Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes or levels? Reassessment of the relationship between top-end inequality and growth

This study explores the association between top-end inequality and subsequent economic growth. The motivation stems from the results of Banerjee and Duflo (2003), who study nonlinearities in the inequality–growth relationship and find that changes in the Gini coefficient, in any direction, are associated with lower future growth. The current study addresses the issue of nonlinearity and exploits the top 1% income share series in 25 countries from the 1920s to the 2000s in various specifications. First, this study finds that the association between the level of top 1% share and growth is more evident in the data than the link between the change in top 1% share and growth. Second, the main results on the top 1% shares relate primarily to currently “advanced” economies; a negative association is discovered between the level of top-end inequality and growth, but this relationship is likely to become weaker in the course of economic development. Third, this study illustrates that the sample composition deserves attention in inequality–growth studies.
Impact of Mercury on the Efficacy of Amavatari Rasa in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Double Blind Trial

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most challenging diseases due to its chronicity, incurability, complications and morbidity. It is an auto-immune inflammatory disease. From Ayurveda point of view, this disease can be correlated with Amavata in its clinical presentation. In spite of potent anti-inflammatory and powerful immunosuppressive agents; itsprognosis is bad and these drugs are associated with certain side effects too. Ayurveda holds various formulations for this condition and Amavatari Rasa, a mercurial formulation is one among them. Aim of the current study is to evaluate impact of Mercury on the efficacy of Amavatari Rasa in Rheumatoid Arthritis through double blind trial. Methods: Total 86 patients were registered and randomly divided into two groups and were treated with Amavatari Rasa prepared in absence of mercury (ARM) and Amavatari Rasa with mercury (ARC) at dose of 250 mg thrice a day, 30 minutes before meal with luke warm water for 8 weeks. Assessment was done on the basis of clinical recovery, symptomatic relief and pathological investigations. Results: At the end of the trial; the nature of the trial drugs was unveiled.Both the formulations showed highly significant results (p<0.001) in all the signs and symptoms except trishna (thirst). Majority of the signs and symptoms were better relieved with ARM group, whereas biological markers corrected with ARC group. Though, there is no significant difference in between the results of both the groups, ARC appears to be influencing the cellular level of pathology, while ARM is helpful in providing symptomatic relief. Conclusion: Thus, it can be inferred that, presence of mercury is essential that helps in taking the drug to the cellular levels and breaking the pathology successfully. No untoward effects were noticed in any patients during the study period.
Financing needs of nascent entrepreneurs in Chile: does gender matter?

Funding is critical during new firms' creation and the most sources of funding in the early stages of entrepreneurial ventures are informal investors (Family, Friends, the Founding entrepreneurs themselves, and the foolhardy strangers, also known as business angels). Entrepreneurs in the initial stages are the main users of informal financing, more specifically those denominated according to the GEM definition as nascent entrepreneurs; that is, those who are involved in establishing a business or those who have made the leap from the conception of the business to its actual gestation (Reynolds et al., 2005). Informal investment has come to the attention of researchers, mostly in the United States and Europe, and very scarcely in Latin America. Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a call to study entrepreneurship taking in consideration the perspective of gender (Brush, 1992; Bird and Brush, 2002). In Chile, studies of this nature are scarce. For this reason in order to find out more of how the nascent entrepreneurs fund theirs ventures, the main objective of this article is to explore the gender differences that could exist in the financing needs of nascent Chilean entrepreneurs with regard to: Amount needed to start the business; outside financing expectations, employment creations expectations, socio-demographic characteristics, perception related to entrepreneurship. The analysis is based on a representative sample of the Chilean adult population between 18 and 64 years of age, using data from the GEM from the years 2007 and 2008. Since this is an exploratory study, we propose separating the nascent entrepreneurs by gender and using descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test (non-parametric test for two independent samples). The results show that there are significant gender differences among nascent entrepreneurs with respect to the amount needed to start a business, socio-demographic characteristics, and in some aspects related to entrepreneurship. These results provide a better understanding of the financial needs of nascent entrepreneurs and the existent differences between women and men. These results can contribute to a better design of public policies to support new venture creations taking into account a gender perspective.
Transition between Primary and Secondary School: Why It Is Important and How It Can Be Supported.

This paper identifies and critiques literature on the experience of transition between primary and secondary school; how and why it is seen as critical and in what ways it can be supported. The aim of this literature review is to remind readers of this important period on the lives of young people and the diverse range of issues which they face. There is general consensus in the literature that welldesigned and implemented transition approaches can assist in the process of supporting students, their families and school staff. Teachers are crucial in supporting children and young people moving in, between and out of school and making these transitions positive experiences. Therefore, pre-service teacher education needs to include awareness and understanding of the main issues in relation to transition. Teacher educators need to consider how they can incorporate transition programs and strategies in their courses to ensure that graduate teachers have the skills and knowledge to mediate some of the pressures that their students are facing when dealing with transitions.
The Influence of Slip Boundary Condition on Casson Nanofluid Flow over a Stretching Sheet in the Presence of Viscous Dissipation and Chemical Reaction

The impacts of multiple slips with viscous dissipation on the boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a non-Newtonian nanofluid over a stretching surface have been investigated numerically. The Casson fluid model is applied to characterize the non-Newtonian fluid behavior. Physical mechanisms responsible for Brownian motion and thermophoresis with chemical reaction are accounted for in the model. The governing nonlinear boundary layer equations through appropriate transformations are reduced into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, which are solved numerically using a shooting method with fourth-order Runge-Kutta integration scheme. Comparisons of the numerical method with the existing results in the literature are made and an excellent agreement is obtained. The heat transfer rate is enhanced with generative chemical reaction and concentration slip parameter, whereas the reverse trend is observed with destructive chemical reaction and thermal slip parameter. It is also noticed that the mass transfer rate is boosted with destructive chemical reaction and thermal slip parameter. Further, the opposite influence is found with generative chemical reaction and concentration slip parameter.
Octave and Decade UWB Rectifiers Based on Non-Uniform Transmission Lines for Energy Harvesting

Ambient RF energy harvesting is a potential energy source for low-power and battery-less wireless sensors, enabling a range of applications from monitoring to security as part of the Internet-of-Things scenario. One of the main challenges of ambient RF energy harvesting is the requirement of operation over a multitude of frequency bands of low ambient power densities resulting in a very wide aggregate operating bandwidth. In this paper, design examples of novel ultra-wide-band (UWB) energy harvesters are demonstrated with octave and decade bandwidths in the UHF and low microwave spectrum. The RF-dc conversion efficiency is maximized by tailoring the dimensions of a non-uniform transmission line used to provide broadband impedance matching. The design challenges in terms of impedance matching based on the Bode-Fano theoretical limit, losses and miniaturization are highlighted. Two prototypes are presented and their performance is evaluated. The octave band rectifier showed a measured RF-dc conversion efficiency of more than 60% over a frequency band of 470 MHz to 860 MHz at 10 dBm input power. The decade band rectifier fabricated on Kapton substrate using inkjet printing featured a higher than 33% efficiency over a frequency band from 250 MHz to 3 GHz at 10 dBm input power.
Factors Affecting Investment Decision Making: Moderating Role of Investors Characteristics

The current study aimed to investigate the factors affecting investment decision making. Moreover, the moderating effects of age, gender, and financial information were also tested. The study utilized a quantitative research design for that the data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to 570 individuals out of that 374 questionnaires were returned however 372 of the questionnaires were found to be useable. The study framework had 6 constructs namely heuristics, financial information, corporate governance, risk aversion, and experience were independent variables while investment decision making was dependent variable while age, gender and financial education were moderating variables. All the latent construct were measured using multi items based on 5 point Likert scales from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly disagree. The results found the Heuristics, Risk Aversion, Financial Information, Corporate Governance and Experience to be significant factors affecting the investment decision making. Moreover, the moderating effect of gender was found to be significant in the relationship of (financial information, corporate governance, and experience) and investment decision making. The moderating effect of age was found to be significant in the relationship of (Heuristics, Corporate Governance, and Experience) and investment decision making while the moderating role of financial education was found to be significant in the relationship of (financial information, corporte governance and experience) and investment decision making.
Ad-avoidance technology : who should welcome It?

The business model of many commercial TV-networks is to interrupt TV programs with advertising breaks. In this paper we investigate consequences of the fact that that today ad-averse viewers can adopt a technology which enables them to skip advertising breaks. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, we find that the ad-avoidance technology can make TV networks and advertisers better off. The viewers as a group however, are always worse offwhen we take into account their costs associated with adopting the technology.
Perceived Enjoyment and Malaysian Consumers’ Intention to Use a Single Platform E-Payment

This study explores the perceived enjoyment of Malaysian consumers’ in adopting a single platform e-payment system and the relationship between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment with consumers’ intention to use a single platform that integrates card, internet and mobile. The online survey was conducted on respondents owning either mobile phone, card payment, or internet. Based on analysis using AMOS version 21.0, the results showed that perceived ease of use can be used as mediator of perceived enjoyment. Perceived ease of use was also found to be significant in determining perceived usefulness and consumers’ intention to use the system. This finding also suggests that as consumers perceive the single platform e-payment system as highly enjoyable, easy to use and useful; they would be more ready to use thee-payment system. The results of this study bear social implications on the purchasing behavior of Malaysian consumers and how businesses conduct transactions in the future using novel, single platform e-payment system.
Synthesis of ω-(1,1,3-trioxo-1,3-dihydrobenzo[d]isothiazol-2-yl)-alkanecarboxylic acids: conventional versus microwave heating

The alkylation of sodium saccharin with alkyl halides to produce the intermediates ω -(1,1,3-trioxo-1,3-dihydrobenzo[ d ]isothiazol-2-yl)-alkanecarboxylic acids can be markedly improved by using microwave irradiation, both in terms of product yield and reaction time. While the process produces high yields with halo esters and halonitriles, the reaction with haloacids, which proceeds smoothly by conventional reflux, gives poorer yields with microwaves. This is due to an acid-base equilibrium produced by the rapid heating of the mixture under irradiation. Esters and nitriles can be converted into the acids by acid hydrolysis, without appreciable loss of the 1,1,3-trioxo-1,3-dihydrobenzo[d]isothiazole ring.
Bending Moment Capacity of Metal Plate Connected Wood-Splice Joints Constructed with Red Pine ( Pinus brutia Ten . )

The ultimate bending moment carrying capacity of metal-plate-connected (MPC) wood-truss-splice joints constructed with red pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) lumber was investigated. Lumber 38 mm by 90 mm and 3 different sizes of metal plate connectors were utilized in constructing the joints. A 4-point loading method was used to determine the joints’ bending moment capacity. Tensile splice joints were tested in both flatand edgewise positions. The effects of tooth orientation and metal plate size on the bending moment capacity of the joints were investigated. The results indicated that both tooth orientation and plate size significantly influenced the joints’ bending moment capacity. Plate size seemed to increase the bending moment capacity of the joints when plate size was increased to 76 mm by 100 mm from 76 mm by 76 mm. There was no significant difference between 76 mm by 100 mm plates and 76 mm by 152 mm plates in bending moment capacity. There was also no conclusive relationship between the bending moment capacity of the joints and the specific gravity of the lumber, and between the lumber’s modulus elasticity.
Patterns of population structure and productivity in Saltmarsh Sparrows

PATTERNS OF POPULATION STRUCTURE AND CONNECTIVITY IN SALTMARSH SPARROWS By Jennifer Walsh University of New Hampshire, December, 2009 The Saltmarsh Sparrow {Ammodramus caudacutus) is one of the few species globally that is exclusively restricted to coastal wetlands. Despite the high vagility characteristic of avian species, the highly patchy distribution of tidal marshes can often lead to fine scale genetic structure in salt marsh obligates. To elucidate patterns of population structure, we investigated the degree of genetic differentiation among nine Saltmarsh Sparrow populations along the northeastern coastline of the United States. Although overall FST values were small (0.008), population substructuring was detected along with a positive correlation between geographic distance and genetic differentiation, suggesting that Ammodramus caudacutus follow an isolation by distance model. However, Chapman's Landing was a distinct outlier despite it's close proximity to other sampled marshes, indicating that additional factors other then geography play a role in genetic structuring. To identify patterns of source/sink dynamics, we implemented assignment tests from the software program GENECLASS2 using an exclusion method. Results from the assignment tests indicate that Parker River, in Newburyport, MA, is a source population. Findings from the genetic analyses were combined with field data collected on nesting success and density of breeding adults to correlate overall productivity of the sites sampled with results from assignment tests. Furthermore, results from point count surveys indicate a positive correlation between marsh size and the ix density of breeding adults (P= 0.0148, R=0.8954), with the most birds observed at points located in Parker River. Results from our nesting study indicate that nesting success is variable among sites, and that the cause of chick mortality also varies. Despite this the percent of failed nests is comparably similar among four of the five sites surveyed. Our results offer new insight for conservation strategies, including information on population clusters, data on population trends, and the identification of source/sink dynamics.
SUDDEN STOPS, OUTPUT DROPS, AND CREDIT COLLAPSES

This paper proposes a tractable sudden stop model to explain the main patterns in firm-level data from a sample of Southeast Asian firms during the Asian crisis. The model incorporates trend shocks and financial frictions, features that have so far been used separately in the literature on emerging markets. A negative shock to trend productivity growth can account, in our model, for the drop in output and its swift recovery together with the sizable and persistent downward adjustment in firms' Tobin's Q and debt levels. These patterns are broadly shared by most sudden stop episodes as documented in the literature. Trend shocks can also generate, in our model, strong leverage effects in line with the firm-level data and other observations from the literature.
Employment Interview Preparation: Assessing the Writing-To-Learn Approach

Many career experts, including the authors, agree that job-seekers are better prepared and perform better in job interviews when they have written and rehearsed answers to common interview questions. Novice job-seekers, such as college students, often have little or no interviewing experience, and because of this inexperience, some college instructors assign various interviewing-related projects to students. This paper suggests that, based on solid theory taken from a variety of fields, the experiential practice of mock interviews accompanied by written preparation of interview responses may enhance studentsâ€™ preparation for real-world job interviewing. The paper describes a study to test whether using a writing-to-learn approach to interview preparation made a difference in an actual interview situation.
An Experimental Study of the Jet in Cross-Flow in Fully Developed Turbulent Channel-Flow

In this study a transient air jet in a fully developed turbulent channel flow has been studied. The main objective has been to see how the behaviour of the jet has been effected by the turbulent channel flow. The flow in the channel was first investigated through measurements with a Pitot static probe. A jet was then processed and inserted into the channel. Measurements of the resulting flow field were performed with a Pitot rake and a 5-hole Pitot probe. The results of these measurements have been analysed and compared to results from previous studies. The velocity contours based on the results from the Pitot rake have proven to lack essential information about the jet in cross-flow flow field. The main feature of the flow field of the jet in cross-flow, the counter rotating vortex pair, was for instance not visible in the results collected with the Pitot rake. The results from the 5-hole Pitot probe showed a much better ability to capture the features of the complex flow field resulting from the jet in crossflow. Based on the results from this study, it does not seem that the turbulence have had a great impact on the development jet in cross flow. The development of the jet trajectory fits scaling laws found in previous studies. An increased vertical velocity component in the flow field and a delay in the development of the counter rotating vortex pair were noted as areas where the results from the turbulent channel differ from the results from previous studies [1].
Immunodeficient Parameters in the HIV-1 Transgenic Rat Model

Recently an HIV-1 transgenic (HIV-1Tg) rat model was created that carries a gag-pol-deleted HIV-1 genome under the control of the HIV-1 viral promoter. However, other viral proteins are expressed in most organs and tissues, and are found in the circulating blood. Since HIV-1 targets the immune system in humans, we examined two immunological parameters, leukocyte-endothelial adhesion (LEA) and inflammatory cytokine production, in 5 mo old HIV-1Tg rats to identify immune functions that may be impaired even before the onset of symptoms of HIV-1 infection. We administered a single injection (i.p.) of the bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 250 ug/kg), to 5 mo old HIV-1Tg rats, age-matched transgenic control (Tg) rats, and F344/NHsd (F344) control background strain rats. LPS induced an LEA response in both the Tg control and F344 control animals. However, in the HIV-1Tg rats, there was no LEA response to LPS. Following LPS administration, there was significantly greater serum levels of TNF-I± and IL-1I², two pro-inflammatory cytokines, in the HIV-1Tg rats compared to the control animals. In contrast, the serum level of IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, was comparable in the HIV-1Tg, Tg control, and F344 control rats. Our data show that, in the HIV-1Tg rat, there is a negative correlation between the LEA response and the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to bacterial endotoxin. These findings suggest that the persistent presence of viral proteins may be, at least, partially responsible for the immunodeficiency that occurs with HIV-1 infection, and that the HIV-1Tg rat could be a valid rodent model in which to study various aspects of HIV-1 infection.
Effect of Transnational Standards on U.S. Teacher Education

The Standards for Effective Pedagogy and Learning (CREDE, 2014) specify five transnational universals of teaching that are especially effective for the rapidly growing population of English language learners in North America. CLASSIC is an evidence-based, CREDE-aligned model of teacher education for classroom educators of English language learners. CLASSIC has utilized with more than 10,000 teachers in 100 school districts, located in eight states, in collaboration with eight different universities. This study examined the impact of the transnational standards of CLASSIC curricula on teachers
Middle Class International Migration: French Nationals Working in the UK

International migration researchers have generally focused on either high-level managers and specialists working for multinational corporations, or laborers and blue collar workers who move from developing to developed countries. But international migration patterns are clearly more diverse in composition and structure. Middle class workers who voluntarily leave their home countries in search of white collar positions represent one under-researched group. The few international migration studies that have been conducted for this group have focused on workers from English-speaking countries. This research will concentrate on a significant number of French speakers (up to one-half million), mostly under the age of 35, who have crossed the English Channel to live and work in the United Kingdom. I will examine the mechanisms that facilitate such migration, the kinds of jobs these migrants perform, and how their migration fits in with their long-term employment plans. The majority of French migrants are strongly career-oriented, unlike many of their counterparts from English-speaking countries who emphasize self-realization and exploration. I also explore the question of why EU migration from non-EU countries still exceeds intra-EU migration.