Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring innovation in developing countries: some suggestions to achieve more accurate and useful indicators

The paper contributes to an ongoing international discussion around how to measure innovation in developing countries and how to turn the findings into useful policy tools. It stresses the fact that innovation needs to be understood as a learning process, and concomitantly measuring innovation needs to pay special attention to related aspects that are not usually taken into account. Which people have knowledge in the firm, and which kind of knowledge they have are examples of those aspects. Innovation surveys have not yet displayed major policy impact in developing countries; they usually go little farther from what is already known. They can also give misleading results, for instance by assuming that innovation is a value-free concept, which it is not the case. The paper analyses concretely how to redress these flaws, aiming at a better design of innovation policies in developing countries.
De loyaliteiten van gemeentelijke topambtenaren

Samenvatting: In dit onderzoek wordt verslag gedaan van empirisch onderzoek (middels Q methodologie) naar de loyaliteiten van gemeentelijke topambtenaren. Vier verschillende loyaliteitsconcepties worden onderscheiden. Binnen elke conceptie wordt een andere afweging gemaakt tussen de verschillende objecten van loyaliteit.
A study of the relationship between the knowledge base and the innovation performance under the organizational slack regulating

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the knowledge breadth and depth and the balance of the two affect various dimensions of the innovation performance under the consideration of the organizational slack as a moderating factor of the analysis framework. Design/methodology/approach – This study constructs and verifies a research model of knowledge breadth and depth to the explorative and exploitative innovation performance, using the exploratory factor analysis and the hierarchical regression analysis based on a survey sample of 320 Chinese companies. Findings – The knowledge base is a critical foundation for improving innovation performance of an enterprise. A more detailed analysis reveals that first knowledge breadth provides more benefits for explorative innovation performance while the knowledge depth is more advantageous to exploitative innovation performance of an organization. Second, organizational slack can positively facilitate the improvement of the knowledge depth for the expl.
Patient participation in physical therapy goal setting.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE An important part of treatment planning in physical therapy is effective goal setting. The Guide to Physical Therapist Practice recommends that therapists should identify the patient's goals and objectives during the initial examination in order to maximize outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether therapists seek to involve patients in goal setting and, if so, what methods they use. Therapists' attitudes toward participation and patient satisfaction with the examination were also examined. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Twenty-two physical therapists audiotaped the initial examination of 73 elderly patients (mean of 76.4 years of age, SD = 7.1, range = 65-94). The audiotaped examinations were then scored using the Participation Method Assessment Instrument (PMAI) to determine the frequency of attempts made by therapists to involve patients in goal setting. Therapists and patients completed surveys following the examinations. RESULTS Therapists' use of participation methods during examinations ranged from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 19 out of 21 possible items on the PMAI. The therapists stated that they believed that it is important to include patients in goal-setting activities and that outcomes will be improved if patients participate. Patients also indicated that participation is important to them. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION In most cases, the therapists did not fully take advantage of the potential for patient participation in goal setting. Patient and therapist education is needed regarding methods for patient participation during initial goal-setting activities.
Racial/Ethnic Variations in Violence Against Women: Urban, Suburban, and Rural Differences

A large literature shows that violence against women in intimate relationships varies across racial/ethnic groups. However, it is unclear whether such variations differ across urban, suburban, and rural areas. The main objective of this article is to examine this issue using 1992 to 2009 National Crime Victimization Survey data. We also test the hypothesis that racial/ethnic minority women living in rural areas are more likely to be assaulted by their current and former intimate partners than are their urban and suburban counterparts. Contrary to expectations, results indicated virtually no differences in the rates at which urban, suburban, and rural racial/ethnic minority females were victims of intimate violence. The results indicate the great need of additional research into this important topic.
Long-term evidence on the effect of aggregate earnings on prices

type="main"> We examine the time-series properties and determinants of the relation between aggregate earnings information and stock prices (aggregate earnings response coefficient or AERC) employing return decompositions with data since 1871. We confirm that AERC is negative even though firms respond positively to individual firm earnings information, but we also find that AERC is time varying. Furthermore, we show that AERC components based on expected earnings, cash flows, and discount rates are also time varying and differ in relative importance.
Susceptibility weighted imaging of cartilage canals in porcine epiphyseal growth cartilage ex vivo and in vivo

High‐resolution visualization of cartilage canals has been restricted to histological methods and contrast‐enhanced imaging. In this study, the feasibility of non‐contrast‐enhanced susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) for visualization of the cartilage canals was investigated ex vivo at 9.4 T, further explored at 7 and 3 T and demonstrated in vivo at 7 T, using a porcine animal model.
Gender Differences in Labor Market Decisions: Evidence from Rural Mexico

This study examines gender employment differences in Mexicos rural sector using the 1994 Survey of Rural Entrepreneurs and Financial Services. It employed an approach that separate the effects of initial endowments from the gender differences that can be attributed to preferences available opportunities labor market discrimination and other market conditions all of which referred to as labor market structural issues. Findings show that higher levels of education are associated with a higher employment propensity although the variable for some secondary schooling is not significant for men. As expected married men are more likely to be employed than single men; while for females the opposite results ensues which indicate that women in rural areas tend to specialize in non-market activities particularly after marriage. Also gender differences in labor market experience--proxied by age--seems to influence the self-employment choice. These results have implications for public policy aimed at reducing gender inequality in labor market outcomes in rural Mexico. The main lesson is that policies that focus solely on individual endowments could have a limited impact on reducing gender inequality if they are not accompanied by policies addressing structural supply and demand factors that are unique to the study population and that influence the choice of women to enter and remain in the workforce.
Incentive Life-cycles

In this paper, we study the individual and organizational learning mechanisms leading to the evolution of the division of value between economic actors under a given contractual arrangement. Focusing on the division of value between a firm and its employees, we theorize that following a change in the organizational incentive structure, employees learn, over time and with experience, how to be more productive under the implied objectives of the incentive regime, as well as how to game or exploit it. Results, based on outlet-level data from a Polish commercial bank over a 13-month period, show that the bank outlets’ value creation (sales revenue from primary loans) and value appropriation (the sum of outlet employees’ monthly bonus) both increased, at a decreasing rate, over time as outlet employees gained experience under the new incentive regime. In parallel, the bank’s share (the percentage of value created by outlets retained by the bank) increased at first, then, after reaching a plateau, decreased continuously, indicating that the ability of the incentive regime to induce the intended results evolved, giving rise to an incentive life-cycle. In exploring the underlying micromechanisms, we found strong quantitative and qualitative evidence for the presence and relative paces of productive and adverse learning in bank outlets, as well as for the role of prior experience. This is the first empirical study to show that individual and organizational learning processes can influence the evolution of the division of value between economic actors.
Performance Analysis of Rain Rate Models for Microwave Propagation Designs Over Tropical Climate

Rain attenuation is a major source of impairment to signal propagation at microwave and millimeter wave bands. The procedures for the estimation of rain attenuation values as regard to microwave signals however rely mainly on 1-minute rain rate statistics, particularly those obtained locally from experimental measurement campaigns over a given location. In this paper, we present recent results on 1-minute rain rate statistics required for satellite and terrestrial link designs, as obtained from a 2-year measurement over Akure, Nigeria. The performance of the selected rain rate models; Rice- Holmberg (RH) model, the Kitami model, Moupfouma model and the global ITU rain rate model were tested based on four metrics namely: Prediction error, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Spread- Corrected Root Mean Square Error (SC-RMSE) and the Spearman's rank correlation. Results indicate that no single model completely outperforms all others. Interestingly, the RH model is particularly best behaved over the distribution, while the Moupfouma model performs suitably well. Others seem to vary largely from the measured rain rate distribution. Results for the rain rate exceeded for 0.01% of the time agrees with earlier estimates for the cumulative rain rate distribution derived from higher integration-time statistics over this tropical site.
International differences in willingness to pay for reduced risks due to risk representation: evidence from cross-country surveys in Northeast Asia

International benefit transfer from developed countries is often used to evaluate international aid projects due to the lack of primary study in the policy country, particularly when the policy country is a developing one. This paper shows that different countries may have considerable differences in their willingness to pay (WTP) for risk reduction using three surveys with the same protocol carried out around the same time in a coastal city in China, Japan, and South Korea. Japanese WTP is more than the South Korean one. Chinese WTP changes greatly depending on price adjustment coefficients: purchasing power price index or real exchange rate, but it is not impacted by risk reduction representation as in Japan and South Korea. This result suggests that more attention needs to be paid to the effect of international cultural settings when applying international benefit transfers.
Latent tuberculosis infection treatment and T-cell responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens.

RATIONALE There is currently no available test for monitoring the effect of treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) to indicate cure or predict risk of subsequent progression to disease. OBJECTIVE We used the T-SPOT.TB assay, which measures T-cell interferon-gamma responses to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific peptides early secretory antigenic target 6-kD protein (ESAT-6) and culture filtrate protein 10 (CFP-10), to determine the effect of LTBI treatment on these responses. METHODS A total of 226 tuberculosis contacts with positive T-SPOT.TB results underwent repeat testing on LTBI treatment completion. The majority (96%) received 6 months of isoniazid. The pre- and post-treatment T-SPOT.TB results were analyzed according to the combined and separate responses to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens. RESULTS The T-SPOT.TB reverted to negative in 85 (37.6%) contacts at treatment completion. Treatment had a significant effect on the response to CFP-10 (p < 0.001; reversion rate, 48.6%), but not on the response to ESAT-6 (p = 0.081; reversion rate, 21.6%). The median number of spot-forming cells (SFCs)/2.5 x 10(5) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) pre- and post-treatment was 6 versus 4.5 for ESAT-6 (p = 0.116) and 11 versus 4 for CFP-10 (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference between the change (fall) in the pre- and post-treatment responses to CFP-10 (6 SFCs/2.5 x 10(5) PBMCs) and ESAT-6 (0 SFCs/2.5 x 10(5) PBMCs; p < 0.001). Significantly different age-related T-cell responses to the two antigens were found. CONCLUSION LTBI treatment had a differential effect on T-cell responses to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 as measured by the T-SPOT.TB. The quantitative response to CFP-10 may be a useful LTBI treatment-monitoring tool.
Plasma uric acid effects on glomerular haemodynamic profile of patients with uncomplicated Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Increased plasma uric acid (PUA) levels are associated with impaired renal function in patients with Type 1 diabetes, but the mechanisms are not well understood. Our aim was to evaluate whether higher PUA levels are associated with increased afferent arteriolar resistance in patients with Type 1 diabetes vs. healthy controls, thereby influencing renal function.
Higher levels of leflunomide are associated with hemolysis and are not superior to lower levels for BK virus clearance in renal transplant patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Leflunomide use in renal transplantation has been increasing. Outcome correlation and safety data are still to be refined. The goals of this study were to report one center's experience with leflunomide, specifically the correlation of leflunomide levels with the outcomes of BK nephropathy and the observed toxic effects during the treatment with leflunomide. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Leflunomide was used in 21 patients with BK nephropathy. These patients were divided into two groups on the basis of the leflunomide levels achieved: Low-level group (<40 microg/ml) and high-level group (>40 microg/ml). RESULTS During 13 mo of follow-up, there was no difference in the rate of serum BK viral clearance between the groups. There were three graft losses in the low-level group and one in the high-level group; however, creatinine levels were higher at the time of starting leflunomide in the low-level group. Leflunomide was also used in six patients with chronic allograft injury. No graft loss was observed during the follow-up period of 16 mo. Treatment with leflunomide seemed to be associated with a new toxicity, hemolysis, seen in four of the 27 patients so treated. Patients with hemolysis had high leflunomide levels (81.4 +/- 14 microg/ml) and worsening allograft function. Two patients had histologic evidence of thrombotic microangiopathy, which led to graft loss in one patient. CONCLUSIONS The clinical correlation between leflunomide levels and outcomes needs to be further refined. This study described a possible association of leflunomide with thrombotic microangiopathy, especially at higher levels.
Institutional Voids and the Role of Civil Society: the Case of Global Finance

type="graphical" xml:id="gpol12061-abs-0002"> ‘Globalizing policy fields can contain institutional voids in which effective regulatory frameworks and the corrective counterbalance of civil society are equally absent. ’ In this paper, Helmut Anheier recommends the ‘systematic development of a transnational civil society infrastructure in terms of organizational capacity and expertise for accountability enforcement, policy review, performance oversight, and advocacy. ’
Social Indicators and Quality of Life.

A LTHOUGH WE STILL HAVE A LONG way to go in the improvement of the standard of living of one-third of the nation, the already affluent have found their wealth, or particularly that of their neighbors, an insufficient standard of social welfare. Some believe that if other standards are found, progress will be made in terms of these new standards, as though economic progress resulted from the possession of economic indicators.
Making local news

Acknowledgements Introduction 1: The Historical Development 2: Commercial Pressures on Local News 3: Professional Values in the Local Journalist 4: Local Television News 5: Alternative Voices in the Local Media 6: Local Government Officials as News Sources 7: Philadelphia's New Convention Center: A Case Study Conclusion and a Look to the Future Notes Index
Assessing Post-Bankruptcy Performance: An Analysis of Reorganized Firms' Cash Flows

We analyze the postbankruptcy cash flows for a sample of firms that emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization between 1983 and 1993. We evaluate the rate of return available to investors who owned all of the debt and equity claims on the firm as it emerged from bankruptcy. On average, this return matches the performance of benchmark portfolios during the five years following emergence. Although postbankruptcy operating margins are poor, the market appears to accurately assess the firm's prospects at the time it emerges from bankruptcy. Superior returns are generated by high growth-option firms that invest heavily following emergence from bankruptcy.
Regional Cooperation and Multilateral Agreements in the Provision of Public Safety

Although much has been written about interlocal agreements for the delivery of services, few studies have examined the factors that influence the establishment of different types of multilateral agreements (MLAs). To address this lacuna, the authors draw a distinction between an adaptive and restrictive MLA and seek to understand why local governments enter into one type of arrangement over the other. The authors build our theoretical argument on the basis of previous research that suggests agreements are designed to minimize the uncertainties associated with transaction risk. On the basis of this premise, the author’s general proposition is that the decision to establish an adaptive MLA is shaped by the asset specificity and measurability of the goods and services of the transaction. The authors utilize data on public safety agreements among municipal and county governments in the state of Florida. Findings suggest that local governments are more likely to form an adaptive MLA when goods and services are relatively high in service measurability difficulty and when both high and low asset specificity exit.
The fog of protection: Contested meanings and deliberate civilian deaths during armed conflict

Why do belligerents intentionally kill legally protected civilians during armed conflict? Such acts not only violate the human security of people protected by the civilian immunity norm but may also be war crimes. The violation of this pillar of international humanitarian law (IHL), the body of law tasked with regulating armed conflict, has been the subject of significant research and policy deliberation. Many of the useful analyses produced by these efforts operate from common assumptions. One is that a monolithic understanding of the distinction principle, the obligation for belligerents to distinguish between permissible and impermissible targets and a core component of the civilian immunity norm, exists among those who monitor and disseminate IHL. Another assumption among scholars and practitioners concerned with deliberate civilian targeting is that a shared understanding of who is protected during armed conflict exists between those who monitor IHL and those who must abide by it. Through the analysis of interviews conducted with IHL experts and belligerents who fought in a variety of conflicts on the African continent, this study reveals that neither of these assumptions is warranted. It finds that not only is there a lack of consensus among belligerents as to whom they can permissibly target during armed conflict, but that there is still debate among IHL experts as to whom the law protects. Furthermore, this study finds that shared understandings of who is protected during armed conflict do not exist between experts and belligerents, so that belligerents claiming to abide by their particular interpretation of the distinction principle ostensibly target civilians deemed protected by IHL experts. Thus this study offers new avenues for understanding violations of the civilian immunity norm and possibly reducing their occurrence.
Modal locomotion: controlling passive elastic dynamics

We present a general method to intuitively create a wide range of locomotion controllers for 3D legged characters. The key of our approach is the assumption that efﬁcient locomotion can exploit the natural vibration modes of the body, where these modes are related to morphological parameters such as the shape, size, mass, and joint stiffness. The vibration modes are computed for a mechanical model of any 3D character with rigid bones, elastic joints, and additional constraints as desired. A small number of vibration modes can be selected with respect to their relevance to locomotion patterns and combined into a compact controller driven by very few parameters. We show that these controllers can be used in dynamic simulations of simple creatures, and for kinematic animations of more complex creatures of a variety of shapes and sizes.
Are Incubators Good for Business? Understanding Incubation Practice—The Challenges for Policy

In this paper we explore a phenomenon that is currently a key component of the UK government's business support policies. Growing investment in incubation, and increased emphasis on it as a tool for regional development, require an understanding of its practice. We aim to provide insights for policymakers and practitioners to help them meet the needs and aspirations of users. Initially we present the key findings from a significant global review of studies of incubators, conducted on behalf of UK Business Incubation (UKBI), and the UK Department of Trade and Industry. The review identifies key factors in determining the potential added value of incubators. We then present the key findings from a subsequent in-depth study of seven incubators across England and Scotland, commissioned by UKBI. The conclusions of the study highlight the dichotomies relating to the potential polarisation of incubator objectives (from property development focus to business development focus) and how these influence the implementation of effective incubation processes from the perspective of tenant and graduate firms. The policies and practices of operators highlight a blurring of the distinction between incubator management and incubation development.