Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From ‘Sunshine City’ to a Landscape of Disaster

Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, has now joined the growing list of cities and ‘mega cities’ of the global South, which are now confronted by an ever-growing crisis precipitated by the deficient provision of basic services such as water and housing. Emblematic of these challenges are the cities of Lagos, Nairobi, Kumasi, Mumbai and Cairo. This article examines the mutation of Harare from what was once regarded as one of the most developed post-colonial cities in Africa dubbed the ‘sunshine city’ in local Zimbabwean parlance in the 1980s to a landscape of crisis and disease. The cholera outbreak in Harare towards the last quarter of 2008 extending into the first quarter of 2009 exposed the full magnitude of the city’s decrepit infrastructure. This pestilence laid bare the intricate political and municipal governance issues, the historical city–state tensions, and the impact of rapid urban population growth. Although the article focuses on the contemporary water crisis, it injects into the discourse a historical perspective in order to demonstrate that the recent set of factors which contributed to the occurrence of disease has profound structural origins dating back to the colonial days. The article, however, also emphasizes that postcolonial Harare’s dysfunctional water systems have been worsened by rapid urban population growth and repressive forms of political interventions in city governance.
The Distribution of CAP Benefits among Member States and the Impact of a Partial Re‐nationalisation: A Note

Using an approach based on the PSE/CSE methodology, this paper estimates the distribution of benefits due to the CAP among the EU member states and the impact on them of a CAP partial re‐nationalisation scenario under the current policy mix as well as under full decoupling. Currently, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Spain and France are found to benefit from the operation of the CAP. Full decoupling increases the benefits to these countries and the losses of Germany and the UK, while it decreases the losses of some others. Re‐nationalisation benefits today's losers, particularly Germany. Overall, the CAP is found to promote cohesion among EU member states, especially when moving closer to full decoupling. Partial re‐nationalisation decreases the CAP effect on cohesion.
Let's Put Garbage-Can Regressions and Garbage-Can Probits Where They Belong

Many social scientists believe that dumping long lists of explanatory variables into linear regression, probit, logit, and other statistical equations will successfully “control” for the effects of auxiliary factors. Encouraged by convenient software and ever more powerful computing, researchers also believe that this conventional approach gives the true explanatory variables the best chance to emerge. The present paper argues that these beliefs are false, and that without intensive data analysis, linear regression models are likely to be inaccurate. Instead, a quite different and less mechanical research methodology is needed, one that integrates contemporary powerful statistical methods with deep substantive knowledge and classic data—analytic techniques of creative engagement with the data.
Depression of elderly outpatients: primary care physicians' attitudes and practice patterns.

OBJECTIVE To determine primary care physicians' attitudes and practice patterns concerning the diagnosis and treatment of depression in elderly outpatients. DESIGN Survey of primary care physicians' attitudes using a 22-item questionnaire. Current practice patterns were identified from a computerized medical record system. SETTING Academic primary care group practice at an urban ambulatory care clinic. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS Thirty-five faculty general internists and 118 resident internal medicine physicians who had cared for 2,759 patients 65 years of age and older in the previous year. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Attitudes: Eighty percent of all physicians considered the diagnosis and treatment of depressed elderly patients to be their responsibility. Fifty-five percent of the internists felt confident in accurately diagnosing depression, and 35% felt confident in prescribing antidepressants for this population. Residents reported more difficulties in dealing with depressed elderly patients than did faculty. Practice patterns: Of patients greater than or equal to 65 years old, 8% were prescribed antidepressants, 5.4% had current diagnoses of depression, and 2% were seen for evaluation by psychiatry professionals. Age was negatively correlated with depression diagnosis, antidepressant drug use, and psychiatry evaluation. CONCLUSIONS Internists in this primary care group practice accept responsibility for the treatment of depressed elderly patients but perceive their clinical skills as inadequate and are frustrated with their practice environment. Interventions aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of depressed elderly patients may be more effective if they are able to improve knowledge, attitudes, and the practice environment.
Amyloid β Protein Aggravates Neuronal Senescence and Cognitive Deficits in 5XFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Background: Amyloid &bgr; (A&bgr;) has been established as a key factor for the pathological changes in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and cellular senescence is closely associated with aging and cognitive impairment. However, it remains blurred whether, in the AD brains, A&bgr; accelerates the neuronal senescence and whether this senescence, in turn, impairs the cognitive function. This study aimed to explore the expression of senescence-associated genes in the hippocampal tissue from young to aged 5XFAD mice and their age-matched wild type (WT) mice to determine whether senescent neurons are present in the transgenic AD mouse model. Methods: The 5XFAD mice and age-matched wild type mice, both raised from 1 to 18 months, were enrolled in the study. The senescence-associated genes in the hippocampus were analyzed and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Cognitive performance of the mice was evaluated by Y-maze and Morris water maze tests. Oligomeric A&bgr; (oA&bgr;) (1–42) was applied to culture primary neurons to simulate the in vivo manifestation. Aging-related proteins were detected by Western blotting analysis and immunofluorescence. Results: In 5XFAD mice, of all the DEGs, the senescence-associated marker p16 was most significantly increased, even at the early age. It was mainly localized in neurons, with a marginal expression in astrocytes (labeled as glutamine synthetase), nil expression in activated microglia (labeled as Iba1), and negatively correlated with the spatial cognitive impairments of 5XFAD mice. oA&bgr; (1–42) induced the production of senescence-related protein p16, but not p53 in vitro, which was in line with the in vivo manifestation. Conclusions: oA&bgr;-accelerated neuronal senescence may be associated with the cognitive impairment in 5XFAD mice. Senescence-associated marker p16 can serve as an indicator to estimate the cognitive prognosis for AD population.
Forward Rates, Monetary Policy and the Economic Cycle

The short end of the yield curve incorporates essential pieces of information to forecast the next decisions of Central Banks, but in a biased manner. I therefore propose a new method to forecast the Fed and the ECB decision rate by correcting the swap rates for their cyclical economic premium, using an affine term structure model. The corrected yields offer a higher out-of-sample forecasting power than the yields themselves. They also deliver forecast that are either comparable or better than those obtained with a Factor Augmented VAR, underlying the fact that yields are likely to contain at least as much information regarding monetary policy as in a pure economic dataset.
A fluid divide: Domestic and international factors in US trade policy formation

ABSTRACT The history of US trade policy from the 1930s to the present shows that an adequate analysis of policy outcomes necessitates the inclusion of both domestic and international factors. The analysis also requires an exploration of the conditions shaping the relative explanatory significance of domestic and international factors, and of how this relative significance changes over time. Drawing on historical institutionalist analysis, and applying it to a field of action that encompasses both political levels, I argue that institutions account for the historically specific balance between domestic and international factors. By altering the political influence of actors in and across the two dimensions, institutional arrangements determine whether domestic or international factors are prioritized. The image of a Great Divide between two distinct fields is hence replaced with an image of a fluid divide between different levels of a unified field of action.
Supply of Woody Biomass, Especially in the Tropics: Is Demand Outstripping Sustainable Supply?

SUMMARY Five reputable international bodies have recently asserted that the use of ‘traditional’ woody biomass energy is not sustainable and they propose steps to substitute alternative non-polluting fuels/devices. No evidence for this assertion was presented. The production of terrestrial net primary production was examined: this indicated that there was a large surplus of biomass to meet demands. The growth and yield of aboveground woody biomass by country and region was calculated using conservative estimates of supply based on FAO's published data. This was then compared to generous estimates of demand. It was found that in every region of the world, especially in developing countries, there is a considerable surplus compared to demand. Rather than curtailing the use of biomass energy it should be expanded, principally through the efforts of the rural poor as an input to foster sustainable development and assist poverty alleviation.
Prices, Productivity and Wage Bargaining in Open Economies

According to the standard union bargaining model, unemployment benefits should have big effects on wages, but product-market prices and productivity should play no role in the wage bargain. We formulate an alternative strategic bargaining model, where labour and product-market conditions together determine wages. A wage equation is derived and estimated on aggregate data for four Nordic countries. Wages are found to depend not only on unemployment and the replacement ratio, but also on productivity, international prices and exchange rates. There is evidence of considerable nominal wage rigidity. Exchange rate changes have large and persistent effects on competitiveness.
A simulation analysis of the microstructure of double auction markets

Abstract We introduce an order-driven market model with heterogeneous agents trading via a central order matching mechanism. Traders set bids and asks and post market or limit orders according to exogenously fixed rules. We investigate how different trading strategies may affect the dynamics of price, bid-ask spreads, trading volume and volatility. We also analyse how some features of market design, such as tick size and order lifetime, affect market liquidity. The model is able to reproduce many of the complex phenomena observed in real stock markets. *Paper presented at Applications of Physics in Financial Analysis (APFA) 3, 5–7 December 2001, Museum of London, UK.
Brachyury regulates proliferation of cancer cells via a p27Kip1-dependent pathway

The T-box transcription factor Brachyury is expressed in a number of tumour types and has been demonstrated to have cancer inducing properties. To date, it has been linked to cancer associated induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition, tumour metastasis and expression of markers for cancer stem-like cells. Taken together, these findings indicate that Brachyury plays an important role in the progression of cancer, although the mechanism through which it functions is poorly understood. Here we show that Brachyury regulates the potential of Brachyury-positive colorectal cancer cells to proliferate and reduced levels of Brachyury result in inhibition of proliferation, with features consistent with the cells entering a quiescent-like state. This inhibition of proliferation is dependent upon p27Kip1 demonstrating that Brachyury acts to modulate cellular proliferative fate in colorectal cancer cells in a p27Kip1-dependent manner. Analysis of patient derived colorectal tumours reveals a heterogeneous localisation of Brachyury (in the nucleolus, nucleus and cytoplasm) indicating the potential complexity of the regulatory role of Brachyury in solid colorectal tumours.
Agglomeration, Integration and Tax Harmonization

We show that agglomeration forces can reverse standard international-tax-competition results. Closer integration may result first in a race to the top' and then a race to the bottom, a result that is consistent with recent empirical work showing that the tax gap between rich and poor nations follows a bell-shaped path (Devereux, Griffith and Klemm 2002). Moreover, split-the-difference tax harmonization can make both nations worse off. This may help explain why tax harmonisation which is Pareto improving in the standard model is so difficult in the real world. The key theoretical insight is that agglomeration forces create quasi-rents that can be taxed without inducing delocation. This suggests that the tax game is something subtler than a race to the bottom. Advanced 'core' nations may act like limit-pricing monopolists toward less advanced 'periphery' countries. Since agglomeration rents are a bell-shaped function of the level of integration, the equilibrium tax gap in our tax game is also bell shaped.
Border effects and spatial autocorrelation in the supply of network infrastructure

In this paper we analyze the supply of network infrastructure at the regional level. Special attention is paid to spatial autocorrelation aspects. A method is developed to test which impact international borders have on the supply of network infrastructure in border regions. An empirical illustration is given for the regions in the EU. We find that in the case of railways spatial spill-overs are indeed significant. However, the hypothesis that border effects play a role in railway densities has to be rejected.
Predictability of Asia Pacific Stock Market Indices Futures using Signals from A Dynamic Volatility Indicator, Adjustable Moving Average

This research studies the daily stock market indices futures contracts' returns from the Asia Pacific countries, namely Australia's SPI Futures (SPIF), Hong Kong's Hang Seng Futures (HSF), Japan's Nikkei 225 Futures (NikkeiF), Korea's KOSPI Futures (KOSPIF), Malaysia's FBMKLCI30 Futures (FKLI) and Singapore's SiMSCI Futures (SiMSCIF), from 2008 to 2012 to examine the predictability of these time series returns using some simple technical analysis trading systems like moving average trading rules and a new innovated dynamic volatility trading system, Adjustable Moving Average (AMA'). AMA' adjusts to the volatility in the prevailing market condition to avoid some whipsaws in range trading and to enter into the new trends early in trend trading. By using the past trading signals from these moving averages rules, evidences of abnormal returns after transaction costs, above the passive buy-and-hold are found in these time series' returns; especially more so for AMA'. In particular, for this study period, AMA' generates more abnormal returns for Hang Seng Futures, Nikkei Futures and SPI Futures than the other trading rules. The results from this research suggest that it is worthwhile to investigate more adjustable trading rules, the profitability of these rules and the predictability of time series using these adjustable rules.
Relationship Between Altitude and Intensity of Malaria Transmission in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Abstract There is a consensus that malaria is a growing problem in African highlands. This is surprising because many parts of the highlands were considered too cold to support transmission. In this report, we examined how transmission of Plasmodium falciparum in six villages changed along an altitude transect in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, from 300 m to 1700 m. Routine entomological collections were made using spray catches and light traps for 15 mo. Direct estimates of entomological inoculation rates and indirect estimates of vectorial capacity suggested a >1000-fold reduction in transmission intensity between the holoendemic lowland and the hypoendemic highland plateau. Lowland transmission was perennial with a significant peak in the cool season after the long rains in May, when vectors densities were high. In the highlands, low temperatures prevented parasite development in mosquitoes during the cool season rains, and highland transmission was therefore limited to the warm dry season when vector densities were low. The primary effect of increasing altitude was a log-linear reduction in vector abundance and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in the proportion of infective mosquitoes. Highland malaria transmission was maintained at extraordinarily low vector densities. We discuss herein the implications of these findings for modeling malaria and suggest that process-based models of malaria transmission risk should be improved by considering the direct effect of temperature on vector densities. Our findings suggest that variation in the short rains in November and changes in agricultural practices are likely to be important generators of epidemics in the Usambaras.
Equality and Diversity in British Workplaces: The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey

Drawing on key findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), this article examines developments in the incidence, scope and substance of equal opportunities policy provision and practice in Britain. The discussion then considers the extent to which workplaces might be adopting diversity management practices, the potential for further research on equality and diversity using WERS 2004, and the issues that might be considered in future workplace employment relations surveys.
Socioemotional Wealth and Earnings Management in Private Family Firms

Earnings management in firms has several different motivations. This article examines the preserving of socioemotional wealth as a motive for earnings management in specific types of private family firms by looking at the generational stage, the management team, and the CEO position. The authors’ results suggest that socioemotional wealth may play a role as motive for upward earnings management when firm performance is poor. Under this condition, first-generation and founder-led private family firms seem to have greater incentive to engage in upward earnings management because of the preservation of their socioemotional wealth.
Combinations of cover crop mixtures and bio-waste composts enhance biomass production and nutrients accumulation: a greenhouse study

Abstract Improved farming practices are needed to produce more food in a sustainable way. This study assessed 12 combinations of cover crop mixtures and amendment treatments and their effects on shoot and root dry (matter (DM) weights, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) uptakes in plants, Mehlich-3 extractable P (PM3) and K (KM3). Shoot and root DM weights were increased by 30–63% with combinations of clover-based cover crop mixtures and 65 Mg ha−1 of municipal solid food waste (MSFW) compared with synthetic fertilizer. The combination of clover-based cover crop mixtures with MSFW increased N uptake by 38 and 30%, P uptake by 57 and 40% and K uptake by 77 and 77% compared with fertilized and unfertilized treatments, respectively. The combination of vetch-based cover crop mixtures with MSFW had no effect on N uptake, but increased P uptake on average by 43%, and K uptake on average by 11% compared with fertilized and unfertilized treatments. The highest soil PM3 and KM3 values were obtained with additions of MSFW, while the lowest were obtained with synthetic fertilizer indicating that the amount of P and K added with MSFW were greater than cover crop needs. Combining cover crop mixtures and MSFW at levels recommended for N fertilization allows meeting cover crops’ nutrient needs and increases biomass inputs to agricultural soils, but long-term monitoring of soil P is required to limit potential P build-up.
International Portfolio Investment: Theory, Evidence, and Institutional Framework

At first sight, the idea of investing internationally seems exciting and full of promise because of the many benefits of international portfolio investment. By investing in foreign securities, investors can participate in the growth of other countries, hedge their consumption basket against exchange rate risk, realize diversification effects and take advantage of market segmentation on a global scale. Even though these advantages might appear attractive, the risks of and constraints for international portfolio investment must not be overlooked. In an international context, financial investments are not only subject to currency risk and political risk, but there are many institutional constraints and barriers, significant among them a host of tax issues. These constraints, while being reduced by technology and policy, support the case for internationally segmented securities markets, with concomitant benefits for those who manage to overcome the barriers in an effective manner.
Forward-Looking Disclosures, Financial Verifiability and Analysts' Forecasts: A Study of Cross-Listed European Firms

Forward-looking disclosures are a crucial source of information when valuing a company. We study the effect of forward-looking disclosures on analysts' forecast properties, in particular accuracy and dispersion. Our sample includes all the non-financial firms from Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland that in year 2002 were cross-listed on local stock exchanges and on the New York Stock Exchange. We conduct a content analysis on the Annual Report and the 20F form of these companies for the years 2002, 2003 and 2004. We differentiate between forward-looking information on the basis of the disclosure of expected effects on future financial performance and the disclosure of a measure of this impact. We define forward-looking information disclosed with the characteristics of being quantified and directed (and financial) as financially verifiable as it facilitates the comparison with its subsequent realisation in relation to expected future financial performance. Our analysis finds support for the theoretical prediction that verifiable disclosures are more effective than unverifiable disclosures at improving accuracy and reducing dispersion of analysts' forecasts. Our sample also allows us to explore the effects of the difference between the degrees of verifiability between forward-looking disclosures of the 20F form versus those of the domestic annual report. Our analysis provides empirical support for the hypotheses that these differences are significant and have a significant effect on forecast properties.