Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Property management in China: opportunities and problems

The development of the real estate market in China has been well‐documented, but one of the most interesting, yet chaotic issues in this market has not been fully covered. It is the problems and opportunities arising from the needs for the management of existing properties. Supply of prime office buildings in the major cities in China has been unprecedented owing to the strong demand from local and overseas companies. To preserve the investment value of the building, there is a great need for good management. However, those who have worked in a socialist country will understand that service industry is always the weakest point of the economy. It is, nevertheless, exactly for this reason that there is a great opportunity for established property management companies to expand their service not only in property management but also in the training of the new generation of local property managers in this potential market.
Short- and Long-run Effects of
External Interventions on Trust

We experimentally analyze the effects of external interventions such as subsidy and targeting on investment decisions during the intervention and after. We employ a multi-period version of the trust (investment) game (Berg et al., 1995) introducing either the monetary incentives for contribution or providing a suggestion about the level of investment. The results of the experiment indicate that targeting is an effective instrument to promote trustful behavior, whereas subsidy policy is not effective both in short- and long-run. Therefore we suggest considering a targeting policy as one of the instruments that can foster trustful behavior.
The economics of television in a digital world

This report explores the economic factors underlying television and the policy arguments that emanate from them in the all-digital television world and reveals where differing perspectives and debates take place among economists and economic policy analysts and the roots of those differences. The report shows how technological and policy changes have altered the television market and created submarkets during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the different economic bases of licence-fee, advertising-supported, and paid television, and how they compete and coexist as well as clarifying why contemporary changes in television distribution are altering the economics and structure of broadcasting and how the developments alter the context for future UK broadcast policy making.
Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma: Results from the Japan Myeloma Study Group

We conducted a retrospective survey of multiple myeloma (MM) patients who underwent reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation (RIST) at 11 hospitals participating in the Japan Myeloma Study Group. Forty-five patients (median age, 53 years) were included in this study. The conditioning regimen consisted of a fludarabine-based regimen in 24 patients and a regimen based on total body irradiation (1–2 Gy) in 18 patients. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine and tacrolimus in 28 and 17 patients, respectively. All patients showed myeloid engraftment. Complete chimerism was obtained in 42 patients. Grade II to IV acute GVHD developed in 28 (65%) of 43 patients evaluated, and chronic GVHD developed in 31 (76%) of 41 patients. Early death before day 100 was observed in 4 patients (8.8%). A complete response (CR) was obtained in 12 patients. The factors affecting overall survival were severe acute GVHD and the response after RIST. To date, 18 patients are alive, with 9 patients remaining in CR at a median follow-up of 25 months. The overall and progression-free survival rates at 3 years were 38.5% and 18.8%, respectively. These observations suggest that RIST is feasible with reliable donor engraftment and relatively low transplantation-related mortality in Japanese MM patients.
Association between smoking and genital warts: longitudinal analysis

Objectives To assess the association between smoking and the reported clinical diagnosis of genital warts. Methods A sample of 58 094 women (aged 18–45) randomly drawn from the general female population of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden answered a questionnaire on lifestyle and health. Longitudinal data were reconstructed based on self report of age-specific events. In a Cox regression model, women who reported having been clinically diagnosed with genital warts were followed up until the age at first diagnosis, while women who reported never having been diagnosed with genital warts were censored at the age of interview. Age-specific smoking doses and ages at onset of smoking, sexual intercourse, condom use, hormonal contraceptive use, first pregnancy and alcohol drinking were included in the model as time-dependent covariates. The model also included lifetime number of coital partners and country of origin as fixed covariates. Results Ever-smokers reported a lower age at first intercourse and more coital partners than never-smokers. The adjusted model showed that sexual behaviour strongly influenced the risk of being diagnosed with genital warts, and that smokers in addition had an increased risk compared with non-smokers (adjusted HR=1.27, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.37). There was also a modest additional dose–response effect of smoking, with smokers experiencing a 0.6% increased risk of being diagnosed with genital warts for each additional cigarette smoked daily (adjusted HR=1.006, 95% CI 1.001 to 1.012). Conclusions Smokers experienced a moderately increased risk of being diagnosed with genital warts. This finding could be explained by the immunosuppressive effects of nicotine, or by confounding not accounted for in the adjusted model.
The Creative Response in Economic History

Economic historians and economic theorists can make an interesting and socially valuable journey together, if they will. It would be an investigation into the sadly neglected area of economic change. As anyone familiar with the history of economic thought will immediately recognize, practically all the economists of the nineteenth century and many of the twentieth have believed uncritically that all that is needed to explain a given historical development is to indicate conditioning or causal factors, such as an increase in population or the supply of capital. But this is sufficient only in the rarest of cases.
Organization of projections from the anterior pole of the nucleus reticularis thalami (NRT) to subdivisions of the motor thalamus: Light and electron microscopic studies in the Rhesus monkey

Projections to the motor‐related thalamic nuclei from the anterior pole of the reticular thalamic nucleus (NRT) were studied after injections of biotinylated dextran amine and wheat germ agglutinin conjugated horseradish peroxidase at light and electron microscopic levels, respectively. Each injection resulted in anterograde labeling in the three subdivisions of the ventral anterior nucleus (pars parvicellularis, VApc; pars densicellularis, VAdc; and pars magnocellularis, VAmc) and in the ventral lateral nucleus (VL). NRT fibers had beaded shapes and coursed in a posterior direction giving rise to relatively diffuse terminal plexuses. The average size of the beads (0.7μm2) and their density per 100μm of fiber length (23.7–25.7) were similar between the nuclei studied. At the electron microscopic level, anterogradely labeled boutons displayed positive immunoreactivity for γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), contained pleomorphic synaptic vesicles, and formed relatively long (∼0.4μm) symmetric synaptic contacts. Usually, a single terminal formed synapses on more than one postsynaptic structure. Synaptic contacts were on projection and local circuit neurons and targeted mainly their distal dendrites. In the VAmc, synapses on local circuit neurons composed 48% of the total sample, in the VAdc/VApc and in the VL the proportion was higher, 65% and 62%, respectively. The results suggest that the input from the anterior pole of the monkey reticular nucleus to the motor‐related thalamic nuclei is organized differently from what is known on the organization of connections of NRT with sensory thalamic nuclei in other species in that the terminal fields of individual fibers are diffuse rather than focal and that at least 50% of synapses are established on GABAergic local circuit neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 409:369–384, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Enhancing TCP Over Satellite Channels using Standard Mechanisms

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) provides reliable delivery of data across any network path, including network paths containing satellite channels. While TCP works over satellite channels there are several IETF standardized mechanisms that enable TCP to more effectively utilize the available capacity of the network path. This document outlines some of these TCP mitigations. At this time, all mitigations discussed in this document are IETF standards track mechanisms (or are compliant with IETF standards).
Risk of foot complications in long-term diabetic patients with and without ESRD: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this preliminary study was to generate hypotheses for future research about the relationship between ESRD and foot complications in patients with long-term diabetes. DESIGN A cross-sectional prevalence study was conducted comparing a sample of long-term diabetic patients with ESRD to a sample of long-term diabetic patients without ESRD. SAMPLE/SETTING A convenience sample of 132 patients with long-term diabetes (> 15 years), with (N = 60) and without (N = 72) ESRD, was selected from ambulatory care settings and dialysis units. METHODS Data were collected by chart audit, structured interview, and physical examination. RESULTS Foot complications were greater in individuals with diabetes and ESRD (25%) than in diabetic individuals without ESRD (10%) (p = 0.02). Neither neuropathy, past or current smoking, race, gender, nor age were significantly associated with current foot complications (either current infection, ulcer, gangrene, or amputation). CONCLUSIONS Research is needed to better understand foot complications in persons with long-term diabetes and ESRD so that the effectiveness of nursing and medical interventions to stabilize or prevent foot complications can be evaluated.
Immigration Policy, Equilibrium Unemployment, and Underinvestment in Human Capital

We analyse the impact of different immigration policies on human capital investment in a search-theoretic model. This class of models features unemployment and underinvestment in human capital. The underinvestment in human capital can be solved by combining immigration policy with appropriate education subsidies. Extending the model with respect to different skill groups allows to analyse the observed bimodal skilled immigration of the USA.
Comparison of standard with tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

PURPOSE To assess the efficacy, safety, and morbidity of tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and compare it with standard PCNL. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 135 patients (140 renal units) undergoing tubeless PCNL (group 1) from June 2000 to September 2007 were compared with a similar group of 185 (194 renal units) patients undergoing standard PCNL (group 2) in the same period. Patients who needed more than two percutaneous tracts; who had significant intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative perforation of the pelvicaliceal system, excessive manipulation at the ureteropelvic junction, or a residual stone after the procedure; and who had a solitary kidney or azotemia were excluded from the study. The chi-square test was performed for statistical analysis of qualitative variables and the student's t test for quantitative variables. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS The mean age in group 1 was 34.4 years (range 9-66 yrs) and in group 2 was 32.6 years (range 6-74 yrs). Male/female ratio was 1.7 and 1.6 respectively. The average stone size in group 1 was 3.2 cm (range 2-5.5 cm) v 3.6 cm (range 2.2-6.0 cm). Sixteen patients in group 1 and 24 patients in group 2 were in the pediatric age group. Simultaneous bilateral PCNL was performed in 6 patients in group 1 and 10 patients in group 2. Both the groups were comparable in age, sex ratio, side ratio, stone size, location, preoperative incidence of urinary tract infection, method of tract dilatation, and mean operative time. The incidence of single tract (95 v 98 in group 1 and group 2) for complete stone clearance was significantly more in the tubeless group. Mean hospital stay (1.8 v 2.9 days) and the analgesic requirement (68 mg v 210.5 mg of pethidine) was also significantly less in the tubeless group. Blood loss and mean operative time were also less in the tubeless group but were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION Tubeless PCNL is safe and effective. It has significantly less morbidity, a shorter hospital stay, and less postoperative analgesic requirement in comparison with standard PCNL.
THE FOOD SYSTEM IN TRANSITION: AN E.U. PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature and the main dimensions of the transition in European food systems. We examine the main stylized facts in the evolution of food final demand as well as the structural changes and firms' strategies at different stages of food systems. We find the existence of a process of convergence towards an EU food system. Such a process is the result of two main determinants. First, there is a convergence towards a common European consumer who increasingly demands a variety of healthier food products and reveals growing concerns for food safety issues. A second crucial factor is the role played by food retailers in determining the convergence of European competitive environments. We show that retailers' consolidation and strategies affect and determine structural changes at all stages of food system. Finally, the paper examines the new policy implications of these changes and suggests some areas and topics which are likely to become increasingly relevant for future research.
Trading Behavior and the Unbiasedness of the Market Reaction to Dividend Announcements

This article examines the price formation process during dividend announcement day using daily closing prices and transactions data. The authors find that the unconditional positive excess returns, first documented by A. Kalay and U. Loewenstein (1985), are higher for small-firm and low-priced stocks. Price volatility and trading volume also increase during this period. Examination of trade prices relative to the bid-ask spread and volume of trades at bid and asked prices shows that the excess returns cannot be attributed to measurement errors or to spillover effects of tax-related ex-day trading. Rather, the price behavior is related to the absorption of dividend information. Copyright 1995 by American Finance Association.
Investigation on Visitors' Perceptions of Recreation Impacts in Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area in Taiwan

This research attempts to understand the visitors' perceptions of the environmental impacts caused by six recreational activities by using Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area in Taiwan. The six recreational activities were fishing, camping, trail use, swimming, biking and motorboating. It compared the visitors' perceptions of the recreation impacts before and after the environmental impact information was provided. The convenience sampling method was used during three weekends in August 2005. The results indicated that visitors in the study were aware of the environmental impacts caused by the six recreational activities. The most harmful activity among all was motorboating and the most harmless one was biking. In addition, different variables such as gender, age and preference influenced visitors' perceptions of the recreation impacts of different types of activity. Overall, after receiving the environmental information, the visitors' perceptions of all activities moved to being more harmful than their previous perceptions. This means the environmental impact information sheet given in the post-test did change the perception of recreational impacts. In general, visitors viewed their own activities as having fewer recreational impacts than non-participants, except for the boating activity.
Revenue Sharing and Competitive Balance in Professional Team Sports

The aim of this article is to clarify the apparent confusion in the literature about the impact of a revenue sharing arrangement on the competitive balance in a sports league. A crucial factor in the discussion seems to be the impact of the absolute rather than the relative quality of the teams on the clubs' revenues. The analysis shows that revenue sharing improves the competitive balance under both the profit- and the utility-maximizing hypotheses.
Direct and Indirect Pathways Connecting Cognitive Ability With Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Socioeconomic Status and Multiple Health Behaviors

Objective: To model and test direct and indirect pathways connecting general cognitive ability (g) with cardiovascular disease risk factors, via socioeconomic status (SES) and multiple health behaviors. Methods: A sample comprising participants in the Health and Lifestyle Survey, a prospective cohort study of a representative sample of U.K. adults in 1984/5 (n = 4939, 2426 males). Results: Two mediating latent variables were proposed that connected a latent cognitive trait (named g) with a latent trait of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk: multiple health behaviors (defined by smoking, physical inactivity, and weekly saturated fat intake) and SES (defined by educational attainment, occupational social class, and income). In males and females, SES mediated the association between g and CVD risk, but the mediation was moderated by years of age. A direct effect from g to CVD risk was also significant, but this was restricted to older males. Multiple health behaviors offered no explanatory power, because they were not influenced by g. Conclusions: SES may connect g with CVD risk in males, but not systematically across the life course. Moderated mediation is a novel way to illustrate that direct and indirect pathways can vary as a function of age. Explanations that emphasize g or SES are not mutually exclusive; there are direct and indirect contributions to CVD risk from each source, and these vary across the life course. CHD = coronary heart disease; CVD = cardiovascular disease; g = general cognitive ability; IQ = intelligence quotient; HALS = Health and Lifestyle Survey; NHS = National Health Service; SES = socioeconomic status; WHR = waist/hip ratio.
Look for the Silver Lining: When Performance‐Based Accountability Systems Work

In advancing improved accountability and performance, governments have relied upon one or more of the following approaches: political accountability or improved responsiveness to political direction, legal accountability or contract accountability, and performance-based accountability. This article examines the major approach to the last, managing for results (MFR), in the context of the American states. All state governments seek to improve decision making by employing MFR models but with clear differences in the degree of quality. States regarded as having strong MFR systems devote energy to integrative facilitators: practical actions that ensure that the links between components of the MFR system connect, provide quality performance information, and facilitate information exchange and utilization. The facilitators identified are the comprehensiveness of the MFR system, vertical integration of goals, strong strategic guidance for agency efforts, balance between bottom-up and top-down approaches, and leadership and political commitment. Reforms intended to create results-based government and management have been frequent and widespread in the United States and elsewhere for the past decade. Managing for results (MFR), many have argued, will not only increase overall performance levels but also contribute to improved accountability of public organizations to elected officials and citizens (Behn 2001). This article examines MFR reform in all fifty United States, based on analyses in two time periods, 1998 and 2000. Using a criteria-based approach to evaluate and rank MFR systems, this article seeks to uncover the common management factors that enable governments to meet the criteria for effective MFR. This means that we identify states that did well and poorly according to the criteria and we explore in some depth why they achieved or failed to achieve the criteria, first reviewing important governance variables and then describing the common management practices of states that performed well. We call these management practices integrative facilitators, the practical actions that ensure that systems work as theorized: creating, disseminating, and using valid performance information. The concepts discussed in this article treat MFR as a capacity tool, reflecting an advance from early efforts to establish performance accountability based on measurement of government outputs (ICMA 2000). Although precise measurement offers many benefits,
Electronic structure of ordered and disordered Cu alloys: Cu3Pd, Cu3Pt, and Cu3Au.

On s'interesse particulierement aux changements, dans la structure electronique, dus au desordre et au remplacement isoelectronique de l'element Pd Gd par Pt 5d, puis par son voisin Au. On etudie ces controverses concernant la structure electronique de l'alliage Cu 3 Pd desordonne
Behavioral Economics and the Sec

Investors face myriad investment alternatives and seemingly limitless information concerning those alternatives. Not surprisingly, many commentators contend that investors frequently fall short of the ideal investor posited by the rational actor model. Investors are plagued with a variety of behavioral biases (such as, among others, the hindsight bias, the availability bias, loss aversion, and overconfidence). Even securities market institutions and intermediaries may suffer from biases, led astray by groupthink and overconfidence. The question remains whether regulators should focus on such biases in formulating policy. An omnipotent regulatory decisionmaker would certainly improve on flawed investor decisionmaking. The alternative we face, however, is a behaviorally-flawed regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several behavioral biases may plague SEC regulators including overconfidence, the confirmation bias, framing effects, and groupthink. While structural solutions are possible to reduce biases within the agency, we argue that such solutions are only partially effective in correcting these biases. Instead of attempting to determine when the behavioral biases of regulators outweigh those within the market, we take a different tactic. Because behaviorally flawed (and possibly self-interested) regulators themselves will decide whether market-based biases outweigh regulatory biases, we propose a framework for assessing such regulatory intervention. Our framework varies along two dimensions. The more monopolistic the regulator (such as the SEC), the greater is the presumption against intervention to correct for biases in the market. Monopolistic regulatory agencies provide a fertile environment for behavioral biases to flourish. Second, the more regulations supplant market decisionmaking, the greater is the presumption against such regulations. Market supplanting regulations are particularly prone to entrenchment, making reversal difficult once such regulations have become part of the status quo.