Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health Care Providers as Key Change Agents in the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT)

The Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT) is a multi-center collaborative trial sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. COMMIT utilizes multiple, community-based channels to facilitate quit attempts among heavy cigarette smokers. The “health care provider channel” is important, in that physicians, dentists, and other health care providers can effect changes in smoking behavior at both the individual and community level. There are over 1,600 primary care physicians and general practice dentists in the COMMIT intervention communities. This article describes the conceptual basis for the health care provider activities; results of a survey of Community attitudes and behaviors regarding smoking and health care; specific training and intervention activities; and the role of health care providers as community change agents in the smoking cessation arena.
What Drives House Building: The Collateral Effect with Evidence from China

This paper proposes a dualism of hypothesis derived from dynamic Cournot competition on whether house building is driven by credit constraint corresponding to collateral value. Using monthly data from Jan 2004 to May 2016 of 26 Chinese provinces and 4 direct-controlled municipalities, the empirical test suggests that collateral value do drive house building.
Corporate Board Structure and Foreign Equity Investments in Weak Institutional Regimes

This study explores how corporate board structure gives the ability to firms to attract foreign equity investments in economies affected by weak institutional regimes taking India as the experimental setup. Concentrated ownership, along with the absence of effective external governance mechanisms, weak legal enforcement and pervasive corruption, resulted in the aggravation of Type II agency problems in these countries. Moreover, the increased presence of controlling owners on corporate boards exerts significant influence thus increasing the severity of the said agency problem. Using a sample of large publicly listed Indian firms between the periods 2010–2014, our study reveals that in a setting where institutional framework is not well developed and Type II agency problems are believed to exist in a large measure, the board plays a vital role to inform foreign investors about possible chances of being expropriated which influence their investment decisions in terms of having equity ownerships in firms.
The impact of drought on sub-Saharan African economies - a preliminary examination

This paper arose out of interest in the broader implications of droughts in African countries and in particular, the droughts of Southern Africa in the mid-1990s. Although the physical aspects and agricultural impacts of drought and government and donor response as well as household coping and survival strategies in the event of drought have been well studied, little research has occurred on either its nonagricultural or economy-wide macroeconomic impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper has developed a new framework to understand the wider economic impacts of drought and explain why some economies are more susceptible to drought than others. Findings include the following: (a) Drought shocks have large but highly differentiated economy-wide impacts; (b) Counterintuitively, relatively more developed economies in Africa may be more vulnerable to drought shocks; (c) Different regions of Africa are experiencing different long-term climatic trends; (d) Structural adjustment programs can also provide a framework the broader economy-wide impacts may be more effectively contained; and (e) There has been typically little sustained interest in drought mitigation measures except in terms of improving food security.
Does alcohol advertising promote adolescent drinking? Results from a longitudinal assessment.

AIMS To examine the relationship between exposure to different forms of alcohol advertising and subsequent drinking among US adolescents and assess whether exposure to an alcohol and drug prevention program mitigates any such relationship. DESIGN Regression models with multiple control variables examined the relationship between exposure to alcohol advertising in grade 8 and grade 9 drinking for two groups of South Dakotan adolescents: (1) seventh-grade non-drinkers (n = 1206) and (2) seventh-grade drinkers (n = 1905). Interactions between the intervention program and the significant advertising predictors were tested. SETTING Forty-one middle schools in South Dakota, USA. PARTICIPANTS A total of 3111 seventh-graders followed through grade 9. MEASUREMENTS Advertising variables were constructed for four types of alcohol advertising-television, in-store displays, magazines and concession stands. Other predictors tested included measures tapping social influences, social bonds, problem behavior, alcohol beliefs, television exposure and demographics. FINDINGS For seventh-grade non-drinkers, exposure to in-store beer displays predicted drinking onset by grade 9; for seventh-grade drinkers, exposure to magazines with alcohol advertisements and to beer concession stands at sports or music events predicted frequency of grade 9 drinking. Although exposure to television beer advertising had a significant bivariate relationship with alcohol use for grade 7 non-drinkers, it was not a significant predictor of drinking for either group in multivariate analyses. Participation in the prevention program, ALERT Plus, reduced future drinking for both groups and counteracted the effect of in-store beer displays. CONCLUSIONS Several forms of alcohol advertising predict adolescent drinking; which sources dominate depends on the child's prior experience with alcohol. Alcohol prevention programs and policies should help children counter alcohol advertising from multiple sources and limit exposure to these sources.
Evaluation of State Owned Enterprises in India: Performance Evaluation using Market Value Added and Tobin’s Q

State Owned Enterprises (SOE) in India were seen as white elephants and cash cows during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Operational and administrative in competitiveness along with continued losses created huge problems for SOE’s. This paper to evaluate the performance of SOEs by applying the techniques of MVA and Tobin’s Q for the companies quoted at the Bombay Stock Exchange during the period of 1993-94 to 2016-17. The scope of the study is limited to the SOEs and one private company in each sector, consistently quoted in the Bombay Stock Exchange during the period of 1993-94 to 2015-16 and the performance evaluation of SOEs is done using MVA and Tobin’s Q. The sample consists of 52 companies out of which 46 are SOEs and 8 are private sector companies, quoted at the Bombay Stock Exchange. Bombay Stock Exchange is the source for the 46 SOEs as they were consistent quoted over the study period. The eight private companies were selected as they had the highest market capitalisation during the period of 2016-17. The data consists of Total Assets, Market Capitalization, Book Value, Out Standing Shares of SOEs and select private enterprises for the entire study period. SOE’s showed a steady growth almost in all years when MVA is considered for evaluation. Reliance power went into negative MVA in last three years even though it is operating in private sector. In the Metals and Minerals sectors, the private player Tata steel which is global player failed to make a growth, especially in recent years. In the Telecom sector, the performance of both SOE and Tata telecom are not up to mark in terms of Market Value Addition. In the Fertilizers and chemicals sectors there is a poor performance of SOE’s compared to Tata chemicals. The Miscellaneous category consists of various companies which could not be included in the above sectoral classification. It is observed that the average SOEs’ have a constant MVA throughout the study period. The paper is arranged into four sections. Section 1 deals with Introduction, section 2 discusses with review of literature, section 3 contains objective, scope, data sources and methodology section 4 deals with analysis and section 5 elaborates the findings and conclusion.
Social Media for Disaster Management: A Study of Hurricane Sandy

We investigate the match of supply of social support provided by humanitarian organizations and the demand for social support from social media users during the disaster cycle. We study the case of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and focus on the Facebook pages of five benchmark organizations that participated actively in Sandy operations in the U.S. Our analysis has two parts. First, we perform sentiment analysis to obtain the amount of informational support and emotional support embedded in each organization's post and user's comment. This allows us to obtain the aggregated amount of informational and emotional support posted by organizations. Second, we build a structural model that captures individual heterogeneity and time varying effects to test the effect of informational and emotional support on the social engagement of Facebook users at different stages of the disaster cycle. We find a mismatch between supply and demand for social support. At each stage of the disaster cycle, organizations significantly post more informational support than emotional support. However, the effect of emotional support on social engagement is stronger than the one of informational support. Finally, we provide recommendations to organizations that will allow them to solve the supply-demand mismatch.
FINANCIAL CONTRACTING WITH CEOs: AN EXAMINATION OF WEALTH GENERATION OR RENT EXTRACTION IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF CHANGING CONTROL RIGHTS

When corporate governance is effective, new managerial contracts should maximize shareholder wealth. The OBRA (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) of 1993 provides a natural environment for examining the effectiveness of corporate governance. By changing the conditions for compensation deductibility for tax purposes, OBRA encourages contract changes that reduce agency costs, but increase incentive compensation. If corporate governance is weak, managers can expropriate wealth in the new compensation contracts. The examination of contracts following then enactment of this law sheds light on contract valuation and the effectiveness of corporate governance. The paper finds that firms that were affected by the OBRA 1993 $1 million cap on salaries have abnormally high returns around the board meeting date and proxy date at which the contract was voted on. These findings are consistent with effective corporate governance and contrary to expropriation theories. Bonus payments increase shareholder wealth only under existing contracts. Operating performance improves for firms that changed managerial contracts, but were not affected by OBRA. For firms affected by OBRA, firm operating performance does not improve consistently over the next 3 years. While prior performance was low relative to comparison groups, post contracting performance is on par with comparison groups. These findings are consistent with effective corporate governance and efficient contracting. They also show that OBRA affected firms increased shareholder wealth, not by improving operating performance, but by reducing agency costs.
Green procurement, stakeholder satisfaction and operational performance

Purpose Based on Natural-resource-based View (NRBV), this study aims at clarifying the dimensions of green procurement and the mechanisms involved in the relationship between green procurement and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach Secondary data was to measure all the variables in 206 Chinese A-share companies’ annual reports, social responsibility reports, environmental reports, and sustainability reports, which were published by Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. and Wind Information Co., Ltd. Findings The results indicate that, although both product-based and process-based green procurement have a positive effect on firm performance, these Chinese companies focus on the impact of product-based green procurement on their operational efficiency as well as the moderating role played by stakeholder satisfaction. Originality/value Although studies on green procurement have increased in recent years, issues such as how to measure green purchasing behaviors and how green procurement affects firms’ .
Maternal depletion of NLRP 5 blocks early embryogenesis in rhesus macaque monkeys ( Macaca mulatta )

background: Genetic defects in the oocyte can lead to female infertility due to failures in early embryogenesis. NLRP5 (NLR family, Pyrin domain containing 5) is a maternal effect factor required for early embryo development beyond the 2-cell stage in mice. The NLRP5 gene is conserved in mammals. Applying RNA interference (RNAi) technique in the macaque oocyte, we studied the in vitro effect of NLRP5 in preimplantation embryo development in rhesus macaques. methods: Macaque MII oocytes were collected and subjected to NLRP5 long double-stranded (ds) RNA microinjection, followed by intracytoplasmic sperm injection and in vitro embryo culture. NLRP5 mRNA and protein expression were examined, and the progress of preimplantation embryo development was monitored until the blastocyst stage. result: While 46.7 and 41.4% of embryos derived from uninjected and EGFP (Enhanced Green Fluorescence Protein) dsRNA-injected oocytes (control) reached the blastocyst stage within 10 days of culture, respectively, only 7.0% of the NLRP5 knockdown embryos developed to term. The majority of NLRP5 knockdown embryos were arrested between the 8-cell and the 16-cell stages. conclusions: The work provides the first evidence that long dsRNA-mediated RNAi can be applied to specific gene silencing in rhesus macaque oocytes, and demonstrates that maternal NLRP5 plays an important role in preimplantation embryogenesis in non-human primates.
Determinants of Customer-Perceived Service Quality in Fast-Food Restaurants and Their Relationship to Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions

The intent of this research is to develop a model and the associated metrics that measure service quality in fast-food restaurants (FFRs). As part of this process the authors modified the classic SERVPERF instrument to examine the relationships among service quality, food quality, price/value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. This modified SERVPERF instrument was administered to college students at a large southwestern university. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the data. A number of significant findings were reported including that the five dimensions—tangibles, employee behaviors, reliability, responsiveness, and empathy—positively influence the perception of service quality. The results also support the contention that service quality and customer satisfaction are two important antecedents of customer intention. The indirect effect of service quality on behavioral intentions is not supported by this study because the authors did not find a significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. The findings also show that food quality is a significant factor in satisfaction. These findings indicate that FFR managers should focus on monitoring and improving service quality and food quality because providing better service to their customers will drive repurchases.
Preservation of in vitro function of platelets stored in the presence of a synthetic dual inhibitor of factor Xa and thrombin

Summary. Background: The use of citrate anticoagulant limits the clinical significance of platelet function tests. Thrombin inhibitors cannot prevent thrombin‐induced platelet activation completely. We examined the influence of benzylsulfonyl‐d‐Arg‐Pro‐4‐amidinobenzylamide (BAPA), a dual inhibitor of Factor Xa (FXa) and thrombin, on platelet responsiveness to agonists when measured between 2 and 24 h after venipuncture. Methods: Blood samples from 36 individuals were anticoagulated with citrate and BAPA, respectively. Turbidimetric platelet aggregometry (TPA) and impedance platelet aggregometry (IPA), a whole blood platelet counting assay for measuring platelet aggregation (PCA), and Platelet Function Anlayzer‐100™ (PFA‐100™) closure times (CTs) were determined after whole blood storage between 2 and 24 h after venipuncture. Native whole blood was studied over 48 h to determine the inhibition of thrombin generation by BAPA, hirudin and melagatran. Results: BAPA inhibited thrombin generation completely for 48 h, while hirudin and melagatran did not. The use of citrate resulted in significantly reduced TPA induced by arachidonic acid (AA) or adenosine 5′‐diphosphate (ADP), and significantly reduced IPA regardless of agonist when measured 10 and 24 h after blood collection. PCA ratios in citrated blood also dropped significantly 10 and 24 h after venipuncture. The length of storage of BAPA‐anticoagulated blood samples over 24 h had no significant influence on any platelet response. The reproducibility of platelet function assay results obtained from BAPA‐anticoagulated samples was significantly better than corresponding data from citrated blood. Conclusion: TPA, IPA, PCA or PFA‐100™ CTs remain stable for 24 h when whole blood is anticoagulated with a dual inhibitor of FXa and thrombin. This would greatly simplify the shipment of samples for platelet function testing.
A destination’s gastronomy as a means for holiday well-being

Purpose To provide insights into holiday well-being, the purpose of this paper is to examine two inevitable traveller activities related to destinations’ gastronomy: pre-trip food information sourcing and the daily meals consumed. Design/methodology/approach A survey was carried out among 243 Finnish travellers. The findings are based on univariate analysis (t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis). Findings Pre-trip behaviour to ensure holiday well-being is based on travellers’ interests in food, an emotional desire for a sense of safety and a functional desire for convenience, while they collect information from the internet and guidebooks about recommended food places and local food as well as food safety and price level. Travellers’ place the highest importance on dinner for their holiday well-being, especially foodies – those travellers with a keen interest in food. Breakfast is the second most important meal contributing to holiday well-being. Practical implications These findings inform destination marketing organisations about what food dimensions they should emphasise in destination gastronomy-related marketing communication for tour operators and hotel and local restaurants about the essence of dinner and breakfast for holiday well-being. Originality/value The study provides insights into the role of destinations’ gastronomy in holiday well-being, which deserves to be studied in the current era of experiences and food interest.
A Probabilistic Approach to Evaluate Strategies for Selecting a Parking Space

Upon entering the parking lot of a facility, a driver must select a parking space. This paper proposes and evaluates strategies which are intended to find a "good" parking space. Three performance measures are defined for evaluating the "goodness" of a selected parking space. One of these is based on the amount of walking required of the customer, another is based on the amount of driving required, and the third is a combination of the first two and represents the time required for the customer to reach the front door of the facility. Two strategies are defined for selecting a parking space. The first is simple and somewhat conservative, whereas the second strategy is more complicated and aggressive. A probabilistic approach is used to evaluate the three performance measures for each strategy using a parking lot of somewhat "typical" configuration. This approach treats driver decisions and parking space availability as random experiments, and uses conditional probability to evaluate the performance of the strategies.
Apparent pA2 values of benzodiazepine antagonists and partial agonists in monkeys.

Drugs that bind to benzodiazepine recognition sites of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor complexes may function as agonists in some behavioral assays and as antagonists in other behavioral assays. The present studies compared the effects of the benzodiazepines midazolam, flumazenil, bretazenil, Ro 41-7812, and Ro 42-8773 and the beta-carboline, beta-carboline-3-carboxylate-t-butyl ester (beta-CCt) under two different types of schedule-controlled responding in squirrel monkeys. One group of monkeys responded under a fixed-ratio schedule of stimulus-shock termination, and a second group of monkeys responded under a multiple fixed-ratio schedule of food presentation involving suppressed and nonsuppressed behavior. Under the schedule of stimulus-shock termination, midazolam produced dose-related decreases in response rate, and these effects were surmountably antagonized by flumazenil, bretazenil, Ro 41-7812, Ro 42-8773, and beta-CCt. Schild plot analysis of these data revealed the following mean pA(2) values: flumazenil, 7.18; bretazenil, 7.62; Ro 41-7812, 7. 06; Ro 42-8773, 6.95. Apparent pA(2) values were not calculated for beta-CCt because the CL of the slope of the Schild plot included positive values. Under the multiple schedule, midazolam, bretazenil, and Ro 42-8773 dose-dependently increased rates of suppressed responding, whereas flumazenil, Ro 41-7812, and beta-CCt had no significant rate-altering effects. Flumazenil antagonized the antisuppressant effects of midazolam and bretazenil; however, individual variability in these effects prohibited the determination of apparent pA(2) values. These results indicate that in vivo pA(2) values may be determined for benzodiazepine-site ligands. These results further demonstrate that some benzodiazepine-site ligands, e. g. , bretazenil and Ro 42-8773, may function as both agonists and as competitive antagonists in vivo.
Return Migration and Entrepreneurial Success: An Empirical Analysis for Egypt

This paper explores the effect of return migration on the performance of Egyptian household firms. A growing body of evidence suggests that return migrants are more likely to become and remain entrepreneurs (Marchetta, 2012; Wahba and Zenou, 2012). The length of the miration spell, the experience and the capital accumulated overseas may influence the ability of return migrants to establish and successfully manage their firms. We expand this literature by examining the impact of return migrants on the revenue of the business units they manage. We control for several layers of selection bias, from the migration decision to the pursuit of entrepreneurial activities. Our findings suggest that two determinants of firms' revenues favour return migrants: larger starting capital and the experience accumulated abroad. These results suggest that economic policies directed at attracting return migrants should consider expanding support schemes formerly limited to the most educated migrants or to some sectors of activity as the positive impact of return migration on entrepreneurial revenues is widespread.