Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ARE ICTs IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE EU REGIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

This paper conducts an empirical study about the effect of e-government on transparency, openness and, hence, accountability in 15 countries of the EU. Thus the effects examined cover over 84 per cent of EU population. The population also represents the different types of public administration styles that exist in Western developed countries. The paper compares the development and sophistication of 318 government web sites at sub-national level and tests the impact of contextual and organizational factors. The study refers to regional and local governments since they play a key role both in the national pattern of government and in administering welfare policies. Benchmarking studies of e-government are undertaken regularly by consultancy firms. Most of this literature focuses on central and federal governments in terms of examining trends in digital government. However, little research has been conducted from a comparative perspective on analysing the movement of EU countries to digital government at a sub-national level.
Measuring Education for the Millennium Development Goals: Reflections on Targets, Indicators, and a Post-2015 Framework

Abstract Education has a prominent position in the current Millennium Development Goal (MDG) framework; targets on schooling are attached to two of the goals. However, from a human development perspective, the narrow framing of the education targets and indicators in the MDGs had perverse consequences, stemming from the omission of salient aspects of quality, context, and equity. The selected targets limited the capacity of the education sector to support other MDGs. In thinking about indicators for a post-2015 framework, this paper considers the history of how and why the indicators for MDG 2 were selected and puts forward some critical reflections on two alternative indicators for the education goal in a post-2015 framework.
Legally Public but Privately Practiced: Segregating the Lactating Body

Contemporary discourses position the “ideal mother” as a breastfeeding one; however, most mothers are faced with an economic imperative to return to work shortly after delivery, complicating their ability to continue breastfeeding. Some organizations have begun to provide lactation rooms for breastfeeding employees. Adopting a Foucauldian lens, I explore the ways in which a lactation room functions as what Foucault might have termed a heterotopian space, blurring the boundaries of public and private spheres. I combine rhetorical analysis of a lactation room, journal entries, media coverage, and my own experiences to answer recent appeals from scholars to address the role of space in communication research. I argue that the well-intended vision of the lactation room may be appreciated by some, but the composition of the room (e.g., single-occupancy design, discreet location) undercuts its necessity.
Extensor Mechanism Allograft Reconstruction in TKA at a Mean of 56 Months

Extensor mechanism disruption in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) occurs infrequently but often requires surgical intervention. We compared two cohorts undergoing extensor mechanism allograft reconstruction and presumed both types of extensor mechanism allograft reconstruction will be successful but for different indications and forms of extensor failure. Nineteen consecutive patients with extensor mechanism disruption after TKA were treated. Two different types of extensor mechanism allografts were used: quadriceps tendon-patella-patella tendon-tibial tubercle, and Achilles tendon allograft. Demographic factors, diagnosis at extensor failure, Knee Society clinical rating scores, radiographs, and patient satisfaction were recorded. The average time from extensor mechanism disruption to surgery was 6.6 months (range, 1-24 months). At a mean followup of 56 months (range, 24-96 months), all patients were community ambulators. The mean Knee Society score improved from 27 points preoperatively to 76 points postoperatively. There was no loss of knee flexion postoperatively. The mean postoperative lag was 14°. Fifteen patients had an extensor lag of less than 10°. All patients thought their functional status had improved, and 89% were satisfied with the results of the allograft reconstruction. The total extensor mechanism allo- graft and Achilles tendon allograft both were successful in the treatment of the failed extensor mechanism. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Default Probabilities and Default Correlations

Starting from the Merton framework for firm defaults, we provide the analytics and robustness of the relationship between default correlations. We show that loans with higher default probabilities will not only have higher variances but also higher correlations between loans. As a consequence, portfolio standard deviation can increase substantially when loan default probabilities rise. This result has two important implications. First, relative prices of loans with different default probabilities should reflect the differential impact on portfolio standard deviation. Second, the standard deviation of loan portfolios and of default rates, as well as the required economic capital will vary significantly over the business cycle.
INTERGENERATIONAL DYNAMICS AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES

OF DISSERTATION INTERGENERATIONAL DYNAMICS AND POLITICAL OUTCOMES This dissertation explores the relationship between intergenerational dynamics and politics outcomes in several distinct contexts. It is motivated by the remarkable demographic shifts exhibited by people in advanced countries over the past several decades. Individuals on average have longer lives and fewer children than ever before. Combining these shifts with the large intergenerational public policies that exist in many such states (education, old-age social welfare, healthcare) provokes several distinct yet related research questions addressed in the chapters below. First, do political traits matter for fertility behavior? If so, could the presence of differential fertility behavior across political groups lead to a shift in the position of the future median voter? Second, what are other significant determinants of fertility in contemporary Europe and the United States? Does more recent data support the findings of established “determinants of fertility” models? Finally, does the relationship between age and Social Security benefit preferences (and confidence in the Social Security system) seem to suggest the potential for intergenerational conflict over Social Security? The chapters below tie together disparate bodies of literature from multiple academic disciplines and use empirical evidence to answer these research questions. The results suggest political traits are significant determinants of fertility in some cases. The results also demonstrate that the relationship between wealth/education and fertility in many European states is positive – in contrast to much of the literature on this relationship and the common wisdom. Finally, the last empirical chapter illustrates the existence of potential age-based political conflict over Social Security in the United States.
Parathyroid Adenomas and Hyperplasia on Four-dimensional CT Scans: Three Patterns of Enhancement Relative to the Thyroid Gland Justify a Three-Phase Protocol.

PURPOSE To describe the prevalence of three relative enhancement patterns of parathyroid lesions on four-dimensional (4D) computed tomographic (CT) scans. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study and waived the need for informed consent. The authors retrospectively reviewed preoperative 4D CT scans obtained from November 2012 to June 2014 in 94 patients with pathologically proven parathyroid adenomas or hyperplasia. Lesions were classified into one of three relative enhancement patterns. All patterns required lesions to be lower in attenuation than the thyroid on non-contrast material-enhanced images, but patterns differed in the two contrast-enhanced phases. Type A lesions were higher in attenuation than the thyroid in the arterial phase, type B lesions were not higher in attenuation than the thyroid in the arterial phase but were lower in attenuation than the thyroid in the delayed phase, and type C lesions were neither higher in attenuation than the thyroid in the arterial phase nor lower in attenuation than the thyroid in the delayed phase. The prevalence of the relative enhancement patterns was compared. The t test was used to compare mean attenuation differences in Hounsfield units between the relative enhancement patterns. RESULTS Ninety-four patients had 110 parathyroid lesions, including 11 patients with multigland disease. The sensitivity for single-gland disease was 94% (78 of 83) and that for multigland disease was 59% (16 of 27). Type B enhancement was most common, with a prevalence of 57% (54 of 94), followed by type C (22% [21 of 94]) and type A (20% [19 of 94]). Five lesions were interpreted incorrectly as parathyroid adenoma (false-positive), and all lesions had the type C pattern. Relative to the thyroid, lesions categorized as type A by readers had mean attenuation difference (± standard deviation) of 39 HU ± 13 in the arterial phase, and type B lesions had a difference of -58 HU ± 26 in the delayed phase. These values differed from the mean attenuation difference of lesions not in these categories (P < .001). CONCLUSION Parathyroid adenomas and hyperplasia can be grouped into three relative enhancement patterns based on a protocol with a non-contrast-enhanced and two contrast-enhanced phases. The type B pattern is most common and could be diagnosed with two contrast-enhanced phases. However, almost one quarter of lesions have the type C pattern and thus could be missed without the non-contrast-enhanced phase.
Sex differences in depression and the method of administering the Beck Depression Inventory.

Carried out four experiments in which male and female undergraduates (N = 384) completed the Beck Depression Inventory ( BDI ) under conditions ranging from absolute anonymity to a face-to-face interview. BDI interitem reliability was comparable across the two sexes and across different methods of test administration, and no evidence was found in any of the experiments or in all four combined that depression is more severe or common in females. We also found that for both sexes responses to the BDI did not vary with the sex of the examiner. It is suggested that sex differences in depression have more to do with the population sampled than with the method of administering tests such as the BDI . Indeed, responses to the BDI appear essentially unaffected by the method of administration.
Organizational Learnability and Innovability: a system for assessing, diagnosing and improving innovations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the development of a system for assessing and improving technology development and innovations. The system components comprise: a framework or model for assessing, measuring, diagnosing and improving innovation enablers and results; a simple methodology for data collection, data analysis and prioritizing improvement areas; and an index for measuring the performance level of innovation, learning and lean (ILL) and the potentials to increase that level. To improve innovation, which is the most complex challenge for today's organizations, there is a need for such a system.Design/methodology/approach – The first two system components have been developed and tested during a period of ten to 15 years in several industrial companies as well as service organizations. The last component has recently been developed to satisfy a need of all types of organizations.Findings – With the last development, the ILL index, the three components comprise a system f.
Gender and Differences in Travel Life Cycles

This study examines life cycle travel patterns of outbound Australian travelers according to both gender and the purpose of travel. It finds that gender is a major influence on travel demand. Life cycle travel patterns for men and women vary considerably according to the purpose of travel. All age-related travel functions were unimodal (one mode or peak), except for travel for holiday purposes, which had two peaks. It was found that men tended to travel more often than women for business and work-related travel, but women traveled more often for leisure purposes, including travel to visit friends and relatives. Gender differences in the peak age for travel only existed in business and work-related travel, with travel for women tending to peak earlier than travel for men. Therefore, the purpose of travel and gender are important factors that need to be considered when predicting the long-term demand for travel.
Corporate risk disclosure by UK firms: trends and determinants

This study explores risk disclosure practice using content analysis of 156 annual reports prepared by 52 UK listed companies in three different periods (1998, 2001 and 2004). The study relates the extent of risk disclosure to firm-specific characteristics. The study found, a trend of increasing amounts of risk disclosure in the annual report over the six-year period influenced by accounting regulation and accounting institutes' recommendations. US dual listing and involvement in heavy industry are significantly and positively correlated with the level of risk information disclosed by the sampled companies. Risk disclosure is not related to size or leverage.
Alcohol consumption in Lithuanian school-aged children during 1994-2002.

UNLABELLED Alcohol consumption becomes an important social and health problem among youth in many countries. Analysis of data on alcohol consumption behavior from World Health Organization Cross-National Study on Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) is presented in the article. This survey is carried out in majority of European countries including Lithuania. Aim of this study was to analyze features and trends of alcohol consumption among representative sample of 11, 13 and 15-year-old school children and to compare results with international data. METHODS Patterns and trends of alcohol consumption were analyzed in three cross sectional questionnaire surveys of the representative sample of Lithuanian secondary school student's aged 11, 13 and 15 years in 1994, 1998 and 2002. Respectively, 5428, 4513 and 5645 respondents have filled in the questionnaires anonymously in the classroom according the methodology of international HBSC study. RESULTS Boys were using alcohol on the regular basis (once a week or more often) more frequently than girls. Prevalence of regular alcohol consumption has increased from 9.4 to 13.6% in boys and from 4.2% to 6.5% in girls (p<0.05). Beer was the most popular alcohol drink among the students and was consumed respectively by 8.9%, 10.2% and 12.7% boys, and by 3.4%, 4.6%, 5.4% girls at least once per week. Prevalence of respondents who have reported the drunkenness (two or more times) has increased in boys from 13.3% to 30.1%, and in girls from 27.1% to 19.6% during period 1994-2002 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Trend of increase of alcohol consumption among school-aged children was observed in Lithuania during 1994-2002. Boys tend to be more frequent regular users of alcohol than girls. Alcohol consumption was significantly increasing with age. Alcohol use behaviors of Lithuanian school-aged children tend to be closer to countries of the Western Europe and the Nordic countries during the period of observation.
Safety and Security as Part of the Hotel Servicescape for Meeting Planners

ABSTRACT The physical features of a service business—its “servicescape”—play a significant role in both a consumer's choice and satisfaction. Most hotels use physical features like meeting space, guest rooms, and public areas to market their properties to meeting planners. The study examines how hotel safety and security attributes influence the site-inspection practices of meeting planners, and the relative importance of hotel safety and security attributes in influencing a meeting planner's decision to choose a hotel as the site for a meeting as well as her/his willingness to pay more for a hotel with safety and security certification. The study also explored the relationship of meeting planners' experience level and the nature of the meetings they plan in relation to the importance they place on hotel safety and security attributes. Three dimensions of the 20 hotel safety and security attributes were found: (1) visible safety features, (2) documentation and staff training, and (3) general security features. Further analyses showed that “visible safety features” and “documentation and staff training” play a significant role in the hotel site inspection practices of meeting planners. “Documentation and staff training” also had a positive impact on planners' site selection of a hotel with a safety and security certification over one without. In addition, the meeting planners' willingness to pay more for a hotel with a safety and security certification was positively influenced by the “documentation and staff training” and “general security” features. The implications of these findings and future research issues are discussed.
The Changing Intrametropolitan Location of High-poverty Neighbourhoods in the US, 1990-2000

The purpose of this research is to explore the changing geographical distribution of high-poverty neighbourhoods both between and within American metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2000. Of particular concern is the relative shift in the number of high-poverty neighbourhoods between central-city, inner-ring and outer-ring suburbs. A classification scheme is developed for identifying these three types of area. The results indicate that there has been an increase in the number of high-poverty neighbourhoods in the urban cores of economically stagnant old industrial cities of the Northeast and an increase in the number of high-poverty inner-ring neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, metropolitan areas in California's Central Valley and a few selected rapidly growing Sunbelt metropolitan areas. The analysis indicates that an increase in the number of urban core high-poverty neighbourhoods is linked to the general health of a metropolitan area's economy and that an increase in the number of inner-ring high-poverty neighbourhoods is linked to rapid population growth.
Japanese Students’ Academic and Social Experiences at a Predominantly White University in the United States

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore Japanese students’ views about their academic and social experiences at majority White university in the United States (US). The six participants were Japanese undergraduate students (4 males, 2 females) with various academic majors. This descriptive qualitative study was situated in the concept of an academic Soujourner (Sato & Hodge, 2009; Siu, 1952). The primary data sources were a demographic survey and interviews. The demographic data were analyzed descriptively (Gravetter & Wallnau, 1996). The interview data were analyzed by constant comparative method (Merriam, 1998) and uncovered the recurrent themes: (a) differences exacerbate difficulties, (b) unwelcomed outsider, and (c) shifting attitudes. The participants’ cultural and linguistic differences exacerbated their academic and social difficulties. They were marginalized, which led to negative attitude shift against White peers. Implications and recommendations for improving the experiences of Asian international students at US college and universities are discussed.
Seigniorage and the Case for a National Money

In countries with high rates of inflation there is typically movement away from the use of the local currency. The paper analyzes the costs and benefits of using a local currency, with emphasis on the seigniorage foregone by using a foreign money. Even if it should be desirable for a country to fix its exchange rate, it still loses seigniorage if it does not use its own money. The case for using a foreign money then turns largely on the superior discipline imposed on domestic policymakers by removing their control over the money supply. Alternative methods of imposing discipline are discussed. Estimates of the amount of seigniorage raised by different governments are presented; seigniorage amounts in some cases to about 10 percent of government revenue. Estimates are also presented of both the annual flow and one-time stock costs of giving up use of domestic currencies and instead using the dollar. The flow cost is typically about 1 percent of GNP and the stock cost is around 10 percent of GNP.
Crime, Shame, Reintegration, and Cross-National Homicide: A Partial Test of Reintegrative Shaming Theory

Reintegrative shaming theory (RST) argues that social aggregates characterized by high levels of communitarianism and nonstigmatizing shaming practices benefit from relatively low levels of crime. We combine aggregate measures from the World Values Survey with available macro-level data to test this hypothesis. Additionally, we examine the extent to which communitarianism and shaming mediate the effects of cultural and structural factors featured prominently in other macro-level theoretical frameworks (e.g., inequality, modernity, sex ratio, etc.). Findings provide some support for RST, showing homicide to vary with societal levels of communitarianism and informal stigmatization. However, while the effects of modernity and sex ratio were mediated by RST processes, suppression was indicated for economic inequality. Implications for theory and research are discussed.
Steps towards medication harmonization: A look at Europe and the United States

Abstract Countries with distinct institutional endowments are trying to reach drug harmonization. The explanation given for the beginning of this process is that the rising health concerns governments have about patients transcend their different visions of social welfare and increasing bureaucratic costs, for both pharmaceutical companies and governments. The underlying reasons are, on the one hand, the high transaction costs between the pharmaceutical companies and the patients of medication and, on the other hand, the differing pharmaceutical regulations increase bureaucratic costs. This situation pushed Europe, Japan and the US into initiating a process of harmonization of regulation for new drugs. Even though harmonization is an on-going process, global and simultaneous medication product approval is not easy (the final objective of harmonization). In this paper we present, from a transaction cost approach, the economic reasons why pharmaceutical transactions need to be under public control. At the same time, we evaluate the public policies related to pharmaceutical exchange – technical guidelines, funding and price policies – as elements of the institutional endowment of countries that could facilitate or slow down the harmonization process. We use two protagonists of the harmonization process: Europe and the United States.
'Time for a Change': Loan Conditions and Bank Behavior when Firms Switch Banks

This paper studies loan conditions when firms switch banks. Recent theoretical work on bank–firm relationships motivates our matching models. The dynamic cycle of the loan rate that we uncover is as follows: a loan granted by a new (outside) bank carries a loan rate that is significantly lower than the rates on comparable new loans from the firm's current (inside) banks. The new bank initially decreases the loan rate further but eventually ratchets it up sharply. Other loan conditions follow a similar economically relevant pattern. This bank strategy is consistent with the existence of hold-up costs in bank–firm relationships.