Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marriage, Divorce and Reciprocity-Based Cooperation

This paper considers partnership formation, partnership dissolution and reciprocity-based cooperation by couples in the form of voluntary transfers to smooth consumption. While risk sharing is one benefit of having a partner, it is also limited by the (endogenous) risk of separation. The equilibrium formation and dissolution of partnerships are determined simultaneously with cooperative behavior. Publicly provided earnings insurance is shown to increase the "turnover" rate in the marriage market as well as to reduce the steady-state marriage rate and the implicit financial cooperation between partners.
Is Sky the Limit? Revisiting ‘Exogenous Productivity of Judges’ Argument

This paper revisits ‘exogenous productivity of judges’ hypothesis, laid down in numerous Law & Economics studies based on ‘production function’ approach. It states that judges confronted with growing caseload pressure, adjust their productivity thereby increasing number of resolved cases. We attribute such results to assumptions regarding the shape of court’s ‘production function’, and present alternative – hockey-stick ‘production function’ model, explicitly taking into account the time constraint faced by judges. Hence, we offer an attempt to reconcile ‘production function’ with more traditional approaches to the court performance – such as weighted caseload methods. We argue that such empirical strategy is particularly valuable in case of continental legal systems – characterized by higher procedural formalism. We also propose extended methodology of model evaluation, taking into account their ability to reproduce empirical regularities observed in ‘real world’ court systems.
A new dihydroisocoumarin from the rhizomes of Notopterygium forbesii

A new dihydroisocoumarin, 6-methoxyhydrangenol (1) as well as eleven known compounds were isolated from a traditional Chinese medicine, the rhizomes of Notopterygium forbesii Boiss. The structure of 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic methods.
Indian Food in the UK: Personal Values and Changing Patterns of Consumption

This qualitative study examined the consumption of Indian foods among groups of English and Indian people living in the UK. Both convenience and freshly made Indian foods were included in the research. The aim was to explore attitudes (based on ethnicity) towards, and the consumption of, Indian foods. The means-end model and laddering methodology were used in interviews with 24 respondents, 12 from each group (English and Indians). The personal values 'social life', 'health', 'adventure', 'enjoyment' and 'savings' were found to be the most important for English respondents, whereas, 'enjoyment', 'good life', 'health', 'religion' and 'culture' were the most desirable value ends for Indians. The results provide an insight into English and Indian peoples' perceptions of Indian food that can be used in promotion and marketing positioning of branded Indian foods, sauces and accompaniments.
Localisation of a 40kDa protein in rat steroid producing cells identified by a monoclonal antibody.

OBJECTIVE To localize (by the light and electron microscopy) and partially characterize the antigen recognized by the Mab4E6 in rat ovaries. METHODS Monoclonal antibody (4E6) against a rat ovarian granulosa cell antigen was prepared and identified the 40kDa protein specific for rat steroid producing cells. The localization of this antigen was studied by light and electron microscopic immunocytochemistry. RESULTS The immunocytochemical observation suggested that the recognized antigen was localized in granulosa and thecal cells in all stages of follicular development. The intensity of immunostaining was found to depend on the developmental stage. In granulosa and thecal stage (health follicle) Mab 4E6 binding molecule was localized on the membranes of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and on the surface of lipid droplets in close association with the RER. In atretic follicles we established that the final destination of the visualized antigen is in structures which we refer as the autophagic vacuoles in close contact with the steroidogenic organelles. In addition, we observed Mab 4E6 binding molecule in the cytoplasm of luteal cells. Leydig cells and adrenocortical cells. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that the 40kDa antigen may be common to all of rat steroidogenic organs. Our results suggest that the 40kDa protein may be associated with the processes governing steroidogenesis and/or follicular development.
Marching to Different Drummers? The Performance Effects of Alignment between Political and Managerial Perceptions of Performance Management

The relationship between politicians and bureaucrats is central to the administration of modern democratic societies, yet it often is neglected in studies of the performance of public organizations. In this article, the authors examine the performance effects of alignment between politicians’ and senior managers’ perceptions of one of the more pervasive public management reforms over recent decades: performance management. Evidence from a panel of English local governments supports the hypothesis that alignment of views between politicians and senior managers on performance management is associated with better organizational performance. Furthermore, this relationship is strengthened in organizations that display higher levels of role flexibility by managers and greater trust between politicians and managers.
Macular Grid Photocoagulation in Persistent Macular Edema Due to Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

Aim macular edema is still the main cause of poor visual prognosis in central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). This study was designed to establish whether grid photocoagulation is effective in the management of this disorder. Methods the records of 16 patients who had undergone macular grid photocoagulation for persistent macular edema due to CRVO were reviewed retrospectively. Pre-treatment visual acuity ranged from 20/400 to 20/40, and laser treatment was done six months or more after the onset of the disease. Results biomicroscopy and fluorescein angiography showed the improvement or disappearance of macular edema in 14/16 patients (87.5%). Improved visual acuity was observed in eight (50%) and no improvement or reduced vision in the other eight (50%). A poorer prognosis was statistically correlated with older age (p < 0.03), macular ischemia (p < 0.001), foveal avascular zone larger than 1/2 disc diameter (p < 0.05) and pigmentary clumps in the foveal area (p < 0.05). Laser treatment was ineffective for most patients with systemic vascular risk factors and pre-treatment visual acuity below 20/200. Conclusion macular grid photocoagulation may be effective for drying up, or at least reducing, macular edema due to CRVO and some improvement of vision can be expected in half the cases.
Drosophila goosecoid participates in neural development but not in body axis formation.

In vertebrate embryos, the homeobox gene goosecoid (gsc) is expressed in the gastrula organizer region and in later arising embryonic tissues including the foregut anlage. Ectopic expression and loss‐of‐function studies have demonstrated that Xenopus gsc elicits a dorsalizing activity that contributes to body axis formation. Here we report that the gsc gene is conserved in invertebrates. In Drosophila, D‐gsc is expressed most strongly in the foregut anlage, which gives rise to the foregut proper and the stomatogastric nervous system (SNS). D‐gsc expression overlaps with one of the three SNS precursor groups invaginating from the foregut anlage. Embryos mutant for D‐gsc gastrulate normally but show disrupted invagination in the SNS primordium and lack one specific SNS ganglion. In addition, D‐gsc mutant embryos show a less well defined defect in foregut arrangement. Our results indicate that this invertebrate homolog of gsc is not required for gastrulation but plays a role in neurogenesis in post‐gastrula Drosophila embryos.
Parents’ Experiences of Caring for a Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder involving abnormal communication, repetitive and restrictive interests, and impaired social functioning. ASD can have a profound impact on family life, including the roles and responsibilities that parents assume. In this metasynthesis, we explore the experiences of parents who care for a child with ASD. We undertook a thematic synthesis to integrate qualitative evidence, searching 10 electronic databases and reviewing 4,148 abstracts. We selected 31 articles for inclusion (involving 160 fathers and 425 mothers) and examined the articles using a constant comparative approach. We identified six themes: prediagnosis, diagnosis, family life adjustment, navigating the system, parental empowerment, and moving forward. Our findings can inform the development of programs and services for families, provide insight for health care workers who advocate on behalf of parents, and provide valuable information to parents, particularly those of children newly diagnosed with ASD.
Effects of Fin Width on Device Performance and Reliability of Double-Gate n-Type FinFETs

This paper investigates the impact of fin width ( Wfins = 15, 20, and 25 nm) in a double-gate n-type FinFET on the performance and reliability of the device. Carrier conduction in the Si-fin body of FinFETs with various Wfins is also studied. The experimental results show that the threshold voltage and drain current of n-type FinFETs increases and decreases, respectively, as Wfin is reduced. A thinner Wfin FinFET exhibits greater immunity to short channel effects. In addition, according to the analysis results of low-frequency noise, the thinnest Wfin FinFET possesses the largest bulk oxide trap density (NBOT) than that of a thicker Wfin FinFET. Moreover, the noise of the thinnest Wfin (15 nm) FinFET is largely dominated by the fluctuation of carrier number. In the hot-carrier injection (HCI) reliability test, the thinnest Wfin FinFET shows less performance degradation than those of the thicker ones. However, by removing the effect of the parasitic source/drain resistance, we believe that the volume inversion charged carriers flow through the entire thin Si-fin having a lower surface roughness and Coulomb scattering than those of thicker ones, which results in a higher carrier temperature and worsening of the reliability of the HCI.
Corporate Social Responsibility in China: a Preferential Stakeholder Model and Effects

Research interest in examining corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing economies is on the rise; however, our knowledge of the role of government in CSR remains limited. The aim of this paper is therefore to bridge this gap with an investigation into the specific CSR strategies that global firms have developed in the world's largest emerging economy and a nominally communist country, namely China. Drawing on institutional theory and a relational governance perspective, we posit that rather than adopting a canonical holistic CSR stakeholder model as typically observed in Western countries, these firms adopt a preferential stakeholder model using government-aimed and consumer-aimed CSR strategically. Our empirical study sampled 17 global retailers operating in China, with a dataset compiled to include their CSR web announcement data and firm performance data. The results of partial least squares modelling suggest that only government-aimed CSR plays a salient role in enhancing retailers' performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
The Nature of Institutional Impediments to Economic Development

In this paper I shall focus, to a large extent, on (a) institutional impediments as outcomes of distributive conflicts and (b) the collective action problems they exacerbate and (c), in view of the critical need for coordination, on a more complex and nuanced role of the state, which many states fail to perform, but some succeed at. Recent Indian economic history will provide the context of the discussion.
Response-surface analysis of exposure-duration relationships: the effects of hyperthermia on embryonic development of the rat in vitro.

In developing exposure standards, an assumption is often made in the case of less-than-lifetime exposures that the probability of response depends on the cumulative exposure, i.e., the product of exposure concentration and duration. Over the last two decades, the general applicability of this assumption, referred to as Haber's Law, has begun to be questioned. This study examined the interaction of exposure concentration and duration on embryonic development during a portion of organogenesis. Embryos were exposed in whole embryo culture to various temperature-duration combinations and evaluated for alterations in development 24 h later. The specific purpose of the study was to assess whether the developmental responses followed Haber's Law, or whether an additional component of exposure was needed to model the relationship. The current study demonstrated that the response of the developing embryo to hyperthermia, with rare exception, was dependent on an additional component of exposure beyond the cumulative exposure. For the vast majority of the parameters measured in this study, the probability of an effect was greater at higher temperatures for short durations than at lower temperatures for long durations, given the same cumulative exposure. Thus, Haber's Law did not adequately describe the results of our study.
Who Withdraws Shareholder Proposals and Does It Matter? An Analysis of Sponsor Identity and Pay Practices

Manuscript Type: EmpiricalResearch Question/Issue: We study more than 12,000 shareholder proposals that were filed to S&P1500 companies from 1997 to 2009, and investigate the determinants of proposal withdrawal by the sponsoring shareholder. We also study the effectiveness of withdrawn proposals as a corporate governance device.Research Findings/Insights: We find that proposals filed by influential investors are more likely to be withdrawn than proposals filed by private investors. Our empirical results show that institutional ownership (in particular by long-term, passively investing institutions) is positively related to a proposal’s withdrawal likelihood if the sponsoring shareholder is an institutional investor. We also document a negative relation between CEO ownership and the withdrawal likelihood. This effect is most pronounced for corporate governance proposals. We also show that withdrawn proposals on executive compensation change subsequent corporate pay practices.Theoretical/Academic Implications: Our paper provides the first comprehensive evidence on withdrawn shareholder proposals. We show that withdrawn proposals are a strong and important category of proposals because managers proactively prevent them from being put to a vote. Hence, our results imply that researchers should also account for withdrawn shareholder proposals when making inferences about the effectiveness of proxy proposals.Practitioner/Policy Implications: Our empirical evidence points to the importance of withdrawn shareholder proposals as a governance mechanism. Managers try to protect their own power and reputation by preventing filed shareholder proposals from being put to a vote during the annual general meeting: They enter into private negotiations with the sponsors of the proposals to accomplish a withdrawal.Note: An earlier version of this paper was circulated under the title “The Determinants of Withdrawn Shareholder Proposals”.
Explaining Movements in the Labor Share

In this paper we study the evolution of the labor share in the OECD. We show it is essentially related to the capital-output ratio; that this relationship is shifted by factors like the price of imported materials or capital-augmenting technological progress; and that discrepancies between the marginal product of labor and the real wage ---due to, e.g., labor adjustment costs or union wage bargaining--- cause departures from it. We also provide empirical evidence on the determinants of the labor share with panel data on 13 industries and 12 countries for 1972-93.
Testing the Monotonicity Property of Option Prices

One of the most basic properties of rational option pricing is that a rise in the price of the underlying increases the value of a call and decreases the value of a put. But results reported in the literature have found that for options on the S&P 500 Index this principle is violated in practice on the order of 10 percent of the time. Should we interpret this as evidence that the options market often ignores a fundamental principle of option valuation? Or that new option models are needed that would allow such seemingly anomalous behavior? In this article, Pérignon helps to resolve this issue using transactions-level data from five major index-options markets. He finds that wrong-way option price changes do occur in all of them a substantial fraction of the time. But looking for the explanation behind the numbers, he shows that market microstructure effects, like bid-ask bounce and rational tactics for trading in a market with a wide bid-ask spread, appear to account for much of the phenomenon.
Contribution of the multifidus muscle for control of upright posture in subjects with spina bifida occulta.

CONTEXT The multifidus muscle plays a role in controlling lumbosacral position and postural sway. One of its attachment sites is the exact site of spina bifida occulta (SBO). OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of the muscle for postural control in SBO. DESIGN Cross-sectional cohort. PARTICIPANTS Eighty subjects with SBO (38 in minor; 42 in major) and controls. INTERVENTIONS N/A. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Subjects stood upright on a platform at 0 degrees and on an inclined surface (10 degrees and 20 degrees) with feet in plantarflexion/dorsiflexion, together with eyes open and closed. The platform system measured posture to obtain sway area and sway mean for statistics. RESULTS Upon sway area/mean, the group differences of major/minor SBO vs. control were all significant. Sway means of minor SBO were lower than those of major SBO at corresponding inclined degrees. CONCLUSIONS Subjects with SBO demonstrated increased sway as compared to controls.
Volatility Exchange-Traded Notes: Curse or Cure?

This is the first comprehensive study of VIX futures ETNs. This empirical research into their statistical characteristics motivates the development of a sub-class of these notes based on static and dynamic differential roll-yield trades. Results show that such notes provide very attractive risk and return characteristics, plus a new source of diversification for non-speculative investors. Moreover, scenario analysis demonstrates that banks may control ETN issues so that profits are virtually guaranteed net of hedging costs. However, there is a dark side to ETNs currently in issue, which stems from a few sub-optimal terms and conditions concerning early redemption values. These conditions underpin: i) the speculative front-running of hedging activity, which has very negative consequences for issuers; ii) a moral hazard problem, which is induced by the one-day notice period for early redemption, and iii) large-scale spill-over activity to VIX futures trading, which is a potential new source of systemic risk.
"ETHICS AND VALUES TOWARDS MANAGEMENT EDUCATION QUALITY: A GLOBAL SCENARIO"

Global competition, emergence of consulting business and Internet based transactions are changing the product offerings in management education. The trends of evolution of management education indicate that knowledge creation is becoming more students based. This will usher in a variety of changes, including, paradoxically, a trend towards closer interaction among industry, students and faculty. The challenge is to ensure high quality management education that could financially sustain itself, but at the same time capable of generating a pool of leaders who could emerge as the real global business leaders. As manufacturing, research and services are getting relocated, executives need to develop a global outlook and business schools have to reorient rapidly to meet this global business challenge. This paper outlined the basic ethics and values to improve the quality of management education as management education is an extraordinary model of a liberal education. It is steeped in intellectual traditions drawn from theories and concepts representing a wide range of social sciences including economics, sociology, psychology, mathematics, and statistics.
Assessment of dietary exposure to flavouring substances via consumption of flavoured teas. Part II: transfer rates of linalool and linalyl esters into Earl Grey tea infusions

The assessment of dietary exposure via the consumption of flavoured foods is a key element of the safety evaluation of flavouring substances. Linalyl acetate and linalool are the major flavouring substances in Earl Grey teas; the objective of this study was to determine their transfer rates from the tea leaves into the tea beverage upon preparation of a hot water infusion. Spiking experiments revealed a transfer rate of 66% for linalool. In contrast, the transfer rate for linalyl acetate was only 1.9%; in turn, the hydrolysis product linalool (17.0%) and a spectrum (19.9%) of degradation and rearrangement products (monoterpene alcohols, esters and hydrocarbons) were present in the tea beverage. The transfer rates were shown to be proportional to the length of the infusion. The impact of the hot water treatment on the enantiomeric compositions of linalyl acetate and linalool was determined, and structure-dependent experiments were performed by variation of the acyl and the alcohol moiety of the monoterpene ester. Comparative dietary exposure assessments demonstrated the need to take correction factors based on the experimentally determined transfer rates into account. Based on tea consumption data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2000/2001), the exposure to linalyl acetate ranges from 0.2 mg day−1 (average) to 1.8 mg day−1 (high). The corresponding values for linalool are 4.2 mg day−1 (average) and 46.6 mg day−1 (high). The exposure of linalool via consumption of the tea beverage is approximately 26 times higher than that of linalyl acetate, although in the flavoured tea leaves the median content of linalyl acetate is approximately 1.8 times higher than that of linalool.
The Action of Acetyl‐l‐Carnitine on the Neurotoxicity Evoked by Amyloid Fragments and Peroxide on Primary Rat Cortical Neurones

Abstract: The amyloid β‐peptides have been implicated in the excitotoxic mechanism of neuronal injury in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. In this paper we examine the effect of different amyloid fragments (β A1–40, A1–28, and A25–35), as well as potential neuroprotective compounds on rat cortical neuron viability. Exposure of neurones to β A25–35 or A1–40 at concentrations as low as 1 μg/ml inhibited, significantly, the MTT response and this level of inhibition was similar after 24‐h or three‐day exposure. Furthermore, the level of inhibition was not affected by the presence or absence of 5% horse serum in the medium. Preexposure (10 min) of neurones to ALC at concentrations of 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 mM attenuated the inhibition of the MTT response caused by β A25–35 (50 μg/ml) in serum free medium for 24 h. The treatment of cells with vitamin E (100 μM), catalase (4 mg/ml), NGF (0.1 and 10 ng/ml), or cycloheximide (0.1 μg/ml) significantly restored the MTT response that was inhibited by β A25–35. The mechanism for the protective actions of these compounds against β A25–35 toxicity is not clear but may involve free radical scavenger action and preservation of energy production, although other mechanisms, especially for ALC, such as a direct effect on A‐β interaction with charged anionic phospholipids and/or stabilizing action on membranes, are also possible.