Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One Size Fits All? Drawdown Structures in Australia and the Netherlands

Abstract Australia and the Netherlands both combine an unfunded non-contributory flat rate pension with prefunded earnings related retirement schemes. Notwithstanding this similarity of structure, however, the two systems are very different. The Netherlands mandates annuitized drawdown structures. In Australia, no prescription, or even guidance, is offered. In both cases, products that better meet the needs of increasingly heterogeneous retirement cohorts are under consideration. We analyze the impact of various popular product choices in the Netherlands and in Australia on the welfare of individuals allowing for different income levels. The study assumes the market return and mortality are stochastic and includes the impact of mean-testing, which reduces the value of the first pillar flat rate. Products offering longevity insurance are the most preferred in the absence of bequest, whereas more flexible portfolios with phased withdrawals score higher when individuals have a bequest motive. The state pension replaces the need to purchase indexed annuities for low income individuals whereas it does not crowd out the demand for longevity insurance for median and high income percentiles. We conclude that the income category, bequests, state pension and risk aversion have to be allowed for in any sound welfare assessment of retirement income portfolios since these affect the ranking of portfolios more sharply than mortality differentials and loadings.
Real time detection of stopped vehicles in traffic scenes

Computer vision techniques are widely employed in Traffic Monitoring Systems (TMS) to automatically derive statistical information on traffic flow and trigger alarms on significant events. Research in this field embraces a wide range of methods developed to recognize moving objects and to infer their behavior. Tracking systems are used to reconstruct trajectories of moving objects detected often by using background difference approaches. Errors in either motion detection or tracking can perturb the position of the object centroids used to build the trajectories. To cope with the unavoidable errors, we have conceived a method to detect centers of non-motion through recognizing short stability intervals. These are further connected to build the long stability interval used to measure the overall vehicle stopping time. Extensive experiments also accomplished on the sequences provided by AVSS 2007 prove the effectiveness of our approach to measure the maximum stopped delay, even through a comparison with the ground truth.
A 32 kb Macro with 8T Soft Error Robust, SRAM Cell in 65-nm CMOS

A 32-kb macro containing an eight-transistor soft error robust SRAM cell with differential read and write capabilities is presented. The 8T cell does not have dedicated access transistors, and its quad-latch configuration stores data on four interlocked storage nodes. The macro was designed in a 65-nm CMOS process. The cell demonstrates excellent read data stability down to 0.55 V and is well suited for low-voltage, low-power applications. Neutron radiation testing on the macro exhibits at least 15× improvement in Failure in Time (FIT) rate compared with the conventional 6T SRAM cell in 65-nm CMOS technology.
Creating an enduring developmental legacy from FIFA2010: the Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA)

ABSTRACT Research question: The legacies of sport mega-events are widely contested. Whilst the short-term impacts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa have been largely considered to be positive, there is little evidence of longer term outcomes. This paper contributes to the sport mega-event legacy literature by presenting empirical evidence of the longer term developmental legacy using a case study of a community-focused sports project. Key factors underpinning sustainable legacy outcomes are identified. Research methods: The Football Foundation of South Africa (FFSA) was selected as a case study due to the novel ways in which the project developed. Thirty-eight interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved directly in the FFSA’s day-to-day delivery and management, people from organisations who deliver sport and recreation services at the local and regional levels and children who use the facility. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the data were analysed using qualitative content analysis approach. Results and findings: The FFSA is achieving substantial and increasing reach into local, especially disadvantaged, communities. Children expressed very strong positive feelings about the contribution it makes to their lives. Several factors have enabled the FFSA to be successful, with the most critical being the strong institutional context within which the project is embedded involving local, regional, national and global organisations. Implications: The success of the FFSA highlights gaps in mega-event legacy planning. International sport bodies should develop formal mechanisms for drawing their corporate stakeholders together with community-based groups to identify and deliver sustainable developmental programmes.
Instagramming Issues: Agenda Setting During the 2016 Presidential Campaign

Mass media can set the public’s agenda, particularly during political campaigns. In the social media era, the public can now also set the mass media’s agenda, resulting in intermedia agenda setting. This study’s purpose is to examine the intermedia agenda-setting effects between Instagram posts and mainstream newspapers during the 2016 presidential primary period. To test this relationship, a content analysis was conducted, recording the frequency of political issue mentions in newspaper articles and Instagram posts throughout the presidential primary period. Cross-correlations were then estimated to examine the direction of the influence of the frequency of issue mentions in newspaper articles and Instagram posts. Findings indicate differences between the salient issues in traditional newspapers and Instagram posts during the presidential primary. Additional results suggest a limited intermedia agenda-setting relationship between the issue agendas of mainstream newspapers and Instagram posts.
Gravity with Intermediate Goods Trade

This paper derives the gravity equation with intermediate goods trade. We extend a standard monopolistic competition model to incorporate intermediate goods trade, and show that the gravity equation with intermediates trade is identical to the one without it except in that gross output should be used as the output measure instead of value added. We also show that the output elasticity of trade is significantly underestimated when value added is used as the output measure. This implies that with the conventional gravity equation, the contribution of output growth can be substantially underestimated and the role of trade costs reduction can be exaggerated in explaining trade expansion, as we demonstrate for the case of Korea's trade growth between 1995 and 2007.
How Effective are Sovereign Bond-Backed Securities as a Spillover Prevention Device?

Brunnermeier et al. (2017) propose the introduction of sovereign bond-backed securities (SBBS) in the euro area. It and other papers address how the securitisation would insulate senior security holders from actual default-related losses. This article generalises the assessment by using the VAR-based Diebold & Yilmaz (2012) spillover index methodology to assess potential attenuation of the spillover of shocks in holding-period returns across asset markets from the introduction of SBBS. This is made possible by employing SBBS yields estimated from historical euro area member state sovereign bond yields using Monte Carlo methods, as described in Schonbucher (2003). The econometric results show that (i) SBBS tranching protects senior SBBS holders by reducing the spillover of shocks from the higher-risk peripheral member states to it; (ii) spillovers from high risk sovereigns to a weighted portfolio are much higher than those to the senior SBBS; (iii) a smaller junior SBBS tranche reduces spillover from it to the senior SBBS; and (iv) rolling window analysis indicates that the spillover of shocks from the junior tranche to the senior tranche declines during a period of financial stress.
Luteal Cells from Functional and Regressing Bovine Corpora Lutea Differentially Alter the Function of Gamma Delta T Cells1

ABSTRACT The luteal microenvironment is thought to direct the function of resident immune cells to facilitate either luteal function or regression. To determine if luteal cells from functional (Days 10–12) and regressing (8 h after administration of prostaglandin F2alpha) corpora lutea (CL) induce different responses in γδ T cells, luteal cells were cocultured with autologous γδ T cells isolated from peripheral blood. Proliferation, functional phenotypes, and cytokine synthesis were analyzed by flow cytometry. To determine if the luteal cells from functional CL induce hyporesponsiveness in γδ T cells, γδ+ cells were cocultured with midcycle luteal cells and further stimulated with concanavalin A. Coculture of γδ+ cells with midcycle luteal cells did not inhibit concanavalin A-induced proliferation. In a proliferation assay, luteal cells from midcycle CL predominantly induced proliferation of γδ+ WC1− cells (P < 0.05), while luteal cells from regressing CL predominantly induced proliferation of γδ+WC1+ cells (P < 0.05). Analysis of intracellular cytokines indicated that midcycle luteal cells increased the proportion of γδ+ cells containing interleukin 10 (P < 0.05), but reduced the proportion of γδ+ cells containing interferon gamma (IFNG; P < 0.05). There were no changes in the proportions of γδ+ cells synthesizing interleukin 4 or tumor necrosis factor. Unexpectedly, coculture of γδ+ cells with luteal cells from regressing CL had no effect on any of the cytokines analyzed. These data support the hypothesis that the function of resident T cells is differentially modulated depending on the status of the CL.
Diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease in Asia: the results of a multinational web-based survey in the 2nd Asian Organization for Crohn's and Colitis (AOCC) meeting in Seoul

Background/Aims As the number of Asian patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased recently, there is a growing need to improve IBD care in this region. This study is aimed at determining how Asian countries are currently dealing with their IBD patients in terms of diagnosis. Methods A questionnaire was designed by the organizing committee of Asian Organization for Crohn's and Colitis, for a multinational web-based survey conducted between March 2014 and May 2014. Results A total of 353 Asian medical doctors treating IBD patients responded to the survey (114 in China, 88 in Japan, 116 in Korea, and 35 in other Asian countries). Most of the respondents were gastroenterologists working in an academic teaching hospital. While most of the doctors from China, Japan, and Korea use their own national guidelines for IBD diagnosis, those from other Asian countries most commonly adopt the European Crohn's Colitis Organisation's guideline. Japanese doctors seldom adopt the Montreal classification for IBD. The most commonly used activity scoring system for ulcerative colitis is the Mayo score in all countries except China, whereas that for Crohn's disease (CD) is the Crohn's Disease Activity Index. The most available tool for small-bowel evaluation in CD patients differs across countries. Many physicians administer empirical anti-tuberculous medications before the diagnosis of CD. Conclusions The results of this survey demonstrate that Asian medical doctors have different diagnostic approaches for IBD. This knowledge would be important in establishing guidelines for improving the care of IBD patients in this region.
Calculation of Characterization Factors of Mineral Resources Considering Future Primary Resource Use Changes: A Comparison between Iron and Copper

The future availability of mineral resources has attracted much attention; therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the potential impacts of resource use on future availability is important. Although the surplus cost model is often recommended among the existing endpoint characterization models of mineral resources, it has a shortcoming as it does not consider the changes in future primary resource use. This paper introduces a new characterization model considering future primary resource use changes, due to future changes in total demand and secondary resource use. Using material flow analysis, this study estimated time-series primary resource use for iron and copper for five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and a constant total demand scenario. New characterization factors, i.e., demand change-based surplus costs (DCSC), are calculated for each resource. In all of the SSPs, the calculated DCSCs are larger than the conventional surplus costs (SC) for both iron and copper. The DCSC, relative to the SC of copper, is larger than that of iron for all of the SSPs, which suggests that the potential impacts of copper use, relative to iron, will be underestimated, unless future primary resource use changes are considered. In calculating DCSC for other resources, it is important to choose an appropriate approach for forecasting future total demands.
Neural intersections of the phonological, visual magnocellular and motor/cerebellar systems in normal readers: Implications for imaging studies on dyslexia

We used fMRI to explore the extent of the anatomical overlap of three neural systems that the literature on developmental dyslexia associates with reading: the auditory phonological, the visual magnocellular, and the motor/cerebellar systems. Twenty‐eight normal subjects performed four tasks during fMRI scans: word and pseudoword reading, auditory rhyming for letter names, visual motion perception, and a motor sequence learning task. We found that the left occipitotemporal cortex (OTC), which previous studies reported to be dysfunctional in dyslexia, can be fractionated into different functional areas: an anterior and lateral area that was activated by both reading and auditory rhyming tasks; a posterior area that was commonly activated by both the reading and the motion perception task and a medial/intermediate area, including the so‐called Visual Word Form Area, which was specifically activated by the reading task. These results show that the left OTC is an area of segregated convergence of different functional systems. We compared our results with the hypoactivation pattern reported for reading in a previous cross‐cultural PET study on 36 dyslexic subjects from three countries. The region of decreased activation in dyslexia overlapped with regions that are specific for reading and those activated during both the auditory rhyming task and the single word and pseudoword reading task described in the present fMRI study. No overlap was found with the activation patterns for the visual motion perception task or for the motor sequence learning task. These observations challenge current theories of dyslexia. Hum Brain Mapp 34:2669–2687, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Early lymphocyte recovery following autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation is associated with better survival in younger patients with lymphoproliferative disorders

Abstract Early absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) has become an important end point for engraftment in patients undergoing autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation (APSCT). In this retrospective study, we evaluate the prognostic significance of early recovery of ALC (≤0.5 cells × 109/l on or before day 15) following APSCT in predicting transplant outcome in 72 patients with lymphoproliferative disorders, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (n = 30), Hodgkin's lymphoma (n = 8) and multiple myeloma (n = 34). The median quantities of CD34+ stem cells and lymphocytes infused were 4.97 × 106/kg (range 0.64 – 11.7) and 11.3 × 107/kg (range 1.11 – 110) respectively. After a median follow-up of 18 months (range 2–68), 28 patients had experienced a relapse and 16 had died. Of the 72 patients, 27 (37%) demonstrated early recovery of ALC. Early recovery of ALC was strongly associated with long-term overall and disease-free survival in patients aged less than 50 years (P < 0.001). In both univariate and multivariate survival analyses, a shorter time from diagnosis to APSCT was associated with early recovery of ALC (P = 0.03). These findings indicate that early recovery of ALC may contribute to longer survival in younger patients with lymphoproliferative disorders. A shorter time from diagnosis to APSCT may favor recovery of ALC independent of the infused stem cell or lymphocyte doses.
Endoderm specification and differentiation in Xenopus embryos.

It is known from work with amniote embryos that regional specification of the gut requires cell-cell signalling between the mesoderm and the endoderm. In recent years, much of the interest in Xenopus endoderm development has focused on events that occur before gastrulation and this work has led to a different model whereby regional specification of the endoderm is autonomous. In this paper, we examine the specification and differentiation of the endoderm in Xenopus using neurula and tail-bud-stage embryos and we show that the current hypothesis of stable autonomous regional specification is not correct. When the endoderm is isolated alone from neurula and tail bud stages, it remains fully viable but will not express markers of regional specification or differentiation. If mesoderm is present, regional markers are expressed. If recombinations are made between mesoderm and endoderm, then the endodermal markers expressed have the regional character of the mesoderm. Previous results with vegetal explants had shown that endodermal differentiation occurs cell-autonomously, in the absence of mesoderm. We have repeated these experiments and have found that the explants do in fact show some expression of mesoderm markers associated with lateral plate derivatives. We believe that the formation of mesoderm cells by the vegetal explants accounts for the apparent autonomous development of the endoderm. Since the fate map of the Xenopus gut shows that the mesoderm and endoderm of each level do not come together until tail bud stages, we conclude that stable regional specification of the endoderm must occur quite late, and as a result of inductive signals from the mesoderm.
Severe traumatic brain injury in children--are the results improving?

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity in children. Medical management is constantly being refined, and thus results should improve. The aim of the present study was to analyse our data of recent years and to compare them with previous series (1978-83 and 1988-92). PATIENTS AND METHODS The data of 51 children (1 month to 16 years old) with severe blunt TBI treated in our unit from 1994 to 1998 were analyzed retrospectively. Severe TBI was defined by immediate loss of consciousness and an admission Glasgow coma scale (GCS) <8. Outcome was classified by using the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) 6 to 12 months after injury. RESULTS 35 patients (69%) showed a good outcome (GOS 4 and 5), 14 died (GOS 1), one survived in a permanent vegetative state (GOS 2), and another was severely disabled (GOS 3) (GOS 1-3 = bad outcome, 31%). Bad outcome was associated with low GCS (i.e. 3 and 4), fixed and dilated pupils at admission, invisible basal cisterns on first computerized tomography, and presence of coagulopathy. Moderate to severe intracranial hypertension was also significantly related to bad outcome in the 26 patients with intracranial pressure monitoring. Compared to our first series severity of TBI was unchanged, and the incidence of multiple injury and consumption coagulopathy was less frequent. Intubation rate prior to admission to the centre increased from 35% to 94%. Intensive care measures (duration of mechanical ventilation, use of hypothermia, mannitol, thiopentone etc.) were less aggressive. The rate of good outcome remained unchanged (69% vs. 60%). CONCLUSIONS Despite changing management policies, results were comparable with those of our former series. This fact underlines the importance of primary injury and the secondary role of intensive care management on final outcome.
Independent professionals and the potential for HRM innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine “black box” links between HRM innovations and organizational performance by investigating the perspective of a workforce often excluded from the HR realm. Professional Independent Contractors (IPros) play a vital role in achieving workforce flexibility and innovation. While the use of such arrangements has been examined often using a compliance-oriented lens, the authors explore the value of adding a commitment aspect. Design/methodology/approach In total, 375 IPros working in Australian organizations completed an online questionnaire distributed by a national business support services provider. Findings Results show organizational support significantly predicted work engagement and affective commitment. Self-efficacy, age and gender were also significant predictors. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional nature of this study and reliance on self-reported data limit the reliability of the findings. In addition, the findings may be specific to the Australian labor market. Practical implications The study present the views of a difficult to reach population and the findings suggest by adopting an innovative hybrid commitment-compliance HR configuration, practitioners may positively increase desirable contractor outcomes. Social implications Concerns that organizational imperatives for efficiency, quality and high performance will be compromised by considering the human side of non-employee work arrangements are not supported. Indeed, as previously outlined, much of the concern with the employee/non-employee dichotomy is legally based and an artefact of a system of labor law that in many settings has failed to move with the times. Originality/value Few investigations of the impact of high commitment HRM practices have incorporated the perspective of professional, non-employees. While IPros are recipients of compliance focused contractor management practices, carefully integrated commitment-based HRM aspects have the potential to deliver positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations.
Peripheral vascular effects of nitroglycerin in a conscious rat model of heart failure.

The effects of intravenous nitroglycerin (NG; 2, 8, 32 micrograms/kg) on cardiocirculatory dynamics were evaluated in control normal (C) and chronically volume-overloaded [high-output heart failure (aortocaval fistula), HCO] conscious rats. Pressures were recorded in the left ventricle, the caudal artery, and the right atrium. Regional blood flows were determined by radioactive microsphere injection into the left ventricle with reference sampling from the caudal artery. Cardiac output (CO) was 289 ml . min-1 . kg in C and did not change with NG; however, in HCO systemic CO was decreased 31, 23, and 23% by NG from 350 ml . min-1 . kg. In both groups left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was reduced (C, 8.4-5.0; HCO, 19.8-12.7 mmHg); however, central venous pressure was reduced only in C (1.2-0.3 mmHg). During NG primarily at 2 and 8 micrograms/kg, arterial blood flow was lower and vascular resistance was higher in HCO compared with C in the following regions: kidney, ileum, jejunum, skin, heart, spleen, stomach, and testes, whereas no major differences were noted in the cerebellum, cerebrum, liver, or skeletal muscle. Thus acute NG infusion is a more potent regional vasodilator in C than in HCO. It is suggested that this difference is related to a more powerful NG-induced sympathetic reflex activation in the HCO group, which strongly attenuates the direct vasodilator effect of NG that was apparent in C.