Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pairwise Difference Estimation with Nonparametric Control Variables

This article extends the pairwise difference estimators for various semilinear limited dependent variable models proposed by Honore and Powell ("Identification and Inference in Econometric Models". "Essays in Honor of Thomas Rothenberg" Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) to permit the regressor appearing in the nonparametric component to itself depend upon a conditional expectation that is nonparametrically estimated. This permits the estimation approach to be applied to nonlinear models with sample selectivity andsor endogeneity, in which a "control variable" for selectivity or endogeneity is nonparametrically estimated. We develop the relevant asymptotic theory for the proposed estimators and we illustrate the theory to derive the asymptotic distribution of the estimator for the partially linear logit model. Copyright 2007 by the Economics Department Of The University Of Pennsylvania And Osaka University Institute Of Social And Economic Research Association.
Identification of the six ligands to manganese(II) in transition-state-analogue complexes of creatine kinase: oxygen-17 superhyperfine coupling from selectively labeled ligands.

The complete coordination scheme for Mn(II) in transition-state-analogue complexes with creatine kinase has been determined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Perturbations in the EPR spectra for Mn(II) due to superhyperfine coupling to 17O of selectively labeled ligands have been used to identify oxygen ligands in the first coordination sphere of the metal ion. The results show that in the complex of enzyme-MnADP-formate-creatine, Mn(II) is bound to oxygen ligands from both the alpha- and beta-phosphate groups of ADP, to an oxygen from the carboxylate group of formate, and to three water molecules. In the complex with thiocyanate replacing formate as the stabilizing anion, previous infrared experiments [Reed, G. H. , Barlow, C. H. , & Burns, R. A. , Jr. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 4153-4158] indicated that the nitrogen from thiocyanate was bound to the Mn(II). The magnitudes of the 17O superphyperfine coupling constants from the O- ligands of the ADP phosphate groups and from the formate carboxylate are approximately equal and are larger than that for the water ligands. The symmetry of the zero-field-splitting tensor for Mn(II) indicates that the oxygens from the alpha- and beta-phosphate groups of ADP and the ligand donor atom from the anion occupy mutually cis positions in the octahedral coordination geometry. Water proton relaxation time measurements show that the three water molecules which are bound to Mn(II) are not in free exchange with the bulk solvent. Hence, an enclosed structure at the active site is indicated. The results suggest that for creatine kinase the activating metal ion is bound to all three phosphate groups in the transition state of the reaction.
Association of Serum C‐Reactive Protein Levels With Lupus Disease Activity in the Absence of Measurable Interferon‐α and a C‐Reactive Protein Gene Variant

The type I interferon (IFN) system is important in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We previously demonstrated an inhibitory effect of IFNα on interleukin‐6 (IL‐6)–induced C‐reactive protein (CRP) in vitro, hypothetically explaining the poor correlation between disease activity and CRP levels in SLE. This study was undertaken to investigate disease activity, IL‐6 levels, and CRP levels in relation to a CRP gene polymorphism and IFNα.
Rapid onset vasodilatation is blunted in obese humans

Aim: Conduit artery function in obese humans is frequently assessed at rest, but very little is known about resistance artery function in response to muscle contraction. We tested the hypothesis that obese adults will exhibit reduced contraction‐induced rapid onset vasodilatation. Single and brief forearm contractions were used to isolate the local effects of muscle contraction on the forearm vasodilatory response, independent of systemic haemodynamic and sympathetic neural influence.
How clean must our drinking water be: the importance of protective immunity.

BACKGROUND Cryptosporidium parvum is an important cause of epidemic diarrhea. Few studies have assessed whether serological evidence of prior infection in adults is related to a reduced occurrence of enteric illness. METHODS Serum samples and enteric illness event data were obtained in 2000 and 2001 from 326 people served by 1 of 2 unfiltered surface sources or 1 groundwater source. In 2001, filtration was initiated at 1 of the surface sources. Poisson regression related illness episodes with serological responses to the 15/17- and 27-kDa Cryptosporidium antigen groups. RESULTS Subjects with moderately strong responses to the 15/17-kDa antigen had <65% of the risk of all 1-3-day episodes of diarrheal or gastrointestinal illness and <40% of the risk of all >/=4-day episodes, compared with subjects without a moderately strong response. Water source, change in water treatment, and very weak responses were unrelated to illness events. CONCLUSIONS Endemic Cryptosporidium infections are a common cause of diarrheal and gastrointestinal illness in persons without a moderately strong response to the 15/17-kDa antigen group. Users of surface-derived drinking water are more likely to have strong serological responses to this antigen group and may be at a lower risk of endemic gastrointestinal illness caused by Cryptosporidium infection.
MODEL PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT

The issue in this research is how to improve society ability through process human and physical capital. The relation between capital and ability improvement will be examined in this research by placing process empowerment as mediating variable to explain the activi- ties involved. The data used in this study are primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected using survey method technique through questionnaire. Furthermore statistical analysis was used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) of Smart Partial Least Square. This research has found two ways as path patterns directed to the increasing of society ability, which are (1) pattern consist of "two creating stage" to society ability, and (2) These pattern show that to improve society ability need "three stage" of process activity. The correlation is while the empowerment process increases higher, it will impulse the creating of society ability. The implementation of this research's result, stated that if the empowerment wants to develop human capital, it will be better if the empowerment is supported by apply the developing abil- ity of subject empowerment.
Gender Perspectives for Sustaining Sugarcane based Farming System

Economic development of any society depends on the quality of human resources. Women referred as ‘invisible farmers’ are the backbone of agricultural work force in our country. Be it in crop farming, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry or any allied agricultural activities, women do the most tedious and strenuous tasks. In production agriculture, women are active partners associating in almost all unit operations of agriculture sharing work between 20-80% in certain cases and almost 100% especially in those involving arduous repetitive work. Gender issues assume great importance in Indian agricultural scenario due to the large diversity in the status of women which is influenced mostly by social and religious taboos, economic status and farm production systems. Rural women hold the key to many of the agricultural systems for food production, seed selection and sustained farming. Sugarcane is an annual crop wherein more than 45 million people are engaged in various activities. We know that women play a major role in sugarcane farming but we do not know enough about what this means for technology development, adoption and further impact on productivity. Women’s labour terrain is not confirmed to the farm alone. Apart from the nature of work, the measuring of time expended has rarely been addressed. Hence, issues relating to both research coverage and impact in terms of gender need careful study. Accordingly, a study was conducted in three districts of TamilNadu covering 94 farm women. The present paper highlights the gender perspectives in sugarcane farming in terms of their participation level, their decision making pattern in varied activities, time utilization pattern, drudgeries involved and thereby implications suggesting sustainable interventions, addressing both the practical and strategic issues.
CD8+ T cells provide immune protection against murine disseminated endotheliotropic Orientia tsutsugamushi infection

Scrub typhus, caused by a Gram-negative obligately intracellular coccobacillus, Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a long neglected but important tropical disease. Orientia tsutsugamushi causes illness in one million people each year, and 1 billion people are at risk. Without appropriate diagnosis and treatment, the disease can cause severe multiorgan failure with a case fatality rate of 7–15%. The current gaps in knowledge of immunity include the unknown mechanisms of host immunity to O. tsutsugamushi. Using an intravenous (i.v.) disseminated infection mouse model, we observed that more CD8+ T cells than CD4+ T cells were present in the spleen of infected mice at 12 dpi. We also determined that Treg cells and the proportion of T cells producing IL-10 were significantly increased from 6 dpi, which correlated with the onset of illness, body weight loss, and increased bacterial loads. We further studied CD8-/-, MHC I-/- and wild type control (WT) C57BL/6J mice to determine the importance of CD8+ T cells and MHC I molecules. After infection with an ordinarily sub-lethal dose of O. tsutsugamushi, all CD8-/- and MHC I-/- mice were moribund between 12 and 15 dpi, whereas all WT mice survived. Bacterial loads in the lung, kidney, liver and spleen of CD8-/- and MHC I-/- mice were significantly greater than those in WT mice. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and granzyme B mRNA levels in the liver of CD8-/- and MHC I-/- mice were significantly greater than in WT mice. In addition, more severe histopathologic lesions were observed in CD8-/- mice. Finally, adoptive transfer confirmed a major role of immune CD8+ T cells as well as a less effective contribution by immune CD8 T cell-depleted splenocytes in protection against O. tsutsugamushi infection. These studies demonstrated the critical importance of CD8+ T cells in the host immune response during O. tsutsugamushi infection.
Developing banking products for Islamic corporate clientele

This article analyses and describes the banking needs of South African Muslim corporate clients for Shari’ah-compliant banking products. The discovery of the oil wealth in the Middle East during the 1970s provided adequate infrastructure for promoting the growth of Islamic banking. By the beginning of the 21st century, South African banks realised that Albaraka Bank had grown tremendously since its arrival in South Africa in 1989. This research tested five hypotheses to establish the need for cost-effective, Shari’ah-compliant asset-based finance products. It applied the market-driven element of the target cost model to analyse client requirements in terms of the costs associated with the product offering. The research findings indicate that South African Muslim corporate clients would buy Islamic banking products for religious reasons. It was found that price would be a determinant in evaluating a purchasing decision. The research further found that it is tenable that Muslim corporate clients would require asset-based finance products to possibly finance their capital investment strategies. This article highlights that it is vitally important for financial institutions to understand the needs of South African Muslim corporate clients for Shari’ahcompliant banking products.
Trends in radiation exposure from clinical nuclear medicine procedures in Shanghai, China

ObjectivesThis study was designed to assess the trends in the frequencies of nuclear medicine procedures in Shanghai, China, and to determine their contributions to the per capita effective dose to the Shanghai population. The mean activities of radionuclides administered by nuclear medicine departments were compared with the Chinese national guidelines on diagnostic reference levels. MethodsOn the basis of the three surveys carried out by Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 1996, 1998, and 2008, the typically administered radiopharmaceuticals, levels of activity, the number of procedures, and population were systematically analyzed to assess the frequencies of nuclear medicine procedures and the per capita effective dose. ResultsThe frequencies were approximately 2.77, 3.46, and 6.63 per 1000 people in 1996, 1998, and 2008, respectively. The annual per capita doses from diagnostic nuclear medicine were estimated to be 0.016, 0.022, and 0.032 mSv in 1996, 1998, and 2008, respectively. The annual frequency of therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures increased from 0.131 to 0.430 per 1000 people in the intervening 12 years. ConclusionIn the 12 years before 2008, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in nuclear medicine in Shanghai increased continuously, and the annual per capita dose doubled. Increases in PET imaging and bone scans were the major contributors to the increasing frequency and magnitude of radiation exposure to the population. The activities administered for most diagnostic procedures were generally consistent with the designated reference levels.
Incompletely Informed Policymakers and Trade Policy in Oligopolistic Industries

We study strategic trade policy design when governments are incompletely informed about the market demand. Two symmetric, homogeneous product Cournot firms, one in each country, compete in a third country market. Contrary to what common sense would suggest, we show that if governments are less informed on the stochastic market demand both countries will be better off. Also contrary to findings in the literature, we show that when the government is partially informed, although quantity controls would be optimal for both high and low levels of demand uncertainty, subsidies are preferred for intermediate levels.
Issues of delivering quality customer service in a higher education environment

Purpose – This paper seeks to redress the lack of academic attention being given to the relationship between academia and industry in the competitive environment of international higher education‐related service delivery and use. It adopts a relational marketing approach to value creation in service interactions and explore the expectations and perceptions of employers and university academics and practitioners. The research focuses on a comprehensive mapping of gaps in the international higher education service at large, and specifically in the context of degree programme development, recruiting international students and associated service interactions with industry. It highlights some of the issues pertaining to service quality, customer orientation and sustainability in international higher education and associated service delivery.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is an exploratory case study set in the context of Finnish higher education. It relies on qualitative research methods and applies .
Real Exchange Rate Volatility and Economic Openness: Theory and Evidence

This paper relates the volatility of the trade-weighted effective real exchange rate to the degree of trade openness of an economy. The theoretical part presents an intertemporal monetary model of a small open economy with nominal rigidities. Both monetary and aggregate supply shocks are shown to produce (ceteris paribus) smaller real exchange rate movements if the country is more open to foreign trade. Empirical evidence on a cross section of forty-eight countries confirms this relationship: Differences in trade openness explain a large part of the cross-country variation in the volatility of the effective real exchange rate.
Cardiovascular adaptation to extrauterine life after intrauterine growth restriction

Abstract Introduction The adaptive changes of the foetal heart in intrauterine growth restriction can persist postnatally. Data regarding its consequences for early circulatory adaptation to extrauterine life are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess cardiac morphometry and function in newborns with late-onset intrauterine growth restriction to test the hypothesis that intrauterine growth restriction causes cardiac shape and functional changes at birth. Methods A comprehensive echocardiographic study was performed in 25 neonates with intrauterine growth restriction and 25 adequate-for-gestational-age neonates. Results Compared with controls, neonates with intrauterine growth restriction had more globular ventricles, lower longitudinal tricuspid annular motion, and higher left stroke volume without differences in the heart rate. Neonates with intrauterine growth restriction also showed subclinical signs of diastolic dysfunction in the tissue Doppler imaging with lower values of early (e′) diastolic annular peak velocities in the septal annulus. Finally, the Tei index in the tricuspid annulus was higher in the intrauterine growth restriction group. Conclusion Neonates with history of intrauterine growth restriction showed cardiac remodelling and signs of systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Overall, there was a significant tendency to worse cardiac function results in the right heart. The adaptation to extrauterine life occurred with more globular hearts, higher stroke volumes but a similar heart rate compared to adequate-for-gestational-age neonates.
Performance Configurations over Time: Implications for Growth– and Profit–Oriented Strategies

Strategic entrepreneurship can be described as simultaneous opportunity seeking and advantage seeking. Younger firms are generally more flexible and therefore enjoy “discovery advantages,” whereas established firms tend to be resource rich and more experienced and consequently enjoy “exploitation advantages. ” The resulting evolution of the two important performance dimensions, “growth” and “profitability,” by firm age is not well understood. In this article we integrate several theoretical arguments concerning profit–growth relationships to develop a dynamic model of firm development, which suggests different development pathways for young firms. This leads to several unidirectional, competing hypotheses that we examine by studying the profitability–growth configurations of approximately 3,500 small firms and how these configurations evolve over time. We find that for both young and old firms a focus on achieving above–average profitability and then striving for growth is a more likely path toward achieving sustained above–average performance than is first pursuing strong growth in the hope of building profitability later. In line with our hypothesis we find that younger firms are over represented as “Stars” (high on both growth and profitability) and underrepresented as “Poor” (low on both growth and profitability). However, young firms in the “Star” category are also less likely than their older counterparts to maintain that position. Furthermore, our results indicate that young firms are overrepresented not only among “Stars,” but also among growth–orientated firms, regardless of the level of profitability. The findings strongly caution against the blind pursuit of growth for young firms, in favor of a thoughtful analysis of how both growth and profitability might be developed by firms. The results also question whether simultaneous high performance in terms of growth and profitability among young firms usually reflects a successful entrepreneurial strategy. The results can also be interpreted as luck on the part of a subgroup of young firms who indiscriminately pursue growth opportunities with varying profit prospects, and in many cases, the high growth–profit performance will be short lived.
Losses, Dividend Reductions, and Market Reaction Associated with Past Earnings and Dividends Patterns

This paper examines investors’ reactions to dividend reductions or omissions conditional on past earnings and dividend patterns for a sample of eighty-two U.S. firms that incurred an annual loss. We document that the market reaction for firms with long patterns of past earnings and dividend payouts is significantly more negative than for firms with less-established past earnings and dividends records. Our results can be explained by the following line of reasoning. First, consistent with DeAngelo, DeAngelo, and Skinner (1992), a loss following a long stream of earnings and dividend payments represents an unreliable indicator of future earnings. Thus, established firms have higher loss reliability than less-established firms. Second, because current earnings and dividend policy are a substitute source of means of forecasting future earnings, lower loss reliability increases the information content of dividend reductions. Therefore, given the presence of a loss, the longer the stream of prior earnings and dividend payments, (1) the lower the loss reliability and (2) the more reliably dividend cuts are perceived as an indication that earnings difficulties will persist in the future.
Hotel Overbooking

Overbooking represents an important strategy for many service providers that apply revenue management. Although the objective is to overbook such that no customers are denied service, denials may result when the customer no-show rate is lower than expected. Research has shown that denied service can increase customer complaining behavior, and decrease customer satisfaction and spending behavior. Therefore, it behooves the service provider to put a service recovery strategy in place that will minimize the likelihood of these negative outcomes. This study investigates, in the context of denied service due to hotel overbooking, the role of overcompensation (type and amount) in shaping customers’ reactions to the service failure/recovery experience. Results suggest that cash-based overcompensation will yield significantly higher satisfaction ratings than voucher-based overcompensation or normal compensation alone, although the relationship between cash-based overcompensation and satisfaction is not linear. Additionally, overcompensation, regardless of type or amount, does not significantly influence customer repatronage intentions over and above normal compensation alone.
The Stewardship Role of Analyst Forecasts, and Discretionary Versus Non-discretionary Accruals

We examine the interaction between discretionary and non-discretionary accruals in a stewardship setting. Contracting includes multiple rounds of renegotiation based on contractible accounting information and non-contractible but more timely non-accounting information. We show that accounting regulation aimed at increasing earnings quality from a valuation perspective (earnings persistence) may have a significant impact on how firms rationally respond in terms of allowing accrual discretion in order to alleviate the impact on the stewardship role of earnings. Increasing the precision of more timely non-accounting information (analyst earnings forecasts) increases the ex ante value of the firm and reduces costly earnings management. There is an optimal level of reversible non-discretionary accrual noise introduced through revenue recognition policies. Tight rules-based accounting regulation, as opposed to leaving firms more choice over non-discretionary accrual policies, may lead firms to rationally respond by inducing costly earnings management. More generally, regulating both earnings persistence and the tightness of admissible auditing policies may not result in less equilibrium earnings management.