Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Multiplicative Effect of Individual- and Country-level Unemployment on Life Satisfaction in 97 Nations (1981-2009)

Although the negative association between unemployment and life satisfaction is well-documented, much theoretical and empirical controversy surrounds the question of how unemployment actually shapes life satisfaction. Previous studies suggest that unemployment may endanger subjective well-being through individual experiences, contextual conditions, or a combination of both. Drawing data from the World Values Survey, European Values Survey, and World Development Indicators databases for 400,917 individuals in 97 nations (1981-2009), we use three-tiered hierarchical linear models to test four competing theory-based hypotheses—that unemployment shapes life satisfaction through individual, contextual, additive, or multiplicative effects. Our results support a multiplicative interaction between individual- and country-level unemployment. Unemployed individuals are less satisfied than workers, students, retirees, and homemakers, but this life satisfaction gap varies in complex ways depending on national unemployment rates. We discuss these findings in light of previous theoretical models and combine them with the life course perspective to argue for a model where individual unemployment is understood in comparison with diverse labor force statuses that make up the life course and within the broader context of national unemployment rates. We conclude with suggestions for public policy to promote subjective well-being through individualized and contextualized plans addressing the negative consequences of unemployment.
Improvement of Magnetic Field Homogeneity From the HTS Joint-Less Coil

The concept of joint-less winding with 2G high-temperature superconductors (HTS) wide conductors proposed by the authors made HTS magnets possible to realize a persistent-current-mode operation. It could successfully maintain reasonable amount of the persistent current in multiple stacked HTS pancake coils with perfectly closed superconducting loops. In this paper, we applied the same technique to HTS layer winding, so called solenoid winding, to make an improvement of the magnetic field quality. To avoid unfavorable gap near at the center plane of the joint-less winding, we made two identically designed joint-less coils and attached them symmetrically. By this particular design of the coil, we could locate the intrinsic gap of the coil far away from the important magnetic center point. We fabricated the joint-less coil according to the design. During the experiment of the coil to measure the central magnetic field, one of the two coils was found to be damaged after the successful cooling down below 20 K and the charging up the healthy one with a persistent magnetic field of 0.5 T, which was just a half of the expected value. The damaged coil will be replaced with a new one, and tested again in the near future.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Urine Microalbumin and Serum Uric Acid: A Case-control Study of Patients with Preeclampsia in the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana

Background: There is increasing prevalence of preeclampsia coupled with the need to identify and institutionalize more sensitive diagnostic tools for preeclampsia. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of urine microalbumin and serum uric acid as early markers of preeclampsia among Ghanaian women attending antenatal care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Methods: A case-control study was conducted among pregnant women at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology (OG urine samples were collected for estimation of spot urine protein and microalbuminuria; and venous blood sample was taken for biochemical analysis and platelet count. Results: A significant positive linear correlation was observed between spot urine protein and urine microalbumin (r=0.324, p=0.006). A negative linear correlation was observed between uric acid and spot urine micro albumin (r=0.033, p=0.786). A urinary micro albumin value of 75.45 mg/g was identified as the best threshold to detect a spot urine protein of > +2 with a sensitivity of 92.7% and a specificity of 80.0%, PPV of 81.03% and NPV of 33.3%. Area under the curve = 0.835; asymptomatic p-value of 0.0001 at 95% CI (0.678-0.991). In contrast, serum uric acid level of 263.5 mg/g was identified as the best cut-off point to detect a spot urine protein of > +2 with sensitivity and specificity of 89.1% and 33.3% respectively (PPV of 77.2% and NPV) of 20.8%. Area under the curve = 0.552; asymptotic p-value of 0.538 at 95% CI (0.364-0.740). Conclusion: Urine levels of microalbumin, as a measure of proteinuria are elevated in preeclamptics and can be used in place of spot macro protein estimation to diagnose preeclampsia especially in the early stages.
Measuring Preferences Over the Temporal Resolution of Consumption Uncertainty

We design an experiment to elicit preferences over the temporal resolution of consumption uncertainty as axiomatized in Kreps and Porteus (1978) and Epstein and Zin (1989). Subjects consume in the lab by surfing YouTube which is contrasted by a real effort task. Lotteries over consumption at different points in time introduce actual consumption uncertainty - as opposed to income uncertainty. Assessing a series of choices, we find that on average, subjects are willing to forgo about 4% of their total consumption in order to expedite the resolution of consumption uncertainty. A structural estimation suggests that subjects on average indeed prefer an early resolution consumption uncertainty. This, however, is mainly driven by a minority of subjects with a strong preference for early resolution.
Hierarchical approach to determining risk factors for pneumonia in children *

Method: A hospital-based case-control study was performed at the University Hospital in Taubaté, SP between May and December of 2001. The cases studied were children diagnosed and hospitalized with pneumonia, and the controls were children hospitalized for causes other than respiratory infection. A hierarchical logistic regression model was applied. The model groups variables into 4 levels: socioeconomic; reproductive and gestational; environmental; and nutritional. After the univariate analysis, variables with p values < 0.20 were introduced into each level of the model, and those variables that maintained p values < 0.10 remained in the final model. Data compilation and analysis were performed using SPSS v.10 software.
Boards of directors in New Zealand: what do they reveal about governance?

The debate around corporate governance has been particularly vigorous in this part of the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks have been tested by spectacular corporate failures that also raise questions as to the effectiveness of different approaches. Empirical, contextually-based research into how governance theory informs practice assists in understanding these questions. This paper explores findings from empirical research conducted into the make-up of boards of directors in New Zealand, an export focused economy dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. These findings are revealing in demonstrating that despite the challenges faced by the New Zealand industry in a volatile global environment, the skill-sets and other characteristics present in, and sought from, directors appear to be both narrow and traditional. However, there is also evidence to suggest shifting expectations and requirements are to some extent and will continue to propel change in both boards and in contributions expected of individual directors.
Effect of social variation on the Irish diet

Both jurisdictions of Ireland have high rates of chronic degenerative diseases, particularly of the cardiovascular system, and Irish migrants have worse health profiles, often lasting at least two generations. The influence of socio-demographic variation over the life course, and what role diet plays, has not been well researched in epidemiological terms. There is a long history of an unusual Irish diet. Estimated dietary fat intake (% total energy intake) in 1863 was only 9, but had reached 30 in 1948 and 34 in 1999. Conversely, carbohydrate intake has fallen steadily over 150 years. From 1948 onwards household budget survey data illustrate patterns of increasing urbanisation and socio-economic gradients in food availability. The National Survey of Lifestyles, Attitudes and Nutrition, (n 6539, 622 % response rate) provides clear evidence of inverse social-class gradients in intake of fruit and vegetables and dairy products and in reported patterns of healthy eating. Median carbohydrate and vitamin C levels are higher among social classes 1-2 and mean saturated fat intake is lower. International comparisons indicate a continuing, if narrowing, north-south gradient across Europe. Data from the Boston-Ireland study suggest a crossover in both dietary intake patterns and risk of heart disease in Ireland and the USA in the 1970s. Contemporary comparative data of middle-aged Irish and American women demonstrate patterns of diet intake and inactivity consistent with the modern epidemic of obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Thus, dietary variations within and between countries and over time are consistent with chronic disease patterns in contemporary Ireland.
Shared Copy Number Variation in Simultaneous Nephroblastoma and Neuroblastoma due to Fanconi Anemia

Concurrent emergence of nephroblastoma (Wilms Tumor; WT) and neuroblastoma (NB) is rare and mostly observed in patients with severe subtypes of Fanconi anemia (FA) with or without VACTER-L association (VL). We investigated the hypothesis that early consequences of genomic instability result in shared regions with copy number variation in different precursor cells that originate distinct embryonal tumors. We observed a newborn girl with FA and VL (aplasia of the thumbs, cloacal atresia (urogenital sinus), tethered cord at L3/L4, muscular ventricular septum defect, and horseshoe-kidney with a single ureter) who simultaneously acquired an epithelial-type WT in the left portion of the kidney and a poorly differentiated adrenal NB in infancy. A novel homozygous germline frameshift mutation in PALB2 (c.1676_c1677delAAinsG) leading to protein truncation (pGln526ArgfsX1) inherited from consanguineous parents formed the genetic basis of FA-N. Spontaneous and induced chromosomal instability was detected in the majority of cells analyzed from peripheral lymphocytes, bone marrow, and cultured fibroblasts. Bone marrow cells also showed complex chromosome rearrangements consistent with the myelodysplastic syndrome at 11 months of age. Array-comparative genomic hybridization analyses of both WT and NB showed shared gains or amplifications within the chromosomal regions 11p15.5 and 17q21.31-q25.3, including genes that are reportedly implicated in tumor development such as IGF2, H19, WT2, BIRC5, and HRAS.
ACHYRANTHES ASPERA MEDIATED GREEN SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Bio-inspired AgNPs were rapidly synthesized at room temperature using fresh aqueous leaf extract of Achyranthes aspera. A green and low cost synthesis was effective in the formation of stable crystalline NPs in the solution. Carboxylic, ketone and aldehyde groups present in the A. aspera leaf extract functioned as reducing as well as stabilizing agent to produce shape controlled AgNPs. SPR confirmed the formation of AgNPs in UV-Visible spectra at 450 nm. The XRD result also showed the presence of elemental Ag + as a crystalline nature and the FT-IR analysis was carried out to identify and study the functional groups responsible for the bioreduction of Ag + . TEM and SEM with EDX image showed spherical crystalline AgNPs. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to measure the weight loss of AgNPs as a function of temperature under a controlled atmosphere. Hence, the plant-based bio AgNPs could be used in biomedical applications. Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver
Energy Productivity and Energy Demand: Experimental Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Plants

This paper studies a field experiment among energy-intensive Indian manufacturing plants that offered energy consulting to raise energy productivity, the amount plants can produce with each unit of energy. Treatment plants, after two years and relative to the control, run longer hours, demand more skilled labor and use 9.5 percent more electricity (standard error 7.3 percent). I assume that the treatment acted only through energy productivity to estimate the plant production function. The model estimates imply that energy complements skill and capital and that energy demand therefore responds more strongly to a productivity shock when plants can adjust these inputs.
Head and neck injuries among ice hockey players wearing full face shields vs half face shields.

CONTEXT Speculation exists that use of a full face shield by ice hockey players may increase their risk of concussions and neck injuries, offsetting the benefits of protection from dental, facial, and ocular injuries, but, to our knowledge, no data exist regarding this possibility. OBJECTIVE To determine the risk of sustaining a head or neck injury among intercollegiate ice hockey players wearing full face shields compared with those wearing half shields. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective cohort study conducted during the 1997-1998 Canadian Inter-University Athletics Union hockey season of 642 male hockey players (mean age, 22 years) from 22 teams. Athletes from 11 teams wore full face shields and athletes from 11 teams wore half face shields during play. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Reportable injury, defined as any event requiring assessment or treatment by a team therapist or physician or any mild traumatic brain injury or brachial plexus stretch, categorized by time lost from subsequent participation and compared by type of face shield. RESULTS Of 319 athletes who wore full face shields, 195 (61.6%) had at least 1 injury during the study season, whereas of 323 who wore half face shields, 204 (63.2 %) were injured. The risk of sustaining a facial laceration and dental injury was 2.31 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.53-3.48; P<.001) and 9.90 (95% CI, 1.88-52.1; P = .007) times greater, respectively, for players wearing half vs full face shields. No statistically significant risk differences were found for neck injuries, concussion, or other injuries, although time lost from participation because of concussion was significantly greater in the half shield group (P<.001), than in the group wearing full shields. CONCLUSIONS These data provide evidence that the use of full face shields is associated with significantly reduced risk of sustaining facial and dental injuries without an increase in the risk of neck injuries, concussions, or other injuries.
Aberrations and Pupil location under corneal topography and Hartmann-Shack illumination conditions.

PURPOSE This study was conducted to determine the magnitude of pupil center shift between the illumination conditions provided by corneal topography measurement (photopic illuminance) and by Hartmann-Shack aberrometry (mesopic illuminance) and to investigate the importance of this shift when calculating corneal aberrations and for the success of wavefront-guided surgical procedures. METHODS Sixty-two subjects with emmetropia underwent corneal topography and Hartmann-Shack aberrometry. Corneal limbus and pupil edges were detected, and the differences between their respective centers were determined for both procedures. Corneal aberrations were calculated using the pupil centers for corneal topography and for Hartmann-Shack aberrometry. Bland-Altmann plots and paired t-tests were used to analyze the differences between corneal aberrations referenced to the two pupil centers. RESULTS The mean magnitude (modulus) of the displacement of the pupil with the change of the illumination conditions was 0.21+/-0.11 mm. The effect of this pupillary shift was manifest for coma corneal aberrations for 5-mm pupils, but the two sets of aberrations calculated with the two pupil positions were not significantly different. Sixty-eight percent of the population had differences in coma smaller than 0.05 microm, and only 4% had differences larger than 0.1 microm. Pupil displacement was not large enough to significantly affect other higher-order Zernike modes. CONCLUSIONS Estimated corneal aberrations changed slightly between photopic and mesopic illumination conditions given by corneal topography and Hartmann-Shack aberrometry. However, this systematic pupil shift, according to the published tolerances ranges, is enough to deteriorate the optical quality below the theoretically predicted diffraction limit of wavefront-guided corneal surgery.
Relationship Among CFH and ARMS2 Genotypes, Macular Pigment Optical Density, and Neuroretinal Function in Persons Without Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether there is a difference in neuroretinal function and in macular pigment optical density between persons with high- and low-risk gene variants for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and no ophthalmoscopic signs of AMD, and to compare the results on neuroretinal function to patients with manifest early AMD. METHODS Neuroretinal function was assessed with the multifocal electroretinogram for 32 participants (22 healthy persons with no AMD and 10 patients with early AMD). The 22 healthy participants with no AMD had either high- or low-risk genotypes for CFH (rs380390) and/or ARMS2 (rs10490924). Trough-to-peak response densities and peak-implicit times were analyzed in 5 concentric rings. Macular pigment optical density was assessed by use of customized heterochromatic flicker photometry. RESULTS Trough-to-peak response densities for concentric rings 1 to 3 were, on average, significantly greater in participants with high-risk genotypes than in participants with low-risk genotypes and in persons with early AMD after correction for age and smoking (P < .05). The group peak-implicit times for ring 1 were, on average, delayed in the patients with early AMD compared with the participants with high- or low-risk genotypes, although these differences were not significant. There was no significant correlation between genotypes and macular pigment optical density. CONCLUSIONS Increased neuroretinal activity in persons who carry high-risk AMD genotypes may be due to genetically determined subclinical inflammatory and/or histological changes in the retina. Neuroretinal function in healthy persons genetically susceptible to AMD may be a useful additional early biomarker (in combination with genetics) of AMD before there is a clinical manifestation.
Exploiting Sparsity to Accelerate Fully Connected Layers of CNN-Based Applications on Mobile SoCs

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are widely employed in many image recognition applications. With the proliferation of embedded and mobile devices, such applications are becoming commonplace on mobile devices. Network pruning is a commonly used strategy to reduce the memory and storage footprints of CNNs on mobile devices. In this article, we propose customized versions of the sparse matrix multiplication algorithm to speed up inference on mobile devices and make it more energy efficient. Specifically, we propose a Block Compressed Sparse Column algorithm and a bit-representation-based algorithm (BitsGEMM) that exploit sparsity to accelerate the fully connected layers of a network on the NVIDIA Jetson TK1 platform. We evaluate the proposed algorithms using real-world object classification and object detection applications. Experiments show that performance speedups can be achieved over the original baseline implementation using cuBLAS. On object detection CNNs, an average speedup of 1.82× is obtained over baseline cuBLAS in the fully connected layer of the VGG model, whereas on classification CNNs, an average speedup of 1.51× is achieved for the fully connected layer of the pruned-VGG model. Energy consumption reduction of 43--46% is also observed due to decreased computational and memory bandwidth demands.
Aslian linguistic prehistory: A case study in computational phylogenetics

This paper analyzes newly collected lexical data from 26 languages of the Aslian subgroup of the Austroasiatic language family using computational phylogenetic methods. We show the most likely topology of the Aslian family tree, discuss rooting and external relationships to other Austroasiatic languages, and investigate differences in the rates of diversification of different branches. Evidence is given supporting the classification of Jah Hut as a fourth top level subgroup of the family. The phylogenetic positions of known geographic and linguistic outlier languages are clarified, and the relationships of the little studied Aslian languages of Southern Thailand to the rest of the family are explored.
ICT access: Testing for convergence across countries

ABSTRACT Our objectives for this article are twofold: first, to examine the convergence of nations with regard to ICT access; and second, to see whether countries in the same continental region (South and East Asia, West and Middle East Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania) or having same initial ICT access have coalesced into groups. We constructed an ICT access index using three indicators (mobile phone, Internet, and broadband use per 100 population) for a sample of 198 nations for the 16-year period from 2000 to 2015. Results show that digital divide has declined in relative terms, but not in absolute terms. The countries, starting at lower ICT levels, are not adopting ICT faster than the leaders. Continental region-wise analysis also shows that the catch-up is maximum for already developed countries, and minimum for countries in African and Oceania continental regions.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance. Theoretical and Empirical Aspects

Abstract The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rules on the financial performance of companies. In a theoretical part the author analyses selected economic theories that might justify a positive relationship between CSR and profitability, as well as explains the mechanism by which CSR might positively enhance economic performance from the stakeholders’ perspective. In an empirical part the author discusses selected econometric studies on the link between CSR and economic performance of companies, both from developed and developing countries. The article also contains the results of the author’s own research on the relationship between CSR and economic performance of the largest Polish companies on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The scope of the author’s own research is the period 1Q 2010 -IIIQ 2012. The research shows that participation in the Respect Index (indicator of CSR in the author’s model) is not statistically significant in determining the financial performance of Polish firms. Streszczenie firmy oraz wyjaśnia korzyści ekonomiczne, jakie może osiągnąć przedsiębiorstwo dzięki społecznej odpowiedzialności wobec wybranych interesariuszy. W części empirycznej autor dokonuje przeglądu wybranych wyników badań ekonometrycznych poświęconych zależności między CSR a kondycją ekonomiczną przedsiębiorstw pochodzących, zarówno z krajów rozwiniętych, jak i rozwijających się. Prezentuje również wyniki własnego badania, w którym analizie poddano wpływ uczestnictwa w indeksie spółek odpowiedzialnych (RESPECT INDEX) na wynik finansowych największych polskich przedsiębiorstw notowanych na warszawskiej Giełdzie Papierów Wartościowych. Zakres czasowy badania, to okres I kwartał 20010-III kwartał 2012. Wyniki badania wskazują, że uczestnictwo w indeksie nie jest statystycznie istotną zmienną, determinującą wynik finansowych analizowanych przedsiębiorstw. Celem artykułu jest zbadanie wpływu, jaki na wynik finansowy przedsiębiorstw może mieć stosowanie zasad społecznej odpowiedzialności biznesu. W części teoretycznej autor analizuje wybrane teorie ekonomiczne, uzasadniające występowanie zależności między społeczną odpowiedzialnością biznesu (CSR) a wynikiem finansowym