Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethical and sustainable healthcare tourism development: A primer

In recent years, healthcare tourism has emerged as a viable economic sector for several regions. Although the sector offers economic benefits, it has been suggested that pursuit of such benefits is often associated with unethical and unsustainable practices. To assuage these concerns, this article argues that destinations should adopt a collaborative stakeholder-driven approach. It also offers suggestions which can aid regions in developing this sector in a sustainable and ethical manner. The proposed framework and suggestions are not intended as panaceas for healthcare tourism development. Instead, they are offered as discussion starting points to provoke thought, discussion, and debate about how regions can leverage healthcare tourism resources in a profitable, ethical, and sustainable manner. Additionally, the framework and suggestions can be adopted by tourism policy planners and practitioners to assist in the ethical and sustainable development and management of the healthcare tourism sector.
Applying Nonparametric Methods to Analyses of Short-Term Fine Particulate Matter Exposure and Hospital Admissions for Cardiovascular Diseases among Older Adults

Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been associated with increased risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but whether such associations are supportive of a causal relationship is unclear, and few studies have employed formal causal analysis methods to address this. We employed nonparametric methods to examine the associations between daily concentrations of PM2.5 and hospital admissions (HAs) for CVD among adults aged 75 years and older in Texas, USA. We first quantified the associations in partial dependence plots generated using the random forest approach. We next used a Bayesian network learning algorithm to identify conditional dependencies between CVD HAs of older men and women and several predictor variables. We found that geographic location (county), time (e.g., month and year), and temperature satisfied necessary information conditions for being causes of CVD HAs among older men and women, but daily PM2.5 concentrations did not. We also found that CVD HAs of disjoint subpopulations were strongly predictive of CVD HAs among older men and women, indicating the presence of unmeasured confounders. Our findings from nonparametric analyses do not support PM2.5 as a direct cause of CVD HAs among older adults.
Trade-Offs in CO2-Oriented Vehicle Tax Reforms: A Case Study of Greece

We estimate demand for automobiles in Greece using a discrete choice model of product differentiation and use the model to evaluate carbon-based tax schemes that could shift consumer purchases towards low-CO2 cars and thus lead to the reduction of fuel use and CO2 emissions. We find that careful policy design, supported by appropriate modeling, can bring about substantial environmental benefits without losing control of economic parameters such as public finances or firm profits. This finding comes in contrast to the results of recent vehicle tax reforms in European countries, which turned out to be more costly than initially expected. Our analysis indicates that, especially in countries with already heavy vehicle taxation, improper implementation of carbon-based taxes can have adverse unintended environmental consequences.
Scope and precedent: judicial rule-making under uncertainty

I develop a formal model of Supreme Court opinion-writing in an environment of uncertainty. In particular, the model captures how the Supreme Court will optimally design the specificity of its legal rules. The model focuses on the tradeoff between more precise rules which are controlling in a smaller subset of cases against less precise rules, which have wider applicability but yield less certain outcomes. When the basic model is considered in a dynamic world in which the Court is able to hear multiple cases, it yields insights about how the factual representativeness of a case and the clarity of existing precedent jointly affect its optimal opinion-writing and willingness to hear new cases. These last implications provide theoretical foundations for theoretical and empirical questions about rule-making, case selection, and the construction of doctrine.
EXCHANGE RATE VOLATILITY AND MNCs' PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS: THE CASE OF JAPANESE MANUFACTURING MNCs

This paper empirically examines the impacts of exchange rate volatility on the location choice by Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) and their intra-firm trade. We use affiliate-level data for Japanese MNCs for 1995, 1998 and 2001. We found that high exchange rate volatility discourages the establishment of an affiliate by MNCs. Moreover, the high exchange rate volatility causes the shift from inter-firm to intra-firm transactions. These findings imply the importance of maintaining a stable exchange rate environment in order for MNCs to expand their production and distribution networks.
Carbon Management Systems and Carbon Mitigation

type="main"> This article proposes a carbon management system (CMS). The system comprises 10 essential elements from four broad perspectives: carbon governance, carbon operation, emission tracking and reporting, and engagement and disclosure. The proposed new approach focuses on cross-functional integration, enforcement of proactive strategies and group rather than individual accountability. We then use Carbon Disclosure Project reports to examine empirically the implementation of systems by large Australian firms. Overall, we find that firms with higher quality CMS have achieved better carbon mitigation. Further, adequate assessment of carbon risk and opportunity, the presence of reduction targets, the strength of carbon programs and enhanced external disclosures appear to be the most effective elements in our sample firms. We present evidence that, by combining governance, internal process, carbon dioxide-footprint tracking and communication activities, a CMS helps managers improve decision making. We discuss the implications of the findings for accounting practice and education.
Benchmarking as a Tool for the Modernisation of Local Government

This paper examines benchmarking as a tool of the modernisation process in local government and the contradictory tensions in the Best Value scheme are explored. Benchmarking is shown to encapsulate the dichotomous nature of a modernising philosophy which espouses innovation and local solutions alongside the government’s centralising tendencies. One consequence is the advancement of ‘compulsory’ and ‘defensive’ modes of benchmarking with local authorities benchmarking for external accountability reasons; issues of tangible improvement are secondary concerns. These tensions are viewed as irreconcilable, the implication is that local government will need to carefully manage and evaluate its benchmarking activities.
Toward a Theory of Union Environmental Politics: Unions and Climate Action in Australia

Trade unions across a range of countries are engaging in a new environmental politics. This article considers emerging environmental politics among Australian unions who have sought to advance policy efforts to reduce carbon emissions and green jobs while minimizing the social impacts of a more carbon-constrained environment on jobs and regions. Against this background, this article seeks to advance a theory of union environmental politics by considering the organizational constraints unions operate within, their relationship with local communities and governments, and how they have sought to extend their capacities and organizational form through confederations and alliance-building with other actors.
Fluctuation in anandamide levels from ovulation to early pregnancy in in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer women, and its hormonal regulation.

BACKGROUND Low levels of plasma arachidonoylethanolamide (anandamide) (AEA) (<2 nM) are associated with a successful early pregnancy in the mouse, and are thought to be regulated by sex steroid hormones. A similar association in the human may exist, although it has never been studied. The objective of this study was to investigate plasma AEA concentrations from the time of ovulation to implantation in pregnant and non-pregnant women, and whether AEA is hormonally regulated. METHODS Women who had undergone IVF/ICSI-embryo transfer were divided into pregnant (n = 12) and non-pregnant (n = 12) groups, based on serum beta-hCG >5 IU at 4 weeks and a viable intrauterine singleton pregnancy confirmed by ultrasound at 6 weeks gestation. Blood samples for plasma AEA and sex steroid hormonal measurements were taken at the time of oocyte collection, embryo transfer and pregnancy test, and an extra sample was also taken from the pregnant group at the viability ultrasound scan. RESULTS In pregnant women, there was a significant initial decrease in plasma AEA levels from the day of oocyte retrieval to that of embryo transfer. In addition, in the viable pregnancy group, plasma AEA was high at 4 and 5 weeks gestation, and a decline was observed at 6 weeks gestation (P = 0.003). No correlations were seen between plasma AEA and serum estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4) or beta-hCG in pregnant women; however, there was a significant correlation between plasma AEA and E2 (P = 0.022), but not between plasma AEA and serum P4, in non-pregnant women. CONCLUSION Our observations suggest that in successful pregnancy, a higher plasma AEA level at ovulation and a significantly lower level during implantation are required. The drop in AEA levels could be used as a biomarker for the appropriate timing of embryo transfer.
Aggregate Energy, Efficiency, and Productivity Measurement

This paper provides a framework within which alternative-energy-productivity measures can be analyzed and interpreted. In the first section the author considers thermodynamic and economic foundations, and discusses economic implications of Second Law efficiency measures. In the third section he considers the assumptions implicit in aggregate Btu measurement, and proposes an alternative indexing procedure more consistent with economic theory. The fourth section provides a brief historical survey of several major aggregate average energy productivity studies and then goes on to a discussion of the economic theory underlying average input and total factor productivity. The elasticity of average productivity is shown to be the negative of the economist's traditional price elasticity of demand. In the fifth section, recent econometric evidence bearing on the quantitative magnitudes of factors affecting productivity movements is surveyed. The final section concludes and summarizes. 65 references.
Recession and the Employment of Demographic Groups

RECENT INCREASES in the national unemployment rate and forecasts of higher rates throughout 1975 have brought unemployment back into competition with inflation as the major economic problem. Since the three-andone-half-year low set in October 1973, aggregate unemployment has increased by almost 1.9 million people, raising the overall unemployment rate to 6.5 percent in November 1974. The reported rate among teenagers has risen from the October 1973 low of 14 percent to more than 17 percent; the rate among blacks is almost 12 percent; and the rate for black teenagers is over 37 percent. Further increases in unemployment over the next year are widely forecast and there is a natural concern that the already depressed groups will be hit the hardest.
The Influence of Ownership Structure, Analyst Following and Institutional Infrastructure on Stock Price Informativeness: International Evidence

type="main" xml:id="acfi12026-abs-0001"> Using firms from 20 non-US countries, we investigate whether and how ownership structure, analyst following and country-level institutions influence stock price informativeness (SPI). We find that stock price informativeness decreases with control-ownership wedge (the detachment of voting rights from cash flows rights), and this SPI-reducing effect of the wedge is attenuated for firms with high analyst following and in countries with strong country-level institutions. We also find that stock price informativeness decreases with analyst following, but this SPI-reducing effect of analyst following is attenuated in countries with strong country-level institutions.
Global Centrality and Income Inequality in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: A Test of Two Hypotheses

This article provides a quantitative assessment of two global city hypotheses: Sassen’s polarization and Hamnett’s professionalization claims. We conduct our analysis by using a continuous measure of global city status developed by researchers at the Global and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) and examining its correlation with the Gini index of household income inequality with relevant controls across a large sample of U.S. metropolitan areas in 2008. We examine industrial employment distribution as a causal pathway by which global city formation may influence urban income structures, as per Sassen and Hamnett’s original hypotheses. Results show that global city status is consistently associated with higher levels of inequality, but neither theorist’s claims about causal mechanisms are supported. This begs the question: What explains the correlation? We suggest an alternative hypothesis relating global city status to the distribution of educational credentialing.
The Olympic Games Impact (OGI) study for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games: strategies for evaluating sport mega-events’ contribution to sustainability

This paper aims to contribute to a burgeoning dialogue on evaluating the sustainability of sport mega-events by introducing three strategies for implementing the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC’s) Olympic Games Impact (OGI) study. The three techniques are bundling/leveraging, before–after control and sustainability scorecards. This paper begins by offering a twofold definition of OGI, one based on the OGI Technical Manual and one based on the author’s experience undertaking this initiative. Second, it presents and discusses the OGI critiques that exist in the sport mega-event impact literature. Although only recently implemented, critical analyses of the OGI methodology have already produced a handful of critiques. Third, the experience of applying OGI in an examination of the 2010 Games is the grounds for suggesting two new critiques. Fourth, the paper describes, using empirical data from 2010, how the OGI researchers have addressed the methodological critiques by: (1) connecting indicator data to public policy objectives; (2) positing a provisional means to create a sustainability standard; and (3) comparing changes in the indicator data in the host to non-host jurisdictions. This article would be of interest to future prospective Olympic host cities, researchers of mega-events and their impacts and practitioners who evaluate urban sustainability.
Evaluating the post‐copulatory sexual selection hypothesis for genital evolution reveals evidence for pleiotropic harm exerted by the male genital spines of Drosophila ananassae

The contemporary explanation for the rapid evolutionary diversification of animal genitalia is that such traits evolve by post‐copulatory sexual selection. Here, we test the hypothesis that the male genital spines of Drosophila ananassae play an adaptive role in post‐copulatory sexual selection. Whereas previous work on two Drosophila species shows that these spines function in precopulatory sexual selection to initiate genital coupling and promote male competitive copulation success, further research is needed to evaluate the potential for Drosophila genital spines to have a post‐copulatory function. Using a precision micron‐scale laser surgery technique, we test the effect of spine length reduction on copulation duration, male competitive fertilization success, female fecundity and female remating behaviour. We find no evidence that male genital spines in this species have a post‐copulatory adaptive function. Instead, females mated to males with surgically reduced/blunted genital spines exhibited comparatively greater short‐term fecundity relative to those mated by control males, indicating that the natural (i.e. unaltered) form of the trait may be harmful to females. In the absence of an effect of genital spine reduction on measured components of post‐copulatory fitness, the harm seems to be a pleiotropic side effect rather than adaptive. Results are discussed in the context of sexual conflict mediating the evolution of male genital spines in this species and likely other Drosophila.
Mental illness in the biological and adoptive relatives of schizophrenic adoptees. Replication of the Copenhagen Study in the rest of Denmark.

BACKGROUND Our previous investigation of the prevalence of mental illness among the biological and adoptive relatives of schizophrenic adoptees in Copenhagen, Denmark, showed a significant concentration of chronic schizophrenia (5.6%) and what Bleuler called "latent schizophrenia" (14.8%) in the biological relatives of chronic schizophrenic adoptees, indicating the operation of heritable factors in the liability for schizophrenic illness. METHODS We now report the results of a replication of that study in the rest of Denmark (the "Provincial Sample"). RESULTS In this sample, the corresponding prevalences were 4.7% and 8.2%. In the combined "National Sample" of adoptees with chronic schizophrenia, that disorder was found exclusively in their biological relatives and its prevalence overall was 10 times greater than that in the biological relatives of controls. CONCLUSIONS This study and its confirmation of previous results in the Copenhagen Study speak for a syndrome that can be reliably recognized in which genetic factors play a significant etiologic role. These findings provide important and necessary support for the assumption often made in family studies: observed familial clustering in schizophrenia is an expression of shared genetic factors.
A “Jekyll and Hyde” Within

We hypothesized that representations of social interactions in REM and non-REM (NREM) dreams would reflect differing regional brain activation patterns associated with the two sleep states, and that levels of aggressive interactions would be higher in REM than in NREM dreams. One hundred REM, 100 NREM, and 100 wake reports were collected in the home from 8 men and 7 women using the Nightcap sleep-wake mentation-monitoring system and scored for number and variety of social interactions. We found that (a) social interactions were more likely to be depicted in dream than in wake reports, (b) aggressive social interactions were more characteristic of REM than NREM or wake reports, and (c) dreamer-initiated friendliness was more characteristic of NREM than REM reports. We conclude that processing of, or simulations about, selected social interactions is preferentially performed while “off-line” during the dream state, with the REM state specializing in simulation of aggressive interactions and the NREM state specializing in simulation of friendly interactions.
The Business Platform: Developing an Instrument to Gauge and to Assist the Development of Young Firms

The research presented here addresses the following problems we perceive in research on the development of young firms. First, we feel there is a lack of holistic yet quantifiable and generalizable ways in which to assess the state of newly started firms. Quantitative research typically relies on additive models that are unable to explain more than half of the outcome variance at the most. Holistic approaches tend to be qualitative and therefore have unknown generalizability. Second, we feel there is a lack of action–oriented assessment models that are firmly anchored in research. Research models typically take a passive prediction position and often build on relationships that give little hands–on advice to managers. Numerous practical tools for assessing and developing firms during their early development can be found in how–to literature, but these typically are not anchored in systematic research and therefore have unknown validity. Hence, what we set out to do in the research presented in this article is to develop a quantifiable, holistic, and research–based instrument for assessing and assisting the development of young firms.
Price Level vs. Nominal Income Targeting: Aggregate Demand Shocks and the Cost Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission

This paper incorporates both the traditional aggregate demand-interest rate channel and the cost channel of monetary policy in a baseline ‘new Keynesian’ model and study two targeting regimes --- price-level targeting and nominal income targeting. In light of empirical considerations, alternative specifications for the aggregate demand and aggregate supply side of the economy also considered. The main result is that the cost channel matters: in case of a moderate policy response and with the cost channel operating the volatility of real output decreases under both price-level and nominal income targeting, while it increases in case of an aggressive policy response. The paper also finds that nominal income targeting performs better than price level targeting in bringing down the volatility of real output in almost all the specifications of the macro models used in the analysis.
Start-up size and post-entry performance: the case of tourism services in Italy

A large and comprehensive longitudinal database is used to identify the start-up of new firms in the Italian tourist industry and their subsequent post-entry performance. Analysed in particular is the link between the survival of hotels, restaurants, and catering firms in each Italian region and their start-up size. By using logit estimation, it is found that for eighteen out of twenty regions the relationship has the expected sign, although only for twelve regions and the country as a whole did it turn out to be statistically significant.
A standard measure of risk and risk-value models

In this paper we propose a standard measure of risk that is based on the converted expected utility of normalized lotteries with zero-expected values. This measure of risk has many desirable properties that characterize the notion of risk. It is very general and includes many previously proposed measures of risk as special cases. Moreover, our standard measure of risk provides a preference-based and unified method for risk studies. Since the standard measure of risk is compatible with the measure of expected utility, it can be used explicitly or implicitly in an expected utility model. Under a condition called risk Independence, a decision could be made by explicitly trading off between risk and value, which offers an alternative representation of the expected utility model, named the standard risk-value model. Finally, we discuss some other applications of the standard measure of risk and extensions of our risk-value tradeoff framework for descriptive decision making.