Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross-Cultural Beliefs about Memory and Aging for Self and Others: South Korea and Canada

Young adults in Canada (N = 161) and South Korea (N = 165) rated either themselves or typical others at target ages 25, 45, and 65 years. In both countries, poorer memory was anticipated with each increase in age on all 3 memory belief factors: capacity, change, and locus. Both groups demonstrated a self-protective bias about age-related decline, with Koreans showing a greater effect. These findings demonstrate the cross-cultural generality of negative memory stereotypes of middle and old age and the importance of self-other distinctions in age biases.
Why Have Debt Ratios Increased for Firms in Emerging Markets?

I study trends in capital structure between 1980 and 2004 in a sample of over 11,000 firms from 34 emerging markets. The average firm's book-value debt ratio rose by 10 percentage points over this quarter century; market-value debt ratios rose by 15 percentage points. I study how this rise in leverage was influenced by the firm-level demand for and the country-level supply of debt financing. The central finding is that the increase in debt ratios can largely be attributed to changes in the characteristics of emerging market firms over this period. For the average firm, the most prominent determinants of capital structure -- size, profitability, asset tangibility, and growth opportunities -- all shifted in the direction implying a higher optimal level of debt. On the supply side, increased financial development within the country is associated with lower debt ratios, but increased financial openness to foreign markets is associated with higher debt ratios.
The Yersinia pseudotuberculosis adhesin YadA mediates intimate bacterial attachment to and entry into HEp-2 cells

We characterized a bacterium-host cell interaction that is mediated by the Yersinia adhesin YadA. Derivatives of the virulence plasmid pIB1 harboring mutations in yadA, yopE, or yopH or in a low-calcium-response regulatory locus were introduced into a Yersinia pseudotuberculosis YPIII strain defective for Inv. The mutant strains were tested for the capacity to attach to and enter HEp-2 cells and express the cytotoxic activities of YopE and YopH. As previously shown, expression of YadA was necessary for bacterial attachment and Yop activity in the absence of Inv (R. Rosqvist, A. Forsberg, M. Rimpilainen, T. Bergman, and H. Wolf-Watz, Mol. Microbiol. 4:657-667, 1990). In addition, bacterial entry into HEp-2 cells occurred efficiently when YadA was expressed in the absence of YopE and YopH. These results demonstrated that YadA mediates intimate attachment of Y. pseudotuberculosis to HEp-2 cells and that phagocytic uptake of bacteria by this pathway is inhibited by the synergistic activities of YopH and YopE. A role for beta 1 integrins as host cell receptors for this bacterial attachment and entry mechanism was supported by HEp-2 cell adhesion and monoclonal antibody neutralization studies.
Competitive Balance and Attendance

Both the popular press and industry insiders have claimed that the growing gap between the “rich” and “poor” teams in major league baseball has led to a greater disparity on the field of play and that the eventual outcome of this gap will be lower attendance. The purpose of this inquiry is twofold. First, an investigation into the level of competitive balance reveals that relative to major league baseball’s historical record and contrary to the contentions of the media, the 1990s was the most competitive decade on the field of play. Second, the previously unexplored link between aggregate attendance and league competitive balance is examined. This investigation suggests that a relationship between these factors does indeed exist, whether one explores the relationship strictly across time or with the use of a panel data set.
Skill-Based Development of Entrepreneurs and the Role of Personal and Peer Group Coaching in Enterprise Development

This article argues that skill building lies at the heart of entrepreneurs' success, and it seeks to begin the process of understanding how skills can best be developed. The authors begin with a discussion of skill building and why it must be the focus of productive enterprise development efforts. They then examine a unique enterprise development program in central Appalachia that uses a system of blended personal and peer group coaching to develop the skills of its client entrepreneurs. By triangulating the results of in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, coaches, and the managers of the program, the research reported here creates a set of comparative case studies that sheds light on how coaching can affect the way entrepreneurs learn. The findings have implications for how entrepreneurs can be more effectively assisted.
Local selected features of dual-tree complex wavelet transform for single sample face recognition

In this study, a new method for single sample face recognition problem based on local dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT) representation is proposed. The proposed system provides a number of countermeasures to neutralise the unwanted imaging conditions in face classification. First of all, two novel pre-processing steps, geometric and photometric normalisation are used to normalise the facial images. The employed geometric normalisation method is more consistent with the geometry and the shape of the face image, removing redundant information from classification. This step is followed by a new illumination normalisation approach in which useful information for the extraction of DT-CWT features is kept almost unaltered. Taking a local feature-based approach, DT-CWT features are then extracted regionally. By virtue of the effective normalisation stages and the employed multi-scale and multi-orientation DT-CWT features, the proposed locally selected DT-CWT method offers invariance to moderate real world image variations, such as illumination, expression, head pose, shift and in-plane rotation. The experimental evaluation of the method is performed on the widely used FERET and YALE databases, in an identification scenario, achieving promising performance.
Internet Voting in Comparative Perspective: The Case of Estonia

ABSTRACT Several countries have conducted Internet voting trials in binding public elections over the past decade, including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, Estonia—a former Soviet republic and now a full member of the European Union—has advanced the farthest in deploying Internet voting. In this article, we focus on how the Estonians have systematically addressed the legal and technical considerations required to make Internet voting a functioning voting platform, as well as the political and cultural framework that promoted this innovation. Using data from our own qualitative and quantitative studies of the Estonian experience, we consider who voted over the Internet in these elections, and the political implications of the voting platform.
Rising Youth Unemployment and Violent Crime in Nigeria

Violent crimes such as murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and terrorism are the most inhumane crimes that continue to plague Nigeria. Lately, kidnappings for ransom and terrorism have taken the centre stage leading to bloodshed and economic set-backs. The causes are not farfetched as studies have associated rising youth unemployment to the increase in violent crimes. By using the deprivation theory proposed by Ted Gurr, this study has explored the proximate and ultimate causes involving the youths in violent crimes. If factors that create the feeling of deprivation and frustration created by unemployment are addressed, Nigeria‟s youths will not engage in violent crimes.
Financial Knowledge and Financial Literacy at the Household Level

This paper uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to explore the mechanism that underlies the robust relation found in the literature between cognitive ability, and in particular numeracy, and wealth, income constant. We have a number of findings. First, the more valuable the pension, the more knowledgeable are covered workers about their pensions. We suggest that causality is more likely to run from pension wealth to pension knowledge, rather than the other way around. Second, most measures of cognitive ability, including numeracy, are not significant determinants of pension and Social Security knowledge. Third, standardizing for incomes and other factors, a pension of higher value does not substitute for other forms of wealth. Rather, counting pensions in total wealth, those with more valuable pensions save more for retirement, other things the same. Fourth, there is no evidence that wealth held outside of pensions is influenced by knowledge of pensions. In sum, numeracy does not influence wealth in whole or in part by affecting financial knowledge of one's pension plan, where financial knowledge of the pension then influences other decisions about retirement saving. These findings raise questions about the mechanism that underlies the relation between cognition, especially numeracy, and wealth. From a policy perspective, they suggest that the numeracy-wealth relation should not be taken as evidence that increasing financial literacy will increase the wealth of households as they enter into retirement.
Spatial distribution of schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis cases in the rural areas of Pernambuco, Brazil.

INTRODUCTION The prevalence and intensity of geohelminth infections and schistosomiasis remain high in the rural areas of Zona da Mata, Pernambuco (ZMP), Brazil, where these parasites still represent a significant public health problem. The present study aimed to spatially assess the occurrences of schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis in the ZMP. METHODS The ZMP has a population of 1,132,544 inhabitants, formed by 43 municipalities. An ecological study was conducted, using secondary data relating to positive human cases and parasite loads of schistosomiasis and positive human cases of geohelminthiasis that were worked up in Excel 2007. We used the coordinates of the municipal headquarters to represent the cities which served as the unit of analysis of this study. The Kernel estimator was used to spatially analyze the data and identify distribution patterns and case densities, with analysis done in ArcGIS software. RESULTS Spatial analysis from the Kernel intensity estimator made it possible to construct density maps showing that the northern ZMP was the region with the greatest number of children infected with parasites and the populations most intensely infected by Schistosoma mansoni. In relation to geohelminths, there was higher spatial distribution of cases of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura in the southern ZMP, and greater occurrence of hookworms in the northern/central ZMP. CONCLUSIONS Despite several surveys and studies showing occurrences of schistosomiasis and geohelminthiasis in the ZMP, no preventive measures that are known to have been effective in decreasing these health hazards have yet been implemented in the endemic area.
Management earnings forecasts and the market's reaction to predicted bias in the forecast

Abstract Prior research regarding management earnings forecasts has failed to reject the null hypothesis that the forecasts are not biased. In this study, we find that short-term forecasts are pessimistically biased, while long-term forecasts are optimistically biased. When we pool the forecast observations, consistent with prior studies, we are not able to find the existence of bias. In addition, our evidence suggests that the magnitude of the bias is associated with ex ante information—the unexpected portion of the forecast, firm size, forecast horizon, firm performance, and growth potential of the firm. Since this information is publicly available when a forecast is announced, investors may use it to estimate the bias component included in the management earnings forecast. Our results indicate that while the bias component is predictable, the market still significantly responds to the predicted bias when the forecast is released. In addition, we find that the market's response to the predicted bias decreases as investors' private information search activity increases.
The Behavior of Emerging Market Sovereigns' Credit Default Swap Premiums and Bond Yield Spreads

We test whether credit risk for Emerging Market Sovereigns is priced equally in the credit default swap (CDS) and bond markets. The parity relationship between CDS premiums and bond yield spreads (BYS), that was tested and largely confirmed in the literature, is mostly rejected. Prices below par can result in positive basis, i.e. CDS premiums that are greater than BYS and vice versa. To adjust for the non-par price, we construct the BYS implied by the term structure of CDS premiums for various maturities. We are able to restore the parity relation and confirm the equivalence of credit risk pricing in the CDS and bond markets for many countries that have bonds with non-par prices and time varying credit quality. We detect non-parity even after the adjustment mainly in countries in Latin America, where the bases are larger than the bid-ask spreads in the market. We also find that the repo rates of bonds decrease around episodes of credit quality deterioration, which helps the basis remain positive. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Boundaries in action: a framework to analyse boundary actions in multifunctional land-use developments

Abstract One way to achieve more sustainable spatial development and deal with pressures on space is through integrated or multifunctional land use. Achieving effective integration, although attractive, presents governance challenges. One challenge is how to deal with boundaries. Actors from different backgrounds need to coordinate across and manage their boundaries to realise effective integration of land-use functions. We develop a framework to analyse how actors construct, maintain, challenge, and reconstruct boundaries in their (inter)actions, and we apply the framework to a case analysis of a multifunctional development. The analysis shows that, although integration seems to suggest only boundary crossing, actors also actively defend and reconstruct boundaries. We reflect on how the process of achieving effective integration is not only about overcoming boundaries but also about reconstructing and respecting joint boundary demarcations. These demarcations help to create a sense of order and clarity in terms of responsibility and accountability, and hence enable implementation.
Validation of the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) in a self-directed instructional setting aimed at working with technology

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design has been used myriad times to design motivational instructions that focus on attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction in order to motivate students. The Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) is a 36-item situational measure of people's reactions to instructional materials in the light of the ARCS model. Although the IMMS has been used often, both as a pretest and a posttest tool serving as either a motivational needs assessment prior to instruction or a measure of people's reactions to instructional materials afterward, the IMMS so far has not been validated extensively, taking statistical and theoretical aspects of the survey into account. This paper describes such an extensive validation study, for which the IMMS was used in a self-directed instructional setting aimed at working with technology (a cellular telephone). Results of structural equation modeling show that the IMMS can be reduced to 12 items. This Reduced Instructional Materials Motivation Survey IMMS (RIMMS) is preferred over the original IMMS. The parsimonious RIMMS measures the four constructs attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction of the ARCS model well, and reflects its conditional nature.
Assessing the Impact of Performance-Based Budgeting: A Comparative Analysis across the United States, Taiwan, and China

What is the impact of performance-based budgeting (PBB) on governmental spending? Do various PBB implementation strategies result in different outcomes? The authors, Jack Yun-jie Lee of National Open University in Taiwan and XiaoHu Wang of the University of Central Florida, gathered data from the United States, Taiwan, and China (Guangdong Province) to explore the possible intermediate- and long-term results of PBB. The data demonstrate how the impacts of PBB vary across countries and regions.
RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTION OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: SOME EVIDENCE FROM GHANA

In recent decades, female entrepreneurs have been seen to contribute to the economic development of nations especially in developing countries. Until now the contribution of female entrepreneurs to economic development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been relegated to the background or ignored in development circles. Part of the reason is because female entrepreneurs mainly work in the informal economy and are necessity driven and marginalized. The main research question the study poses is 'what is the contribution of female entrepreneurs to socio-economic development in SSA? ' This paper seeks to answer this by examining critically the contribution of female entrepreneurs from Ghana as a means to achieve economic development. The study employs a qualitative approach using multiple case study design. To examine female entrepreneurship, a 2014 survey involving face-to-face interviews of 60 female entrepreneurs from Accra in Ghana is analyzed. The key finding is that, although male entrepreneurs contribute significantly more to economic development than their female counterparts, there remains untapped potential for female entrepreneurs becoming key players for achieving economic development. This and other findings of the study have some implications for policy on female entrepreneurship. Therefore, there is a call to harness these potentials through policies that would promote female entrepreneurship on an equal wavelength as their male counterparts. This is the first known study of female entrepreneurship as a catalyst for economic development in Ghana.
Networking for Philanthropy: Increasing Volunteer Behavior via Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites (SNSs) provide a unique social venue to engage the young generation in philanthropy through their networking capabilities. An integrated model that incorporates social capital into the Theory of Reasoned Action is developed to explain volunteer behavior through social networks. As expected, volunteer behavior was predicted by volunteer intention, which was influenced by attitudes and subjective norms. In addition, social capital, an outcome of the extensive use of SNSs, was as an important driver of users' attitude and subjective norms toward volunteering via SNSs.
Market Segmentation and the Prediction of Tourist Behavior: The Case of Bornholm, Denmark

Data from a visitor survey on the Danish Island of Bornholm were analyzed using multivariate techniques. Factor analysis of visitors’ preferences and behavior patterns indicated three main goals: relaxation, nature, and local culture. Two distinct clusters, “active” and “inactive” vacationers, were derived from the data. Actives tended to be Germans, to plan their vacation carefully to exercise autonomy in their booking of transport and accommodation, and to value the provision of amenities on the island. Inactives were mostly Scandinavians, and though they made fewer plans, they were more likely to visit the island’s most popular attractions. On the basis of logistic regression analysis, it is suggested that the most important differentiating factors between clusters were (1) the importance accorded to amenity provision, (2) nationality, (3) age, (4) activity participation, (5) planning behavior, (6) attraction visiting behavior, (7) autonomy, and (8) gender.
Valuation without Value Theory: A North American “Appraisal”

Executive Summary: Competence supposes a professional foundation that includes a solid understanding of theory and its historical development. In real estate appraisal, for example, this theory is that of economic value, and its history spans from Xenophon to Ricardo and from Marx to Hobson. This literature review shows that the core of real estate appraisal literature has little place for this theoretical foundation, and allocates even fewer pages to the history of economic value. Appraisers face the challenge of erecting the edifice of basic concepts, laws and principles in appraisal so that the field can advance from art to science, and from trade to profession.
Current account and fiscal deficits-Evidence of twin divergence from selected developing economies of Asia

Questions concerning the relationship between the fiscal policy and the current account are of great analytical and empirical interest. This paper empirically investigates the relationship between current account deficits and fiscal deficits with controlling variables such as inflations, exchange rates, interest rates and trade openness for ten developing economies of Asia in the period of 1985 – 2012. Based on the panel differenced GMM Arellano-Bond estimator and the PMG estimation-based error correction model, the study finds out that (1) the speed of adjustment in the short run to reach equilibrium level in the long run is 40.47%/year; (2) a twin divergence between fiscal deficits and current account deficits in 10 Asian countries.
Audit Partner Tenure and Audit Planning and Pricing

SUMMARY: This paper investigates the association between audit engagement partner tenure and audit planning and pricing. Prior archival research from countries requiring partner signature on the audit opinion provides mixed results on the implications of partner tenure for audit quality. While variation in audit quality based on partner tenure implies some difference in the conduct of the engagement, prior research has not yet addressed whether engagement processes differ based on partner tenure. Using proprietary data from a large audit firm, we find that planned engagement effort increases following partner rotation, suggesting that new partners invest effort to gain client knowledge in the first year on the engagement. We also examine planned realization rates, finding them to be lower following partner rotation. This implies that new partners’ investments in client knowledge are not compensated by clients. We also find higher planned realization rates on audits having the same engagement partner for m.
Supervisory quality of board and firm performance: a perspective of board meeting attendance

The board plays a central role in monitoring the management on behalf of shareholders, yet the efficacy of board monitoring is difficult to determine. This study proposes using board attendance as a proxy measure of board supervisory quality and investigates the factors influencing board attendance, as well as their impact on firms’ performance, by conducting a second-order regression analysis. The results show that board attendance decreases with multiple directorships, meeting frequency, and board size, indicating that busier directors and a more complex board combine to lower meeting attendance. The director shareholding rate and proportion of independent directors increase with board attendance, implying the convergence of interest among directors and companies and that strong external monitoring prompts higher board attendance. Finally, we find that higher board attendance enhances higher firm accounting performance, verifying that firms could view the attendance rate as an indication of the quality of the board supervision of these corporate monitors.