Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Should Firms be Required to Pay for Vocational Training

Failure in the training market may result from credit constraints and the inability to insure against labour income uncertainty, deterring potential trainees, or labour market imperfections that create external benefits for firms. This paper constructs a model of a training market affected by both problems, and examines the rationale for training levy schemes, intended to make firms increase investment in vocational training. It is shown that regulating firms, or equivalently financing a subsidy by taxation of profits, can achieve a Pareto improvement irrespective of the cause of under-investment. However, when the levy is assessed as a proportion of wages the effect is to address capital market imperfections only.
Globalised images of environmental security in Africa

Since the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, there has been a pronounced concern in academic and policy circles, with global environmental change, and its implications for global security (Speth, 1990; Brock, 1991; Renner, 1996; Brown, 1994; Obi, 1997a, 1997b, 1998b; Leach & Mearns, 1996; Hyden, 1999). At the heart of this shift has been the expansion of the notion of security to include the containment of non‐military, extra‐state threats. Thus, issues such as poverty, environmental degradation, crisis, wars, drug‐trafficking and even migration were included in the emerging perspective to security. Also, globalisation meant that threat‐perception in the west began to take on board the linkages between environmental crisis in the third world, with its strategic needs for stability, markets, resources, and even, leisure. At the same time, there was the concern among some policy‐makers and scholars of the implications of globalisation for the post‐colonial African state, which was experiencing various forms and intensities of crisis. Such fears were based on the belief that a crisis‐ridden Africa would pose a serious threat to global peace and security. This concern is most pronounced in the surviving Cold War superpowers, particularly the United States, which is the undisputed global hegemon in the post‐Cold War order.
Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies

This paper examines how teens understand privacy in highly public networked environments like Facebook and Twitter. We describe both teens’ practices, their privacy strategies, and the structural conditions in which they are embedded, highlighting the ways in which privacy, as it plays out in everyday life, is related more to agency and the ability to control a social situation than particular properties of information. Finally, we discuss the implications of teens’ practices and strategies, revealing the importance of social norms as a regulatory force. (This paper was presented at Oxford Internet Institute’s “A Decade in Internet Time: Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society” on September 22, 2011.)
Arctic Tourism and Sustainable Adaptation: Community Perspectives to Vulnerability and Climate Change

Abstract The role of tourism in local development, combined with globalisation and climate change, are generating both opportunities and threats across Arctic communities. The impacts of climate change are felt more intensely in communities that are dependent on natural resources. This is increasingly occurring through Arctic tourism, which is often based on nature, and is the foundation of the economy of many small Arctic communities. The interplay between tourism and community-based adaptation represents a significant focus in Arctic tourism studies and can bring invaluable information to governments about the local level climate change impacts on livelihoods and on the potential future challenges. The results from a vulnerability study conducted in two case study communities in Finnish Lapland indicate that both external and internal stresses, combined with the impacts of climate change, force the communities to reconsider their current development paths. The communities are still able to absorb the changes taking place in weather patterns, but the current development paths do not fully support the idea of sustainable adaptation, with its concepts of environmental integrity, social justice and participation. Though several adaptation strategies are deployed, future vulnerability may increase due to ineffective adaptation mechanisms and the increasing role of nature in tourism development.
GALAXY CLUSTERS DISCOVERED VIA THE SUNYAEV–ZEL’DOVICH EFFECT IN THE FIRST 720 SQUARE DEGREES OF THE SOUTH POLE TELESCOPE SURVEY

We present a catalog of galaxy cluster candidates, selected through their Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signature in the first 720 deg2 of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey. This area was mapped with the SPT in the 2008 and 2009 austral winters to a depth of ∼18 μKCMB-arcmin at 150 GHz; 550 deg2 of it was also mapped to ∼44 μKCMB-arcmin at 95 GHz. Based on optical imaging of all 224 candidates and near-infrared imaging of the majority of candidates, we have found optical and/or infrared counterparts for 158, which we then classify as confirmed galaxy clusters. Of these 158 clusters, 135 were first identified as clusters in SPT data, including 117 new discoveries reported in this work. This catalog triples the number of confirmed galaxy clusters discovered through the SZ effect. We report photometrically derived (and in some cases spectroscopic) redshifts for confirmed clusters and redshift lower limits for the remaining candidates. The catalog extends to high redshift with a median redshift of z = 0.55 and maximum confirmed redshift of z = 1.37. Forty-five of the clusters have counterparts in the ROSAT bright or faint source catalogs from which we estimate X-ray fluxes. Based on simulations, we expect the catalog to be nearly 100% complete above M500 ≈ 5 × 1014 M☉ h−170 at z ≳ 0.6. There are 121 candidates detected at signal-to-noise ratio greater than five, at which the catalog purity is measured to be 95%. From this high-purity subsample, we exclude the z < 0.3 clusters and use the remaining 100 candidates to improve cosmological constraints following the method presented by Benson et al. Adding the cluster data to CMB + BAO + H0 data leads to a preference for non-zero neutrino masses while only slightly reducing the upper limit on the sum of neutrino masses to ∑mν < 0.38 eV (95% CL). For a spatially flat wCDM cosmological model, the addition of this catalog to the CMB + BAO + H0 + SNe results yields σ8 = 0.807 ± 0.027 and w = −1.010 ± 0.058, improving the constraints on these parameters by a factor of 1.4 and 1.3, respectively. The larger cluster catalog presented in this work leads to slight improvements in cosmological constraints from those presented by Benson et al. These cosmological constraints are currently limited by uncertainty in the cluster mass calibration, not the size or quality of the cluster catalog. A multi-wavelength observation program to improve the cluster mass calibration will make it possible to realize the full potential of the final 2500 deg2 SPT cluster catalog to constrain cosmology.
Repeat Visitation in Mature Sun and Sand Holiday Destinations

European sun and sand holiday destinations that emerged in the Mediterranean in the 1960s are currently facing competition from both new destinations and new tourist demands. One of the main characteristics of these destinations is the phenomenon of repeat visitation. This article analyzes the effect that repeat visitation rates have on the intention to revisit the destination and on tourists’ level of satisfaction. The results show firstly that despite the fact that repeat visitors are more likely to make a further visit to a destination, its main determinant is a high level of satisfaction. Secondly, the repeat visitation rate has only a limited effect on overall satisfaction. The study's conclusions also point to a tourists’ continued interest in sun and sand products, as well as highlight a need for the product's basic components to offer high quality levels to maintain client loyalty.
Quantitative determination of urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine, and their non-oxidized forms: daily concentration profile in healthy volunteers

We developed a new method for the simultaneous quantitative determination of 8-oxo-7,8-hydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo), 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoGua), 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo), and the corresponding non-oxidized forms, 2′-deoxyguanosine (dGuo), guanine (Gua) and guanosine (Guo), in human urine samples by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Differences in the ionization of analytes in different urine batches with variable matrix effects were effectively compensated for by internal standardization with stable isotope-labelled analytes. The method was sensitive enough to allow the determination of background levels of these biomarkers and was applied to characterize the inter- and intraindividual variability of biomarkers in the diurnal profile of concentrations in 24 healthy volunteers. When normalized for creatinine, none of the biomarkers was affected by sampling time, thus ruling out any circadian rhythm for nucleic acid oxidation in urine.
A Qualitative Study of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Young Offenders in the Secure Estate

The thesis describes a qualitative study of the Duke of Edinburgh‟s Award (DofE) and young offenders in the secure estate. The overall aim of the thesis is to examine young offenders‟ engagement with the DofE, and implications for their experiences while in the secure estate, and subsequently following their release into the community. The research draws on focus groups with young people in young offenders institutions, secure training centres and secure children‟s homes in England and Wales (pre and post implementation of the DoE programme), and interviews with secure estate staff delivering the programme. Interviews were also carried out with DofE management and a sample of Youth Offending Team (YOT) staff. In addition, an online questionnaire was distributed to all YOT managers across England and Wales. The findings of the study indicate that the DofE was popular with participants (both young people and staff) for several reasons. These included the opportunity for young people to engage in activities which were new to them, the hands –on approach to programme delivery, the transference of a range of both technical and more „indeterminate‟ social/individual skills, the perceived status of the qualification, and, related to this, perceived potential to facilitate access to more opportunities for young people, post release. Barriers to implementation were mainly a function of institutional constraints, particularly in relation to risk. Moreover, constraints on the programme delivery, posed by the secure estate, appeared to challenge the Award‟s claim to inclusiveness (that its accessibility to all). A particular challenge for the DofE was maintaining the reputation of the Award (associated with the positive attributes it is claimed to confer upon recipients) while widening access by implementation to young offenders in the secure estate.
Contrast-enhanced spiral CT of the head and neck: comparison of contrast material injection rates.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Contrast-enhanced spiral CT studies of the head and neck are performed frequently using contrast material volumes of approximately 30 g iodine and a scan delay of 30-45 seconds. Because little is known about the effects of contrast material injection rates on tissue enhancement, this was prospectively investigated in our study. METHODS Ninety-seven patients underwent spiral CT of the head and neck. Each patient was assigned randomly to one of four groups who received 100 mL of nonionic contrast material (300 mg I/mL) at different monophasic injection flow rates with 1.5, 2, 3, and 4 mL/s. Scanning started after a constant delay of 35 seconds. The attenuation of the carotid artery, jugular vein, and sternocleidomastoid muscle was measured over time and the attenuation of the submandibular and thyroid gland was evaluated. Vascular attenuation of at least 150 HU was considered to be sufficient. RESULTS The mean scan time was 33+/-5 seconds. The study, using an injection rate of 2 mL/s, showed the longest time of sufficient overall (arterial and venous) vessel attenuation (27+/-4 seconds, P< or =.008). The injection flow rate did not influence significantly muscular attenuation (mean enhancement during scan time: 9+/-7 HU). The 1.5 mL/s protocol showed the lowest attenuation values of the submandibular gland (81+/-12 HU) and the highest attenuation values of the thyroid gland (164+/-22 HU), but the attenuation of the thyroid gland was not statistically different from that revealed by the 2 mL/s protocol. CONCLUSION Using 100 mL of intravenous contrast material with 300 mg I/mL for spiral CT studies of the entire head and neck, the optimal injection flow is 2 mL/s, whereas lower flow rates resulted in insufficient venous enhancement.
Films based on protein isolated from croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) and palm oil.

BACKGROUND The microstructure and the physical, mechanical, barrier and thermal properties of films based on different concentrations of protein isolated from croaker waste (CPI) and palm oil (PO) were analyzed. Films were elaborated by a casting technique using 2, 3 and 4 g CPI 100 g(-1) of a filmogenic solution and 0, 10 and 20 g of PO 100 g(-1) CPI. RESULT Microstructure of the film surfaces of CPI with PO showed no presence of lipid droplets dispersed in the filmogenic matrix, although a rough surface was present. Films with 3% and 4% CPI and 20% PO had the lowest rates of water vapor permeability. When there was an addition of PO to the reduced tensile strength of the films, regardless of the concentration of CPI, this addition reduced the elongation of films with 3% and 4% CPI; however, it did not influence films with 2% CPI, which did not differ from the control film (0% OP). Thermal analysis revealed that films with the highest PO percentage had a lower initial weight loss when compared with other films, due to higher hydrophobicity. CONCLUSION The use of protein isolate obtained from fish residues of low commercial value and palm oil is viable for the production of biodegradable films because the latter constitute good barrier properties and thermal stability. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.
Improving Settlement Devices: Rule 68 and beyond

HIGH legal costs, the volume of litigation, and resulting delays in the administration of justice have led legislatures and court rule makers to consider fee-shifting offer-of-settlement rules to provide greater incentives for out-of-court settlements. Under the traditional "American rule," each party pays its own attorneys' fees regardless of the outcome in court. The losing party is assessed the litigation costs other than attorneys' fees, such as reasonable court fees, transcript costs, printing costs, and witness fees. Offer-of-settlement rules allow a party in litigation to formalize an offer to settle out of court. If the opposing party refuses the offer and does not improve on it at trial (or come within a certain range), then the refusing party suffers a consequence. Existing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 and many parallel state court rules mandate that defendants collect postoffer court costs, but usually not attorneys' fees, from the plaintiff if the refused offer is not improved on at trial.1 In this form, * Assistant Professor of Economics at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. I am grateful for discussions with Thomas D. Rowe, Jr., W. Kip Viscusi, and Herve Moulin. The Duke University Research Council provided financial assistance for this project. 1 The full text of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 reads:
The Relative Price of Services

Prices of GDP relative to the exchange rate increase with income per capita, which is known as the Penn-effect. This is generally attributed to services being cheaper relative to goods in poorer countries. In this paper we re-examine the Penn-effect based on a new set of PPPs for industry output. These are estimated in an augmented Geary–Khamis approach using prices for final goods, exports, and imports. The resulting multilateral PPPs cover 35 industries in 42 countries for the year 2005. We find large variation in relative prices of various services industries. In particular the Penn-effect appears to be mostly due to the rapidly rising output prices of non-market services. This seems related mainly to the high labor intensity of that sector.
Patients' quality of life and role of the ambulatory in after-surgery stoma care. A single center experience.

AIM The aim is to assess on which aspects of everyday-life the post surgery stoma-care ambulatory should physically and psychologically assist the patients. MATERIAL OF STUDY Seventy patients (33 male, 37 female, mean age 68 years) accepted to fill-in the Stoma-QoL questionnaire from January to December 2011. The questionnaire consists of 20 questions addressing different possible discomforts of everyday life. RESULTS Our results demonstrate that patients with temporary ileostomy have a mean score of quality of life index of 63. Patients with ileostomy demonstrated a higher quality of life score compared to patients with colostomy. DISCUSSION Our results confirmed that patients with ileostomy have a better perception of quality of life compared to patients with colostomy. Moreover, our data clearly show that patients are more concerned on stoma management compared to the hypothetical prejudice of society. CONCLUSIONS The stoma care ambulatory have a crucial role, offering to the patient and his/her family an adequate psychological support, and teaching the management of the stoma and the pouch.
Social Network, Social Support and the Concept of Control — a Qualitative Study Concerning the Validity of Certain Stressor Measures Used in Quantitative Social Epidemiology

Twenty-five in-depth interviews were made with middle-aged persons of both sexes, who had suffered a first myocardial infarction (MI) two months previously. The purpose was to assess the layman's understanding of concepts such as social network, social support and control which are exposures commonly used or suggested for use in quantitative research in the area of social epidemiology. The validity of the instruments and the underlying concepts in assessing such exposures has important implications for the interpretation of the association between psychosocial factors and health or health behavior. The layman's understanding of social network and social support concepts seemed unproblematic, but the concept of control was understood in rather disparate ways among those interviewed. The experience of control/decision latitude in the work environment, seemed to form a model for the overall understanding of control among several of those interviewed and there also seemed to be important differences based on gender. Another impression, was that the individual's level of aspiration might be an important confounder in the assessment of control in population studies. It is therefore suggested that epidemiologcal data should be stratifyed by basic demographic variables like age, sex and social class in analyses including the control variable, to improve the valid use of this type of measure.
Sensing the shape of a cell with reaction diffusion and energy minimization

Significance Cells can polarize, with proteins accumulating in one region along its membrane. This location can depend on the shape of the cell. Thus, through membrane proteins, a cell can sense its shape. We simulate this process. When the membrane is smooth, the shape sensing can be explained as the protein-rich region tending to minimize the size of its boundary. If the roughness of the membrane is increased, the ability of a cell to sense its shape degrades, and the simple explanation of minimizing the boundary breaks down. Proteins with higher diffusivity provide more robust shape sensing in the presence of membrane roughness.
Coevolution of Institutions and Corporations in Emerging Economies: How the Salim Group Morphed into an Institution of Suharto's Crony Regime

We investigate whether large family groups in emerging economies can proactively change their environment. We use a coevolutionary approach, which accounts for the influence of context on the entrepreneur and for the freedom of the latter to modify it. We find that entrepreneurs can shape institutions to their advantage, illustrated by the Salim Group, which achieved growth by aligning with and influencing politicians, eventually morphing into an institution. We unravel unique coevolutionary patterns, which we use to extend existing theories. Our first contribution is to initiate a new line of inquiry in coevolution theory, focusing on individual companies coevolving with institutions. Secondly, we document factors that increase and decrease strategic choice for family groups in emerging economies. Thirdly, we find that the Salim Group became part of the crony Suharto regime. The group became both an institutional entrepreneur and an entrepreneurial institution, demonstrating that companies and institutions are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Informed consent: study of quality of information given to participants in a clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether the participants in a clinical trial had perceived adequate information about the trial according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. DESIGN--About 18 months after the end of a gynaecological clinical trial the participants received a questionnaire by post, which focused on the quality of the information given to them before entering the trial. Neither researchers nor participants were aware in advance that the trial would become the subject of this follow up investigation. SETTING--Eight different centres in Sweden. SUBJECTS--43 women out of the 53 who completed the trial (mean (range) age 23 (16 to 35) years) returned the questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Adequacy of the information (based on requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki) to enable the following: understanding of the aims of the study; awareness of what participation meant; and awareness of the possibility of withdrawing from participation at any time. Motives for agreeing to participate, and a subjective evaluation of the given information were also recorded. RESULTS--All but one of the participants had been aware that they were taking part in a research project. Five women stated that they had not been aware that a second laparoscopy was performed only for research reasons. Seven women reported that they had not been aware of the meaning of participating in the project and 17 that they had had no information about the possibility of withdrawing from the study whenever they wanted. In the subjective rating 22 women considered the information given as good or very good. There was a systematic variation in the quality of the given information among the eight centres. CONCLUSION--Although all but one of the participants had been aware that they were taking part in a clinical trial, the quality of the information understood and recalled by participants varied, and in many cases clearly did not meet the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. Variations among centres in participants' perception of information suggest that deficiencies in perception may be caused by informers rather than the participants.