Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Being Bad by Being Good: Owner and Captain Value-Added in the Slave Trade

We use slave voyage data from 18th century Great Britain and France to answer two questions: 1) How important was the managerial quality of owners and captains in slave trading? and 2) What explains the substantial variation in managerial quality? Utilizing the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, in which we observe the performance of owners and captains in each of their voyages, we follow the teacher evaluation literature to estimate the value-added of owners and captains to slave voyage output, i.e. the number of slaves arriving in the Americas. Several results emerge. First, if we replace all owners with the 90th percentile owner in the country, slave voyage output would be 15% and 25% higher than if we replaced all owners with the 10th percentile owner in Great Britain and in France. This 90/10 ratio is 1.27 for British captains. Second, owner value-added is negatively associated with family businesses and positively associated with the level of competition. A comparison of owner value-added before and after the unexpected outbreak of the Seven Years' War, which historians suggest decreased (increased) competition in the French (British) slave trade, suggests competition's effect on owner value-added might be causal.
The Effect of Kyoto Emission Targets on Domestic CO2 Emissions: A Synthetic Control Approach

We use recent developments in the empirics of comparative case studies to analyze the effect of binding emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol on the development of CO2 emissions of seven major Annex B countries. In particular, we investigate whether committing to a specific greenhouse gas emissions target had an effect on actual CO2 emissions of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Japan by using a synthetic control approach. With the exception of Great Britain, we are not able to reject the hypothesis that there has been no effect of binding emission targets on actual emissions.
Detecting Earnings Information in Repurchase Announcements Using the Luck of the (Double) Irish

Previous studies disagree about whether open market repurchase announcements contain positive, negative, or no information about earnings expectations. In this comprehensive study, I use a novel measure of analyst earnings forecast revisions that corrects for undetected biases found in prior studies. While I find no evidence of average changes in earnings expectations across a 28-year sample of repurchase announcements, I find positive post-announcement forecast revisions in a subsample of firms likely to be using “Double Irish” offshore subsidiary structures to delay or avoid U.S. taxes on firm profits. Tests of this subsample utilize a quasi-natural experiment related to a 2007 IRS repurchase regulation which imposed additional repurchase-related costs on these firms. The results are robust to a variety of test specifications and proxies for earnings. This link between repurchase costs and positive earnings revisions is broadly consistent with signaling models of payouts and suggests that managers may announce especially costly repurchases when earnings expectations are underestimated by outsiders.
Using Administrative Data to Predict Important Health Outcomes: Entry to Hospital, Nursing Home, and Death

This paper assesses our ability to use administrative data for developing indicators of health status. Traditionally, measures of health status have been derived from interviews. Here indicators from administrative data and from interviews are compared, i.e., their ability to predict important health outcomes for a large representative sample of elderly residents of Manitoba, Canada. Indicators of health status derived from an administrative data system and from health interviews are shown to provide roughly similar predictions of nursing-home entry. Administrative data provide significantly better predictions of death and future hospital entry than do variables from interview data.
From IgE to Anti‐IgE: Where do we stand?

Allergy and IgE – a pair of shoes. The term ‘‘allergy’’ was originally introduced by von Pirquet in 1906 meaning ‘‘changed reactivity’’ of a host after the second or subsequent contact with an ‘‘agent’’. The clinical features of this hypersensitivity reaction comprise asthma, hay fever, urticaria and eczema, and were originally termed ‘‘atopy’’ by Coca and Cooke in 1923. The first implication of a transferable/soluble factor as the mediator of an allergic reaction was published in 1919. In this case report, Ramirez describes a man who experienced an acute asthmatic episode while entering a horse-drawn coach in New York’s Central Park two weeks after having received a 600-ml blood transfusion from a man with a known horse allergy (1). The first scientific description of the mechanism of the allergic reaction was provided in 1921 by Prausnitz and Küster, who showed that a serum factor (‘‘reagin’’) was able to passively transfer hypersensitivity reactions from an allergic to the skin of a non-allergic patient (2). But only after another forty-five years could Ishizaka and colleagues (3, 4) and Johannson and colleagues (5) independently show that this ‘‘reagin’’ was a novel class of serum antibodies – immunoglobulin-E: IgE (6). Now, another 35 years later, we stand on the brink of a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of allergic diseases, by directly targeting increased serum IgE with antagonizing antibodies: anti-IgE antibodies. The prevalence of asthma, hay fever and other IgEmediated diseases (7) has increased dramatically in industrialized countries over the last decades, making allergies a very serious public health problem (8–10). Asthma prevalence rates increased by 75% in the Unites States between 1980 and 1994 (11). The prevalence of allergic diseases is even higher in children (12), where asthma is the most common chronic illness overall. Twenty-three percent of British children aged 6–7 years, and 21% of British children aged 12–14 years (13) suffer from asthma. Despite better understanding of pathophysiology and improved treatment protocols for allergic diseases, overall morbidity and even mortality rates of asthma have increased in the last two decades (14). The most robust predisposing factor for the development of allergic diseases is atopy, the genetic predisposition to produce allergen-specific IgE (15).
Validation of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor technology for organ dose assessment during CT: comparison with thermoluminescent dosimetry.

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to apply near-real-time dose-measurement technology with metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) to the assessment of organ dose during CT and to validate the method in comparison with the thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) method. MATERIALS AND METHODS Dosimetry measurements were performed in two ways, one with TLDs and the other with MOSFETs. Twenty organ locations were selected in an adult anthropomorphic female phantom. High-sensitivity MOSFET dosimeters were used. For the reference standard, TLDs were placed in the same organ locations as the MOSFETs. Both MOSFET and TLD detectors were calibrated with an X-ray beam equivalent in quality to that of a commercial CT scanner (half-value layer, approximately 7 mm Al at 120 kVp). Organ dose was determined with a scan protocol for pulmonary embolus studies on a 4-MDCT scanner. RESULTS Measurements for selected organ doses and the percentage difference for TLDs and MOSFETs, respectively, were as follows: thyroid (0.34 cGy, 0.31 cGy, -8%), middle lobe of lung (2.4 cGy, 3.0 cGy, +26%), bone marrow of thoracic spine (2.2 cGy, 2.5 cGy, +11%), stomach (1.0 cGy, 0.93 cGy, -6%), liver (2.5 cGy, 2.6 cGy, +6%), and left breast (3.0 cGy, 2.9 cGy, -1%). Bland-Altman analysis showed that the MOSFET results agreed with the TLD results (bias, 0.042). CONCLUSION We found good agreement between the results with the MOSFET and TLD methods. Near-real-time CT organ dose assessment not previously feasible with TLDs was achieved with MOSFETs. MOSFET technology can be used for protocol development in the rapidly changing MDCT scanner environment, in which organ dose data are extremely limited.
Irrigation of Three Wetland Species and a Hyperaccumlating Fern with Arsenic-Laden Solutions: Observations of Growth, Arsenic Uptake, Nutrient Status, and Chlorophyll Content

Engineered wetlands can be an integral part of a treatment strategy for remediating arsenic-contaminated wastewater, wherein, As is removed by adsorption to soil particles, chemical transformation, precipitation, or accumulation by plants. The remediation process could be optimized by choosing plant species that take up As throughout the seasonal growing period. This report details experiments that utilize wetland plant species native to Ohio (Carex stricta, Pycnanthemum virginianum, and Spartina pectinata) that exhibit seasonally related maximal growth rates, plus one hyperaccumulating fern (Pteris vittata) that was used to compare arsenic tolerance. All plants were irrigated with control or As-laden nutrient solutions (either 0, 1.5, or 25 mg As L−1) for 52 d. Biomass, nutrient content, and chlorophyll content were compared between plants treated and control plants (n = 5). At the higher concentration of arsenic (25 mg L−1), plant biomass, leaf area, and total chlorophyll were all lower than values in control plants. A tolerance index, based on total plant biomass at the end of the experiment, indicated C. stricta (0.99) and S. pectinata (0.84) were more tolerant than the other plant species when irrigated with 1.5 mg As L−1. These plant species can be considered as candidates for engineered wetlands.
Strategies to Increase Performance and Sustainability of Construction Services Company in East Java Indonesia

The performance and strategy of acompany is an important variable in achieving sustainable construction services business. This study aimedto analyze the relationship of the model strategy, performance and sustainability of the small-medium and large constructioncompanies in East Java-Indonesia. Survey was conducted through interviews using Likertscale (1-7) questionnaires.Thepopulation and study sample was business enterprise certifiedconstruction services company that already had at least five years experience. The respondents consisted of 80construction companies’leaders or owners. The sampling method was a combination of stratified, proportional and purposive sampling.Data was analyzed by using SPSS-18 software to test the validity, reliability, respondent characteristics and differentcetest, while model testing was usingSEM software (Smart PLS). The results concludedthat: a). Company target directly as well asindirectlytook significant effect to the sustainability of the construction service company, b)companystrategy significantly influencedthe performance of the construction service company,c). Company performance significantlyinfluencedthe sustainability of the construction service company, d). There aredifferencesin implementing strategies to improve the performance and sustainability of a small-middleand large construction service company. The differenttstrategies include project selection,partner selection, and investment strategy. It is recommended tothestakeholdersof construction service company to make the results of this research as the basis for policy in order to improve the performance and sustainability of theircompany. Further research could be developedby expanding populationsarea, variable and researchindicator.KEYWORDS: construction services, sustainability, performance, strategy.
The determinants and characteristics of voluntary disclosure by Indian banking companies

This study reports the results of an empirical investigation of the extent of voluntary disclosure by 38 listed banking companies in India. It also reports the results of the association between company specific characteristics and voluntary disclosure of the sample companies. The study reveals that Indian banks are disclosing a considerable amount of voluntary information. The findings also indicate that size and assets-in-place are significant and other variables such as age, diversification, board composition, multiple exchange listing and complexity of business are insignificant in explaining the level of disclosure. However, this paper has contributed to the academic literature that financial institutions provide voluntary corporate information including social information as discharging their social responsibility and corporate citizenship. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Internet Banking Functionality in Nigeria and Outcomes of Customer Satisfaction: An Empirical Investigation

The present study aimed at investigating the impact of internet banking on the customer satisfaction level in banking sector of Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of Ninety (90) customers of different banks in Nigeria. Data collected were analyzed using regression Analysis with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20. The result showed that the independent variables (i.e internet banking and quality service) were significant joint predictors of customer satisfaction (F(2, 87) = 91.3035;R2 = 0.677; P
The Nature of Corporate Board Structure and its Impact on the Performance of USA Listed Firms

This study seeks to examine board structure and its relationship and impact on the listed companies’ performance in USA. A cross-sectional and correlational research design with a sample of 100 listed companies in USA was used. Correlation analysis was carried out to establish the relationship between the variables. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the extent to which variations in performance of companies are explained by the board structures. The findings portrayed that high frequency of meetings adversely affects the company performance, whereas combined board leadership structure positively contributes to company performance which is contrary to the agency theory expectations. Other than that, it can be concluded that financial performance is independent of board size and composition. It is highly recommended that future research should be focused on nonfinancial aspects of performance in order to get a holistic performance view rather than restricting to accounting-based performance, which is based on accounting principles and assumptions since this provides evidence for future success through overall stakeholder satisfaction. Furthermore, an intense understanding of corporate governance structures and their relations with company performance has the potential to assist practitioners, both policy makers and researchers, to improve governance.
Clinical characteristics, pathophysiology, and management of hydrocarbon ingestion: Case report and review of the literature

Accidental ingestion of hydrocarbons is an important cause of childhood poisoning. Due to the number of hydrocarbon products available as solvents, fuels, and cleaning agents, increased awareness is necessary on the part of health caretakers. The scope of complications involving the respiratory system in petroleum products ingestion is frequently overlooked. Physicians may thus apply standard therapeutic modalities used in treating common poisonings to the child who drank a petroleum distillate. Prompt recognition of presenting symptoms and understanding of pathophysiology are important to planning and providing treatment. The two cases of hydrocarbon ingestion reported in this paper illustrate the wide spectrum of problems associated with this condition. The pathophysiology, current management, and a review of the literature of hydrocarbon ingestion are presented.
Technical Debt Indexes Provided by Tools: A Preliminary Discussion

In software maintenance and evolution, it is important to assess both code and architecture in order to identify issues to be solved to improve software quality. Different tools provide some kind of index giving us an overall evaluation of a project to be used when managing its technical debt. In this paper, we outline how the indexes, that we call in general Technical Debt Indexes, provided by five different tools are computed. We describe their principal features and differences, what aspects they are missing, and we outline if (and how) the indexes take into account architectural problems that could have a major impact on the architectural debt. We show that the indexes rely on different information sources and measure different quantities.
A STUDY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE: ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION

Integration of information technology (IT) in business processes plays an important role in achieving high performance levels because it adds value to the efforts for such pursuits. These integrated resources provide the right information in real-time and facilitates the use of this information to where it is needed effectively and efficiently. The present study focuses on whether such benefits through IT integration can be substantiated for SME businesses. The results of the study have revealed that economic factors in the business environment play a major role to influence the need for IT integration in the SME businesses.
COMPARISON OF FOUR CLASSIFICATION METHODS FOR BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE

This paper examines the performance of four classiflers for Brain Com- puter Interface (BCI) systems based on multichannel EEG recordings. The clas- siflers are designed to distinguish EEG patterns corresponding to performance of several mental tasks. The flrst one is the basic Bayesian classifler (BC) which exploits only interchannel covariance matrices corresponding to difierent mental tasks. The second classifler is also based on Bayesian approach but it takes into account EEG frequency structure by exploiting interchannel covariance matrices estimated separately for several frequency bands (Multiband Bayesian Classifler, MBBC). The third one is based on the method of Multiclass Common Spatial Pat- terns (MSCP) exploiting only interchannel covariance matrices as BC. The fourth one is based on the Common Tensor Discriminant Analysis (CTDA), which is a generalization of MCSP, taking EEG frequency structure into account. The MBBC and CTDA classiflers are shown to perform signiflcantly better than the two other methods. Computational complexity of the four methods is estimated. It is shown that for all classiflers the increase in the classifying quality is always accompanied by a signiflcant increase of computational complexity.
Aldactone therapy in a peritoneal dialysis patient.

In CRF group, the slope of renal function deterioration (1uPcreat vs time) was not significantly different in Cs patients compared with nCs patients (–0.0026"0.003 vs 0.0031"0.001, respectively; Ps0.84) [4]. This observation does not contradict study 1; indeed, all the Cs patients showed evidence of progression of renal failure before Cs therapy (which was a condition for treatment), while in study 2, all the nCs patients were taken into account, including those with stable renal function. In contrast, in the ESRD group (the group with evolving disease, even in nCs patients), the slope was in favour of Cs patients compared with nCs patients (–0.021" 0.006 vs 0.037" 0.004, Ps0.034) [4]. In patients given -200 g of ST-AF, the slope was greater than 0.02 in one out of eight Cs patients compared with 11 out of 20 nCs patients (Ps0.0882). In patients given )200 g of ST-AF, the slope was greater than 0.02 in two out of seven Cs patients and eight out of nine nCs patients (Ps0.0350). In other words, a beneficial effect of Cs in slowing renal failure progression could be demonstrated in the subgroup of CHN patients with more severe renal disease, as well as in those having ingested the greatest quantities of toxic compounds. Taken together, studies 1 and 2 reinforced the conclusion that Cs therapy was able to slow the progression of renal failure in some CHN patients. This could appear surprising when considering the prominent feature of acellular fibrosis, which is particularly characteristic of CHN [7]. However, renal biopsies were often obtained in advanced stages of the disease. Interestingly, an earlier stage of the disease in an experimental rat model of CHN showed marked lymphocytic infiltrates [8]. We thus still recommend a trial of Cs treatment in rapidly progressive and severe chronic interstitial CHN nephritis. However, the benefit of Cs therapy (that is, at best, to delay ESRD from 1 to 3 years) remains to be weighed against the side effects of such a treatment.
Fungal arthritis of the wrist caused by Candida parapsilosis during infliximab therapy for rheumatoid arthritis

A 60-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis, who had been treated with infliximab, presented with uncontrollable wrist arthritis. Fungal arthritis caused by Candida parapsilosis was confirmed by examining her aspirated joint fluid. Her infliximab therapy was interrupted, and antifungal therapy with fluconazole was started. After the fungal infection had been ameliorated, surgical debridement and arthrodesis of the wrist joint were conducted, and her symptoms completely resolved. Although fungal arthritis is rare, it should be considered as a differential diagnosis of exacerbated monoarthritis in patients treated with biological agents.
Investigation of post-depositional processing of nitrate in East Antarctic snow: isotopic constraints on photolytic loss, re-oxidation, and source inputs

Abstract. Snowpits along a traverse from coastal East Antarctica to the summit of the ice sheet (Dome Argus) are used to investigate the post-depositional processing of nitrate (NO3−) in snow. Seven snowpits from sites with accumulation rates between 24 and 172 kg m−2 a−1 were sampled to depths of 150 to 300 cm. At sites from the continental interior (low accumulation, 200 ng g−1 in surface snow and decreases quickly with depth to 91 kg m−2 a−1), there are no obvious trends detected with depth and instead seasonality in nitrate mass fraction and isotopic composition is found. In comparison to the interior sites, the coastal pits are lower in δ15N (−15–71 ‰ vs. air N2) and higher in δ18O of nitrate (53–111 ‰ vs. VSMOW). The relationships found amongst mass fraction, δ15N, δ18O and Δ17O (Δ17O = δ17O–0.52 × δ18O) of nitrate cannot be explained by local post-depositional processes alone, and are instead interpreted in the context of a primary atmospheric signal. Consistent with other Antarctic observational and modeling studies, the isotopic results are suggestive of an important influence of stratospheric ozone chemistry on nitrate formation during the cold season and a mix of tropospheric sources and chemistry during the warm season. Overall, the findings in this study speak to the sensitivity of nitrate isotopic composition to post-depositional processing and highlight the strength of combined use of the nitrogen and oxygen isotopes for a mechanistic understanding of this processing.
GPA in Research Studies: An Invaluable but Neglected Opportunity

Grade point average (GPA) often correlates highly with variables of interest to educational researchers and thus offers the potential to greatly increase the statistical power of their research studies. Yet this variable is often underused in marketing education research studies. The reliability and validity of the GPA are closely examined here in a research study context. These findings are combined with other published results to offer specific recommendations and examples related to how education researchers can improve their studies with the appropriate use of GPA.