Malaysia to foster production by national automotive producers in a global industry dominated by a small number of major multinationals. Despite the use of a wide range of industrial policies, both standard import-substituting ones and more targeted policies, the main national producer, Proton, has been unable successfully to enter the automotive global value chain. We argue that Malaysia is probably faced with a choice of accepting foreign majority ownership, as with its second national producer, Perodua, or reconciling itself to Proton lagging in both technology and marketing.
Kinetics of Baseball Pitching with Implications About Injury Mechanisms

Elbow and shoulder kinetics for 26 highly skilled, healthy adult pitchers were calculated using high-speed motion analysis. Two critical instants were 1) shortly before the arm reached maximum external rotation, when 67 N-m of shoulder internal rotation torque and 64 N-m of elbow varus torque were generated, and 2) shortly after ball release, when 1090 N of shoulder com pressive force was produced. Inability to generate suf ficient elbow varus torque may result in medial tension, lateral compression, or posteromedial impingement in jury. At the glenohumeral joint, compressive force, joint laxity, and 380 N of anterior force during arm cocking can lead to anterior glenoid labral tear. Rapid internal rotation in combination with these forces can produce a grinding injury factor on the labrum. After ball release, 400 N of posterior force, 1090 N of compressive force, and 97 N-m of horizontal abduction torque are gener ated at the shoulder; contribution of rotator cuff muscles in generating these loads may result in cuff tensile fail ure. Horizontal adduction, internal rotation, and superior translation of the abducted humerus may cause sub acromial impingement. Tension in the biceps tendon, due to muscle contraction for both elbow flexion torque and shoulder compressive force, may tear the antero superior labrum.
Cigarette smoking and risk of Hodgkin's disease

The role of cigarette smoking on the risk of Hodgkin's disease remains controversial. To provide further information on the issue, we analysed data of a case–control study from northern Italy. The cases were 158 patients with incident, histologically confirmed Hodgkin's disease, and the controls were 316 patients, frequency-matched to the cases by age, sex and study centre, and admitted to the same network of hospitals for acute, non-neoplastic, non-alcohol- or non-tobacco-related conditions. Compared with those who had never smoked, the multivariate odds ratio was 0.54 for former and 0.85 for current smokers. No trend in risk was found for either the number of cigarettes smoked or the duration of consumption. None of the estimates, or the corresponding trends in risk, was statistically significant. Our results are consistent with those of several studies indicating no direct association between cigarette smoking and risk of Hodgkin's disease.
Corporate Governance: What’s Special About Banks?

This review surveys the literature on the corporate governance of banks. Traditional corporate governance mechanisms, such as concentrated ownership and takeover threats, in principle, also apply to banks. However, banks have special traits and are heavily regulated, preventing natural forms of governance to arise and rendering many of these governance mechanisms ineffective. Financial regulation can in principle compensate for weaknesses in corporate governance but in practice has had limited effectiveness in protecting the interests of banks’ stakeholders, because of, for instance, unproductive interactions between regulatory restraints and existing governance arrangements. The review concludes with a discussion of corporate governance and regulatory reforms to enhance the safety and soundness of banks. These proposals range from placing more emphasis on value creation for bank stakeholders other than shareholders to reducing risk-shifting incentives for bank managers and shareholders.
Reordering the Marketplace: Competition Politics in European Finance

Over the last 15 years, Europe has seen the liberalization of national financial markets as well as the integration of these markets and their governance through the introduction of the 'Lamfalussy process'. This article argues that we can best understand these shifts as one integrated project of market-building in Europe, guided by distributional struggles over the terms of mutual markets access. To comprehend the complex linkages between private and public actors across levels of governance, we have to look beyond macro-theories of integration and financial liberalization upholding an analytical state-market dichotomy and adopt an integrative approach to theory, instead. Using the example of securities markets, this article argues that 'competition politics' are key to understanding European financial market integration. Copyright 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Commitment, Efficiency and Footloose Firms

The authors consider dynamic competition between a small number of local governments to attract a single large plant. The surplus available in each location is unknown when the initial location decision is made. Two cases are considered: if all agents can commit to second period actions and if they cannot. Without commitment, initially the firm will discriminate against the region with the lower set-up costs. If first-period productivity is low, the firm may relocate and receive an ex post subsidy from a second region. Commitment decreases the expected total surplus and, if fixed costs are small, favors the firm. Copyright 1992 by The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Preclinical Development Inactivation of Mirk / Dyrk 1 b Kinase Targets Quiescent Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Amajor problem in the treatment of cancer arises from quiescent cancer cells that are relatively insensitive to most chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation. Such residual cancer cells can cause tumor regrowth or recurrence when they reenter the cell cycle. Earlier studies showed that levels of the serine/theronine kinase Mirk/dyrk1B are elevated up to 10-fold in quiescent G0 tumor cells. Mirk uses several mechanisms to block cell cycling, and Mirk increases expression of antioxidant genes that decrease reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and increase quiescent cell viability. We now show that a novel small molecule Mirk kinase inhibitor blocked tumor cells from undergoing reversible arrest in a quiescent G0 state and enabled some cells to exit quiescence. The inhibitor increased cycling in Panc1, AsPc1, and SW620 cells that expressed Mirk, but not in HCT116 cells that did not.Mirk kinase inhibition elevated ROS levels andDNAdamage detected by increased phosphorylation of the histone protein H2AX and by S-phase checkpoints. The Mirk kinase inhibitor increased cleavage of the apoptotic proteins PARP and caspase 3, and increased tumor cell kill several-fold by gemcitabine and cisplatin. A phenocopy of these effects occurred following Mirk depletion, showing drug specificity. In previous studies Mirk knockout or depletion had no detectable effect on normal tissue, suggesting that the Mirk kinase inhibitor could have a selective effect on cancer cells expressing elevated levels of Mirk kinase. Mol Cancer Ther; 1–11. 2011 AACR.
Sex-dependent differences in estrogen regulation of choline acetyltransferase are altered by neonatal treatments.

We investigated whether estrogenic actions of testosterone during development which mediate the suppression of feminine reproductive behavior and cyclic gonadotropin secretion also contribute to reported sex differences in the induction of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) after estrogen priming in the diagonal band region of the preoptic area. Newborn female rats received estradiol (E2 females); newborn males received 1,4,6-androstatrien-3,17-dione (ATD), an inhibitor of aromatase (ATD males); and some of both sexes received vehicle treatment (control). In adulthood, feminine sexual behavior (lordosis) was tested after E2 plus progesterone priming. The neonatal treatments reversed the sex-specific response pattern; E2 females were defeminized and displayed minimal lordosis, as did control males, while ATD males showed maximal lordosis, as did control females. E2 was then administered, and ChAT activity was measured in the horizontal and vertical nuclei of the diagonal bands (hDB and vDB, respectively). Controls exhibited the normal sex-specific response to E2. Females showed increased ChAT activity in the hDB and unaltered activity in the vDB: males had unaltered ChAT activity in the hDB and decreased activity in the vDB. In neonatally treated males and females, ChAT activity after E2 administration was not altered from the normal sex-specific pattern in the hDB, i.e. all females showed increased hDB ChAT after E2, and no male responded. In the vDB, groups defeminized in terms of lordosis (E2 females and control males) showed higher ChAT activity in the absence of E2 priming, and E2 treatment decreased vDB ChAT in these groups. In addition, ATD males showed a unique response to E2 in the vDB, namely increased ChAT activity. Although neonatal E2 and ATD treatments did not completely reverse the sex-specific pattern of E2 priming on ChAT activity, the results obtained suggest that a net increase in diagonal band cholinergic function, as indexed by increased ChAT activity after E2 priming, may contribute to the ability of hormones to induce lordosis and/or LH surges.
Content-Area Teachers Seeking ELL Preparation: What Motivates Them?.

This qualitative study explored the relationship between content-area teachers‘ attitudes, beliefs, and professional experiences and their decisions to seek preparation in working with English language learners (ELLs). Six in-service teachers, who were enrolled in a graduate-level Sheltered Instruction course at a large U.S. Midwestern university, were administered a survey and interviewed regarding their enrolment decisions. The initial assumption that pre-existing positive ELL attitudes guided the teachers‘ decisions was only partially supported by the findings. Although varied across individual teachers, motivational reasons for enrolment were primarily based on (a) the perceived value of ELL preparation for immediate and future professional goals, (b) consistency with teachers‘ self-concepts, and (c) expected success in the learning experience. Implications for teacher preparation programmes are discussed.
What happens on the ground: Persistent issues in implementation research

Since the demise of what has been labelled as the policy-implementation paradigm, the heyday of implementation research appears to be over. This suggests that the issues going back to the ‘top-down/bottom-up’ controversy have been resolved. Central in this article is the exploration of how these issues are being dealt with in contemporary implementation studies. An issue like the one of the ‘too many variables’ seems to have been settled, especially in quantitative studies. Other issues, however, like the theory/practice relationship, the multi-layer problem and the policy/politics nexus appear to have remained relatively unsolved problems. Solutions are explored how to deal with them when doing implementation research.
Essays on International trade and economic growth

At present, we are witnessing globalization as a truly worldwide phenomenon. Trade agreements among differing countries, a reduction in trade costs, the mobility of production factors, the free flow of information and so on are all proof of the present day era of globalization. Countries are trading with one another more and more every day and the effects of international trade on economies represent a central discussion in all economic spheres. In spite of increasing trade around the world and the promotion of globalization by multilateral organisms such as WTO and IMF, the effects of international trade are not yet clear. Economics literature concerning the effects of international trade on economic growth and welfare remains ambiguous in terms of both theoretical models and empirical research. The present thesis tries to contribute to the theoretical debate surrounding the effects of dynamic international trade, focusing in particular on the implications for economic growth, welfare and changes in the preferences of individuals.