Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peace of Cemeteries: Civil War Dynamics in Postwar States’ Repression

This article analyzes whether state repression in post—civil war situations can be explained by dynamics associated with previous civil wars. It claims that in post—civil war situations the state can more easily resort to indiscriminate repression against social groups, relying on information related to the civil war. Two civil war dynamics are tested: preemptive indiscriminate violence to eliminate opposition by the defeated population and retaliation for crimes committed during the war. Using data from the first decade of the Francoist regime in Spain, the author found that civil war dynamics, and not actual dissent, explain most of the country’s postwar violence.
Cure of murine Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infections with an S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase inhibitor

The compound 5'-([(Z)-4-amino-2-butenyl]methylamino)-5'-deoxyadenosine (MDL73811), a potent inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase, was effective in mice against six of eight clinical isolates of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the causative agent of East African sleeping sickness. In combination with the ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor DL-alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO; Ornidyl), MDL73811 acted synergistically to cure seven of eight infections. MDL73811 was effective when given singly at 50 to 100 mg/kg of body weight per day for 7 days (osmotic pumps). In combination with subcurative DFMO levels (0.25 to 1.0% in drinking water for 7 days), the curative MDL73811 dose could be lowered to 25 or 50 mg/kg, depending on the isolate. Oral administration of the MDL73811-DFMO combination was also effective in an acute infection and in a long-term central nervous system model of Trypansoma brucei brucei infection. These data indicate that MDL73811 may be effective therapeutically in drug-refractory and late-stage East African trypanosomiasis.
Conditional Versus Contingent Fees

Under contingent fees the attorney gets a share of the judgement; under conditional fees the lawyer gets an upscale premium if the case is won which is, however, unrelated to the adjudicated amount. We compare conditional and contingent fees in a framework where lawyers are uninformed about the clients’ cases. If there is asymmetric information about the merits of cases, in equilibrium attorneys will offer only conditional fees. If there is asymmetric information about the risk of cases, only contingent fee contracts are offered in equilibrium.
Investigation of the interaction between DnaK and DnaJ by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

Hsp70 chaperones assist protein folding through ATP-regulated transient association with substrates. Substrate binding by Hsp70 is controlled by DnaJ co-chaperones which stimulate Hsp70 to hydrolyze ATP and, consequently, to close its substrate binding cavity allowing trapping of substrates. We analyzed the interaction of the Escherichia coli Hsp70 homologue, DnaK, with DnaJ using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. Resonance signals of complex kinetic characteristics were detected when DnaK was passed over a sensor chip with coupled DnaJ. This interaction was specific as it was not detected with a functionally defective DnaJ mutant protein, DnaJ259, that carries a mutation in the HPD signature motif of the conserved J-domain. Detectable DnaK-DnaJ interaction required ATP hydrolysis by DnaK and was competitively inhibited by chaperone substrates of DnaK. For DnaK mutant proteins with amino acid substitutions in the substrate binding cavity that affect substrate binding, the strength of detected interaction with DnaJ decreased proportionally with increased strength of the substrate binding defects. These findings indicate that the detected response signals resulted from DnaJ and ATP hydrolysis-dependent association of DnaJ as substrate for DnaK. Although not considered as physiologically relevant, this association allowed us to experimentally unravel the mechanism of DnaJ action. Accordingly, DnaJ stimulates ATP hydrolysis only after association of a substrate with the substrate binding cavity of DnaK. Further analysis revealed that this coupling mechanism required the J-domain of DnaJ and was also functional for natural DnaK substrates, and thus is central to the mechanism of action of the DnaK chaperone system.
Security Pricing and Deviations from the Absolute Priority Rule in Bankruptcy Proceedings

Claims ultimately awarded to shareholders of firms in reorganization were examined for a sample of thirty filings under the 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act. The authors measured the amount paid to shareholders in excess of that which they would have received under the absolute priority rule and found that this amount represents, on average, 7.6 percent of the total awarded to all claimants. Evidence is also reported that common share values reflect a significant proportion of value ultimately received in violation of absolute priority, suggesting that deviations from the rule were expected by the equity markets. Copyright 1990 by American Finance Association.
Dorsal penile nerve block vs topical placebo for circumcision in low-birth-weight neonates.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy and safety of dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) and eutectic mixture of lidocaine (EMLA) for palliation of pain associated with circumcision in low-birth-weight infants. DESIGN Randomized, blinded, controlled trial. SETTING Intensive care nursery (step down unit) at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC. PARTICIPANTS Fifty neonates with weights of 1600 to 2500 g at the time of circumcision who were discharged from the hospital between May 1994 and June 1995 were randomly assigned to the DPNB, EMLA, or control group. Twenty-five infants who were otherwise eligible were excluded because of parental refusal of consent to participate. INTERVENTIONS Infants in the DPNB and EMLA groups received anesthesia with subcutaneous injection of 1% lidocaine hydrochloride or topical EMLA, respectively. The control group received sham anesthesia with topical placebo (acid mantle cream). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in physiologic variables (heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate) and behavioral score 20 minutes before, during, and 5 and 20 minutes after circumcision between DPNB and control groups. Surgical complications and adverse effects were also monitored. RESULTS Fifty infants were enrolled in the study: 19 randomized to the DPNB group, 19 to the control group, and 12 to the EMLA group. Enrollment into the EMLA group was suspended early because of redness and blistering of the foreskin in 2 infants, and this entire group was excluded from further analysis. The clinical course was similar in all groups of infants. All circumcisions were performed without complication or technical difficulty. Statistically significant differences were noted in heart rate, respiratory rate, and behavioral score when comparing the DPNB group with controls during and after circumcision. CONCLUSION Dorsal penile nerve block is safe and effective in controlling pain associated with circumcision in low-birth-weight infants.
Household Members and Employment Outcomes of Recent Immigrants: A Network Approach

Objective. The objective of this article is to investigate the effect of household members on the employment outcomes of recent immigrants conceptualizing the household as an employment network unit. Methods. I use data from the 1994 and 1996 March Current Population Surveys and make a taxonomy of the household composition based on the network’s employment capability. Logit and regression models of employment and earnings are estimated. Results. Results show that co‐residence with long‐term immigrants is detrimental, while co‐residence with fellow recent immigrants is beneficial for the employment outcomes of recent immigrants. Conclusions. I conclude that some types of job networks may have a negative impact on the economic incorporation of recent immigrants, that household network effects on employment outcomes are gendered, and that their effectiveness is conditioned by labor market segmentation according to recency of arrival.
Local participation in forest and biodiversity conservation in a Nigerian rain forest

Environmental conservation strategies in most developing countries do not often consider local conditions. If local people's needs are incorporated in conservation efforts it would play an important role in sustainable management of protected areas. This paper reports a study of local people's preferences for biodiversity conservation management institutions that might motivate them to support conservation efforts in the Okwangwo Division of the Cross River National Park, Nigeria. The empirical data were generated from personal interviews and determinants of the respondents' preferences were analysed with a multinomial logit model. The results showed that most of the respondents preferred the institution that combines biodiversity conservation with development. Their preferences were influenced by income from farming activities, income from non-timber forest products and income from non-traditional employment. This study could contribute to knowledge of how to design biodiversity conservation strategies to increase support of more local people who reside in the vicinity of protected areas.
Valuation of Risky Assets in Arbitrage Free Economies with Frictions

This paper derives a framework for arbitrage models in markets with frictions. It generalizes the existence of a valuation operator to such markets. As in perfect markets, the valuation operator is a linear operator and its existence is implied by the no-arbitrage condition. In imperfect markets the valuation operator is individual-specific and depends on the agent's position in the market. The methodology employed in the paper is duality in convex programming.
The Strategic Timing of Direct Democracy

This paper focuses on the strategic timing of elections by agenda-setters in direct democracy settings. Because concurrent elections affect turnout, scheduling referenda for different elections will produce different median voters. I hypothesize that agenda-setters with power over the timing of a referendum will schedule the referendum in conjunction with the other set of races that produce a policy closest to their preferred outcome. Consistent with the theory, I show that Wisconsin school boards' use of special elections for school referenda are related to differences in the revealed preferences of voters in low- and high-turnout elections.
An Analysis of Integrating Architecture with the Academic Study Areas

11 This study sought to determine the understanding, interest, and support from mathematics, English, science, and history teachers in the Onalaska, WI School District for a curriculum integrating architecture with the academic areas of study. All of the teachers participating in this study taught in the elementary, junior high/middle, and high schools. A survey was distributed to the teachers during the 2009 school year to collect data designed to address the research questions: I) what are teacher understandings about integrated curriculum; 2) what are the perceptions of educators, by program area, of the integrated curriculum; 3) what are teacher understandings of the profession and principles of architecture; 4) what are the teacher understandings of an integrated architecture curriculum; 5) what are the challenges of creating and implementing an architecture integrated curriculum; 6) are teachers interested in pursuing an architecture integrated curriculum. The data was analyzed to measure their attitudes and opinions towards an integrated architecture cun·iculum.
Cognitive–behavioral therapy for bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is one of the most serious and prevalent psychiatric disorders. The aim of the present article is to review the efficiency of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for bipolar patients. Some studies show consistent evidence that cognitive therapy, concomitant to psycho-education and pharmacological treatment, offers efficacy in different phases of the disease. In most of the studies, patients undergoing CBT showed improvements in quality of life, with a reduction in both frequency and duration of mood episodes, as well as higher degrees of compliance and fewer hospitalizations. More studies are required to prove the effectiveness of CBT for bipolar disorder in the context of standardizing diagnostic criteria and measuring instruments to evaluate the disorder’s different phases and severity.
Dropping out of further education: complex causes and simplistic policy assumptions

This paper draws on a longitudinal study of young people studying in further education in England to explore contradictions between the complex reasons why a small number of the sample dropped out without completing their courses and qualifications, and the simplistic funding and policy assumptions about such ‘failures’. Current English policy assumes that retention and qualification achievement rates are appropriate measures of learning and of educational provision. Yet the stories presented here demonstrate that many of the factors influencing non-completion lie beyond the control of both the educational providers and the learners. Furthermore, from the perspective of the learner, there is little difference between changing educational or career intentions during or at the end of a course. Yet policy assumes that the former is dysfunctional and the latter unproblematic. Based upon our data, we argue that the causes of dropping out can best be explained in the context of an individual's learning career, which involves a complex combination of social and economic factors, individual preferences and beliefs, and contingency. Not only do current English policy approaches ignore this complexity; they also risk making things worse for a significant minority of students. The failure to acknowledge that dropping out is normal and appropriate for some, means that those who do drop out receive no help or support, except to stay on. Furthermore, there is a risk that educational providers will refuse to recruit students in ‘at risk’ categories, for fear that they will be judged adversely, should some of them eventually fail to complete. Finally, the audit obsession with retention and achievement rates blames either the individual student or the education and guidance providers for failure, thus rendering deeper inequalities, based on class, gender and ethnicity, invisible and harder to address.
‘A Poll Tax on wheels’: Might the move to privatise rail in Britain have failed?

Rail privatisation was a controversial, widely unpopular policy whose implementation was not inevitable. This article employs counterfactual history methodology to examine whether the move to rail privatisation in Britain might have failed. It places the privatisation proposals in context by examining opposition within the Conservative Party and British Rail. The paper then focuses on three key counterfactual questions, including the significance of New Labour's reversal of its commitment to renationalise rail under its ‘third way’ policy and the possible consequences had the move to privatise rail failed. Based on the historical evidence available, it concludes that the move to rail privatisation could have failed, and that performance would have been better had rail remained an integrated, nationalised industry.
Has the Pricing of Stocks Become More Global?

We show that in recent years global factor models have been catching up significantly with their local counterparts in terms of explanatory power (R2) for international stock returns. This catch-up is driven by a rise in global factor betas, not a rise in factor volatilities, suggesting that the effect is likely to be permanent. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence for a global factor model catch-up in terms of pricing errors (alpha) or a convergence in country-specific factor premia. These findings suggest that global financial markets have progressed surprisingly little towards fully integrated pricing, different from what should be expected under financial market integration. We discuss alternative explanations for these patterns and assess implications for practice.
Performance regimes in sport policy: exploring consequences, vulnerabilities and politics

The performance measurement regimes instituted by central government sport agencies have both intended and unintended effects in relation to their network partners. The purpose of this article is to investigate the actions and interpretations of national sport organizations (NSOs) in relation to a performance regime. Drawing from data in New Zealand, two broad categories of institutional effects are identified and discussed. The first category of effects relates to the tendency for performance measurement and monitoring to reinforce the delineation/demarcation between elite and community sport due to the relative clarity of the former’s measures, and the institutionalization of ‘cream-skimming’ at national and sub-national levels. The second category of effects surrounds the apparent paradoxes and vulnerabilities of performance measurement that include the demand for indicators to ‘mushroom’ and the development of ‘gaming’ behaviours. This study highlights the tenuousness of performance measurement schemes as a feature of ‘good management’ as well as their ultimate contribution towards (or disruption of) ‘good policy’.
Meta Taylor Rules for the UK and Australia; Accommodating Regime Uncertainty in Monetary Policy Analysis Using Model Averaging Methods

This paper provides a characterisation of UK and Australian monetary policy within a Taylor rule framework, accommodating uncertainties about the nature and duration of policy regimes in a flexible but easy-to-implement analysis. Our approach involves estimation and inference based on a set of Taylor rules obtained through linear regression methods, but combined into a ‘meta’ rule using model averaging techniques. Using data that were available in real time, the estimated version of the meta Taylor rule provides a useful and detailed characterisation of monetary policies in the UK and Australia over the last thirty years.
Product design, semantics and emotional response

This paper explores theoretical issues in ergonomics related to semantics and the emotional content of design. The aim is to find answers to the following questions: how to design products triggering ‘happiness’ in one's mind; which product attributes help in the communication of positive emotions; and finally, how to evoke such emotions through a product. In other words, this is an investigation of the ‘meaning’ that could be designed into a product in order to ‘communicate’ with the user at an emotional level. A literature survey of recent design trends, based on selected examples of product designs and semantic applications to design, including the results of recent design awards, was carried out in order to determine the common attributes of their design language. A review of Good Design Award winning products that are said to convey and/or evoke emotions in the users has been done in order to define good design criteria. These criteria have been discussed in relation to user emotional responses and a selection of these has been given as examples.
The US Research & Experimentation tax credit: The case for an effective R&D investment policy incentive

Abstract Since 1981 (excluding one year of unavailability), the US Research & Experimentation (R&E) tax credit has been available as an incentive to corporate managers interested in increasing their annual investment in applied research. Research indicates that the R&E tax credit has an overall negligible effect on increasing annual industry applied research investment in the US (as a percentage of overall industry-funded R&D expenditures, it has ranged from a low of 1.3% (for 1995) to a high of 3.9% (for 2000)). The author reviews the economic literature on the R&E tax credit program’s effectiveness and contrasts it with the management literature on firm-level, R&D strategic investment decision-making. A key recommendation is that a survey be conducted to assess the importance of this policy incentive to executive management decision-makers when they consider company R&D investment. The survey results will assist in the policy design of an effective R&E tax credit program.
Measuring the Financial Impact of Demand Response for Electricity Retailers

Due to the integration of intermittent resources of power generation such as wind and solar, the amount of supplied electricity will exhibit unprecedented fluctuations. Electricity retailers can partially meet the challenge of matching demand and volatile supply by shifting power demand according to the fluctuating supply side. The necessary technology infrastructure such as Advanced Metering Infrastructures for this so-called Demand Response (DR) has advanced. However, little is known about the economic dimension and further effort is strongly needed to realistically quantify the financial impact. To succeed in this goal, we derive an optimization problem that minimizes procurement costs of an electricity retailer in order to control Demand Response usage. The evaluation with historic data shows that cost volatility can be reduced by 7.74%; peak costs drop by 14.35%; and expenditures of retailers can be significantly decreased by 3.52%.
Do farmers exhibit disposition effect? Evidence from grain markets

The disposition effect is one of the most common types of behavior documented in inancial markets, and reflects the notion that investors tend to hold losing positions too long and close winning positions too fast. This idea can also be applied to grain marketing. The disposition effect would be related to whether producers sell their grain more readily when prices are “high” and wait longer when prices are “low”. This question is relevant because this type of behavior can affect marketing performance. If grain is sold too early, producers can miss opportunities to sell at higher price later. If producers hold their grain too long, price can go down and they will end up selling at a lower prices. Examination of pricing strategies of 15,564 wheat producers between 2003/04 and 2008/09 shows evidence of disposition effect in their marketing decisions. They seem to be eager to sell when the price offered by marketing contracts is above their reference price, and wait longer to sell when the price offered by marketing contracts is below their reference price.
Validation of MODIS Albedo Products of Paddy Fields in Japan

A study was conducted in Chiba, Japan, to validate Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) albedo products by taking the field measurements of shortwave band albedos in paddy fields. A large difference in spatial scale, from field-measured point data to 1-km resolution, complicates the validation process. To assess such effect of different spatial scales, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data were used. Spatial scale effects on the albedo were examined from three viewpoints: 1) comparison between point-based albedo and mean of albedo in homogeneous area; 2) comparison between point-based albedo and 1-km aggregated albedo; and 3) assessment of semivariogram of albedo in homogeneous area. In implementation of viewpoint 2), Liang's regression model was applied to convert ASTER reflectance into shortwave band albedo. The 1-km ASTER albedo was estimated using the point spread function, and in the same manner, 1-km ETM+ albedo was estimated. All results represent that an area around the measurement site can be assumed to be homogeneous, indicating negligible effects of spatial resolution difference during most of the periods. Comparison of ground-point-based albedos with MODIS actual albedo, estimated from MODIS black-sky albedo, white-sky albedo, and a fraction of diffuse skylight, showed that the accuracy of MODIS albedo products for paddy fields in Japan is within approximately 0.026 by absolute value (root-mean-square error) and 15.1% by relative value