Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Increases Bilateral Directed Brain Connectivity during Motor-Imagery Based Brain-Computer Interface Control

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been shown to affect motor and cognitive task performance and learning when applied to brain areas involved in the task. Targeted stimulation has also been found to alter connectivity within the stimulated hemisphere during rest. However, the connectivity effect of the interaction of endogenous task specific activity and targeted stimulation is unclear. This study examined the aftereffects of concurrent anodal high-definition tDCS over the left sensorimotor cortex with motor network connectivity during a one-dimensional EEG based sensorimotor rhythm brain-computer interface (SMR-BCI) task. Directed connectivity following anodal tDCS illustrates altered connections bilaterally between frontal and parietal regions, and these alterations occur in a task specific manner; connections between similar cortical regions are altered differentially during left and right imagination trials. During right-hand imagination following anodal tDCS, there was an increase in outflow from the left premotor cortex (PMC) to multiple regions bilaterally in the motor network and increased inflow to the stimulated sensorimotor cortex from the ipsilateral PMC and contralateral sensorimotor cortex. During left-hand imagination following anodal tDCS, there was increased outflow from the stimulated sensorimotor cortex to regions across the motor network. Significant correlations between connectivity and the behavioral measures of total correct trials and time-to-hit (TTH) correct trials were also found, specifically that the input to the left PMC correlated with decreased right hand imagination performance and that flow from the ipsilateral posterior parietal cortex (PPC) to midline sensorimotor cortex correlated with improved performance for both right and left hand imagination. These results indicate that tDCS interacts with task-specific endogenous activity to alter directed connectivity during SMR-BCI. In order to predict and maximize the targeted effect of tDCS, the interaction of stimulation with the dynamics of endogenous activity needs to be examined comprehensively and understood.
Electrical treeing in extruded polypropylene high voltage cable insulation

In this study electrical tree growth in extruded isotactic and syndiotactic polypropylene (i-PP and s-PP) was compared, using a needle-plane geometry. Two main types of treeing were observed, either with one or multiple branches to the ground electrode before breakdown. Highest degree of simple branched trees was found in s-PP. The degree of crystallinity in s-PP was 53% lower than in i- PP and the spherulites size was found to be 5-15 times larger in i-PP than the crystalline areas observed in s-PP. The elasticity modulus for s-PP was half of that measured for i-PP. Despite these differences no significant difference in the propagation rate or time to breakdown during electrical tree growth was found.
Dividend Changes and Future Profitability

We investigate the relation between dividend changes and future profitability, measured in terms of either future earnings or future abnormal earnings. Supporting "the information content of dividends hypothesis," we find that dividend changes provide information about the level of profitability in subsequent years, incremental to market and accounting data. We also document that dividend changes are positively related to earnings changes in each of the two years after the dividend change. Copyright The American Finance Association 2001.
Are African Americans Effectively Represented in Congress?

The authors relate the racial composition of districts to five measures of legislative activity and position in the 101st to 106th Congresses: bill introduction, colleague cosponsorship, bill passage, committee portfolio, and party leadership. The authors find that African American constituents generally are represented by less active and less well-positioned legislators on four of the five measures. They also explore the origin of these disparities. Two of the disparities (bill passage and party leadership) are partly explained by the tendency of districts with larger African American populations to be less electorally competitive. A third disparity (committee portfolio) is accounted for by the tendency of larger African American populations to be represented by African American members of Congress.
Common trends and cycles in G-7 countries exchange rates and stock prices

In this paper we investigate the nature of the relationship between stock prices and spot exchange rates using recent developments in time series modelling. We are able to explain why traditional econometric techniques show little correlation between bilateral exchange rates and stock prices. The reason is that stock prices and exchange rates do not exhibit common trends, but do exhibit common cycles. Common cycle tests are used in this paper to show this result for the G-7 countries exchange rates and relative stock market prices indices using monthly data over the period from 1982 to 1994.
Impact of the Minimum Wage on Expected Profits

Abstract This paper investigates the impact of a significant reform to the youth minimum wage in New Zealand in 2001, on the expectations of low wage employers’ profits. In March 2001, the eligibility for adult minimum wage rates was lowered from 20 to 18 years while the youth minimum wage for 16–17 year olds was also increased from 60 to 70% of the adult minimum wage. We construct a descriptive profile of minimum wage workers in New Zealand and their industry membership. We find that most minimum wage workers in New Zealand predominantly work in the four industry sectors; (1) Retail, (2) Textile and apparel, (3) Accommodation, cafes and restaurants, and (4) Agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Next using an event study methodology we examine the economic impact of the substantial increase in youth minimum wage rates on employers in industries with high concentrations of minimum wage workers. Surprisingly, all conclusions point to there being an insignificant impact on profit expectations for low wage employers by investors.
Fission yeast Tor2 promotes cell growth and represses cell differentiation

The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an excellent model system in which to study the coordination of cell growth and cell differentiation. In the presence of nutrients, fission yeast cells grow and divide; in the absence of nutrients, they stop growing and undergo cell differentiation. The molecular mechanisms underlying this response are not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that Tor2, a fission yeast member of the TOR protein kinase family, is central to controlling the switch between cell growth and cell differentiation in response to nutrient availability. Tor2 controls cell growth and ribosome biogenesis by regulating ribosomal protein gene expression. We have found that Tor2 has an additional function in repressing sexual differentiation. Tor2 overexpression strongly represses mating, meiosis and sporulation efficiency, whereas Tor2 inactivation has the opposite effect, leading to cell differentiation, regardless of the nutritional conditions. This newly revealed function of Tor2 appears to operate by interfering with the functions of the transcription factor Ste11 and the meiosis-promoting RNA-binding protein Mei2. Thus, our data reveal a unique regulatory function of the Tor pathway – ensuring that growth and cell differentiation become mutually exclusive and that the choice between them depends on environmental conditions.
Essays on Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth

In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the Library of the University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote from, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the author or, in his or her absence, the professor under whose direction it was written or, in his or her absence, by the Dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and must not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential gain will not be allowed without written permission of the author. All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University Library must be used only in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. Users of this dissertation not regularly enrolled as students at Georgia State University are required to attest acceptance of the preceding stipulations by signing below. Libraries borrowing this dissertation for the use of their patrons are required to see that each user records here the information requested. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate's Dissertation Committee. It has been approved and accepted by all members of that committee, and it has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics in the vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to the members of my dissertation committee for insightful comments and guidance. I would also like to thank Dr. David Sjoquist who has consistently given encouragement in my research endeavors. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my husband and my family who never wavered in their support and inspiration.
Impact of Inhaled Antiinflammatory Therapy on Hospitalization and Emergency Department Visits for Children With Asthma

Objective. Although the efficacy of inhaled antiinflammatory therapy in improving symptoms and lung function in childhood asthma has been shown in clinical trials, the effectiveness of these medications in real-world practice settings in reducing acute health care use has not been well-evaluated. This study examined the effect of inhaled antiinflammatory therapy on hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits by children for asthma. Design. Defined population cohort study over 1 year. Setting. Three managed care organizations (MCOs) in Seattle, Boston, and Chicago participating in the Pediatric Asthma Care–Patient Outcome Research and Treatment II trial. Participants. All 11 195 children, between 3 to 15 years old, with a diagnosis of asthma who were enrolled in the 3 MCOs between July 1996 and June 1997. Outcome Measures. We identified children with 1 or more asthma diagnoses using automated encounter data. Medication dispensings were identified from automated pharmacy data. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to calculate effects of inhaled antiinflammatory therapy on the adjusted relative risk (RR) for hospitalization and ED visits for asthma. Results. Over 12 months, 217 (1.9%) of children had an asthma hospitalization, and 757 (6.8%) had an ED visit. After adjustment for age, gender, MCO, and reliever dispensing, compared with children who did not receive controllers, the adjusted RRs for an ED visit were: children with any (≥1) dispensing of cromolyn, 0.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3, 0.5); any inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.4, 0.6); any cromolyn or ICS combined (any controller), 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3, 0.5). For hospitalization, the adjusted RR for cromolyn was 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4, 0.9), for ICS 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3, 0.7), and for any controller 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3, 0.6). A significant protective effect for both events was seen among children with 1 to 5 and with >5 antiinflammatory dispensings. When the analysis was stratified by frequency of reliever dispensing, there was a significant protective effect for controllers on ED visits for children with 1 to 5 and with >5 reliever dispensings and on the risk of hospitalization for children with >5 reliever dispensings. Conclusions. Inhaled antiinflammatory therapy is associated with a significant protective effect on the risk for hospitalization and ED visits in children with asthma. Cromolyn and ICSs were associated with similar effects on risks.asthma drug therapy, inhaled antiinflammatory agents, health maintenance organizations, hospitalization, emergency department.
Further Evidence on Analyst and Investor Mis-Weighting of Prior Period Cash Flows and Accruals

Prior studies find that (i) investors over-weight (or over-estimate the persistence of) past accruals and under-weight past cash flows, and (ii) analysts over-weight past accruals. We study financial analysts' and investors' assessments of the persistence of accruals and cash flows after explicitly controlling for the negative correlation between accruals and cash flows. We find that both analysts and investors under-weight past cash flows but over-weight past accruals. The accrual and cash flow effects are distinct from each other in the sense that when we control for one effect, the other effect continues to be significant. However, the cash flow effect on both forecast errors and future stock returns is much stronger, in terms of magnitude, than the accrual effect. The strength of the cash flow effect has not been generally recognized in the literature.
Embryonic Stem Cells and Their Differentiated Derivatives Have a Fragile Immune Privilege but Still Represent Novel Targets of Immune Attack

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) offer an attractive potential in cell replacement therapy and regenerative medicine because of their inherent plasticity and ability to self‐renew. However, the immunological response against transplanted ESC‐derived allografts requires further evaluation. In this study, we showed that ESCs expressing the major histocompatibility complex class I molecule H2Kb escape immune recognition by H2Kb‐reactive CD8+ T cells, irrespective of H2Kb expression levels. In the face of more robust immunological challenge, however, evidence of ESC allograft rejection becomes apparent. We further assessed the adaptive immune response against terminally differentiated insulin‐producing tissue derived from an ESC source to examine the potential future applicability of this tissue as a β‐cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The functional ESC‐derived insulin‐producing tissue was infiltrated by alloreactive T cells and rejected in immunocompetent hosts. Hence, although ESCs and their terminally differentiated derivatives may possess a fragile immune privilege, they still represent novel targets of attack by elements of the immune system and are rejected. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms of adaptive immunity toward ESCs and their derivatives.
The Financing of Industry, 1970–1989: An International Comparison☆

The main aims of this paper are, first, to construct a consistent comparative set of data on the sources of finance for investment over the period 1970--89 for Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and second, to challenge some conventional views of the international differences in financing patterns. The paper documents the substantial problems of international comparisons, and argues that net sources and using data based on National Income Accounts provide the most appropriate and consistent information. We conclude that there is no `market-based' Anglo-US pattern of financing of industry. Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States are internally financed with small or negative contributions from market sources. Japan has been more externally financed with both banks and markets contributing larger shares than in the former group. Over the 1980s, the period of financial liberalization, all countries, except Japan, have become more internally and less market financed.
The Impact of Firm Location on Equity Issuance

"In this paper, I use location as a proxy for the ability of a firm to issue equity. Numerous studies indicate that investors are better able to obtain information on nearby companies. I posit that costs in generating information will be higher for rural firms with few investors in their proximity, than for urban firms with many nearby investors. As predicted, I find that rural firms are less likely to conduct seasoned equity offerings than firms located in urban areas. Furthermore, I find that when a rural firm issues equity, it uses a lower-quality underwriter than otherwise similar urban firms. " Copyright 2008 Financial Management Association International.
How Does Financing Impact Investment? The Role of Debt Covenants

We identify a specific channel (debt covenants) and the corresponding mechanism (transfer of control rights) through which financing frictions impact corporate investment. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that capital investment declines sharply following a financial covenant violation, when creditors use the threat of accelerating the loan to intervene in management. Further, the reduction in investment is concentrated in situations in which agency and information problems are relatively more severe, highlighting how the state‐contingent allocation of control rights can help mitigate investment distortions arising from financing frictions.
From Financial Crash to Debt Crisis

Newly developed long historical time series on public debt, along with modern data on external debts, allow a deeper analysis of the cycles underlying serial debt and banking crises. The evidence confirms a strong link between banking crises and sovereign default across the economic history of great many countries, advanced and emerging alike. The focus of the analysis is on three related hypotheses tested with both "world" aggregate levels and on an individual country basis. First, private debt surges are a recurring antecedent to banking crises; governments quite contribute to this stage of the borrowing boom. Second, banking crises (both domestic ones and those emanating from international financial centers) often precede or accompany sovereign debt crises. Indeed, we find they help predict them. Third, public borrowing accelerates markedly ahead of a sovereign debt crisis; governments often have "hidden debts" that far exceed the better documented levels of external debt. These hidden debts encompass domestic public debts (which prior to our data were largely undocumented).
Consumer Motivation to Recycle When Recycling is Mandatory. Two Exploratory Studies

Household recycling is conceptualized as a social dilemma in which households have a choice between cooperative and defective options. Promoting cooperative choice in the recycling dilemma has emerged as an important issue for social marketing in recent years. Most of the available insights that could guide policy makers in designing appropriate social marketing strategies are based on research conducted in the context of voluntary recycling programs. Increasingly social marketing action takes the form of mandatory programs, albeit suffering from a lack of transparency and imperfect coercion. On the basis of two explorative studies into the underlying values and consumer experiences with mandatory programs, we argue that the primary intrinsic motivational basis for cooperation includes not only environmental but also ‘civic duty’ related values. We describe how these values drive both individual experiences of recycling behavior and the reactions to non-cooperative behavior by others. Implications for public policy and social marketing are discussed.
Predictors of inotrope use during separation from cardiopulmonary bypass.

OBJECTIVE To identify the demographic, clinical, and echocardiographic features that predict the use of inotropic support at separation from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). DESIGN Retrospective study of consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. SETTING Referral center for cardiothoracic surgery at a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS One thousand nine patients undergoing either CABG or combined CABG and valve surgery with CPB in whom an intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) examination was performed. INTERVENTIONS Inotropic support was defined as the use of dopamine >/=5 microg/kg/min; any dose of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dobutamine, and milrinone; or the insertion of an IABP during separation from CPB. Support was implemented by the anesthesia care team as clinically indicated. Comprehensive TEE examinations were conducted before CPB in all patients according to published guidelines and subsequently reviewed by a single, independent operator. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Inotropic support was used in a total of 394 patients (39%) at separation from CPB. The study identified 6 significant, independent predictors of inotrope use: (1) Wall Motion Score Index, (2) combined CABG and mitral valve repair or replacement surgery, (3) left ventricular ejection fraction <35%, (4) reoperation, (5) moderate-to-severe mitral regurgitation, and (6) aortic cross-clamp time. CONCLUSIONS Incorporating data from a comprehensive intraoperative TEE examination, the authors identified 6 reproducible factors that independently predict the use of inotropic support at separation from CPB.
Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change

Dozier not only provides the skeletal structure for an over-all understanding of Kalinga, but adds a good deal of the meat of ethnographic description. Given his conscious selection of field approach, we do not get here the richness of detail, the compounding of case material, of a Malinowski on the Trobriand Islanders. But this is more than compensated for, in this reviewer's opinion, by the attention to parameters and to cultural variation within the Kalinga area. And in fact, the author manages to present a surprising range of cultural data as he goes along, albeit much of this in normative terms: descriptions of child birth, for example, read as though taken down verbatim from statements by informants; material on kinship behavior, on the other hand, has the flavor of firsthand observation and participation in Kalinga life. There are so many data, in fact, and on such a variety of topics, that one regrets the rather meager index—as it stands it is a poor guide to the ethnographic riches available.
An Experimental Examination of Factors That Influence Auditor Assessments of a Deficiency in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

SYNOPSIS: When assessing the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), auditors evaluate design effectiveness, gather evidence on operating effectiveness, assess operating effectiveness, and conclude whether control deficiencies are material weaknesses. We experimentally examine audit managers' and partners' assessments of ICFR operating effectiveness and judgments of whether a control deficiency is a material weakness to determine the influence of the presence of: (1) a material weakness unrelated to the deficiency being assessed, and (2) a known misstatement associated with the identified control deficiency. Results suggest that the presence of either an unrelated material weakness or a known misstatement influences the assessed operating effectiveness of an internal control and the likelihood of a material weakness assessment. We also provide supplemental survey results from practicing audit managers and partners on their experiences in assessing potential material weaknesses .