Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Coupled and Decoupled Government Subsidies on Off‐Farm Labor Participation of U.S. Farm Operators

With the 1996 Farm Act, the United States introduced payments that were designed to be “decoupled. ” Labor allocation choices are likely to be affected by receipt of payments, and income from off-farm jobs has been the major source of income for most farm households for sometime. This article examines whether the 1996 change has affected the off-farm labor participation of farm households. We conclude that the observed increase in off-farm participation of farm operators who received payments was not the result of the 1996 policy change. Government payments, whether coupled or decoupled, have a negative effect on off-farm labor participation. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
The syndication of private equity: Evidence from the UK

This paper uses UK survey data to investigate the different motives that venture capital firms have for syndicating equity investments, partner selection, and the link between competition and syndication in the market. The traditional finance perspective views syndication as a response to the need to diversify away risk, whereas the resource-based theory views syndication as a means of accessing a competitor's firm-specific resources. The results of the study indicate that syndication is more a response to the need to spread risk than share information and manage investments. Also, when the sample was subdivided according to minimum investment preference the resource-based perspective was found to be even less important for those firms who only invested sums of 5 million and greater. This result also held for the finance theory perspective for syndicating deals. The above findings were mirrored in the results relating to partner selection as the financial characteristics and resource-base of the firm were not found to be important factors in selecting a syndicate partner. Rather, partner selection was found to be far more influenced by a past interaction, reputation and investment style. Finally, evidence was found to suggest that competition in the venture capital market exerts a negative influence over a firm's decision to syndicate out a deal; however, this influence is significantly less for the decision to syndicate in to a deal.
Institutions under construction: resolving resource conflicts in Tanzanian irrigation schemes

Abstract Water governance in Tanzania's small-scale irrigation schemes has become ever more challenging because of increasing market penetration, declining predictability of water availability and widening institutional pluralism. Despite these trends, resource conflicts at the local level have generally been avoided. Instead, one observes processes in which actors involved in conflicts make and remake institutions. This renders these irrigation schemes interesting for studying water governance institutions under construction. By documenting how conflicts over water are solved in small-scale irrigation schemes in rural Tanzania, we show that resource conflicts do not necessarily lead to violence, but motivate actors to pragmatically search for solutions. Institutional pluralism is turned into an asset because it increases the potential for creativity. As such, pragmatic conflict resolution and institutional pluralism contribute to the development of more sophisticated and locally adapted resource governance institutions. However, despite its potential, actor-driven development of resource governance institutions can also reproduce deeply entrenched power imbalances and gender roles. As such, it can hinder inclusion of less powerful resource users because the latter do not always have the capability to engage in creative conflict resolution.
Cognitive Function and Health-Related Quality of Life in Elderly Patients with Hypertension - Baseline Data from the Study on COgnition and Prognosis in the Elderly (SCOPE)

The Study on COgnition and Prognosis in the Elderly (SCOPE) study is a multi-centre, prospective, randomized, double-blind, and parallel-group study aiming at comparing the effects of candesartan cilexetil and placebo on cardiovascular events and cognitive function in elderly patients with hypertension. The aim of this sub-analysis was to present data on cognitive function and health-related quality of life (HRQL) at baseline (randomization), and to investigate whether cognitive function was related to HRQL. More specifically, the main aim was to investigate the possible relationship between the Mini-Mental State Examination on one hand, and the Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index, the Subjective Symptom Assessment (SSA-P) Profile and the EuroQoL Health Utility Index (EQ-5D) on the other. All the instruments are extensively validated. A general finding was that cognitive function was positively associated with higher well-being (PGWB total score and self-control) and higher utility value (EQ-5D current health) but was unrelated to the occurrence of subjective adverse symptoms (SSA-P). Age and the use of psychotropic drugs, but not gender and education level, influenced this relationship significantly.
Bloodmeal digestion in the midgut of Phlebotomus papatasi and Phlebotomus langeroni

Abstract. Bloodmeal digestion in midguts of the sandflies Phlebotomus papatasi and Phlebotomus langeroni (Diptera: Psychodidae) was investigated in optimized assays to detect general protease, trypsin and aminopeptidase activities using synthetic substrates. Optimal activity occurred at pH 8‐9 for all enzymes examined in both species. Protease activity peaked at 24‐34h post human bloodmeal in midguts of P.papatasi and 34‐48h in P'. langeroni; all endo‐ and exoprotease activities were completed by 50 h in P.papatasi compared to 72 h in P. langeroni. Hydrolysis of two chymotrypsin substrates was <2% of trypsin activity in both species. Aminopeptidase activity was associated mainly with the midgut wall, whereas trypsin activity was confined to the midgut lumen. A feature of digestion in P.langeroni was the high level of aminopeptidase recorded within 10h of the bloodmeal.
Anomalías de calendario en los mercados accionarios latinoamericanos: una revisión mediante el procedimiento de Bonferroni

This article builds upon and corrects traditional calendar anomalies in the main Latin American stock markets for the period between 1991 and 2013. It analyzes stock indexes from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. For the study, we use econometric models for the analysis of heteroscedastic variance supplemented with significance tests, including the Bonferroni correction. Results indicate mixed evidence of these anomalies; but, after the introduction of Bonferroni corrections, evidence suggests that such anomalies disappear, in cases where return and volatility both are considered, for almost all countries during the last period of our sample.
Reforming the Labour Market for Australian Teachers

Although there is a general consensus that teachers are important for student learning, there is little discussion of the process by which teachers are employed by schools: the teacher labour market. We argue, based on a mix of a priori and inductive reasoning, that inflexible attitudes about comparative wages have contributed toward chronic shortages of qualified teachers in specialised teacher labour markets and poor incentives for excellent teachers to remain teaching. Overseas studies indicate that chronic shortages occur because fewer science and mathematics graduates, compared to humanities and social science graduates, are attracted to teaching. Higher wage rates for teachers with scarce skills will alleviate shortages and reduce attrition of the most able teachers.
Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element (CPE)- and CPE-binding Protein (CPEB)-independent Mechanisms Regulate Early Class Maternal mRNA Translational Activation in Xenopus Oocytes*

Meiotic cell cycle progression during vertebrate oocyte maturation requires the correct temporal translation of maternal mRNAs encoding key regulatory proteins. The mechanism by which specific mRNAs are temporally activated is unknown, although both cytoplasmic polyadenylation elements (CPE) within the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of mRNAs and the CPE-binding protein (CPEB) have been implicated. We report that in progesterone-stimulated Xenopus oocytes, the early cytoplasmic polyadenylation and translational activation of multiple maternal mRNAs occur in a CPE- and CPEB-independent manner. We demonstrate that polyadenylation response elements, originally identified in the 3′-UTR of the mRNA encoding the Mos proto-oncogene, direct CPE- and CPEB-independent polyadenylation of an early class of Xenopus maternal mRNAs. Our findings refute the hypothesis that CPE sequences alone account for the range of temporal inductions of maternal mRNAs observed during Xenopus oocyte maturation. Rather, our data indicate that the sequential action of distinct 3′-UTR-directed translational control mechanisms coordinates the complex temporal patterns and extent of protein synthesis during vertebrate meiotic cell cycle progression.
Evolution of the School District Superintendent Position

N role expectations for local school district superintendents have evolved over the past 150 years, incrementally becoming more extensive, complex, and demanding. By the 1980s, 82% of the states had promulgated laws or policies that required officeholders to complete a prescribed program of graduate study and subsequently obtain a state-issued license (or certificate) to practice. All but three of these states specified courses that had to be completed, and somewhat surprisingly, only 25 states identified “classroom teaching experience” as a license requirement (Baptist, 1989). More recently, Feistritzer (2003) reported that although 41 states continue to require preparation and licensing for superintendents, more than half of these states (54%) issue either waivers or emergency certificates to individuals who do not meet the prescribed qualifications. In addition, 15 of the 41 states (37%) allow or sanction alternative routes to licensure. Overall, the trend has been toward rescinding requirements for this key position, as evidenced by radical policy decisions such as in Tennessee, in which the only remaining requirement for being a superintendent is a bachelor’s degree (Kowalski & Glass, 2002).
NKG2C+ NK Cells Are Enriched in AIDS Patients with Advanced-Stage Kaposi's Sarcoma

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining condition in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. We investigated the phenotype and function of the NKG2C+ NK cell population in individuals with AIDS and Kaposi's sarcoma. The staging of AIDS KS patients according to the AIDS Clinical Trial Group criteria revealed that patients with the S1 disease stage have a significantly higher proportion of NKG2C+ cells than those with the S0 disease stage. NKG2C+ cells from S1-stage patients are highly enriched for the expression of KIR3DL1, are depleted of NKp46, and respond poorly to major histocompatibility complex class I-positive target cells. These data demonstrate a link between NK cell phenotype and function and disease prognosis in AIDS.
Export and Economic Growth in Select South Asian Countries: Causality Analysis Based on Granger Test & VECM

Over the past thirty years, many developing countries have adopted export promotion as their development policy. The export-led growth approach encouraged countries to focus on production for exports. After the miraculous performance of the East and South East Asian countries, the South Asian countries also shifted their strategy in favour of export oriented policies. The present study analyzed the export-led growth hypothesis in select South Asian countries namely Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka by using unit root, cointegration, vector error correction model, and Granger causality test. Time series data for exports and imports of goods&services and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were taken for the period from 1980-2012 from The World Bank's world development indicators. The study concluded that export-led growth hypothesis was valid for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka only in the long run. For India, the study found evidence of export-led growth hypothesis, particularly for the short run. No short run and long run relationship was found for Pakistan. The VECM results for imports and GDP per capita showed that imports significantly caused GDP per capita only in Bangladesh, but no long run causal relationship was found from GDP per capita to imports. The results of the Granger causality test do not show any causal relationship between imports and GDP per capita except for Pakistan, in case of which there is unidirectional causality from GDP per capita to imports.
Délinquance et immigration en France : un regard sociologique

En France, comme dans la plupart des pays occidentaux, la figure de l’immigre est fortement associee a celle du delinquant, dans les representations collectives et dans les discours mediatico-politiques sur l’« insecurite ». Cette association se scinde en deux problematiques : la delinquance des etrangers et celle des « jeunes issus de l’immigration ». Cet article se propose de faire une synthese critique des connaissances sur ces deux questions, a partir des donnees administratives et des travaux sociologiques de nature quantitative et qualitative. L’examen rigoureux des statistiques policieres ne permet pas de mesurer la delinquance des etrangers. Il invite toutefois a distinguer une delinquance professionnelle des etrangers non residents d’une delinquance d’etrangers residents qui s’apparente aux vols et aux violences physiques classiquement observes dans les couches les plus pauvres de la population. Les travaux sociologiques permettent ensuite de mettre en evidence le fait qu’une sur-representation des jeunes issus de l’immigration africaine dans la population delinquante juvenile peut etre observee localement mais non de facon uniforme sur le territoire national. Ce constat amene alors a rechercher les effets de contextes locaux qui favorisent le developpement de cette specificite, dans une perspective tant sociologique que psychosociologique.
Elevated risperidone serum concentrations during acute inflammation, two cases

Inflammation-mediated changes in drug metabolism may lead to alterations in the absorption, distribution, and clearance of psychotropic drugs and thus elevate drug levels in blood and lead to intoxications. We report about two patients who developed an up to threefold increase of dose-related serum concentrations of risperidone’s active moiety (risperidone plus 9-hydroxyrisperidone) during acute inflammation indicated by elevated C-reactive protein. The two female patients (aged 56 and 38 years, respectively) had the diagnoses of paranoid schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. For both patients, there was a close time-dependent parallel fluctuation of drug levels and C-reactive protein. Since elevated drug levels could not be attributed to prescribed comedications, it seemed likely that high-serum concentrations of risperidone were due to inflammation. It is concluded that elevated C-reactive protein should be considered as an indication to control blood levels of risperidone and possibly dose adaption.
What Can Account for Fluctuations in the Terms of Trade?

This paper studies the sources of terms of trade volatility. We decompose the terms of trade into two components. The 'goods price' component stems from differences in the composition of import and export baskets, while the 'country price' component stems from deviations from the law of one price. Countries are classified according to their major import and export goods: commodities, manufactured goods and fuels. Except fuel exporters, there is roughly equal importance of goods price vs country price volatility. These results suggest that there may be a role for reducing terms of trade volatility through diversification of a country's exports. Copyright 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Behavioral Responses and the Impact of New Agricultural Technologies: Evidence from a Double‐Blind Field Experiment in Tanzania

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the social sciences are typically not double-blind, so participants know they are "treated" and will adjust their behavior accordingly. Such effort responses complicate the assessment of impact. To gauge the potential magnitude of effort responses we implement a conventional RCT and double-blind trial in rural Tanzania, and randomly allocate modern and traditional cowpea seed varieties to a sample of farmers. Effort responses can be quantitatively important-for our case they explain the entire "treatment effect on the treated" as measured in a conventional economic RCT. Specifically, harvests are the same for people who know they received the modern seeds and for people who did not know what type of seeds they got; however, people who knew they had received the traditional seeds did much worse. Importantly, we also find that most of the behavioral response is unobserved by the analyst, or at least not readily captured using coarse, standard controls.
Peacefully Working to Conquer the World: Singer Sewing Machines in Foreign Markets, 1854–1920 . By Robert B. Davies. New York: Arno Press, 1976. Pp. x, 390. $30.00.

The more I dwell upon the subject the more convinced I am of the splendour and originality of the genius and of the reality of the patriotism . But when to the great services (they) rendered to (their) country we oppose the sectarian and class warfare that resulted . the fearful elements and turbulence (they) evoked, and which (they) alone in some degree could control, it may be questioned whether (their lives were) a blessing or a curse to Ireland.
Structures of Human Golgi-resident Glutaminyl Cyclase and Its Complexes with Inhibitors Reveal a Large Loop Movement upon Inhibitor Binding*

Aberrant pyroglutamate formation at the N terminus of certain peptides and proteins, catalyzed by glutaminyl cyclases (QCs), is linked to some pathological conditions, such as Alzheimer disease. Recently, a glutaminyl cyclase (QC) inhibitor, PBD150, was shown to be able to reduce the deposition of pyroglutamate-modified amyloid-β peptides in brain of transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer disease, leading to a significant improvement of learning and memory in those transgenic animals. Here, we report the 1.05–1.40 Å resolution structures, solved by the sulfur single-wavelength anomalous dispersion phasing method, of the Golgi-luminal catalytic domain of the recently identified Golgi-resident QC (gQC) and its complex with PBD150. We also describe the high-resolution structures of secretory QC (sQC)-PBD150 complex and two other gQC-inhibitor complexes. gQC structure has a scaffold similar to that of sQC but with a relatively wider and negatively charged active site, suggesting a distinct substrate specificity from sQC. Upon binding to PBD150, a large loop movement in gQC allows the inhibitor to be tightly held in its active site primarily by hydrophobic interactions. Further comparisons of the inhibitor-bound structures revealed distinct interactions of the inhibitors with gQC and sQC, which are consistent with the results from our inhibitor assays reported here. Because gQC and sQC may play different biological roles in vivo, the different inhibitor binding modes allow the design of specific inhibitors toward gQC and sQC.
Glenohumeral range of motion and stiffness in professional baseball pitchers.

PURPOSE This study was conducted to perform kinematic measures in a group of asymptomatic professional baseball pitchers to determine side-to-side differences in passive glenohumeral range of motion (ROM) and stiffness. We hypothesized that the throwing shoulder in asymptomatic pitchers would display greater passive glenohumeral stiffness than the contralateral nonthrowing shoulder. METHODS Thirty-four professional baseball pitchers had bilateral assessments for passive glenohumeral ROM and stiffness during a single test session. ROM and stiffness measures were obtained objectively using standard goniometry and instrumented stress arthrometry, respectively. RESULTS The throwing shoulder had significantly less (-8.5 degrees) internal rotation and significantly more external rotation (5.1 degrees) than the nonthrowing shoulder (P < 0.01). Passive joint stiffness was not significantly different between the throwing and nonthrowing shoulder, and anterior joint stiffness was significantly greater than posterior joint stiffness for both shoulders (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The repetitive stress of long-term throwing creates altered glenohumeral rotational patterns in the throwing shoulder of the professional baseball pitcher without compromising the joint's passive restraining quality.
Is Free Trade Passe

Abstract If there were an Economist's Creed, it would surely contain the affirmations “I understand the Principle of Comparative Advantage” and “I advocate Free Trade. ” Yet the case for free trade is currently more in doubt than at any time since the 1817 publication of Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy, and this is due to changes that have recently taken place in the theory of international trade. While new developments in international trade theory may not yet be familiar to the profession at large, they have been substantial and radical. In the last ten years the traditional constant returns, perfect competition models of international trade have been supplemented and to some extent supplanted by a new breed of models that emphasizes increasing returns and imperfect competition. These new models call into doubt the extent to which actual trade can be explained by comparative advantage; they also open the possibility that government intervention in trade via import restrictions, export subsidies.
Screening for excessive alcohol drinking. Comparative value of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, gamma-glutamyltransferase, and mean corpuscular volume.

BACKGROUND Screening medical patients for excessive alcohol drinking is important because minimal intervention by physicians is effective in reducing excessive consumption. Screening tests, such as biologic markers of alcohol consumption, should therefore be investigated to assess their validity to detect alcohol drinking. METHOD Levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were determined in 1202 consecutive patients (20 to 75 years old) seen at the medical emergency ward (n = 552) and the primary care center (n = 650) of a city and teaching hospital. Each eligible patient was administered a CAGE questionnaire (an acronym for questions regarding cutting down on drinking, annoyance at others' concern about drinking, feeling guilty about drinking, and using alcohol as an eye-opener in the morning), and for each CAGE-positive patient (score > or = 2) as well as for a random sex-matched sample of CAGE-negative patients, standardized data about the recent level of alcohol drinking, morbidities, drug therapy, and smoking were recorded. The operating characteristics of CDT, GGT, and MCV were determined according to alcohol consumption and the CAGE test. Sensitivities, specificities, and receiver operating characteristic curves were computed to compare the tests at different cutoff values. RESULTS Levels of CDT were elevated in 21% of men and 7% of women. According to recent alcohol consumption in men (> 60 g/d), the respective sensitivity and specificity of the tests were 0.58 and 0.82 for CDT, 0.69 and 0.65 for GGT, and 0.27 and 0.91 for MCV. Overall, receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated similar performance of the three tests for screening of excessive alcohol drinking or alcohol abuse. However, in young men (< 40 years of age) and in smokers, CDT was superior to GGT or MCV. CONCLUSIONS The study suggests that CDT determination may be a useful test for screening programs of excessive alcohol drinking in young male medical patients.