Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Benefit incidence analysis in developing countries

As interesting and difficult as it is to allocate tax burdens to individuals, the profession knows even less about allocating benefits. The authors survey the literature on benefit incidence since DeWulf's (1975) review, focusing on the methodology and results of benefit incidence analysis in developing countries. Research in this area faces all the general-equilibrium difficulties faced by tax incidence analysis as well as the difficult task of measuring benefits from publicly provided goods and services. Despite the inherent pitfalls of this methodology, the authors believe that benefit incidence analysis can provide an important perspective on the budget by combining data on household use with data on project costs. In particular, benefit incidence analyses can help illuminate the distributional impacts of proposed reallocations of government resources among projects. The value of such research is especially high considering the scarcity of recent research in this area. The authors review the existing methodology, survey the available results, and point out areas in which further research might have large payoffs. They also make specific methodological suggestions that might help ensure that future research is as useful for policymakers as possible. For example: Aggregate results based on the zero-government counterfactual rely on strong assumptions about fixed relative prices and incomes, government efficiency, and the relationship between marginal and total benefits. And those studies are often not designed to identify which types of public services benefit the poor. Researchers should focus more on providing benefit incidence studies on specific government functions or programs that can help policymakers reach conclusions about proposed reallocations of resources among government programs. Benefit incidence should be assigned to households based on household survey information on usage rather than on ad hoc assumptions that assign benefits based on income or the number of members in the household. Improved annual cost measures for services need to be developed, particulary for capital inputs. Researchers should group households by deciles and whenever possible should consider other groupings based on household income adjusted for household composition, age, location, and other relevant socioeconomic variables. Careful attention to life-cycle benefits, benefit shifting, rent-seeking, out-of-pocket costs, displacement of private sector efforts, average versus marginal incidence, and several other issues can significantly increase the value of benefit incidence analysis to policymakers.
Symptomatic urogenital candidiasis and therapeutic management on women taking oral contraceptive pills

Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, P. M. B. 102119, Makurdi, Nigeria. Department of Haematology, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, P. M. B. 102119, Makurdi, Nigeria. Department of Chemical Pathology, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, P. M. B. 102119, Makurdi, Nigeria. Department of Chemical Pathology, College of Medicine, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria.
Two Decades of Croatian Transition: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract Over the past two decades many Central and South East European countries underwent the process of transition from a centrally-planned towards a market economy. Among them, the case of Croatia stands out as particularly interesting. Owing to a number of reasons Croatia had the potential to be among the forerunners of transition. However, in realising this potential the country was constrained by numerous political and social turbulences which made its transition path somewhat unique. The objective of this paper is to explore to what extent the favourable initial conditions of Croatian transition have been exploited over the past two decades. The focus of the analysis is on four dimensions of transition: institutional reforms, macroeconomic performance, changes in economic structure and international trade. The general message yielded by the analysis is that much of Croatia’s initial advantage was lost over the past two decades because of war, the unfavourable political climate in the 1990s, late integration into regional, European and global economic institutions and the slow restructuring of enterprises.
Determinants of Lifetime Unemployment: A Micro Data Analysis with Censored Quantile Regressions

The empirical literature on unemployment almost exclusively focuses on the duration of distinct unemployment spells. In contrast, we use a large German administrative micro data set for the time span 1975-2004 to investigate individual lifetime unemployment (defined as the total length of all unemployment spells over a 25-year period). This new perspective enables us to answer questions regarding the long-term distribution and determinants of unemployment for West German birth cohorts 1950-1954. We find that lifetime unemployment is highly unevenly distributed and employ censored quantile regressions to show that, for men, pursuing a disadvantageous occupation early in the professional career leads to a significantly higher amount of lifetime unemployment.
Age, extraversion, anxiety and marital status as factors of spiritual help-seeking behaviour of women in Ibadan metropolis

This study investigated age, extraversion, anxiety and marital status as factors of spiritual help-seeking behaviour of women in south-western Nigeria. Using purposive and random sampling methods, a total of 350 participants were selected for the study. 179 (51.1%) were single (i.e. never married), 152 (43.4%) were married, 7 (2.0%) were divorced, 4 (1.1%) were widows, while 8 (2.3%) were separated. The mean age was 32.69; minimum age was 17years and maximum age of participants was 57years.Validated scales were used for data collection on the variables of interest in the study. Two hypotheses were tested using univariate analysis of variance. The result indicates the following to be significant: - age (df = 1, F=9.08, p .05). Marital status had a significant influence on women spiritual helpseeking behaviour (df = 4, F=2.78, p <.05). The findings indicate that these variables have significant influence on help seeking behavior of women and must therefore be given particular attention in the design of therapeutic measures to help the help-seekers.
Study of Co-Firing Coal with Liquid Foundry Wastes and Jatropha Oil in a Bubbling Fluidized-Bed Combustor

To investigate the energy potential of liquid foundry wastes, the coring of coal and two waste solvents with relative smaller heating value was studied in a bubbling uidized bed combustor. The e ects of the bed temperature, liquid fuel type, liquid ratio, and the particle size of coal on the coring characteristics and pollutant emissions characteristics were investigated. The results showed that the coring of coal and waste solvent can be adopted as an alternative for waste disposal, ensuring energy recovery and waste disposal in a single step. NO emissions are still dependent on the total nitrogen content in the fuel feeding material. For the two waste solvents, NO emission increases with liquid ratio, and the highest value was 447.5 ppm, which exceeds the NO emission requirement. Increased bed temperature had little e ect on the coring characteristics of coal with waste solvents, but the NO emission signi cantly increased from 137 to 319 ppm as the bed temperature increased from 750 to 850°C. Decreasing the coal particle size increases the CO emission, which creates the proper atmosphere for NO reduction.
Histopathological alterations and distribution of Adenoscolex oreini in intestines and their seasonal rate of infestation in three freshwater fishes of Kashmir

On examination of 444 Schizothorax spp. revealed 144 (32.43%) were found to be infected with the A. oreini. Out of 224 spp. examined from the Dal Lake 71 (31.69%) were found infected with A. oreini. Host-wise distribution of the parasite was significantly varied (p<0.01) which showed S. niger (31.57%), S. esocinus (28.57%) and S. curvifrons (35.21%). Out of 220 spp. examined from River Jhelum 73 (33.18%) were infected with A. oreini which included S. niger (28.94%), S. esocinus (32.87%) and S. curvifrons (38.02%). All the three parasites showed higher prevalence during summer and least during winter. Overall the mean intensity of the cestodes was higher in River Jhelum. The parasitic infections were prevalent more in male compared to females. A. oreini showed positive correlation with pH of water. The presence of the parasites had reduced the condition coefficient of the infected fishes in both the water bodies. Histopathologically, parasite induced various intensities of enteritis coupled with hyperplastic goblet cells with increased acid mucopolysaccharide concentrations.
Data Envelopment Analysis for establishing the financial benchmark of Korean hotels

In the wake of catastrophic natural disasters and rising threats of terrorism, the hotel industry has seen a decline in revenue and an increase in competition. To avoid a downward spiral, the hotel industry needs to develop more competitive business strategies in order to make its operations lean and robust. These strategies may include: customer relationship management, yield management, niche marketing and continuous improvement of financial health. The success of these strategies hinges on the ability of hotel managers to assess the financial efficiency of their hotel in comparison to 202 H. Min, H. Min, S.J. Joo and J. Kim competition. In an effort to help hotel management enhance its financial efficiency in an increasingly competitive hotel industry, this paper proposes a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which develops a meaningful set of benchmarks that will dictate best practices and form a successful hotel business model. Using the examples of 39 international and regional hotels in Korea, this paper illustrates the usefulness of DEA for the continuous improvement of hotel business practices.
The Effect of Chelating Agents on the Foliar Sorption of Zinc Fertilizers

This study investigated the sorption of chelated zinc (Zn) fertilizers applied to plant foliage. n-Octanol water partition coefficients showed that rhamnolipid formed lipophilic complexes with Zn. It was hypothesized that the lipophilic complex would be better absorbed by leaves than ZnSO4 because leaf cuticles are primarily hydrophobic. Cuticle/water partition coefficients, which were measured using enzymatically isolated Valencia orange (Citrus sinensis) cuticles, showed that a chelating polymer called polyethylenimine and rhamnolipid increased Zn sorption to adaxial cuticle surfaces by 2-fold and 5-fold, respectively. The chelate EDTA reduced cuticle sorption of Zn to 17% of the ZnSO4 control. The rate of Zn diffusion across isolated adaxial cuticles was measured by dialysis. In addition, Zn sorption by cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) foliage was measured by spraying chelated Zn solutions on the foliage before washing the leaves with a rainfall simulator at set intervals. The results showed that the rate of Zn diffusion across C. sinensis cuticles was not related to the cuticle/water partition coefficients of the chelate solution. Nor did the formation of lipophilic Zn-rhamnolipid complexes increase Zn diffusion across the primarily hydrophobic cuticle. Six hours after application to G. hirsutum leaves, rhamnolipid, EDTA and polyethylenimine had reduced the rate of Zn sorption by 71, 74 and 81% of the ZnSO4 control, respectively, which suggested that these chelates may increase the risk of Zn-fertilizer runoff during rainfall events. The reduction in Zn sorption with chelate application was probably due to the size selectivity of aqueous pores that are present within leaf cuticles and the efficiency with which aqueous pores transport ionic Zn 2+ .
Motivations for Buyback Among Indian Companies

Buyback strategy is increasingly adopted by Indian firms since its introduction in 1999. Since its introduction, more than 250 announcements have been made by firms to provide necessary support for their undervalued stocks. The motivations behind buyback decision are necessary to be understood to have complete understanding of corporate usage of buyback. The present study is first ever attempt for Indian capital markets whereby the possible motivations affecting buyback decision have been identified and represented using suitable variables. Ultimate analysis of possible motivations has been performed by developing a multiple regression analysis model with proportion of shares bought to total outstanding shares as dependent variable. A final sample of 135 buyback announcements covering a period of 1999-2011 has been taken under consideration for regression analysis. With undervaluation hypothesis emerging as the most dominant determinant, followed by availability of free cash, buyback of shares has emerged as a significant financial decision to provide short term support to share prices along with a wonderful tool to utilise excess cash to achieve desired financial results.
Factors for culling risk due to pregnancy failure in breeding-female pigs.

A high occurrence of culling due to pregnancy failure disturbs the flow of pig production and decreases productivity of female pigs in commercial breeding herds. The objective of the present study was to quantify changes in culling risk due to pregnancy failure [CRPF] in breeding-female pigs due to variation in outdoor climate and production factors. The data included 240 143 parity records and 54 858 lifetime records of female pigs in 99 commercial herds located in humid subtropical and continental climate zones. The weather data were acquired from 21 local meteorological observatories close to the studied herds. Mean daily average temperature [Tmean] and relative humidity [RH] during the 21-day pre-mating period for each female were matched with the female’s reproductive data. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were applied to the data. Mean by-parity and lifetime CRPF (± SE) were 3.6 ± 0.04% and 20.1 ± 0.17%, respectively. An increase in by-parity CRPF was associated with higher Tmean, higher gilt age at first-mating, fewer pigs born alive and prolonged weaning-to-first-mating interval (P 0.18) or weaning age (P ≥ 0.31). For instance, CRPFs for female pigs in parities 0-5 were 1.5-2.4% higher at Tmean 30 °C than at 10 °C (P < 0.05). Therefore, producers are recommended to closely monitor at-risk female pigs and apply advanced cooling equipment to reduce heat stress, and provide appropriate management to prevent increased CRPF in female pigs.
WAVE TRANSMISSION AT LOW-CRESTED STRUCTURES

Existing data on wave transmission have been critically examined to obtain a homogenous data base. These data have been re-analyzed, and an expression has been derived relating the transmission coefficient to structural parameters and wave parameters. Introduction One of the main aims of breakwaters is improving the tranquility in designated areas to facilitate cargo handling or to protect natural shorelines. Economic considerations often indicate that the structural integrity of the breakwater shall be such that the structure is able to survive severe weather conditions without major damage. The functional requirements, however, do not always require that absolute tranquility is maintained under such extreme conditions. Since the volume of material involved in the structure (and thereby it's cost) is proportional to the square of it's height, it is worthwhile to consider the minimum crest level as carefully as the structural strength of the armor layer. Therefore it is necessary to give a good prediction of wave transmission of low-crested structures. This is the main reason for the continued attention for wave transmission at Delft University and Delft Hydraulics. 1 Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, 2600 GA Delft, the Netherlands 2 Delft Hydraulics, P.O. Box 152, 8300 AD Emmeloord, the Netherlands 3 MSc-Student, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Delft University of Technology, at present: Grabowsky and Poort, Consulting Engineers, The Hague, The Netherlands.
Simultaneous Edit and Imputation For Household Data with Structural Zeros

Multivariate categorical data nested within households often include reported values that fail edit constraints—for example, a participating household reports a child’s age as older than his biological parent’s age—and have missing values. Generally, agencies prefer datasets to be free from erroneous or missing values before analyzing them or disseminating them to secondary data users. We present a model-based engine for editing and imputation of household data based on a Bayesian hierarchical model that includes (i) a nested data Dirichlet process mixture of products of multinomial distributions as the model for the true latent values of the data, truncated to allow only households that satisfy all edit constraints, (ii) a model for the location of errors, and (iii) a reporting model for the observed responses in error. The approach propagates uncertainty due to unknown locations of errors and missing values, generates plausible datasets that satisfy all edit constraints, and can preserve multivariate relationships within and across individuals in the same household. We illustrate the approach using data from the 2012 American Community Survey.
Beautiful Mates: Applying Principles of Beauty to Computer Chess Heuristics

A synopsis of eminent computer chess programs reveal that they are designed around a ‘brute force’ approach. An argument is made that by continuing the ‘brute force’ search approach, computer chess development is moving away from human evaluation methods. Research is done into studies of evaluation methods, and a discovery is made that humans use a form of intuition, called their ‘sense of beauty’, to choose the best chess move. A paper by Margulies is cited which formulates principles of beauty which apply to chess. Three versions of a chess program are developed, using no heuristics, standard chess heuristics, and beauty heuristics formulated from Margulies principles. The performance of the three versions of the program are compared using chess puzzles, and rated for how quickly they find the solution, and how few nodes they evaluate. The results of these tests show that beauty heuristics are, on average, 15% faster at finding the solution, and evaluate 10% fewer nodes. An improvement is implemented in all versions of the program which biases the search towards better moves, resulting in the beauty heuristics success rising to an average of 25% faster to the solution, and evaluating 33% fewer nodes, than the other heuristics. It is concluded that the beauty heuristics are closer to the way that humans evaluate chess positions. 1 Now at: wallsb@logica.com Ben Walls “Beautiful Mates : Applying Principles of Beauty To Computer Chess Heuristics” 2 Table of
Effect of nitrogen levels, irrigation regimes and weed management in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

A field experiment was conducted at the research farm of PAU, Ludhiana during 2003–04 and 2004–05 to study the effect of nitrogen levels, irrigation regimes and weed control methods on root density, water use and grain yield of bed planted durum wheat on loamy sand soil, rating low in available nitrogen and medium in phosphorous and potassium. About 60 per cent roots were confined to upper 0–15 cm soil layer. Maximum water use efficiency of 103.0 and 94.01 kg grain ha−1 cm−1 was recorded during 2003–04 and 2004–05, respectively under application of 150 kg N ha−1. Application of 120 kg N ha−1 (though at par with 150 kg N ha−1) provided a yield advantage of 9.4 and 6.04 per cent over 90 kg N ha−1 during first and second year of experimentation respectively. Clodinafop 0.06 kg ha−1 application effectively controlled Phalaris minor and resulted in significant improvement in grain yield (14.4%) as compared to unweeded check. The two moisture regimes did not produce any significant effects on wheat grain yield.
Alteration in Prooxidant-antioxidant Balance Associated with Selenium Concentration in Patients with Congenital Hypothyroidism

Summary There is a paucity of studies regarding oxidative balance and selenium (Se) status in congenital hypothyroidism. Recently, more attention has been given to the use of Se supplementation as a new treatment for thyroid disorders. Oxidative stress increases in different thyroid disorders and causes many pathological outcomes. The present study aimed to determine the serum prooxidant-anti - oxidant balance (PAB), Se, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) concentration in congenital hypothyroidism (CH) patients and the association of their probable change with hematological indices. Blood samples were collected from 60 healthy and 39 CH subjects. Serum PAB values were measured and Se, TSH, FT4 and hematological indices were determined. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 and p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Serum TSH concentration was significantly higher in CH patients group compared to the controls (p value < 0.05); however, FT4 was in the same concentration in patients and controls. Platelet (Plt) and lymphocytes (Lym) counts markedly decreased in all patients and showed a significant direct correlation with serum TSH levels (rs = 0.307, p value = 0.004 and rs = 0.413, p value < 0.0001). Serum PAB and Se had no significant correlation with he - mato logical indices in the studied subjects. Although there was no correlation between PAB and also Se with hematologic and biochemical markers in CH patients, changes in these two factors might be considered as a potential risk factor due to the other known effects of high PAB values and low Se concentrations.
Arming in the Global Economy: The Importance of Trade with Enemies and Friends

Excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco have long been a dependable and significant revenue source in many countries. More recently, considerable attention has been paid to the way in which such taxes may also be used to attain public health objectives by reducing the consumption of products with adverse health and social impacts. Some have gone further and argued that explicitly earmarking excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco to finance public health expenditures—marrying sin and virtue as it were—will make increasing such taxes more politically acceptable and provide the funding needed to increase such expenditures, especially for the poor. The basic idea—tax “bads” and do “good” with the proceeds—is simple and appealing. But designing and implementing good “sin” taxes is a surprisingly complex task. Earmarking revenues from such taxes for health expenditures may also sound good and be a useful selling point for new taxes. However, such earmarking raises difficult issues with respect to budgetary rigidity and political accountability. This note explores these and other issues that lurk beneath the surface of the attractive concept of using increased sin excises on alcohol and tobacco to finance “virtuous” social spending on public health.