Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Economists Think of Their Journals

Economists tend to accord widely varying degrees of respect to the many different journals and alternative publication media available to them. Even though colleagues in casual luncheon conversation may be well aware of an article's substantive content and intrinsic quality from a colloquium many months earlier, the question that invaribly follows the author's cheery statement, "Guess what . my paper was accepted! " is, "Where? " And the expressions on the assembled faces unfailingly mirror the answer. There are two frequently conflicting aspects involved in assessments of the merits of a publication. One is the quality of the individual published article per se, which should be of determining importance in any legitimate evaluation of an economist's competence and contribution to his field. The other is the notion that there exists an implicit "prestige" ranking attached to each professional journal due perhaps to past or present editorial policies, the general quality of the articles it usually publishes, inherited reputation, and so forth and this inevitably conditions one's view of a paper's worth. The pattern is repeated in the case of other publication media, although each tends to be subject to some sort of objective external evaluation after the fact. This project had its origin in friendly debates among colleagues on the foregoing questions which, we feel certain, are staged rather frequently whenever economists gather, and which--in a setting of lighthearted banter sometimes have quite serious and even ominous undertones. Our purpose is to identify, at least in a preliminary way, the profession's perceptions of its media as well as the apparent differences
Risk and Return from Equity Investments in the Australian Mining Industry: January 1958 — February 1979

In the spirit of Fisher and Lorie (1968), the authors constructed a data base comprising monthly rates of return on 1029 separately-listed Sydney mining equities over the period January 1958 to February 1979. The data base should stimulate further research. The first use of the data is a study by the authors of historical risks and returns from equity investments in Australian mining. The value-weighted average return over the period was found to be 11.9% per year, continuously-compounded. Mining equities were considerably riskier (considered by themselves) than industrial equities and a surprisingly large amount of their risk did not appear to be diversifiable. There was little correlation between size (measured by market capitalization) and subsequent rate of return, though size and standard deviation of rate of return were significantly negatively correlated. The seemingly unfavourable risk/return comparison for mining is anomalous and requires further investigation.
Never Give Up on the Good Times: Student Attrition in the UK

The determinants of students' propensity to drop out of university are analysed using individual records of all students passing through the central applications process in 1993. The data set comprises about 100,000 individuals and allows a much more thorough analysis of student wastage than has been possible in the past. The main reasons for attrition, academic failure ('involuntary' attrition) and 'voluntary' dropout, are modelled. The results highlight, "inter alia", the importance of matching and peer group effects, both of which have been found to be important determinants of student outcomes in the US but which have been subject to little empirical scrutiny for the UK. Copyright 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Does the Cost of Capital Differ Across Countries? An Agency Perspective

In this keynote speech, I ask the question: Does the cost of capital differ for firms located in different countries? I argue that there are two ways to look at the cost of capital. First, there is the neoclassical perspective, which assumes that there are no agency problems. In integrated markets, the neoclassical cost of capital is the same in every country. Second, there is the agency perspective. Agency costs increase the cost of capital understood as the expected rate of return necessary for an investment to leave the value of the firm unaffected. Adjusting the cost of capital for agency costs, I argue that it differs across countries because of differences in corporate governance. I then provide a comparison of the agency-adjusted cost of capital between Japan and the US. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1996.
Transureteral Saline Perfusion to Obtain Renal Hypothermia: Potential Application in Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy

Background: Partial nephrectomy for resection of renal tumors often requires renal artery clamping and external renal cooling using ice-slush. Laparoscopic surgery precludes traditional ice-slush cooling. To facilitate renal cooling during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, we investigated a method of intrarenal cooling by retrograde transureteral iced saline perfusion. Methods: Open laparotomy was performed in 6 pigs. After atraumatic renal artery clamping, one kidney was cooled externally by using standard ice-slush; the other was cooled transureterally. For transureteral cooling, the ureter was cannulated with a double lumen 12 Fr catheter. Chilled saline (4°C) irrigation was flushed through the catheter into the renal pelvis (16.7 mL/min) and allowed to drain via the second lumen of the catheter. Using a 30-gauge hypodermic thermometer, kidney temperatures were measured at 5-minute intervals for 30 minutes at 3 locations and 2 depths (0.5 cm and 1.5 cm). The animals were euthanized, and the kidneys were harvested for histologic examination. Results: Renal cooling was achieved with both external and transureteral cooling. However, lower (5.0 versus 26.1°C, P<0.001) parenchymal temperatures were achieved more rapidly with external renal cooling. During transureteral cooling, medullary (1.5 cm) temperatures were lower than cortical (0.5 cm) temperatures were; this difference did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Although renal hypothermia can be achieved by transureteral iced saline infusion, external cooling by using ice-slush appears to be more efficient in the porcine model. With refinement of the technique, intrarenal cooling via a transureteral approach may allow more effective cooling of the renal medulla, and limit warm ischemia during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.
Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the essential oil from the Carpathian Thymus alternans Klokov

Abstract The genus Thymus includes several species that are used as flavouring, food preservative as well as in cosmetics. Their secondary metabolites have been extensively studied for pharmacological effects. Nonetheless, some species are neglected and deserve to be explored for chemical composition and biological activities. This is the case with Thymus alternans, a Carpathian bush used as a food additive and for the preparation of a traditional herbal medicine. In this work, we have analysed the chemical composition of T. alternans essential oil by GC and GC-MS and evaluated its antimicrobial and antioxidant activity by disc diffusion, DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods, respectively. Results showed that T. alternans belongs to the nerolidol chemotype, being rich of this sesquiterpene alcohol (15.8%) which might contribute to the antimicrobial (particularly effective on C. albicans growth) and antioxidant (weak inhibition on ABTS radical and reducing power) activities observed.
Synergy between paclitaxel plus an exogenous methyl donor in the suppression of murine demyelinating diseases

Progressive demyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) reflects the negative balance between myelin damage and repair due to physical and molecular barriers, such as astrocytic glial scars, between oligodendrocytes and target neurons. In this paper, we show that combination therapy with paclitaxel (Taxol®) plus the universal methyl-donor, vitamin B12CN (B12CN), dramatically limits progressive demyelination, and enhances remyelination in several independent, immune and nonimmune, in vivo and in vitro model systems. Combination therapy significantly reduced clinical signs of EAE in SJL mice, as well as the spontaneously demyelinating ND4 transgenic mouse. Astrocytosis was normalised in parallel to ultrastructural and biochemical evidence of remyelination. The combination therapy suppressed T cell expansion, reduced IFN-gamma, while enhancing IFN-beta and STAT-1 expression, STAT-1 phosphorylation and methylation of STAT-1 and MBP in the brain. Paclitaxel/B12CN has nearly identical effects to the previously described combination of IFN-beta/ B12CN, whose clinical usefulness is transient because of IFN-neutralising antibodies, not observed (or expected) with the present drug combination. This report provides a mechanistic foundation for the development of a new therapeutic strategy in humans with MS. Multiple Sclerosis 2007; 13: 596-609. http://msj.sagepub. com
DISASTER IMPACT AND INPUT–OUTPUT ANALYSIS

Macroeconomics models, such as the input–output model, the social accounting matrix, and the computable general equilibrium model, have been used for impact analysis of catastrophic disasters for some time. While the use of such models to disaster situation, which may quite differ from the ordinary economic setting, has been critiqued (for recent example, see Albala-Bertrand, 2013), there are still valuable reasons for the use of such models. In particular, such models can be used in order to quickly provide a ballpark estimate of the system-wide impact for recovery plan and finance and/or to evaluate disaster countermeasures in the pre-event period. This paper presents how these methodologies have evolved to incorporate with disaster-specific feature and discusses how far they still need to go from the current stage. This paper also serves as a preface to this special issue, which encompasses several papers devoted to the use of macroeconomic data and models to assess economic losses from disasters.
New Evidence on Size and Price-to-Book Effects in Stock Returns

Firm size and price-to-book-value ratio are prominent measures in explaining cross-sectional stock returns. Historically, average returns on shares of small-capitalization firms and low price-to-book firms have exceeded those on large-capitalization firms and high price-to-book firms. Recent evidence also shows that monetary policy developments significantly explain security returns. When we considered the influence on stock returns of the Federal Reserve's policy stance, we found that size and price-to-book effects depend largely on the monetary environment. Specifically, the small-firm and low price-to-book premiums are economically and statistically significant only in expansive monetary policy periods and are small, and in some instances negative, in restrictive policy periods. This evidence suggests that investors should consider the Fed's policy stance when using strategies that rely on size or price-to-book ratio.
Plant use by the q’eqchi’ maya of belize in ethnopsychiatry and neurological pathology

Plant Use by the Q’eqchi’ Maya of Belize in Ethnopsychiatry and Neurological Pathology. Economic Botany 59(4):326–336, 2005. Neurological and mental health disorders are extremely debilitating, and sufferers in developing countries often rely on traditional practitioners for these medical needs. Few studies have focused on botanical remedies used in this context, although these offer interesting treatment alternatives. The present study investigated plant use for the treatment of neurological and mental health disorders by Q'eqchi' Maya healers of southern Belize. We found that these healers generally recognize and treat epilepsy/seizures, headache, madness, fright (susto), depression, numbness, insomnia, and stress with herbal remedies. Quantitative analyses showed that there is selection for the use of certain species and botanical families, namely for species of the Pteridophyta division and for plants from the Piperaceae family. This study denotes the importance and selectivity of plant use by Q'eqchi' healers of southern Belize for the treatment of neurological and mental conditions and points to a possible underrepresentation of these disorders in the ethnobotanical literature.
Turnout and Rural Corruption: New York as a Test Case

In 1974 Philip Converse and Jerrold Rusk offered an institutional, and Walter Dean Burnham, a behavioral explanation of the decline in voter turnout in the northern United States around the turn of the century. An examination of turnout figures for New York State from 1870 to 1916 demonstrates that election statistics lend some support to both explanations, and that the elections around 1890 provide the strongest evidence in favor of the Converse-Rusk hypothesis. A systematic analysis of election-related stories in contemporary newspapers allows a test of Converse's assertion that the introduction of the secret ballot decreased reported turnout by damping down what he alleges was widespread rural corruption. Concluding that neither previous theory stands up well when confronted with the detailed voting figures and newspaper evidence, we propose an alternative explanation which melds the institutional and behavioral hypotheses.
Comparative Neuromuscular Effects of Pancuronium, Gallamine, and Succinylcholine during Forane and Halothane Anesthesia in Man

Pancuronium, gallamine, and succinylcholine produced more profound neuromuscular blockade in 36 patients anesthetized with 1.25 MAC Forane than in 36 patients anesthetized with 1.25 MAC halothane. The median effective dose of pancuronium necessary to produce 50 per cent depression of twitch height (ED20) was 0.27 mg/m2 during Forane and 0.49 mg/m2 during halothane anesthesia, giving a halothane/Forane potency ratio of 1.8. The ED20 of gallamine was 9.4 mg/m2 during Forane anesthesia and 22.5 mg/m2 during halothane anesthesia, for a potency ratio of 2.4. The ED20 of succinylcholine was 3.4 mg/m2 during Forane anesthesia and 5.1 mg/m2 during halothane anesthesia, for a potency ratio of 1.5.
Analyzing Convertible Bonds

The convertible bond is a hybrid security which, while retaining most of the characteristics of straight debt, offers, in addition, the upside potential associated with theunderlying common stock. As a quid pro quo for the upside potential the convertible bond is typically subordinated to other corporate debt and carries a lower coupon rate than would an otherwise equivalent straight bond.
Powering over Puzzling? Downsizing the Public Sector during the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis

ABSTRACT Can policy learning take place amidst a crisis with stark distributive consequences? Using the case of downsizing the public sector during the Greek sovereign debt crisis (2009–2013), this article applies the policy design framework by Schneider and Ingram to find that when policies are conceived and designed abroad, powering explains policy change. However, evidence also uncovers policy learning in powering’s “home ground”. Highlighting issues of social construction, political contestation, and external pressure during crises, the study has implications for theories of policy design and learning.
An Investigation of the Dynamic Relationship between Agency Theory and Dividend Policy

Agency theory posits that the dividend mechanism provides an incentive for managers to reduce the costs associated with the principal/agent relationship. Distributing resources in the form of cash dividends forces managers to seek outside capital, thus causing them to reduce agency costs as they subject themselves to the scrutiny of the capital marketplace. Under this scenario the optimum level of dividend payout is that which minimizes the agency cost structure relative to the cost of raising needed funds. A test of this theory employing time-series cross-sectional analysis and more direct measures of the agency cost structure shows that these tenets of agency theory may be valid. Managers do appear to adjust the dividend payout in response to the agency cost/transaction cost structure, both through time as well as across firms. Copyright 1995 by MIT Press.
Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness: their impact on academic achievement and progress.

BACKGROUND Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been found to achieve lower grades at school than their peers. Does this extend to pupils who are apparently exceptionally inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive, but have not been diagnosed as having ADHD? AIMS This study determined the proportion of children who were assessed by their teachers as exceptionally inattentive, hyperactive or impulsive in the classroom. The relationships between these traits, achievement and progress were examined. SAMPLE The participants comprised 4148 children from a nationally representative sample of schools in England. METHODS Reading and mathematics achievement of the participants was assessed at the start and end of the reception year, and in year 2. Behaviour was assessed at the end of reception using a rating scale based on the diagnostic criteria for ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). RESULTS The proportion of children with exceptional scores on the behaviour rating scale was reported. The reading and mathematics attainment and value-added of children with high scores on the behaviour rating scale were found to be educationally and statistically significantly lower than children with zero scores. CONCLUSIONS The achievement of children with high scores on the behaviour rating scale replicated previous studies which investigated the achievement of children with ADHD. The behaviour rating scale could be a useful tool for raising the awareness of teachers to young children with severe behavioural problems of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity who have not been diagnosed as having ADHD but may nevertheless be at risk of similar outcomes.
Developing leadership capability: What's inside the black box?

The article presents a commentary on an interventionist view of leadership development. The author notes that many factors shape the extent to which an individual becomes a leader. These include genetic predisposition, family environment, school experiences, hardships, job experiences, authority figures, organizational incentives, and training. The author contends that leaders are born and made. He believes the foundations for the leadership qualities of self-confidence, achievement drive, communication skills, and interpersonal competence are formed principally in a person's family environment. He explains that organizations have little or no control over an individual's early life forces.
A proposed mechanism of monensin action in inhibiting ruminal bacterial growth: effects on ion flux and protonmotive force.

Streptococcus bovis, a Gram-positive ruminal bacterium, was unable to grow in the presence of monensin. When monensin (5 mg/liter) was added to actively growing cultures, there was an immediate decrease in growth rate, and within 3 h no further growth was observed. Glucose utilization and lactate production continued for another 8 h even though growth had ceased. Monensin caused a decrease (P less than .05) in intracellular K+, a decrease (P less than .05) in intracellular pH and an increase (P less than .05) in intracellular Na+. The net exchange of K+ for Na+ and H+ via monensin was driven by the difference in concentration of K+ and Na+ across the cell membrane. Non-treated cells maintained a 70-fold gradient (inside higher) for K+, while the Na+ gradient was only 2.7-fold (inside higher). Previous models were based on a reverse mechanism whereby monensin would drive an efflux of Na+ from ruminal bacteria, and were not supported by experimental measurements of intracellular Na+ and K+.
Wound Closure and Wound Monitoring in Total Hip Arthroplasty. An Overview

Wound closure in primary and revision total hip arthroplasty is an essential and crucial step of the procedure. A recently published meta-analysis comparing metallic staples and sutures with stitches in hip procedures revealed that the risk of infection was four times greater when staples were used. This statement created concern among orthopaedic surgeons. The aim of this overview is to address the problem of THA wound closure and wound monitoring. Further well designed, randomised, controlled trials comparing staples vs traditional stitches and eventually vs skin adhesive are necessary in order to draw conclusions in elective THA, revision surgery and hip fractures. Orthopaedic surgeons need to have more evidence in order to be able to justify their method of wound closure. Monitoring of the wound by the surgeon in the postoperative period is recommended.
Momentum in Credit Rated Stocks: Is Momentum Investors' Reaction to Uncertainty Across Business Cycle?

Momentum returns are mainly earned by speculative grade stocks and during contractions. We observe momentum returns of about 2 percent per month (23 percent per annum) in speculative grade stocks and that are more pronounced returns of more than 3 percent per month (25 percent per annum) during contractions. Momentum returns of speculative grade stocks disappear when controlled for macroeconomic risk factors. We conclude that therefore momentum is a reaction of the investors to high uncertainty either due to increased business risk of stocks or due to increased macroeconomic risk.
Obesity in heart failure: is it time to rethink the paradox?

Elisabet Zamora and coworkers,1 based on a large patient cohort (n= 2527) and a long-term follow-up (4.3± 3.0 years, up to 10 years), have recently discarded any notion of an obesity paradox for diabetic patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction. No clear explanation has been provided for this finding, although both obesity and diabetes are prevalent in patients with HF. The authors hypothesized that in the presence of diabetes, the relationship between obesity and mortality may not be independent. In particular, diabetes is characterized by autonomic dysfunction with sympathetic activation, which is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.2 Thus, the positive impact of an attenuated sympathetic activation in obese patients with HF could be blunted by the presence of the metabolic disorder. Recently, in a large database of HF patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, when we investigated the role of exercise capacity vs. body mass index (BMI), we observed that the former (i.e. peak VO2) maintained its prognostic value in all BMI groups,3 supporting the pivotal role of exercise tolerance in HF patients regardless of BMI. Consequently, when peak VO2 was considered as a covariate in the survival analysis, the so-called ‘obesity paradox’ was lost. Regardless of whether the different BMI populations were normalized for peak VO2, either expressed as absolute value or as a percentage of the predicted value, prognostic differences between the BMI classes were lost. Our findings supported the superior prognostic power of improved functional capacity and the importance of physical conditioning that attenuated the obesity paradox. In other words, diabetes, similar to exercise tolerance (peak VO2), may be a stronger predictor of outcome than obesity: several mechanisms such as the promotion of active atheromatosis, a pro-thrombotic state, and/or the progression of cardiovascular disease could be advocated. In conclusion, assessing obese HF subjects without considering their exercise capacity, or metabolic status, may be misleading.