Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The legacy of immigration: labour market performance and education in the second generation

Previous research finds that the children of immigrants, or the second generation, earn at least as much as other native born but that there are persistent ethnic differences in the intergenerational transmission of education and wages. We explain why these results are not incompatible and extend the empirical evidence in several directions using the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics. First, we estimate a model of wages, earnings and hours worked using modern econometric techniques to corroborate earlier US results of complete integration by the second generation in the labour market. We find that ethnic differences in labour market performance are significant, but that these difference do not alter conclusions about the relative performance of the second generation. Second, we find a source of superior labour market performance for the second generation in higher educational attainment, which constitutes an important legacy of immigration that should not be ignored. Third, we find that the definition of the second generation matters. Men and women with two immigrant parents achieve about one additional year of education, while those with one immigrant parent achieve about one-half that educational advantage. We conclude that the education effect of an immigrant mother or father are comparable.
The trading performance of filter rules on the Taiwan Stock Exchange

This study examines the trading performance of filter rules relative to the buy-and-hold strategy on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Using a sample of all listed firms in the period 1971–93, this research finds that the medium-size filters significantly outperform the buy-and-hold strategy even after transaction costs are accounted for.
Who should really get government support: an analysis of Turkish SME cases

Small firms dominate the economy in terms of their share in employment and enterprise totals in most economies. Despite their central role in economic growth and their potential for innovation, the innovation activities these firms undertake are limited or unknown in contrast to many large firms. Most governments across the globe establish frameworks, create funds and revise their taxation and educational policies to stimulate the innovation activities of small firms. This study concerns the relationship between the innovation policies initiated by the Turkish Government to promote innovation among small businesses and the performance of these organisations at the firm level. We investigate the effect of support funds, for the innovativeness of SMEs given by the public agency of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization, on the firms' net sales with respect to size, sector and location. Our results reveal support funds positively contribute to net sales with higher contributions in manufacturing firms relative to the firms from other industrial sectors. Size and location also matter for net sales. Firms that are relatively larger and those located in industrial zones and technology development centres established by the small business development organisation and universities create higher contributions.
Tourists’ and retailers’ perceptions of souvenirs

The nature of humans is to return from travelling with a souvenir of the experience. The purchase of a souvenir by a tourist serves as a tangible way of capturing or suspending in time an otherwise intangible experience. Many small businesses in the south-west region of the USA depend on souvenir sales for income. The purpose of this study was to assess south-western retailers’ knowledge of tourists’ souvenir purchase behaviour while visiting the area. Souvenir products, product attributes and store attributes were analysed for differences in importance between tourists and retailers. Factor analysis and t-tests were administered. Findings indicated differences exist between tourists and retailers with regard to souvenir products, product attributes and store attributes. By better understanding the relationship between tourists and their retail needs, tourism-based retail busi nesses may increase revenues and the economic activity of a host area.
Endogenous expression of delta on the surface of WEHI-231. Characterization of its expression and signaling properties.

WEHI-231 is a murine B cell lymphoma that has been used extensively as a model for the immature stage B cell and its functional response to Ag receptor cross-linking as a model for immature B cell tolerance. This cell line expresses sIgM, CD5, and FcR gamma, but lacks the B cell-specific isoform of CD45 (B220). This study demonstrates for the first time that WEHI-231, in contrast to classically defined immature B cells, expresses delta on its surface. Analysis of delta on WEHI-231 revealed structural differences with respect to that on BAL-17 or primary splenic B cells. Although the m.w. of delta on the latter two B cell populations was similar, delta on WEHI-231 manifested a marked increase in its apparent m.w. deduced by SDS-PAGE. This difference was found to be due primarily to differential N-linked glycosylation. Signal transduction through the endogenous sIgD on WEHI-231 was investigated. In contrast to cross-linking of sIgM, cross-linking of the endogenous surface IgD on WEHI-231 was unable to generate a negative growth response in these cells. This inability may be due to uncoupling from normal surface Ig signaling pathways. The signaling properties of the endogenous sIgD on WEHI-231 differ from that on primary B cells and other sIgD-expressing cell lines. Whereas sIgD on splenic B lymphocytes or the mature B cell line BAL-17 is coupled to inositol phospholipid hydrolysis and calcium mobilization, cross-linking of sIgD on WEHI-231 failed to elicit these events, although induced changes in tyrosine phosphorylation were observed. Thus, endogenous expression of surface IgD on WEHI-231 is inconsistent with its representing the classically defined immature stage B cell. The structural and signaling differences associated with delta on these cells suggest the potential for developmentally regulated delta function and model for study of sIgD signal transduction.
Cognitive status correlates with white matter alteration in Parkinson's disease

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can develop mild cognitive impairment (PD‐MCI), frequently progressing to dementia (PDD). Here, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between white matter alteration and cognitive status in PD and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) by using diffusion tensor imaging. We also compared the progression patterns of white and gray matter and the cerebral perfusion. We enrolled patients with PD cognitively normal (PD‐CogNL, n = 32), PD‐MCI (n = 28), PDD (n = 25), DLB (n = 29), and age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects (n = 40). Fractional anisotropy (FA) map of a patient group was compared with that of control subjects by using tract‐based spatial statistics. For the patient cohort, intersubject voxel‐wise correlation was performed between FA values and Mini‐Mental Status Examination (MMSE) scores. We also evaluated the gray matter and the cerebral perfusion by conducting a voxel‐based analysis. There were significantly decreased FA values in many major tracts in patients with PD‐MCI, PDD, and DLB, but not in PD‐CogNL, compared with control subjects. FA values in the certain white matter areas, particularly the bilateral parietal white matter, were significantly correlated with MMSE scores in patients with PD. Patients with PDD and DLB had diffuse gray matter atrophy. All patient groups had occipital and posterior parietal hypoperfusion when compared with control subjects. Our results suggest that white matter damage underlies cognitive impairment in PD, and cognitive impairment in PD progresses with functional alteration (hypoperfusion) followed by structural alterations in which white matter alteration precedes gray matter atrophy. Hum Brain Mapp, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Evolution of Attitudes to Risk: Lottery Tickets and Relative Wealth

Abstract Individual attitudes to risk are examined in an evolutionary model. Males obtain more offspring as a consequence of greater wealth both directly and because this attracts more mates. The second effect induces gambling driven by relative wealth and can create Pareto inefficiency. Fair bets involving small losses and large gains are taken if any fair bets at all are taken. Altogether, the model accords with observations concerning bets taken and declined by typical individuals despite settings of widely varying per capita wealth. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C72, D81.
Estimation of Substitution Possibilities between Water and Other Production Inputs

The traditional approach to measuring the demand for water by industries relies upon fixed water-use coefficients. Water supply planners base decisions about system expansion partly upon fixed coefficients applied to projected levels of industrial growth. Among the restrictive assumptions implied by this approach is that producers are generally unresponsive to the relative price of water compared with other factors. Earlier studies focused on industry-by-industry assessments of present and potential water use technologies and the possibilities for substituting other productive inputs for water. Most of these studies are economic engineering in form. Thompson and Young and Russell are analyses of the steam electric-generating industry and the petroleum refining and petrochemical industry, respectively. Because they used linear programming techniques, their results must be interpreted cautiously. The flexible functional forms which have become
Women in the board room: one can make a difference

This empirical study challenges the theory that a 'critical mass' of three or more women at the boardroom table is needed to make a difference. Performance ratings of Canadian publicly traded companies by the Globe and Mail show consistently higher corporate governance scores for companies with more women on their boards of directors. However, while companies that had three or more women on their boards had the highest scores, companies with only one woman on the board scored significantly higher than those with none. There was also no relationship between the number of women on boards of directors and Corporate Knights' social responsibility ratings on a national or global basis. The size of board and the type of industry are other important factors to consider when proposing quotas for female board members.
Insulin-induced hypoglycemia accelerates gastric emptying of solids and liquids in long-standing type 1 diabetes.

CONTEXT The rate of gastric emptying of carbohydrate is a major determinant of postprandial glycemia. In healthy subjects and patients with uncomplicated type 1 diabetes, there is evidence that gastric emptying may be accelerated by insulin-induced hypoglycemia. OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine the effects of acute hypoglycemia on gastric emptying in long-standing type 1 diabetes and evaluate whether the response to hypoglycemia is influenced by the rate of gastric emptying during euglycemia and/or autonomic dysfunction. DESIGN Gastric emptying of a solid/liquid meal (100 g (99m)Tc-minced beef and 150 ml 67Ga-EDTA-labeled water) was measured by scintigraphy on 2 separate days, during hypoglycemia and euglycemia. SETTING These studies took place at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Positron Emission Tomography, and Bone Densitometry at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. PATIENTS Twenty type 1 patients (4 female, 16 male; age, 45.9 +/- 2.3 yr; duration of known diabetes, 18.0 +/- 2.7 yr) were recruited from outpatient clinics and the Diabetes Centre at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. INTERVENTION Hypoglycemia (approximately 2.6 mmol/liter) was established 15 min before and maintained for 45 min after meal consumption. On one of the days, autonomic nerve function was evaluated using cardiovascular reflex tests. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The main outcome measure was gastric emptying during hypoglycemia when compared with euglycemia. RESULTS Twelve of the 20 subjects had autonomic neuropathy. Gastric emptying of both solid (P < 0.001) and liquid (P < 0.05) was faster during hypoglycemia. The magnitude of this acceleration was greater when the rate of gastric emptying during euglycemia was slower (solid, percentage retention at 100 min, r = -0.52, P < 0.05; liquid, 50% emptying time, r = -0.82, P < 0.0001, but not influenced by autonomic nerve function). CONCLUSIONS Insulin-induced hypoglycemia accelerates gastric emptying of solids and liquids in long-standing type 1 diabetes, even in those patients with delayed emptying, and is likely to be an important mechanism in the counter-regulation of hypoglycemia.
The Dynamic Properties of Financial-Market Equilibrium with Trading Fees

In some situations, investment capital seems to move slowly towards profitable trades. We develop a model of a financial market in which capital moves slowly simply because there is a proportional cost to moving capital. We incorporate trading fees in an infinite-horizon dynamic general-equilibrium model in which investors optimally and endogenously decide when and how much to trade. We determine the steady-state equilibrium no-trade zone, study the dynamics of equilibrium trades and prices and compare, for the same shocks, the impulse responses of this model to those of a model in which trading is infrequent because of investor inattention.
International assistance and the reform of public administration in Ukraine : fiscal decentralisation and regional policy 2000-2012

The thesis examines the influence of external advice on domestic reform in a post-communist state following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As an example of this, the research analyses the role of international assistance in the reform of public administration in Ukraine in the period 2000 to 2012, with particular reference to the relationship between the national and sub-national tiers of government. Two empirical case studies, on fiscal decentralisation and regional policy, are employed to provide an in-depth analysis of reform programmes introduced by the Government of Ukraine and an examination of the contribution of external advice to each. The thesis draws on concepts from Institutional Theory, Comparative Politics and Development Studies to explain the interaction between external donors and the domestic recipients of their advice. It is argued that international assistance to public administrative reform in Ukraine is a form of normative institutional isomorphism involving the deliberate transfer of models of state institutions from donor countries where they are regarded as good practice. The findings of the case studies indicate the narrow circumstances in which this transaction may lead to short-term progress with reform, through the establishment of a policy transfer network linking domestic and external actors. However the case studies also demonstrate that in the longer term both these attempts at reform, and the international advice which contributed to them, failed to achieve a sustained outcome. Employing the political economy analysis of development aid the thesis argues that the international community bears a large share of the responsibility for this owing to the technocratic nature of assistance programmes and their limited engagement with the political realities of reform processes.
The relationship between volatility and volume on the Istanbul stock exchange

This study is about the examination of the relationship between stock price volatility and determinants of volume on an emerging market, the Istanbul stock exchange (ISE). The aim of this study was to find out empirically whether there was any insider trading on ISE in 2003 using the panel data approach. This is the first study on this topic for ISE. Estimated results show that the average trade size sign was found to be negative and the trade frequency sign was positive. The findings can be interpreted as evidence that insider trading occurred at the ISE in 2003.
Principais características do consumo de duráveis no Brasil e testes de separabilidade entre duráveis e não-duráveis

Estre trabalho investiga amplamente a evolucao do consumo de bens duraveis no Brasil a partir da decisao de consumo individual e da possibilidade de existir restricao ao credito. A contribuicao mais relevante consiste na nao rejeicao da hipotese de separabilidade nas decisoes de consumo de bens duraveis e nao duraveis, ja que tal hipotese e implicitamente utilizada por varios artigos que tratam a questao do consumo agregado no Brasil. Os resultados, aqui encontrados, sugerem que uma grande parcela dos consumidores esta restrita ao credito, existindo restricoes de curto e longo prazo sobre a evolucao do consumo de bens duraveis, nao duraveis e renda.
The Trade-off between Child Quantity and Quality

An empirical investigation of trade-offs between number of children and their scholastic performance confirms that family size directly affects children's achievement. Though parents show no favoritism to first-born children, being early in the birth order implies a distinct advantage, entirely because of the higher probability of being in a small family. Recent large changes in family size explain a portion of aggregate test score declines, but increased divorce rates and market work by mothers have no apparent impact. Finally, teachers are shown to differ enormously, even though performance differences are poorly captured by commonly measured teacher characteristics. The evidence supports a teacher skill interpretation of differences in classroom achievement.
Melatonin and the Circadian Regulation of Sleep Initiation, Consolidation, Structure, and the Sleep EEG

The endogenous circadian rhythm of melatonin, driven by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, exhibits a close association with the endogenous circadian component of the sleep propensity rhythm and the endogenous circadian component of the variation in electroencephalogram (EEG) oscillations such as sleep spindles and slow waves. This association is maintained even when the sleep-wake cycle is desynchronized from the endogenous circadian rhythm of melatonin. Administration of melatonin during the day increases daytime sleep propensity as indexed by both the latency to sleep onset and sleep consolidation. The EEG during daytime sleep after melatonin administration exhibits characteristics reminiscent of the nocturnal sleep EEG, that is, increased sleep spindle activity and reduced slow-wave sleep and slow-wave activity as detected by quantitative EEG analysis. Administration of higher doses of melatonin (5 mg or more) prior to nocturnal sleep results in an increase in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. These data demonstrate that melatonin exerts effects on the main characteristics of human sleep, that is, latency to sleep onset, sleep consolidation, slow waves, sleep spindles, an M sleep. There is a need for further studies using physioloRical doses and delivery systems that generate physiological plasma melatonin profiles to firmly establish the role of the endogenous circadian rhythm of melatonin in the circadian regulation of sleep.
Fiscal and Monetary Regime Identification for Price Stability in Case of Pakistan's Economy

The study examines the relative importance of fiscal and monetary determinants of inflation for Pakistan during 1960-2011. By analyzing the impulse response functions, the relationship linking liabilities to GDP with surpluses to GDP, verify monetary regime. The study finds that the incident of wealth effects of adjustment in nominal public debt may pass through to prices by escalating inflation variability as predicted by the fiscal theory of price determination. The results do not support the perception that monetary authorities acted consistently with monetary dominant regime in Pakistani case to accommodate the fiscal shocks. A positive shock in inflation leads to the negative response of reserve money growth which is consistent with monetary dominant regime. However discount rate that responds negatively to inflation shock is in line with fiscal dominant regime. The different set of analysis leads to implication that nominal public liabilities, as revealing either in money growth or in nominal public debt, influence price stability in case of Pakistan. The authorities may be following different regimes for different time periods during the 1960-2011.
The renaissance of Commandaria: a strategic branding prescriptive analysis

This paper provides the theoretical basis and contextual foundation for the commercial rebirth of Commandaria and the reconstruction of its brand. Its findings are based on the results of a research project, funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Institute. The research provided strategic marketing data and guidance towards the improvement of the Commandaria brand on a local and global basis. This paper? s methodology included 20 in-depth interviews, secondary data search and analysis and theoretical research; and it constitutes the second, prescriptive part, of the Commandaria research project. This paper has reached a number of conclusions, that both stress the need for extensive and comprehensive branding for Commandaria, and set the strategic basis for its development.
Do evolutionary constraints on thermal performance manifest at different organizational scales?

The two foremost hypotheses on the evolutionary constraints on an organism's thermal sensitivity – the hotter‐is‐better expectation, and the specialist–generalist trade‐off – have received mixed support from empirical studies testing for their existence. Could these conflicting results reflect confusion regarding the organizational level (i.e. species > population > individual) at which these constraints should manifest? We propose that these evolutionary constraints should manifest at different organizational levels because of differences in their underlying causes and requirements. The hotter‐is‐better expectation should only manifest across separate evolutionary units (e.g. species, populations), and not within populations. The specialist–generalist trade‐off, by contrast, should manifest within as well as between separate evolutionary units. We measured the thermal sensitivity of sprint performance for 440 rainforest sun skinks (Lampropholis coggeri) representing 10 populations, and used the resulting performance curves to test for evidence for the hypothesized constraints at two organizational levels: (i) across populations and (ii) within populations. As predicted, the hotter‐is‐better expectation was evident only at the across‐population level, whereas the specialist–generalist trade‐off was evident within, as well as across, populations. Our results suggest that, depending on the processes that drive them, evolutionary constraints can manifest at different organizational levels. Consideration of these underlying processes, and the organizational level at which a constraint should manifest, may help resolve conflicting empirical results.