Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small business management and environmental engagement

Small firms in tourism are characterised by informal approaches to management, allowing their owners to meet a variety of often overlapping business and personal goals. Environmental certification schemes generally require members to subscribe to formal environmental management systems (EMS), even when aimed at small business operators. This paper examines in detail the managerial approaches of a small group of owner-managers who are operating within the approximately 3000-member Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) available in the UK and Ireland. The findings suggest that the type of environmental practices adopted most willingly reflect the formality of management within the business and the owner-managers’ various backgrounds, values, reasons to be in business, expectations from acting and their understanding of the “environment”. It finds that the “Plan-Do-Check-Review” approach of most EMS does not easily relate to the complex motivations and needs of the world of small business. The paper concludes that environmental engagement is more likely to be fostered if owner-managers’ managerial approaches and assumptions are better understood and that shared visions for environmental engagement are encouraged through informed dialogue. Both economic benefits and the fostering of “feel good” factors should be stressed if small tourism businesses are to adopt EMS programmes.
Student Achievement Through Staff Development

In this chapter the authors explain how they have developed and refined their vision for training as the means by which new knowledge is added to the teacher’s professional repertoire. They suggest that over the years since they first advocated coaching as an essential ingredient in using new knowledge to change practice in the early 1980s, training designs have come to distinguish more effectively between awareness-raising as a training objective, and behaviour change. They argue that learning how to learn is just as important for teacher professional development as the acquisition of new knowledge and skills; and they explore a model of coaching in which joint planning and resource development, together with mutual observation and learning from each other are the key elements.
A Comparison of Conventional and Internet Political Mobilization

The high cost of contacting individuals encourages mobilizing institutions to maximize resources by targeting those most likely to effectively respond, resulting in stimulation of the politically engaged, civically skilled, and socioeconomically advantaged. By dramatically reducing communication costs, the Internet should eliminate the underpinning of this “rational prospecting. ” However, because most e-mail addresses are not available in public directories and cultural norms make sending unsolicited e-mail politically risky, individuals generally must provide their e-mail address before receiving e-mail messages from political organizations. Online mobilization campaigns should disproportionately contact those with the political motivation and technical ability to submit their e-mail. The author tests these expectations about online political mobilization using a probability sample survey. Although most of the long-standing determinants of offline political mobilization fail to predict online mobilization, political interest and Internet skills powerfully determine online mobilization. However, because socioeconomic status, civic skills, and political interest directly predict online skills, these factors indirectly influence the likelihood of online mobilization.
Assessment of dietary adequacy for important brain micronutrients in patients presenting to a traumatic brain injury clinic for evaluation

Abstract Objective To evaluate dietary adequacy of patients presenting for evaluation at an outpatient traumatic brain injury (TBI) clinic. Methods We identified 14 key micronutrients with defined dietary intake reference ranges that are considered important for brain health. Adult patients completed the Brief NutritionQuest Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to calculate estimated nutrient intake. Medical records were abstracted for diagnoses, body mass index, and neurobehavioral subscale scores. Nutrients were assessed individually and were also summarized into a summary score. Associations between individual nutrients, summary nutrient intake, and neurobehavioral scores were assessed. Results A total of 39 FFQs were completed by subjects, and 25 (64%) had recorded neurobehavioral scores. No subjects met the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for all 14 micronutrients. Ten (26%) met the RDAs for 6 or fewer nutrients, and 10 met the RDAs for 11–12 nutrients. Of 12 nutrients with sufficient sample size for analysis, 11 (92%) were associated with worse mean somatic scores, 9 (75%) were associated with worse cognitive scores, and 8 (67%) were linked with worse affective scores for those with the lowest nutrient intake compared with those who had the highest intake. However, only four nutrients were statistically associated with the somatic mean score: folate (P = 0.010), magnesium (P = 0.082), vitamin C (P = 0.021), and vitamin K (P = 0.024). None were linked with cognitive or affective scores. Discussion Diets failing to meet RDAs for important brain nutrients were common in an outpatient TBI clinic, with the worst mean neurobehavioral scores for those patients not meeting the estimated average requirements.
Padrão de consumo de alimentos no Brasil

Food purchasing in Brazil has undergone major changes in the last few decades caused by structural shifts such as urbanization, changes in demographic characteristics and increase in participation of women in the labor force. Therefore, it is necessary to identify thoroughly new consumption patterns of families, especially concerning determinants of food purchasing decision. The objective of this study was to understand the consumption pattern of Brazilian families for food products by means of a qualitative response variable model including eighteen food products using POF 2002/2003 data. The Probit model was chosen to estimate this decision. Estimation results showed that purchasing probabilities of staple foods were negative related to family monthly income, while meat, milk and other products showed a positive relation. Regional, educational and urbanization variables were also important. Households whose head is a woman have smaller purchasing probabilities in most commodities in the sample.
Defining the research agenda to reduce the joint burden of disease from Diabetes mellitus and Tuberculosis

The steadily growing epidemic of diabetes mellitus poses a threat for global tuberculosis (TB) control. Previous studies have identified an important association between diabetes mellitus and TB. However, these studies have limitations: very few were carried out in low‐income countries, with none in Africa, raising uncertainty about the strength of the diabetes mellitus–TB association in these settings, and many critical questions remain unanswered. An expert meeting was held in November 2009 to discuss where there was sufficient evidence to make firm recommendations about joint management of both diseases, to address research gaps and to develop a research agenda. Ten key research questions were identified, of which 4 were selected as high priority: (i) whether, when and how to screen for TB in patients with diabetes mellitus and vice versa; (ii) the impact of diabetes mellitus and non‐diabetes mellitus hyperglycaemia on TB treatment outcomes and deaths, and the development of strategies to improve outcomes; (iii) implementation and evaluation of the tuberculosis ‘DOTS’ model for diabetes mellitus management; and (iv) the development and evaluation of better point‐of‐care diagnostic and monitoring tests, including measurements of blood glucose and glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for patients with diabetes mellitus. Implementation of this research agenda will benefit the control of both diseases.
Audit Delay of Listed Companies: A Case of Malaysia

It is important to understand factors that influence audit delay since it directly affects the timeliness of financial reporting which is one of the most important qualitative attributes of financial statements (Ashton et. al., 1987; Carslaw & Kaplan, 1991; and Johnson, 1998). A number of studies have investigated audit market research including the issue surrounding audit delay within the context of developed countries. However, audit market research in the developing countries is very limited despite calls in the literature to expand the scope of market studies to those nations (see for example, Simon et al. 1992; Walker and Johnson 1996; Che-Ahmad and Houghton 1996; Taylor 1997). This study extends previous research by examining the determinants of audit delay in a developing country. Malaysia is one such country that provides a rich setting for audit market research. It seeks to provide empirical evidence concerning audit delay of Malaysian public listed companies. The findings indicated that the mean audit delay of Malaysian companies to be much longer than the delay in Western countries. The multivariate analysis showed that director shareholdings, total assets, number of subsidiaries, type of audit firms, audit opinion and return on equity to be important determinants of audit delay. The regression results for non-banking and finance sectors were very similar. However, only director shareholding variable was found to be strongly significant in banking and finance sub-sample suggesting the importance of ownership structure in influencing audit lag in this sector. The differences in regulatory framework for both sectors could be a significant reason for the differences in the findings and warrant further research .
Physical capital stock, technological upgrading and modernisation in Hungary

This paper discusses the relation between the quality and quantity indicators of physical capital and modernisation. While international academic literature emphasises the role of intangible factors enabling technology generation and absorption rather than that of physical capital accumulation, this paper argues that the quantity and quality of physical capital are important modernisation factors, particularly in the case of small, undercapitalised countries that recently integrated into the world economy. The paper shows that in Hungary, as opposed to developed countries, the technological upgrading of capital assets was not necessarily accompanied by the upgrading of human capital i.e. the thesis of capital skill complementarity did not apply to the first decade of transformation and capital accumulation in Hungary. Finally, the paper shows that there are large differences between the average technological levels of individual industries. The dualism of the Hungarian economy, which is also manifest in terms of differences in the size of individual industries' technological gaps, is a disadvantage from the point of view of competitiveness. The increasing differences in the size of the technological gaps can be explained not only with industry-specific factors, but also with the weakness of technology and regional development policies, as well as with institutional deficiencies.
Effect of water scarcity on groundwater use efficiency in the rice sector of Karnataka: a case study

Scarcity of a resource is proven to cause prudent and efficient use in many cases. This is contradicted in other studies where common property resource is shown as heavily abstracted in the face of scarcity. Our paper provides a field level examination of the ground water scarcity–use efficiency nexus using causal inference theory. We use data from villages of Madhugiri, Karnataka where groundwater is increasingly becoming a scarce resource. Groundwater Use Efficiency (GWUE) scores are calculated using the concept of sub-vector efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis. The inefficiencies are then traced to the farm level scarcity indicators using Inverse Probability Weighting method. We use farm level proxies as scarcity indicators such as the age of irrigation! wells, irrigation investment cost and number of wells at farm level. Our study finds that water scarcity affects the GWUE negatively when conditioned on other confounders pointing to higher abstraction behavior in the face of scarcity. This result indicates that maintaining water availability levels at farm level would help in improving GWUE scores.
Antitrust Issues in the Licensing of Intellectual Property: The Nine No-No's Meet the Nineties

"KNOWLEDGE ASSETS"-research and development know-how and intellectual property protected by patent, copyright, and trade secrethave become increasingly important as a determinant of U.S. industrial progress. ' In 1995 seven knowledge-intensive industries (aerospace, computers, communications equipment, electrical machinery, electronic components, instruments, and drugs) accounted for 27 percent of total manufacturing output in the United States, up from 21 percent in 1982.2 Royalties and fees collected by U.S. firms from international trade in intellectual properties exceeded $20 billion in 1993, nearly double the amount collected just five years earlier.3 Licensing royalties and fees, although considerable, greatly understate the value of intellectual property to the U.S. economy. Technology licensing and related
Self-esteem, eating problems, and psychological well-being in a cohort of schoolgirls aged 15-16: a questionnaire and interview study.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the extent of eating problems and their association with self-esteem in girls aged 15-16. METHOD Six hundred and nine schoolgirls aged 15-16 completed a questionnaire examining eating behavior, self-esteem, and general psychological well-being. A subsample of 31 girls was subsequently interviewed in terms of eating behavior and self-esteem. RESULTS The questionnaire findings revealed that 56% of girls felt too fat and had used some form of weight control strategy. In addition, 32% scored above the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) threshold for anxiety and 43% reached the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale criterion for low self-esteem. Interviews confirmed that those showing abnormal eating behavior in the questionnaires did indeed show greater eating pathology as well as lower self-esteem. Interviews also revealed that those with high levels of eating concern showed greater levels of global self-dissatisfaction and higher dissatisfaction with their physical appearance and family relationships. DISCUSSION The results suggest that preventative interventions targeted at girls with low self-esteem may be appropriate.
Gender and child sensitive social protection in South Africa

Drawing from a 2010 study of women receiving the Child Support Grant in an urban area of South Africa, this article discusses the link between social protection, women's empowerment and the well-being of children. It appears that the Grant enhances women's power and control over household decision-making in financial matters, general household spending and child well-being. At the same time, the data show that women continue to bear the greatest burden of care in the household and that these responsibilities significantly heighten gender inequalities. Therefore, while the Grant has benefits for child well-being and women's empowerment, it cannot on its own transform unequal and unjust social relations of power. It should be working in concert with other public programmes not only to focus on children's needs but also to strive for gender equality for poor women.
Variable hematopoietic responses to acute photons, protons and simulated solar particle event protons.

UNLABELLED The goal of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, the response of bone marrow-derived cell populations to protons mimicking a space radiation environment. MATERIALS AND METHODS C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 2 Gray (Gy) simulated solar particle event protons (sSPE) over 36 h; energies ranged from 15 to 215 MeV/n and were administered in 10 MeV increments. Acute 2 Gy irradiation with photons (gamma-rays) and protons were administered to different groups at 0.7 Gy/min and 0.9 Gy/min, respectively, for comparison with sSPE. The animals were euthanized on days 4 and 21 post-exposure for analyses. RESULTS Exposure to radiation, regardless of regimen, resulted in immune depression and other abnormalities in cell populations residing in the blood and spleen; the extent of the radiation damage was somewhat dependent upon body compartment and time postexposure. However, variations were also noted among the three radiation regimens in a number of measurements: relative spleen mass, basal DNA synthesis by leukocytes, white blood cell counts and three-part differentials (lymphocytes, granulocytes, monocytes-macrophages), lymphocyte subpopulations (CD4+ T, CD8+ T, B and NK cells) and erythrocyte and thrombocyte characteristics. CONCLUSION The data demonstrate that exposure to proton radiation mimicking a solar explosion induces abnormalities in leukocytes, erythrocytes and platelets that may have adverse health consequences. However, the damaging effects of sSPE on leukocytes and platelets were generally less pronounced compared to the other radiation regimens. Results obtained with photons (gamma-rays, X-rays) and monoenergetic protons at space-relevant total doses may not necessarily predict biological responses after exposure to a solar particle event.
Banking efficiency analysis under corporate social responsibilities

This paper expands the banking efficiency literature by developing a banking intermediation model that captures both profit-maximising and corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) of banks. Using a dataset of 21 banks for each year 2006 to 2008, we evaluate the relative efficiency of Ghanaian banks using data envelopment analysis (DEA) thus contributing to the scanty research on African banks. We observe a significant difference between the DEA model that includes CSR and the other without CSR, an indication that the inclusion of CSR may be important for bank efficiency assessment. As a further analysis, we use a second stage OLS regression which confirms a positive relationship between CSR and profitability and efficiency indicators. The findings suggest that considering CSR in efficiency assessment of banks is not only important on conceptual grounds, but also indicates that banks that are socially responsible may have economic advantages.
World Cup 2010: South African Economic Perspectives and Policy Challenges Informed By the Experience of Germany 2006

"The paper provides an ex post analysis of the financial burden and economic benefits of the World Cup (WC) in Germany 2006. Based on the usual cost-benefit measures, the experience of WC 2006 appears to be in line with existing empirical research on large sporting events and sports stadiums, which have rarely identified significant net economic benefits. The lessons from Germany 2006 provide a context for analyzing the potential risks and benefits for South Africa (SA), the WC hosts in 2010. For SA, a careful analysis might be even more urgent to assure the sustainability of investment in stadiums. The paper also argues that the "feel-good" and public image effects of sports events should no longer be neglected in cost-benefit studies of large sporting events, even though these effects have the character of experience goods, and their value are thus likely to be underestimated ex ante. " ("JEL" L83, R53, R58) Copyright 2007 Western Economic Association International.
The Underrecognized Epilepsy Spectrum: The Effects of Levetiracetam on Neuropsychological Functioning in Relation to Subclinical Spike Production

The purpose of this prospective, open-label pilot study was to determine whether treatment with levetiracetam improves neuropsychological functioning in children and adolescents who have evidence of subclinical spike production associated with attention and learning difficulties. Six participants (mean age 9.8 years) were treated with levetiracetam up to 40 mg/kg per day and evaluated using neuropsychological (Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, Second Edition), academic (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition, Abbreviated), and electroencephalographic assessments at baseline and after 10 weeks of treatment. Statistically significant improvements on indexes of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, Second Edition were observed in 4 participants after 10 weeks. No statistically significant differences were observed for the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition, Abbreviated. Concomitant spike suppression was observed. Levetiracetam was generally well tolerated. A subset of patients exists with attention and learning problems that have associated aberrant cortical electrical activity without clinical seizures and associated neuropsychological deficits that may improve after treatment with levetiracetam.
Retrieval of atmospheric and surface parameters from satellite microwave radiometers over the Mediterranean Sea

A procedure to estimate atmospheric and sea surface parameters in the Mediterranean area from satellite microwave radiometric measurements is described. The method is founded on a simulator of brightness temperatures at the top of the atmosphere. The simulator is based on microwave sea emissivity and scattering model functions, derived from the outputs of the SEAWIND software, which implements a two-scale microwave sea surface model and a radiative transfer scheme in a nonscattering atmosphere. The development of the model functions aims to reduce the SEAWIND computational time, still maintaining its sensitivity to the main geophysical variables. Different adaptations of the simulation model have been performed to better reproduce the radiometric data in the region of interest. A comparison between the simulations and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) observations acquired throughout year 2000 over the Mediterranean Sea has permitted us to refine the model functions as well as to assess the whole simulation procedure. As for the inversion problem, a regression analysis has been applied to two different synthetic datasets to retrieve integrated precipitable water vapor, liquid water path and wind speed. The first dataset simulates the observations of SSM/I, whilst the second one concerns the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E). Both have been generated by using the ECMWF atmospheric profiles and the measurements of the SeaWinds scatterometer aboard QuickSCAT. The SSM/I data have been used to carry out a statistical validation of the estimators. AMSR-E observations of a Tramontane-Mistral event, typical of the Mediterranean Sea, have been analyzed to evaluate the benefits of its expanded channel capability.
How accounting fraud has changed merger valuation

The accounting fraud of Enron and other firms prompted acquirers to be more diligent before investing in companies. The fraud also led to the creation of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX), which contains provisions that require more due diligence for firms that pursue mergers. We document significant changes in the behaviour and valuation of mergers since SOX. Acquirers rely more heavily on financial and legal advisors, while targets rely more heavily on financial advisors. The total premium (which includes the target's stock price run up) that acquirers pay for targets is significantly lower since SOX. The long-term stock price performance following mergers is more favourable (or less unfavourable) since SOX, regardless of the horizon used to measure long-term stock price performance. Whether the more conservative pursuit of targets by acquirers is voluntary or forced by SOX provisions, acquirer decision making has improved since the accounting fraud.