Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Stochastic Choice Modeling to Policy Analysis of Public Goods: A Case Study of Air Quality Improvements

This paper demonstrates the applicability of the stochastic choice method in performing policy analysis of changes in public goods using survey data. The air-quality problem studied involves air-pollution control for the Tampa Bay area of Florida and relatively simple choices between changes in a public good and disposable income. It illustrates the use of surveys as a public forum in which preferences are revealed. 26 references, 2 tables.
A slice theorem for singular Riemannian foliations, with applications

We prove a slice theorem around closed leaves in a singular Riemannian foliation, and we use it to study the C ∞ C^\infty -algebra of smooth basic functions, generalizing to the inhomogeneous setting a number of results by G. Schwarz. In particular, in the infinitesimal case we show that this algebra is generated by a finite number of polynomials.
‐ 1 ‐ Optimal Multi ‐ Phase Transition Paths toward a Stabilized Global Climate : Integrated Dynamic Requirements Analysis for the ‘ Tech Fix ’ 1

This paper analyzes the requirements for a social welfare‐optimized transition path toward a carbon‐free economy, focusing particularly on the role of R&D and other technological measures to achieve timely supply‐side transformations in the global production regime that will avert catastrophic climate instability. We construct a heuristic integrated model of macroeconomic growth constrained by geophysical system with climate feedbacks, including extreme weather damages from global warming driven by greenhouse gas emissions, and ‘tipping point’ for catastrophic runaway warming. A variety of options for technology development and implementation, and the dynamic relationships among them will be examined: interactions among the, each having a distinctive primary functionality CO2 emissions control. The specifications recognize (i) the endogeneity and embodiment of technical innovations, and (ii) the irreversibility and long gestation periods of required intangible (R&D) and tangible capital formation. Efficient exercise of these options is shown to involve sequencing different investment and production activities in separate temporal “phases” that together form a transition path to a carbon free economy. To study the requirements of a timely (catastrophe‐ averting) transition, we formulate a sequence of optimal control sub‐problems linked together by transversality conditions, the solution of which determines the optimum allocation of resources and sequencing of the several phases implied by the options under consideration. Ours is “planning‐model” approach, which departs from conventional IAM exercises by eschewing assumptions about the behaviors of economic and political actors in response to market incentives and specific public policy measures. Solutions for each of several multi‐phase models yields the optimal phase durations and rates of investment and production that characterize the transition path. Sensitivity experiments with parameters of economic and geophysical sub‐systems provide insights into the robustness of the requirements analysis under variations in the technical and geophysical system parameters. JEL codes: Q540, Q550, O310, O320, O330
A joint test of market power, menu costs, and currency invoicing

This article investigates exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) and currency invoicing decisions of Canadian pork exporters in the presence of menu costs. It is shown that when export prices are negotiated in the exporter's currency, menu costs cause threshold effects in the sense that there are bounds within (outside of) which price adjustments are not (are) observed. Conversely, the pass-through is not interrupted by menu costs when export prices are denominated in the importer's currency. The empirical model focuses on pork meat exports from two Canadian provinces to the U.S. and Japan. Hansen's (2000) threshold estimation procedure is used to jointly test for currency invoicing and incomplete pass-through in the presence of menu costs. Inference is conducted using the bootstrap with pre-pivoting methods to deal with nuisance parameters. The existence of menu cost is supported by the data in three of the four cases. It also appears that Quebec pork exporters have some market power and invoice in Japanese yen their exports to Japan. Manitoba exporters also seem to follow the same invoicing strategy, but their ability to increase their profit margin in response to large enough own-currency devaluations is questionable. Our currency invoicing results for sales to the U.S. are consistent with subsets of Canadian firms using either the Canadian or U.S. currency. Copyright (c) 2009 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
THE ROLE OF EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AND QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN STRENGTHEN THE INFLUENCE OF LEARNING ORGANIZATION ON FIRM’S FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Business development in Indonesia has been transformed. It is shown from the move of a lot of companies from domestic to global market. The degree of global competition influence has accelerated the change, as a product or service easily imitated, manufactured and shipped to anywhere. From the issues of business environment turbulence and transformation, the concept of learning organization became an interested research topic, not only for the theoretical but also practical improvement. Business organization has been called to be a learning organization as it is needed to make the organization, and also the people inside it, to have continuous improvement. This study examines the relationship of learning organization on firm’s financial performance throughout employee satisfaction and quality management as the intervening variables. Structural Equation Model (SEM) is employed to measure the relationship. The objects are manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies in Surabaya, in total 65 companies. Surabaya is the capital of East Java province in Indonesia. The important finding is the significant role of employee satisfaction and quality management as the intervening variables for strengthening the influence of learning organization on firm’s financial performance. The significant findings in this study are addressed to show the benefit of learning in the organization.
Lise Öğrencilerinin Çevreye Karşı Tutumlarının Cinsiyet Açısından İncelenmesi

Bu calismanin amaci, lise ogrencilerinin cevreye karsi tutumlarini cinsiyet acisindan incelemektir. Arastirmanin orneklemini Erzurum ilinde farkli liselerde ogrenim goren ogrenciler olusturmaktadir. Calisma kapsaminda ogrencilerin cevreye karsi tutumlarini belirlemek amaciyla, guvenirlik katsayisi 0,72 olarak hesaplanmis olan “cevresel tutum olcegi” kullanilmistir. Bu olcek “cevresel davranis” ve “cevresel dusunce” alt olceklerinden olusmaktadir. Olcek Erzurum’daki yedi liseden toplam 450 ogrenciye uygulanmis ve sonuclari SPSS programi 12.0 surumu yardimiyla degerlendirilmistir. Sonucta cinsiyetin cevreye karsi tutumu kiz ogrenciler lehine etkiledigi anlasilmistir. Bununla birlikte en onemli tespitlerden birisi de adaylarin cevresel dusuncelerini davranisa donusturme konusunda yetersiz olmalaridir.
Critical thinking among students of health services management: A case study in Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Background: Nowadays, most experts believe that critical thinking skills create the necessary background for understanding and evaluating the new knowledge in learners. Objective: This study was undertaken with the aim of comparing the use of critical thinking skills in first and last year undergraduate students of Health Services Management of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2011. Methodology: An analytical3descriptive study was conducted in 2011 using cross3 sectional method. The study sample was composed of first and final year undergraduate students of Health Services Management studying at Paramedical School of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. For assessment of the critical thinking skills, the form B of California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST) was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 17.0. Results: Findings showed that the mean score of the critical thinking among students was low (11.38 ￻ 3.4). The median test showed that the critical thinking score of 70% of the students with high school GPA of above 18 is above the median level, while the critical thinking score of 73% of the students with an average grade score below 17 was below the median level; this finding was statistically significant (p<0.02).
Is Socially Responsible Investing Really Beneficial? New Empirical Evidence for the US and European Stock Markets

This paper empirically examines the theoretically ambivalent relationship between socially responsible investing (SRI) and stock performance. It extends the existing literature by considering both the US and the entire European stock markets as well as by using consistent world-wide corporate sustainability performance data. Our portfolio analysis from 1998 to 2009 reveals the appeal of a recently constructed financial databank comprising the common market return, size, value, and momentum factors according to Carhart (1997). These risk factors from the four-factor model allow us to estimate more reliable risk-adjusted returns than in the restrictive one-factor model based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model. In both the US and European stock markets we find that SRI is associated with large-sized firms. However, this investment strategy generally leads to insignificant abnormal returns when all four risk factors are considered so that we find no evidence that SRI is either penalized or rewarded by the stock markets.
Expression of the DRB1*1101 Allele in Meat Goats Pasture Exposed to Haemonchus contortus

The Major Histocompatibility class II complex plays an extremely important role in disease resistance and susceptibility. A mutation in the DRB1*1101 gene of the MHC II has been implicated in parasite resistance in sheep. Evaluation of the DRB1*1101 allele and the role it plays in Haemonchus contortus infected goats has not been addressed. This study evaluated expression of the DRB1*1101 allele in goats naturally infected with Haemonchus contortus infection. Total RNA was isolated from whole blood and RT-PCR (Reverse-Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction) using primers designed to target the conserved regions of the human and sheep DRB1*1101 allele. The expected cDNA product was observed at the 201bp of the targeted DRB1*1101 region and verified by cloning and sequencing. Alignment of the Goat DRB1*1101 sequence showed 92% homology at the transcriptional level and 86% homology at the translational level with sheep. Goats pasture exposed to Haemonchus contortus had elevated (P < 0.05) DRB1*1101 allele expression. Expression was highest (P < 0.05) in Boer goats, lower in Myotonic goats and lowest (P < 0.05) in Spanish goats. Males had higher (P < 0.05) DRB1*1101 expression than females. DRB1*1101 gene expression was higher (P < 0.05) in younger vs. older goats. Goats showing resistance to Haemonchus contortus had lower (P < 0.05) DRB1*1101 expression than susceptible goats. Based on our findings, the DRB1*1101 gene in goats can potentially be used as a genetic marker for either resistance or susceptibility to Haemonchus contortus .
Exposure to Concomitant Low Health-Related Physical Fitness Components and Associated Sociodemographic Factors in Brazilian Adolescents

Purpose. To determine the prevalence of the presence of concomitant low health-related physical fitness components with sociodemographic factors among Brazilian adolescents living in a small town of German colonization. Methods. A cross-sectional epidemiological study on adolescents (10 to 17 years old) from the public schools of São Bonifácio, Santa Catarina, Brazil (N = 277) was conducted. The FITNESSGRAM test battery was applied to assess three physical fitness components (body com position, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness). Data on age (split into two age groups of 10–12 and 13–17 years), gender (male/ female), area of residence (rural/urban) and socioeconomic status (low/high) were collected by a questionnaire. Maturity, determined by pubic hair development, was self-assessed. The analyzed physical fitness components were analyzed in terms of the groups of three possible combinations that featured two physical fitness components concomitantly. Adjusted binary and multinomial logistic regression was applied, adopting a confidence level of 95%. Results. 75.4% of boys and 88.5% of girls showed unsatisfactory levels for health in at least one physical fitness component. Girls living in rural areas were more likely to have combinations of excess body fat with low muscular fitness (OR = 5.06, 95% CI [1.31, 19.61]), low muscular fitness with low cardiorespiratory fitness (OR = 5.46, 95% CI [1.24, 23.94]) and feature two (OR = 8.82, 95% CI [1.60, 48.49]) low values of the components regardless of which combination. Boys aged 10–12 years were less exposed to lower fitness levels compared to those with satisfactory levels (OR = 0.09, 95% CI [0.01, 0.61]). Conclusions. More effective measures aimed at promoting physical fitness among adolescents are needed, where special attention should be given to boys aged 10–12 years and girls aged 13–17 years and living in rural areas.
Variation in Age at First Marriage among Women in Nigeria: A Multilevel Logistic Analysis.

Early marriage is associated with early childbearing particularly in the developing countries which is also related to low status of women, increased fertility rate, and adverse health risks on the mother and child. Multilevel Logistic regression model was applied to data on 3063 women who are married or have lived or are living with sexual partner(s) who participated in the 2005 National AIDS/HIV Reproductive Health Survey in Nigeria. The intercept is estimated as 0.2376 which translates to an expected proportion of 0.56. 41.42% of the variance in age at first marriage is attributed to the state-level. Christian women were found to be 2.26 times more likely to marry at later age other than 17 years compared to their Muslim counterpart. Women in urban areas were 1.44 times more likely to marry early than rural dwellers. Women with Koranic education alone are 43.72% more likely to marry early; women with secondary and higher education are 3.44 and 4.8 times more likely to marry at ages above 17 years compared to women with primary education only. For state-level factors, women from the North-west and North-east zones are 77% and 62% respectively more likely to marry at age less than 18 years compared to women from the North-central. South-east and South-west women are 2.29 and 4.15 times less likely to marry prematurely when compared with women from the North-central. Keywords : Multilevel models, logistic regression, hierarchical, odds, age at first marriage.
Structural funds, regional convergence and agricultural employment in the enlarged EU. A panel-data approach /доклад на 87 семинаре ЕААЕ, Assessing Rural Development Policies of the CAP, Vienna, Austria, 21-23 April 2004

This paper aims to investigate the impact of structural funds policies on objective 1 regions over the past programming periods (1989-1993; 1994-1999). This impact is analysed by estimating a conditional convergence econometric model. According to this model, regional convergence is affected both by the policy treatment and by the regional economic structure (proxied by the agricultural employment share). This convergence model is specified in a panel-data dynamic form on a dataset of 206 NUTS II EU-15 regions observed over more than 10 years (from 1989 to 2000) and of 55 NUTS II regions of 12 accessing countries observed in the last five years of the sample period (1995-2000). A GMM estimation is applied to obtain consistent estimates of both the β-convergence and of the impact of the conditioning variables, mainly the objective 1 policies.
Numerical Order and Consciousness: How Hot Is The Bond?

Every molecule in the cell and every cell in an organ vibrates at a particular rate. If the natural rate of vibration is disturbed, diseases/disorders will emerge which means that the shift from the state of oscillatory equilibrium to oscillatory disequilibrium causes disease. If this shift is reversed, health can be restored. To do it, knowledge of the codification of numeral (1 - 9) as an expression of consciousness is essential. In this work, effort was taken to study the systematic and orderly arrangement (codification) of four numerical expressions of consciousness in three important biological macromolecules viz. glucose, ATP and DNA. From the analysis, it was perceived that in biological systems, the numbers 3, 4, 5 & 6 may be the numerical expression of consciousness associated with utilizable form of energy or information, synthesis/generation/formation, foundation and storage of energy respectively.
Research article CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND CLASSIFICATIONOF SERPENTINITICS SOILS FROM SULAIMANI GOVERNORATE

Serpentinitic soils are wide spread over Penjwin and Mawat area in Kurdistan region of Iraq. Seven pedons were chosen according to the variation in chemical composition of the parent materials that soil developed from. The organic matter content in soils was very low and the highest value was 37.29 g kg -1 . The soils generally had alkaline reaction and the pH values ranged from 7.25 to 7.98 which were consistent with carbonate content. The CaCO3 equivalents values ranged from 304.7 to 29.9 g kg -1 . The calcic horizons were not present in all the pedons except pedons 4. The presence of ochric epipedon can be identified in Penjwin area and the mollic epipedons can be identified in soils from Mawat area. The pedons of Penjwin area were classified as Incepisols, while the pedons from Mawat area were classified as Mollisols. The dominant clay minerals present in soils from Penjwin area were smectite, chlorite, antigorite and illite while amphibole was present as accessory minerals. However the dominant minerals in soils from Mawat area were smectite, chlorite, and antigorite but calcite and dolomite presence as minor minerals. The soils from Penjwin were classified Tyical Haploxerolls (P1) and Xeric Haplocambids (P2, P3), while the soils from Mawat were classified as Typic Calcixerolls (P4) and Typic Haploxerolls (P5, P6, and P7).
Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars: a window on AGB nucleosynthesis and binary evolution - I. Detailed analysis of 15 binary stars with known orbital periods

AGB stars are responsible for producing a variety of elements, including carbon, nitrogen, and the heavy elements produced in the slow neutron-capture process (s-elements). There are many uncertainties involved in modelling the evolution and nucleosynthesis of AGB stars, and this is especially the case at low metallicity, where most of the stars with high enough masses to enter the AGB have evolved to become white dwarfs and can no longer be observed. The stellar population in the Galactic halo is of low mass (≲0.85 M⊙) and only a few observed stars have evolved beyond the first giant branch. However, we have evidence that low-metallicity AGB stars in binary systems have interacted with their low-mass secondary companions in the past. The aim of this work is to investigate AGB nucleosynthesis at low metallicity by studying the surface abundances of chemically peculiar very metal-poor stars of the halo observed in binary systems. To this end we select a sample of 15 carbon- and s-element-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP-s) halo stars that are found in binary systems with measured orbital periods. With our model of binary evolution and AGB nucleosynthesis, we determine the binary configuration that best reproduces, at the same time, the observed orbital period and surface abundances of each star of the sample. The observed periods provide tight constraints on our model of wind mass transfer in binary stars, while the comparison with the observed abundances tests our model of AGB nucleosynthesis. For most of the stars in our sample, we find that an episode of efficient wind mass transfer, combined with strong angular momentum loss, has occurred in the past. In some cases we find discrepancies between the observed and modelled abundances even if we adopt a fine-tuned set of parameters in our binary evolution model. These discrepancies are probably caused by missing physical ingredients in our models of AGB nucleosynthesis and they provide indications of how to improve our knowledge of the process of nucleosynthesis in AGB stars.
Bioremediation of Textile Industrial Effluent using mixed culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis immobilized on agaragar in a Bioreactor

The physicochemical characterization of effluent generated from International Textile Industry (Nig.) LTD Odongunyan Industrial Estate Ikorodu Lagos was carried out. The effluent was analyzed for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Solid (DS), Colour, Intensity and heavy metals prior to treatment. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis found to have degradative capacity was immobilized on agar-agar, which was transferred into bioreactor fitted with air sparger. The effluent was treated in the bioreactor. The result showed that the effluent was highly polluted using stated parameters. The immobilized cells significantly reduced COD to 200mg/I, BOD to 20mg/l, TSÐ 300mg/I that are upper limit for disposal into surface water. The result indicates overall % reduction in COD, BOD, Nitrate, Sulphate, Phosphates as 83%,97%,61.3%,62.8%,61.2% respectively . Heavy metals were also biosorptioned. It was concluded that immobilized cells represent a promising application in the bioremediation of textile industrial effluent and possible reusability of the cells for its commercial application can be achieved. Key words: Industrial effluent, Immobilized cells, Bioremediation, Bioreactor, Agar-Agar.
Analysis of the use of sample size calculation and error of method in researches published in Brazilian and international orthodontic journals

Introduction: Reliable sample size and an appropriate analysis of error are important steps to validate the data obtained in a scientific study, in addition to the ethical and economic issues. Objective: To evaluate, quantitatively, how often the researchers of orthodontic science have used the calculation of sample size and evaluated the method error in studies published in Brazil and in the United States of America. Methods: Two major journals, according to CAPES (Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education), were analyzed through a hand search: Revista Dental Press de Ortodontia e Ortopedia Facial and the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics (AJO-DO). Only papers published between 2005 and 2008 were examined. Results: Most of surveys published in both journals employed some method of error analysis, when this methodology can be applied. On the other hand, only a very small number of articles published in these journals have any description of how sample size was calculated. This proportion was 21.1% for the journal published in the United States (AJO-DO), and was significantly lower (p= 0.008) for the journal of orthodontics published in Brazil (3.9%). conclusion: Researchers and the editorial board of both journals should drive greater concern for the examination of errors inherent in the absence of such analyses in scientific research, particularly the errors related to the use of an inadequate sample size. Abstract