Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State of government accounting in Ghana and Benin: a “tentative” account

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of government accounting in Ghana and Benin using neo-patrimonial and organizational facade lenses. Design/methodology/approach The study used two country case studies that engaged with stakeholders including donors, civil society, politicians, and civil servants. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection technique, which were complemented by document analysis. Findings The study finds that government accounting reforms are decoupled and used in both countries as a facade which is caused, to a varying degree, by indigenous neo-patrimonial governance traits of informal institutions, patronage, and clientelism. And despite the relatively superior Ghanaian system, in terms of its functioning, compared to the Beninese, government accounting plays a more symbolic role in the former than in the latter. Originality/value This is one of the very few theoretically informed empirical studies that examine the state of government accounting in the two major African settings – Anglophone and Francophone. The results inform policies more tailored to indigenous governance issues for better outcomes.
Materials systems and autonomy in electromechanical sound art

Sound art is a difficult to categorise and broad genre description that draws together modes of creative practice which use sound as a medium or a subject. The field is considered to be critically underrepresented and under-theorised despite an increase of attention and popularity since the 1990s (Licht 2007, 2001, Cox 2009). This is partly as a consequence of an analytical and historical emphasis on textual and conceptual approaches which dominated the arts through the 1970s and 1980s (Cox 2011, 2013). In particular, acknowledgement of the influence of object-based and kinetic sculpture within the field of sound art is found to be inadequate (Chau 2014, Keylin 2015). This thesis presents an original body of sound art practice as a means through which to uncover and explore connections between sound art, experimental composition, kinetic art and sculpture. The term 'electromechanical' is used to identify this work, highlighting its particular concerns with the use of electrically animated or amplified materials. Through the production, exhibition, critical appraisal and contextualisation of the work new observations and distinctions within the field are presented. These include the identification of a 'closed system aesthetic' and the distinction between robotic and process driven approaches to electromechanical sound art. A further contribution to the field consists of a detailed consideration of sound art emerging from an intersection of experimental music and sculptural practices during the 1960s. The original works produced for the project, and their production are documented and described in detail alongside existing canonical and contemporary examples of sound art. Analysis of these works is informed by materialist and object-orientated critical positions, and science and technology studies. The method of art practice as research is described and extended in an original way that encompasses and applies a systems approach to creative practice.
The Properties of the Positively Charged Loop Region in PSI-G Are Essential for Its “Spontaneous” Insertion into Thylakoids and Rapid Assembly into the Photosystem I Complex*

The PSI-G subunit of photosystem I (PSI) is an 11-kDa membrane protein that plays an important role in electron transport between plastocyanin and PSI and is involved in the stability of the PSI complex. Within the complex, the PSI-G subunit is bound to PSI-B and is in contact with Lhca1. PSI-G has two transmembrane spans connected by a positively charged stromal loop. The loop is inaccessible to proteases, indicating a tightly bound location within the PSI complex. Here, we have studied the insertion mechanism and assembly of PSI-G. We show that the protein inserts into thylakoids by a direct or “spontaneous” pathway that does not involve the activities of any known chloroplast protein-targeting machinery. Surprisingly, the positively charged stromal loop region plays a major role in this process. Mutagenesis or deletions within this region almost invariably lead to a marked lowering of insertion efficiency, strongly indicating a critical role for the loop in the organization of the transmembrane regions prior to or during membrane insertion. Finally, we have examined the assembly of newly inserted PSI-G into the PSI complex, since very little is known of the assembly pathway for this large multimeric complex. Interestingly, we find that inserted PSI-G can be found within the full PSI complex within the import assay time frame after insertion into thylakoids, strongly suggesting that PSI-G normally associates at the end of the assembly process. This is consistent with its location on the periphery of the complex.
Faculty Constitutions in the Ivory Tower: Exploring the Balance of Power between the Professoriate and the Administration

ABSTRACT The presumption that rules and institutional structures profoundly influence an organization’s behavior is deeply rooted in the study of governance. Whereas social scientists have explored the link between institutional structure and political power at the national, state, and local level, there is virtually no quantitative research on how competing constitutional frameworks influence power in an academic setting. The researchers theorize that, given academics’ relatively limited input into institutional decision making, faculty respondents will perceive they have greater influence when they exercise direct control over faculty representatives. Merging a database of academic constitutions with faculty survey responses from the North American Academic Survey (NAAS), the authors find that, even when controlling for institutional size, budget, and academic mission, some features of academic constitutions are strongly correlated with perceptions of faculty power. In general, more representative constitutions are strongly associated with faculty influence. However, contrary to the underlying theory, faculty employed at schools where an administrator is designated as the chair or president of the academic senate feel they are more influential than those that elect their own leader. The results suggest a new and potentially important line of inquiry for political researchers.
Integrated control of ticks and tick-borne diseases of cattle in Africa

Summary The problems caused by tick and tick-borne diseases for livestock particularly cattle on the African continent are described and discussed. The control of ticks and tick-borne diseases must receive high priority in Africa with regard to both research and control application because of their widespread distribution in areas of high livestock potential and productivity. The conventional methods of tick and tick-borne disease control are discussed and are found to be inadequate in the conditions prevailing in Africa. Methods of integrated control are suggested and discussed in light of recent development in control methods and those still under development. Any one of these methods may not be adequate to control the problem on its own but when several of the methods are combined an economic and robust integrated control is likely to result. Encouragement is given to attempt this approach in Africa to solve what must be the largest animal health problem of livestock remaining in the world.
Representative Bureaucracy, Gender Congruence, and Student Performance in China

ABSTRACT This article investigates the applicability of representative bureaucracy theory in China’s education sector. Past research mainly tests the theory of representative bureaucracy in the typical Western developed countries. Rarely, however, is attention paid to developing and non-Western contexts. This study examines the influence of gender congruence on student performance in Chinese middle schools by analyzing data from a national representative survey conducted between 2013 and 2014. Empirical results indicate that the presence of female math teachers significantly increases the math scores of female students. Further examination supports the interpretation that female math teachers actively represent the interests of female students, and that the alternative mechanism, role-model effects, only partially shapes the interactions between female teachers and female students.
Mass-Gathering Medical Care: A Review of the Literature

Abstract Mass-gatherings events provide a difficult setting for which to plan an appropriate emergency medical response. Many of the variables that affect the level and types of medical needs, have not been fully researched. This review examines these variables. Methods: An extensive review was conducted using the computerized databases Medline and Healthstar from 1977 through May 2002. Articles selected contained information pertaining to mass-gathering variables. These articles were read, abstracted, analyzed, and compiled. Results: Multiple variables are present during a mass gathering, and they interact in complex and dynamic ways. The interaction of these variables contributes to the number of patients treated at an event (medical usage rate) as well as the observed injury patterns. Important variables include weather, event type, event duration, age, crowd mood and density, attendance, and alcohol and drug use. Conclusions: Developing an understanding of the variables associated with mass gatherings should be the first step for event planners. After these variables are considered, a thorough needs analysis can be performed and resource allocation can be based on objective data.
Forecasting success in equity crowdfunding

This paper analyzes a large dataset of 2171 equity crowdfunding campaigns launched between the years 2012 and 2017 on two of the world’s largest platforms Crowdcube and Seedrs. Our data shows that the equity crowdfunding market has matured: more recent campaigns tend to be launched by larger and older companies with better access to external financing. Given the market’s dynamics, we use a rolling three-year window to forecast funding success and develop a simple model based on information that is available at the time of the campaign (e.g., retained equity, external fundraising before the campaign, accelerator attendance, and information about the directors’ team). Our proposed forecasting method can be beneficial to both platforms and entrepreneurs for improving outcomes on the equity crowdfunding market.
Biomass and carbon stocks of a tropical dry forest of the Javadi Hills, Eastern Ghats, India

ABSTRACT Carbon stocks of woody vegetation were assessed in a tropical dry forest of the Javadi Hills at three elevations (high-elevation forest, HEF; mid-elevation forest, MEF; and low-elevation forest, LEF) by laying 15 square plots of 0.25 ha each. All of the adult trees (≥ 30 cm girth at breast height (GBH)), juvenile trees (≥ 10 to < 30 cm GBH) and lianas (≥ 3 cm girth at 1.37 m from the rooting point) were enumerated and woody biomass was assessed by the non-harvest method. The total tree (juvenile + adult tree) aboveground biomass ranged from 99 to 216 Mg/ha. The liana aboveground biomass ranged from 3.6 to 9.3 Mg/ha. The woody vegetation in the present study sites stocked 53 to 116 Mg/ha of carbon. Adult trees accounted for a maximum share of 94% of woody carbon while lianas and juvenile trees contributed to just 6%. The carbon stock of adult trees and lianas increased with increasing altitude whereas juveniles showed a reverse trend, which could be due to anthropogenic pressures. Human disturbance and cattle grazing should be minimized in the studied tropical dry forest ecosystem to conserve its vanishing natural resources and also to enhance carbon accumulation for the future.
A phylogenetic analysis of micro‐organisms isolated from subsurface environments

Three methods were used to provide information on the identity and phylogenetic relatedness of 19 aerobic, chemoheterotrophic bacteria isolated from topsoil and deep subsurface sediments at a site in South Carolina. These methods were (i) analysis of selected physiological traits, (ii) restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) of genomic DNA, and (iii) analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. When the 16S rRNA sequences were compared with those for 12 standard strains, two topsoil isolates and six subsurface strains formed a tight group with the high‐G+C Gram‐positive bacteria and appeared to be most closely related to Arthrobacter globiformis— a coryneform‐actinomycete bacterium with unusually effective survival capabilities. The rest of the subsurface isolates were scattered among the standard strains from the Proteobacteria— including the pseudomonads and Agrobacterium tumefaciens— or the low‐G+C Gram‐positive bacteria.
Self-ownership and world-ownership : a quest for plausible libertarianism

This PhD investigates the plausibility of libertarianism as a theory of social and distributive justice. In doing so, it engages in the lively contemporary debate concerning justice, which experienced a significant boost since the publication of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971). Libertarianism is defined by its defence of the self-ownership principle. This principle holds that agents have full ownership rights over their own person, which includes their body, mind, talents and energies. Libertarians complement the self-ownership principle with a world-ownership principle that can be more or less (in)egalitarian. The latter principle describes how individuals can become the justified owners of resources that are external to their person, like a plot of land or a car. In defending those two principles, libertarianism takes a stance on the proper limits of individual freedom and on the justifiability of distributions of wealth and resources. Libertarianism is attractive because its defining principle, the self-ownership principle, protects, as a matter of fundamental moral right, many of the liberties famously defended by John Stuart Mill in his book On Liberty (1859). Notwithstanding the attractiveness of the self-ownership principle, libertarianism has been subject to an armoury of criticisms. Because of this contrast, the main aim of this PhD is to determine whether libertarianism survives critical scrutiny based on ordinary moral reasoning. In the end, I will argue that moderate sufficiency-constrained left-libertarianism is, indeed, plausible. This theory is libertarian as it defends the self-ownership principle and as it is grounded in the basic libertarian claim that agents should be free to live their life as they see fit. It is a left-libertarian theory because it defends an egalitarian world-ownership principle. This egalitarian principle, in turn, must be constrained by a sufficiency proviso so as to counterbalance the inegalitarian implications that a left-libertarian theory might still generate. The sufficiency proviso ensures that agents have sufficient external resources to independently set and pursue life-projects. The theory is moderate in that it backs away from the standard libertarian conception of self-ownership and defends near-full (rather than full) self-ownership rights. Moreover, this moderate theory accepts that self-ownership rights should provide extra protections for agents against being used as a means for the benefit of others.
When politics gets in the way: domestic coalitions and the making of skill systems

ABSTRACT Examining the recent evolution of public skill institutions and the diverging trajectories of institutional change, this paper focuses on skill certification systems, empirically drawing from two middle-income countries (MICs), Mexico and Turkey. Building on the argument that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) prefer public skill systems to generate a technically skilled workforce more than large firms do, it puts forward that governments supporting and being supported by SMEs will be more willing to endorse skill certification systems for their distributional consequences. It argues that public skill institutions are embraced to varying degrees based on cost-benefit calculations of domestic elites; and only adopted effectively if they are in concord with key actors’ interests. Therefore, this paper contributes to the emerging literature on skill politics in the MICs by examining the dynamics of domestic political coalitions that support or prevent the development of skill institutions based on extensive empirical analysis, and it agrees with the arguments emphasizing the importance of SMEs’ presence in political coalitions for skill reforms. Furthermore, it provides important evidence against the arguments on institutional convergence in the age of globalization by showing the varying outcomes of similar external pressures in the MICs.
Kinectics of beta-galactosidase synthesis in Escherichia coli at 5 C

The defect in protein synthesis that is observed in Escherichia coli after transfer to low temperature was studied. For the enzyme beta-galactosidase, the elongation reactions of transcription and translation can take place slowly but normally at 5 C. The time necessary to complete the coupled synthesis of the beta-galactosidase messenger ribonucleic acid and polypeptide chain was found to be about 80 min at 5 C. From this result and from the known length of the beta-galactosidase monomer, it is possible to calculate that at 5 C one amino acid is added to the growing polypeptide chain every 4 s. The initiation of transcription of the beta-galactosidase messenger is inhibited after transfer to 5 C. This fact alone, however, cannot account for all of the phenomena observed at 5 C, because a given amount of messenger yields less enzyme at 5 C than it does at 37 C. Furthermore, in cells induced for short periods at 37 C, the capacity to synthesize beta-galactosidase after transfer to 5 C was found to accumulate linearily with the square of the time of induction. Two alternative models could account for these data. If all ribosomes that initiate translation at 37 C yield complete beta-galactosidase polypeptide chains at 5 C, then an inhibition of translation initiation after transfer to 5 C must be invoked to explain the results. If, on the other hand, a substantial portion of the ribosomes that initiate translation at 37 C do not yield complete beta-galactosidase polypeptides at 5 C, then intracistronic polarity could account for the data, and there is no need to invoke an inhibition of translation initiation at 5 C.
Necessary and sufficient conditions for linear convergence of ℓ1‐regularization

Motivated by the theoretical and practical results in compressed sensing, efforts have been undertaken by the inverse problems community to derive analogous results, for instance linear convergence rates, for Tikhonov regularization with ℓ1‐penalty term for the solution of ill‐posed equations. Conceptually, the main difference between these two fields is that regularization in general is an uncon strained optimization problem, while in compressed sensing a constrained one is used. Since the two methods have been developed in two different communities, the theoretical approaches to them appear to be rather different: In compressed sensing, the restricted isometry property seems to be central for proving linear convergence rates, whereas in regularization theory range or source conditions are imposed. The paper gives a common meaning to the seemingly different conditions and puts them into perspective with the conditions from the respective other community. A particularly important observation is that the range condition together with an injectivity condition is weaker than the restricted isometry property. Under the weaker conditions, linear convergence rates can be proven for compressed sensing and for Tikhonov regularization. Thus existing results from the literature can be improved based on a unified analysis. In particular, the range condition is shown to be the weakest possible condition that permits the derivation of linear convergence rates for Tikhonov regularization with a priori parameter choice. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Efficacy of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Children and Adolescent with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur in both adults and children/adolescents. Untreated PTSD can lead to negative long-term mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, low self-concept, disruptive behaviors, and/or substance use disorders. To prevent these adverse effects, treatment of PTSD is essential, especially in young population due to their greater vulnerability. The principal aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents. Secondary objectives were to assess whether EMDR therapy was effective to improve depressive or anxious comorbid symptoms. Methods: We conducted a thorough systematic search of studies published until January 2017, using PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and ScienceDirect as databases. All randomized controlled trials with an EMDR group condition compared to a control group, such as treatment as usual or another psychological treatment, were included. Meta-analysis was conducted with MetaNSUE to avoid biases related to missing information. Results: Eight studies (n = 295) met our inclusion criteria. EMDR therapy was superior to waitlist/placebo conditions and showed comparable efficacy to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in reducing post-traumatic and anxiety symptoms. A similar but non-statistically significant trend was observed for depressive symptoms. Exploratory subgroup analyses showed that effects might be smaller in studies that included more males and in more recent studies. Conclusion: Despite the small number of publications, the obtained results suggest that EMDR therapy could be a promising psychotherapeutic approach for the treatment of PTSD and comorbid symptoms in young individuals. However, further research with larger samples is needed to confirm these preliminary results as well as to analyze differences in the efficacy of EMDR therapy versus CBT.
Wage dynamics and worker mobility during deep recessions

ABSTRACT We provide empirical evidence of the relationship between downward wage rigidity and unemployment volatility by comparing wage dynamics and worker mobility during the Great Recession in two countries where wages adjusted very differently: Latvia and Spain. Using a panel of social security administrative data, we find that wages in Spain were rigid even during periods of rising unemployment. In contrast, Latvian wages were reduced and wage cuts affected 60 percent of jobs. At the same time, the elasticity of workers' transition rates into and out of unemployment to productivity shocks was four times higher in Spain than in Latvia, and these responses were more persistent in Spain. This evidence is consistent with theoretical models that show that unemployment volatility is higher when wages are rigid.
Do Business Borrowers Benefit from Bank Bailouts?: The Effects of TARP on Loan Contract Terms

We investigate benefits to business borrowers from bank bailouts – specifically the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Applying difference-in-difference methodology to loan-level data, we find more favorable contract terms in five dimensions – spread, amount, maturity, collateral, and covenants – suggesting increased credit supply to borrowers of bailed-out banks at the intensive margin. Findings are robust to dealing with endogeneity and other issues. Riskier borrowers benefit more, consistent with moral hazard exploitation. Small and unlisted borrowers benefit less, suggesting fewer benefits for more financially-constrained firms. Benefits accrue to both relationship and non-relationship borrowers. Results contribute to research and policy debates on bank bailouts. JEL Classification Numbers: G01, G21, G28