Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in world markets and the LSE industry

The Large Scale Engineering (LSE) industry operates in a global market place and during recent years it has been the scene of major political and economic changes resulting in increasing market pressures. The paper outlines findings from Workpackage 1 of the European Union funded Esprit eLSEwise project. The eLSEwise project has an objective of contributing to improving the competitiveness of the European LSE industry. The paper focuses principally on trends in the LSE global industry market place and the challenges facing European LSE contractors in adapting to these changes. The paper outlines the research methodology; world market trends and LSE industry structure; critical success factors and enablers for LSE projects; the forces shaping the LSE industry and the necessary contractors' core competencies and competitive advantages for continued success.
Problems of assessment in religious and moral education: the Scottish case

This article is concerned with assessment issues in Religious and Moral Education (RME) offered in Scottish non-denominational schools. The analysis of the findings in this article is weighed against the framework of the new ‘3–18’ Scottish curriculum called ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE). CfE was introduced in primary schools in 2009 and a year later in secondary schools as replacement of the much criticised ‘5–14’ Curriculum which had been in use since 1992. It is based on qualitative data collected from schools in five Scottish local authorities between 2009 and 2011 as part of a moderation project. What is being problematised in this article is the revelation from the data about issues that impact adversely on good assessment in RME in five key areas, namely: planning, religious knowledge, progression, self and peer assessment, literacy and values. The implications of these assessment problems for effective teaching and learning in RME are analysed.
American Indians and Bullying in Schools

Recent studies show the frequency of school bullying has been on the rise (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011) and poses serious health threats to youth development (Nansel, et al., 2001). This study reviews the literature on the definition of bullying and examines the 2010 Minnesota Student Satisfaction survey on the victimization of American Indian students in public schools. The authors examined the extent of victimization by race/ethnicity, particularly for American Indian students, and how it correlates with gender and grade. Findings reveal that American Indian students are disproportionately victims of victimization and potential bullying. Suggestions for future research and implications for social work practitioners are described.
A comparative analysis of pausing in child and adult storytelling

ABSTRACT The goals of the current study were (a) to assess differences in child and adult pausing and (b) to determine whether characteristics of child and adult pausing can be explained by the same language variables. Spontaneous speech samples were obtained from 10 5-year-olds and their accompanying parent using a storytelling/retelling task. Analyses of pause frequency, duration, variation in durations, and pause location indicated that pause time decreased with retelling, but not with age group except when child and adult pausing was considered in its speech and language context. The results suggest that differences in child and adult pausing reflect differences in child and adult language, not in the cognitive resources allocated to language production.
Assortative mating and female clutch investment in black grouse

Variation in female behaviour has only recently received attention in studies of sexual selection. It has been suggested that females may invest differentially in their offspring in relation to the quality of their mate. This may lead to females that mate with high-quality and/or attractive males laying larger clutches. Females may also differ in their ability to choose between males. For example, females in good physical condition may make better choices. If physical condition and clutch size are positively correlated, this hypothesis could also produce a relationship between male attractiveness and female clutch size. We found, in lekking black grouse, Tetrao tetrix, that females mated to the highest ranked males laid the largest clutches. Furthermore we found, regardless of female age, a positive relationship between a measure of female condition and male rank but not between female condition and her clutch size. In addition, females in good condition visited a larger number of different male territories, and old females produced the largest clutches. Our results suggest two mechanisms to explain our findings. First, females in good physical condition tend to mate with the top males, suggesting an assortative mating pattern. Second, females mating with the highest ranked males lay larger clutches as a consequence of their choice. In general, our result calls for caution in evaluating studies that look at the consequences of mate choice. It may be that differences in female quality produce effects that may be wrongly interpreted as male quality effects. (c) 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
E-Scaped Medicine? Information, Reflexivity and Health

This article examines contemporary conceptualizations of the relationship between information, reflexivity and health in the information age. It suggests that the significance of policies that broaden access to the Internet will not fundamentally alter structural relations, nor will it alter the social epidemiology of health and welfare outcomes in the manner suggested by some advocates of policies aimed at constructing `expert' citizens through processes of ever greater informatization. However, the Internet may lead to some profound changes at the level of social epistemology in that the proliferation of information and communication technologies will influence the means by which knowledge and information are generated and sustained. The Internet may well be contributing to the construction of a new medical cosmology - what we term e-scaped medicine - but this new cosmology will have to exist in a world in which patterns of structural inequality remain relatively impervious to its effects.
WHO GAINS FROM CORPORATE ASSET SALES

This study documents that sell‐offs, on average, are firm value enhancing, as both stockholders and bondholders gain from such transactions. Further, it reveals that sell‐offs can be wealth redistributing, value destroying, or value enhancing depending on the way the sale proceeds are distributed and the motive underlying the sell‐off. The wealth effects on stockholders and bondholders are not always symmetrical. Our results suggest that benefits from the sale of assets that do not strategically fit the firm's core business accrue primarily to stockholders, while benefits from distress‐related sell‐offs accrue to bondholders. Sell‐offs to thwart takeovers destroy firm value. We document that a significant proportion of sell‐offs results in wealth transfers between securityholders. Restrictive dividend covenants play an important role in protecting bondholders from wealth expropriation. Our analysis suggests that the relative size of the asset sale, the uses of the sale proceeds, and the degree of protection afforded bondholders via a dividend restriction may be relevant in explaining the direction of wealth transfer.
Determinants of Producers' Participation in Agricultural Cooperatives: Evidence from Northern China

Agricultural producer cooperatives are of great significance to the development of agricultural productivity and can provide improved economic welfare benefits to farmers. However, such organizations have not been well-developed in China. While China's new Cooperatives Law of 2007 has generated interest among scholars, very few empirical analyses have focused on the role of cooperatives in China's agricultural sector. The main objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of farmers' perception and their decision to participate in cooperatives, using a unique dataset from recently collected survey data of farming households in China's Jilin Province. The empirical results from probit and logit regression models suggest that educational attainment, risk comfort level, farm expansion, operational costs, geographic location and crop types are significant factors that influence producers' perception of cooperatives, as well as their participation behavior. Copyright 2012, Oxford University Press.
Intrametropolitan Opportunity Structure and the Self-Employment of Asian and Latino Immigrants

Using 2000 Census microdata for the Atlanta metropolitan area as a case study, this research investigates the effect of intrametropolitan opportunity structure and local area context, especially spatial structure, urban employment pattern, social environment, and ethnic concentration, on Asian and Latino immigrants’ incidence of self-employment. These two groups grew rapidly both in the total labor force and among the self-employed in Atlanta. It is found that living in central city and inner-ring suburbs depresses Latino immigrants’ entrepreneurial activities. The growth of trade jobs and concentration of immigrants in a local area both give rise to immigrant entrepreneurship. Results suggest that traditional theories such as disadvantage theory need to be reassessed in the context of new immigrant gateways, while the ethnic enclave hypothesis is still validated. Potential policies to promote immigrant entrepreneurship are also discussed.
Fatty acid composition of serum lipids in patients with a coronary bypass operation

Abstract. The fatty acid composition of serum phospholipids and cholesteryl esters was analysed in 71 male patients with angiographically defined three‐vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) selected for a coronary bypass operation. Their 71 control subjects were matched according to age, sex, smoking, relative weight, and absence of CAD.
The tourism - development nexus in sub-Saharan Africa: progress and prospects

In the global landscape of tourism scholarship, the region of sub-Saharan Africa is an undeveloped research focus. This article offers an overview of recent research trends, and argues that cues for an African tourism agenda should be taken from the developmental imperatives that confront the continent. The nexus of tourism and development offers several important research themes for investigation. Six interrelated clusters of issues and debates are discussed concerning the impacts of differentiated kinds of tourism: tourism and the Millennium Development Goals; tourism and poverty; tourism and linkages; tourism and work; and finally, questions around tourism, climate change and the green economy. With an extended understanding of the African tourist, an important future challenge for local scholars is to counter the dominance of tourism theory that emanates from the global North.
A Re-Examination of China's Share Issue Privatization: Does it Not Improve SOE Profitability?

Abstract Previous studies show that in contrast to evidence that share issue privatization (SIP) in most other countries have improved firm profitability, China’s SIP of the 1990s had no such effect. We argue that the main reason for the failure of China’s SIP is likely to have been the weak institutional environment in place at that time. We examine China’s SIP in a more recent period in which the institutional environment was greatly improved. Using a matching sample method, we find that SIP firms continued to experience negative post-SIP profitability changes in our sample period. However, their performance decline was significantly less than that of their matched non-SIP SOEs. We also find that the introduction of the independent director rule helped to improve firm performance. Our results reconcile the findings of the SIP effect in China with international evidence and illustrate the importance of a developed capital market to ensuring the success of privatization schemes.
Vulnerability, seasonality and poverty in Ethiopia

Most studies examining the dynamics of welfare have found large fluctuations in consumption over relatively short periods, suggesting substantial short‐run movements in and out of poverty. The consequence is that cross‐section poverty research may not be able to identify the poor. In this study, we explore this short‐run variability further. We use a data set on a panel of 1450 households in different communities in rural Ethiopia, surveyed thrice, over 18 months. On average year‐to‐year poverty is very similar. However, we find high variability in consumption and poverty, over the seasons and year‐by‐year. Econometric analysis suggests that consumption is affected by idiosyncratic and common shocks, including rainfall and household‐specific crop failure, while households respond to seasonal incentives related to changing labour demand and prices. The results imply that a larger number of households are vulnerable to shocks than implied by the standard poverty statistics, while some of the non‐poor in these statistics are in fact otherwise poor households temporally boosting their consumption as an optimal response to changing seasonal incentives.
The instantaneous capital market line

Summary.We show that if the intercept and slope of the instantaneous capital market line are deterministic, then investors will not hold any hedge portfolios in the sense of Merton [9, 11]. They will choose portfolios that plot on the capital market line, and they will slide up and down the capital market line over time as their wealth and risk tolerance change. This result allows us to aggregate over investors and derive a single factor CAPM where the first and second moments of security returns may change stochastically over time and markets are potentially incomplete.
Extended Working Hours and Health

Statistical analyses of the relation between the amount of working hours and impairments to health, based on data from a European survey on working conditions in 2000, clearly reveal that there is a substantial correlation between the number of working hours per week and the frequencies of health complaints. This applies to both musculo‐skeletal disorders as well as to psycho‐vegetative complaints. The relationship of the duration of the exposure to working conditions to health impairments is moderated by a great number of individual (e.g., age) and situational (e.g., shift‐work) variables, showing additive or interactive effects for which selected examples have been presented. In general, however, there is a consistent functional relationship between the number or working hours and their effects on the workers that holds over a great variety of conditions. It is argued that requests for extending working hours should thus be handled with care.
Wealthy Investor Attitudes, Expectations, and Behaviors Toward Risk and Return

The article discusses findings of surveys conducted by the Institute for Private Investors, about wealthy investors' attitudes toward risk, expectations of future portfolio returns, and behaviors in the use of risk metrics. These attitudes, expectations, and behaviors are examined in relation to historical stock market performance and demographic factors such as age, gender, and respondent status as a family office executive. In a cross-sectional analysis, the author reports on the lack of correlation of risk and expected return, and on evidence of investor overreaction. These conclusions seem to support behavioral finance theory. The author concludes with suggestions for investors and advisors to ameliorate these biases.
Strategic human resource management, firm performance, and employee relations climate in China

We examined strategic human resource management (SHRM) and human resource practices in the People's Republic of China to assess the impact of these practices on firm performance and the employee relations climate. We also tested whether firm ownership moderates the above relationships. Empirical results from a sample of Chinese firms from various industries and regions showed that the levels of adoption of SHRM and HR practices were lower in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs). Both SHRM and HR practices were found to have direct and positive effects on financial performance, operational performance, and the employee relations climate. However, the moderating effect of ownership type was significant for financial performance only. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Leveraging Human Assets in Law Firms: Human Capital Structures and Organizational Capabilities

Partners in a law firm are the source of firm knowledge and hold claims to the firm's residual income; associates work for partners, acquire knowledge, and receive a fixed level of compensation. The author uses the ratio of associates to partners to measure the leveraging of human assets in law firms, which he likens to the leveraging of financial capital in other firms. Analyzing data on 312 large offices of law firms in 1991, he finds that this leverage ratio was related to business strategy, human resource management, and organizational structure. As an index of law firms' human capital structures, it also had important implications for organizational capabilities and firm competitiveness. For example, offices characterized by a rare and tightly controlled human capital structure had the highest billing rates, reflecting their capability of providing clients with services that deeply embody the knowledge of partners.
The Influences on Direct Communication in British and Danish Firms: Country, ‘Strategic HRM’ or Unionization?

This article uses large-scale survey data to examine the influences on private-sector managers’ propensity to communicate directly to employees in Britain and Denmark. In both countries, this propensity is shaped by two factors: whether the senior HR manager is involved in strategy formation, and the degree of unionization. The findings are not consistent with Brewster's argument that European HR managers are constrained in applying American versions of HRM, or with ‘varieties of capitalism’ theories which imply that companies in the two countries would have different systemic drivers of their communications practices.
THE DEMONSTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF WATER SOLUBLE BLOOD GROUP O (H) ANTIGEN IN TISSUE SECTIONS USING A FLUORESCEIN LABELLED EXTRACT OF ULEX EUROPEUS SEED

A fluorescein labelled extract of Ulex europeus seed was found to be satisfactory for demonstrating water soluble H antigen in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections. Commercially available anti-A typing serum was labelled with fluorescein and used to demonstrate water soluble A antigen in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues. The reactivity of A and H antigen after neutral buffered formalin fixation was superior to that observed after Zenker's, Helly's or Bouin's fixation; reactivity in paraffin sections of formalin fixed tissues were equal to that of fresh frozen sections. Autolysis did not prevent the demonstration of blood group antigen A or H in fixed paraffin embedded tissues but was associated with some diffusion of the antigens. The distribution of H antigen in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue section for patients with type A, B and O blood also was studied. In secretors blood group substances were widely distributed in the epithelial mucins of the body whereas in nonsecretors the antigens are largely confined to the deep portion of the pyloric mucosa of the stomach and Brunner's glands. The distribution of A and H antigen within a gland, such as Brunner's glands, was not homogeneous. That is, some acini contained A antigen but no H antigen; others contained H antigen but no A antigen: a few contained both A and H antigen. The significance of this mosaic distribution which previously has not been described was discussed.
Challenges in Postgraduate Studies: Assessments by Doctoral Students in a Swedish University

The success of research students largely depends on their relationship with supervisors. If the students encounter lot of problems it may impinge on their academic potentials. This study examines the challenges facing doctoral students and how they have coped over time. How supervisor-student relationship could be improved is discussed. The data originated from personal interviews that involved doctoral students at one of the universities in southern Sweden and were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The challenges faced by international doctoral students include less access to sources of information and cultural shock. It was inadequate guidance and mentoring for the indigenous students. For the female respondents it was challenges associated with confidence in presenting research works to the scientific community and confidence regarding having what it takes to complete doctoral studies. It was inadequate guidance for the male. The coping strategies used by the respondents include seeking for help from colleagues and asking for more support from supervisors as well as learning the Swedish language. The findings will contribute to the knowledge regarding how to improve supervisor-student relationship to help increase successes in doctoral education.
Lymphomatous presentation of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A subgroup at high risk of early treatment failure

Multivariate analyses of the clinical course of 1537 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) identified a subgroup which experienced short remission duration and a high incidence of extramedullary relapse. The patients differed from other ALL patients by the presence at diagnosis of two or more of a constellation of clinical and laboratory features: organomegaly or mass disease, Erosette positivity, hemoglobin level greater than 10 g/dl, leukocyte count greater than 50,000/μl, male predominance, and older age. This type of presentation of ALL is referred to as the “lymphoma syndrome” (LS) since such patients exhibit a pattern of several clinical and laboratory features which were observed repeatedly but in differing combinations, and some of which clinically resemble lymphoma. A subsequent database from 2231 patients was analyzed. Patients with a mediastinal mass, massive splenomegaly, or massive adenopathy, alone or in combination, had a worse outcome when the patient also had either leukocytosis, E‐rosette‐positive lymphoblasts, or a normal or near normal hemoglobin (Hb) level at diagnosis. Similarly, the above three laboratory features alone or in combination did not predict less than 40% disease‐free survival (DFS) unless they were accompanied by at least one of the clinical features of mass disease. When at least one clinical feature and at least one laboratory feature were present, the overall DFS was 36% 6 years after diagnosis versus 64% for all other patients. The association of these features with poor prognosis remained significant after adjusting for the level of leukocyte count at diagnosis, age at diagnosis, and sex of the patients. Patients with this recurrent syndrome of features do not represent a homogeneous biologic entity but they constitute a subgroup of patients with ALL having a high risk of treatment failure using current therapies, including failure to achieve remission, early relapse, and increased frequency of relapse in extramedullary sites. They deserve early recognition at diagnosis and selection of treatment strategies appropriate for very high risk ALL.