Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
International Comparisons of Productivity Growth: The Role of Information Technology and Regulatory Practices

While information technologies (IT) are credited with the recent acceleration in productivity in the United States, many other industrial countries have not experienced a pickup in productivity growth. To explain this productivity divergence, we use panel data from 1992 to 1999 for 13 industrial countries and find that this divergence is driven in part by differences in both the production and adoption of information technologies. Based on this finding, we proceed to investigate what factors might play a role in explaining differences in IT adoption. Our results support the view that burdensome regulatory environments and in particular regulations affecting labor market practices have impeded the adoption of information technologies and slowed productivity growth in a number of industrial countries. We then develop a theoretical model with vintage capital and labor to evaluate the effect of more stringent labor market regulations on a firm's decision to adopt new technologies. We establish conditions under which a tax on firing workers delays the adoption of IT technology. These conditions occur when technological change is skill-biased and a firm must upgrade the quality of its workforce through labor turnover. The resulting delay in adopting IT technology then has negative implications for economy-wide productivity and is largely consistent with our empirical results.
Intertemporal Cross-Dependence in Securities Daily Returns and the Short-Run Intervaling Effect on Systematic Risk

Statistical estimates of securities' systematic risk and the Market Model R2 are not invariant to the length of the differencing interval over which securities' returns are measured. This phenomenon, referred to as “The Intervaling Effect,” has been widely observed and discussed in the literature. Assuming that returns are multiplicative and independently distributed, Levhari and Levy [7] have developed a model that explains the intervaling effect on systematic risk for differencing intervals of one to 30 months. However, with intervals as, short as a day, their independence assumption does not usually hold.
Water Resources in Lebanon: Characterization, Water Balance and Constraints

Worldwide water resources are not uniformly distributed and are generally scarce in arid and semiarid zones such as the Middle East. Lebanon, which is located along the Mediterranean shores of the Middle East, remains blessed with relatively more water in comparison with its neighbouring countries. This paper examines increased pressure on Lebanon's water resources requiring the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive management plan to meet future water demands. Water resources are described with the corresponding present and future water balance, environmental stresses, and constraints facing the water sector in Lebanon.
Race, Finding Meaning, and Caregiver Distress

This study investigated the relationship between race, finding meaning (as a positive psychological resource variable), and the outcomes of caregiver depression and global role strain among 77 African American and 138 White spouse caregivers of persons with dementia. Finding provisional meaning had a direct negative relationship with depression and global role strain. Although African American caregivers were less likely to report depression and role strain, there was no interaction by race in the process influencing caregiver distress.
Epidemiologic Genotyping of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis at a University Hospital and Comparison with Antibiotyping and Protein A and Coagulase Gene Polymorphisms

ABSTRACT A total of 124 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were ascertained at the University Hospital of the Canary Islands between January 1997 and April 2000. Genotyping included pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (SmaI digestion) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis for the coagulase (coa) and protein A (spa) genes. Antibiotic resistance was the main phenotypic marker correlated with genotyping results. Three main PFGE types were detected: A (with 12 subtypes), B (with 2 subtypes), and C. PFGE type A1 was the most commonly found (61% of isolates) and the one responsible for all the epidemic outbreaks. Other genetics markers used (coa and spa RFLPs) were significantly correlated with the PFGE types detected (P < 0.001). These PCR-RFLP assays were useful as molecular markers for a quick, preliminary study of MRSA outbreaks.
History of American Corporate Governance: Law, Institutions, and Politics

This paper presents an overview of the history of corporate governance in the United States, emphasizing the period before the advent of federal securities laws and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Recent research has overturned many widely accepted beliefs about corporate governance during this period. In particular, the evolution of American corporate governance has not followed a simple, linear trajectory, beginning with small, well-governed firms and ending with large, poorly governed ones. Over time, economic and institutional changes have given rise to successive generations of corporations with their own governance problems and their own mechanisms to address those problems. When existing governance mechanisms failed, the United States experienced corporate governance crises--episodes that shattered investors' faith in corporate management and the legal institutions intended to protect their rights. The resolutions of these crises have sometimes been found in legal innovations, and in other cases, in institutional or market-based solutions.
Modeling Roles of Service Recovery Strategy: A Relationship-Focused View

This study proposed and tested a theoretical model consisting of antecedents and consequences of recovery satisfaction using a scenario experimentation (2 × 2 × 2 factorial design). Each participant was provided the same service failure (overcooked steak) scenario and one of the eight recovery scenarios. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses based on 286 cases. All three dimensions of justice had positive effects on recovery satisfaction. Recovery satisfaction had positive effects on trust and overall satisfaction. Trust had positive effects on commitment and overall satisfaction. Commitment had positive effects on overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Although a service failure might negatively affect customers’ relationship with the service provider, effective recovery can reinforce attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. The findings emphasize that recovery efforts should be viewed not only as a strategy to recover immediate satisfaction but also as a relationship tool to build long-term relationships with customers.
Cross-Cultural Competence in Transnational Medical Education Partnership

The purposes of the study were to discover the knowledge, behaviors, and skills that foster cross-cultural competence in transnational medical education partnership and to unite the research process with theory development. Selected literature and a modicum of concepts limited the framing of this study from an existing theoretical framework. Such a framework would have been useful in providing the basis for training of health care professionals involved in transnational ventures. To accomplish this, the research used a qualitative grounded theory approach to explore the experiences of twenty-five professionals involved in transnational medical education partnership. The research was conducted at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Interviews served as the main source for the study. Narrative inquiry consisted of audio-recording, documentation, and analyses of the individual accounts and experiences of the participants. The study contributed to knowledge and practice and created a theoretical model of crosscultural competence, which is generalizable to what professionals should know, be, and do. This model was based on the principles: Know thyself, be a moral agent, strive for relational transparency, possess generosity of spirit, practice reflectivity, be mindful and adaptable, and promote human dignity. The pillars are: Recognition respect, evaluative respect, mutual generativity, and conscious conscientiousness. The study provided recommendations aimed at assisting health care professionals in the development of knowledge, behaviors, and skills for effective cross-cultural competencies necessary for maintaining successful partnership. It will also influence other researchers who design studies to test the theory in practice and provide theory for health care professionals requiring extensive cross-cultural competence to engage and collaborate successfully. Lastly, the study contributed to the literature on cross-cultural competence in transnational medical education partnership. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/164 Cross-Cultural Competence in Transnational Medical Education Partnership By Greta Rosalie Strong Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Ed.D. in Executive Leadership Supervised by Dr. C. Michael Robinson Committee Member Dr. Brezetta Griffith-Bullock Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education St. John Fisher College
A Century of American Economic Review

Using information collected from American Economic Review publications of the last 100 years, we try to provide answers to various questions: Which are the top AER publishing institutions and countries? Which are the top AER papers based on citation success? How frequently is someone able to publish in AER? How equally is citation success distributed? Who are the top AER publishing authors? What is the level of cooperation among the authors? What drives the alphabetical name ordering? What are the individual characteristics of the AER authors, editors, editorial board members, and referees? How frequently do women publish in AER? What is the relationship between academic age, publication performance, and citation success? What are the paper characteristics? What influences the level of technique used in articles? Do connections have an influence on citation success? Who receives awards? Can awards increase the probability of publishing in AER at a later stage?
Market values and efficiency in US insurer acquisitions and divestitures

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the market-value relevance of frontier efficiency scores and to test hypotheses from corporate control and production theory by analyzing the market response to US property–liability (P–L) insurer acquisitions and divestitures. Design/methodology/approach - Cost and revenue efficiencies are estimated based on accounting data for US P–L insurers using data envelopment analysis. The market-value response to acquisitions and divestitures is estimated using a standard market model event study. Regression analysis is used to measure the relationship between abnormal returns (dependent variable) and efficiency (independent variable), along with a set of control variables. Findings - The results show that acquirers, targets and divesting firms all have significant positive abnormal returns around announcement dates. We also find that efficient acquirers and targets have higher cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) but inefficient divesting firms have higher CARs. Research limitations/implications - The findings are consistent with insurance acquisitions and divestitures being driven primarily by value-maximizing motivations, consistent with corporate control and production theory. Practical implications - Frontier efficiency scores based on accounting data provide value-relevant information for insurance managers. Originality/value - This is one of only a few papers that relate frontier efficiency to market values and is the first paper to do this for the insurance industry. It is also one of only two existing papers that analyze the value relevance of efficiency scores in the context of mergers and acquisitions.
Epitope-selective, monoclonal-antibody-based immunoradiometric assays of predictable specificity for differential measurement of choriogonadotropin and its subunits.

Knowing the epitope specificities of our monoclonal antibodies (MCA) to human choriogonadotropin (hCG), we could design three classes of two-site immunoradiometric assays (IRMA): a combination of two MCA recognizing two separate alpha-epitopes (alpha-MCA) provides a system (i.e., an alpha-IRMA) that measures holo-hCG plus free alpha-subunits plus follitropin, lutropin, and thyrotropin, whereas a beta-IRMA, consisting of two beta-MCA, quantifies holo-hCG plus free beta-subunits. The amount of either of the two subunits can be calculated by subtracting the amount of holo-hCG determined in parallel in a holo-hCG-IRMA. In the latter, one of the alpha- or beta-MCA may be either cross-combined or, preferably, paired with an MCA specific for a conformational epitope. These analytical specificities, predicted from our previously established epitope map of hCG, could be experimentally verified. With these IRMAS we could demonstrate that in certain choriocarcinoma cell lines the earliest and quantitatively predominant tumor marker is the free alpha-subunit. Similar results showing an unbalanced secretion of hCG and its subunits were obtained for patients with related tumors. These findings challenge the present diagnostic practice of relying solely on "beta-hCG" radioimmunoassays and at the same time offer a novel analytical strategy.
Headache, migraine and cardiovascular risk factors: The HUNT study

Background: Migraine with aura (MA) has been found to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease including ischaemic stroke and myocardial infarction. Studies have also reported a higher prevalence of unfavourable cardiovascular risk factors amongst migraineurs, but results have been conflicting as to whether this is restricted to MA or also holds true for migraine without aura (MO). This study aims to examine the relation between headache and cardiovascular risk factors in a large cross‐sectional population‐based study.
Patients' expectation and satisfaction with removable dental prosthesis therapy and correlation with patients' evaluation of the dentists.

OBJECTIVE Considering that patients' satisfaction is one of the most important goals in conducting removable dental prosthesis (RDP) therapy and the fact that there are many factors which influence this parameter, the present study aims to evaluate the expectation before and satisfaction after therapy with RDP in patients who seek such therapy. As a secondary objective, other variables that may be associated with patient satisfaction are also evaluated, such as gender, age, Kennedy's classification of the arch supporting the RDP, the number of RDP adjustments after delivery and patients' evaluation of the dentists' conduct. MATERIALS AND METHODS A sample of 44 patients who received RDP therapy were assigned visual analog scale scores for their expectation before and satisfaction after therapy regarding chewing, aesthetics, comfort and phonetics. They also completed a questionnaire concerning the dentists' conduct. RESULTS There was no statistically significant difference among scores concerning different genders, age, number of post-delivery settings and arch involved in the RDP. Regarding patients' evaluation of the dentists' conduct, there was a predominance of positive evaluations, but only different answers to the statement (i.e. 'The dentist I saw thoroughly explained the recommended treatment before it commenced') present statistically significant different scores for chewing (p = 0.040) and phonetics (p = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS The average visual analog scale scores were high for both expectation prior to treatment and satisfaction after treatment; however, the scores for expectations were higher than those for satisfaction.
eview-linked sugar-regulated protein folding and quality control in the ER bla

Asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans) are displayed on the majority of proteins synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Removal of the outermost glucose residue recruits the lectin chaperone malectin possibly involved in a first triage of defective polypeptides. Removal of a second glucose promotes engagement of folding and quality control machineries built around the ER lectin chaperones calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT) and including oxidoreductases and peptidyl–prolyl isomerases. Deprivation of the last glucose residue dictates the release of N-glycosylated polypeptides from the lectin chaperones. Cor-
Violent offender research and implications for the criminal justice system.

Some offenders are at very high risk to reoffend. Research conducted at the author's institution and elsewhere shows that psychopathic offenders are especially likely to be violent, that future violence can be predicted with considerable accuracy among men who have committed at least 1 violent offense, and that treatment programs to reduce dangerousness do not always have the intended effects (i.e., they may actually increase the dangerousness of some individuals). Implications for the criminal justice system pertain to release following insanity acquittal, offender sentencing and parole, preventive detention, offender treatment, and program evaluation.
CHEAP MONEY AND THE HOUSING BOOM IN INTERWAR BRITAIN: AN ECONOMETRIC APPRAISAL

The author presents an econometric model of housing investment and establishes the quantitative importanc e of cheap money in the British housing boom of the 1930s. Cheap mone y is shown to account for about half of the initial rise in housing i nvestment. In addition, he examines the transmission mechanism by mod eling building society behavior. He shows that it was a fall in the l iquidity ratio, rather than a rise in net deposits, which was the pri mary source of the initial increase in building society advances. Copyright 1987 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
No increased risk of coronary heart disease for patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer in Chinese/Taiwanese men

The relationship between androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and coronary heart disease (CHD) remains controversial. Furthermore, the majority of such studies focused on Caucasian populations, and there is still a paucity of studies among Asian populations. This population‐based study aimed to investigate the relationship between ADT and CHD in an ethnic Chinese (i.e., Taiwanese) population. We used data sourced from the Taiwan ‘Longitudinal Health Insurance Database'. This study included 1278 patients with prostate cancer in the study group and 1278 subjects without prostate cancer in the comparison group. Each patient was individually tracked for a 3‐year period to identify those who had subsequently received a diagnosis of CHD. The results showed that the incidence rate of CHD during the 3‐year follow‐up period was 4.69 (95% CI: 2.99–5.48) per 100 person‐years and 2.67 (95% CI: 2.15–3.27) per 100 person‐years for the study and comparison cohort, respectively. The Cox proportional hazard regression showed that the hazard ratio for CHD during the 3‐year follow‐up period for prostate cancer patients was 1.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.25–2.16) compared with comparison subjects after adjusting for patients' geographic location, monthly income, urbanization level, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and stroke. However, we failed to find a significant difference in the adjusted hazard of CHD during the 3‐year follow‐up period between prostate cancer patients who did and those who did not receive ADT (hazard ratio = 1.12, 95% CI = 0.79–1.59). We concluded that prostate cancer but not ADT was significantly associated with CHD. In addition, a common cause of prostate cancer and coronary heart disease could exist.
The Size and Incidence of the Losses from Noise Trading

Recent empirical research has identified a significant amount of volatility in stock prices that cannot be easily explained by changes in fundamentals; one interpretation is that asset prices respond not only to news but also to irrational "noise trading. " We assess the welfare effects and incidence of such noise trading using an overlapping-generations model that gives investors short horizons. We find that the additional risk generated by noise trading can reduce the capital stock and consumption of the economy, and we show that part of that cost may be borne by rational investors. We conclude that the welfare costs of noise trading may be large if the magnitude of noise in aggregate stock prices is as large as suggested by some of the recent empirical literature on the excess volatility of the market.
Keep It Cheap, Keep It Local, and Keep It Coming

Through a multiple perspectives model that incorporates the normative, symbolic, and political perspectives, the author analyzes the emergence of standards-based accountability reform in the state of Wisconsin. His analysis offers insight into the effectiveness of various political actors' attempts to alter the state's education systems. Through this case study, the author contends that these policy makers' attempts to reform Wisconsin's systems of education are kept in check by the principles of cheap and local reform. Thus, to achieve change, these principles of cheap and local reform create a policy environment in which stakeholders must offer a continuous series of reform initiatives in hope that some of their policies might slip through an open policy window.
Universities' Regional Involvement in Germany: How Academics' Objectives and Opportunity Shape Choices of Activity

Kroll H. , Dornbusch F. and Schnabl E. Universities' regional involvement in Germany: how academics' objectives and opportunity shape choices of activity, Regional Studies. As acknowledged in prior studies, universities' patterns of regional involvement can differ widely and have to be considered from a much broader perspective than once suggested. This paper provides a first comprehensive identification of aspects underlying this diversity. Building on the assumption that much regional engagement rests on individual choices, it draws on a sample of about 1500 German academics to identify and corroborate the role of key factors influencing these choices in regression models. In line with assumptions, this paper finds that choices to engage regionally are strongly contingent on intrinsic motivations. Nonetheless, framework conditions do play a significant role.
Happy Working Mothers? Investigating the Effect of Maternal Employment on Life Satisfaction

This paper analyses the effect of non-participation and part-time employment compared to full-time employment on life satisfaction of mothers in Germany. Using data from the SOEP and applying fixed-effects panel estimations, the results show that mothers in family-related non-participation and mothers employed part-time are less satisfied than mothers employed full-time. The direct and the indirect effect—due to foregone household income—each account for about half of the total effect. I attribute the found negative effects on the institutional and social conditions in Germany that prevent many mothers from reconciling (full-time) employment with motherhood.