Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental controls with corrupt bureaucrats

Environmental regulations typify a large class of activities in the public sector where government agencies are required to monitor the degree of compliance. These tasks are usually delegated to bureaucrats who, as self-interested agents, may engage in corrupt behavior. Such problems abound, particularly in developing countries, where corruption is regarded as one of the major causes of environmental degradation. This paper investigates the implications of corruption for the optimal design of environmental regulations and analyses the interaction between the prosecution rate, monitoring rate, and fines. It is shown that even if corruption can be deterred the fact that it may occur substantially impedes the ability of a regulator to control environmentally degrading activities.
Teaching Quality and Decentralization

This paper attempts to assess outcomes of school system decentralization in Poland. National examination results are analyzed using the value-added model of teaching quality. Variation in decentralized spending is related to estimates of achievement growth. Exploring exam results for three consecutive student cohorts, we are able to control for hidden characteristics of local governments when estimating their impact on student progress. Preceding the main analysis, the paper provides detailed description of trends in local government school spending and service provision over the last 15 years. The main conclusion is that while there is some evidence that decentralization changed patterns of school expenditure, there is no evidence that expenditures have any systematic impact on teaching quality. There is also no evidence that higher spending translates to more equally distributed outcomes. It seems that the only non-negligible impact local governments could have on student achievement is through provision of preschool facilities. However, evidence presented in the paper suggests that many local governments decided to limit preschool services, especially in poor rural areas. That could importantly increase educational inequalities.
Spatiotemporal characteristics of electrocortical brain activity during mental calculation

Mental calculation is a complex mental procedure involving a frontoparietal network of brain regions. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies have revealed interesting characteristics of these regions, but the precise function of some areas remains elusive. In the present study, we used electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings to chronometrically assess the neuronal processes during mental arithmetic. A calculation task was performed during presurgical 3T fMRI scanning and subsequent ECoG monitoring. Mental calculation induced an increase in fMRI blood oxygen level dependent signal in prefrontal, parietal and lower temporo‐occipital regions. The group‐fMRI result was subsequently used to cluster the implanted electrodes into anatomically defined regions of interest (ROIs). We observed remarkable differences in high frequency power profiles between ROIs, some of which were closely associated with stimulus presentation and others with the response. Upon stimulus presentation, occipital areas were the first to respond, followed by parietal and frontal areas, and finally by motor areas. Notably, we demonstrate that the fMRI activation in the middle frontal gyrus/precentral gyrus is associated with two subfunctions during mental calculation. This finding reveals the significance of the temporal dynamics of neural ensembles within regions with an apparent uniform function. In conclusion, our results shed more light on the spatiotemporal aspects of brain activation during a mental calculation task, and demonstrate that the use of fMRI data to cluster ECoG electrodes is a useful approach for ECoG group analysis. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5903–5920, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Bias in protected‐area location and its effects on long‐term aspirations of biodiversity conventions

To contribute to the aspirations of recent international biodiversity conventions, protected areas (PAs) must be strategically located and not simply established on economically marginal lands as they have in the past. With refined international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity to target protected areas in places of “importance to biodiversity,” perhaps they may now be. We analyzed location biases in PAs globally over historic (pre‐2004) and recent periods. Specifically, we examined whether the location of protected areas are more closely associated with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species or with areas of low agricultural opportunity costs. We found that both old and new protected areas did not target places with high concentrations of threatened vertebrate species. Instead, they appeared to be established in locations that minimize conflict with agriculturally suitable lands. This entrenchment of past trends has substantial implications for the contributions these protected areas are making to international commitments to conserve biodiversity. If protected‐area growth from 2004 to 2014 had strategically targeted unrepresented threatened vertebrates, >30 times more species (3086 or 2553 potential vs. 85 actual new species represented) would have been protected for the same area or the same cost as the actual expansion. With the land available for conservation declining, nations must urgently focus new protection on places that provide for the conservation outcomes outlined in international treaties.
Wall Street Made Me Do It: A Preliminary Analysis of the Major Institutional Investors in U.S. Newspaper Companies

This article identifies the 30 largest institutional shareholders in the U.S. newspaper industry, describes their investment style, and analyzes trading activity to gauge the extent to which they are driven by short-term considerations. Many of these investors say they have a "value" focus, which usually implies a long-term approach. To preserve their public service role, newspapers may want to attract a more stable investor base but should still be prepared for a clash of interests.
Key Determinants of Satisfaction among International Business Students in Regional Context

Student satisfaction has been one of the core factors in retaining and attracting international business students to educational institutions. The ability to know the level of students’ satisfaction and the factors affecting it can add a competitive advantage and is considered an opportunity to act proactively in education business. While this information has substantial impact on institutional marketing strategies, there is a dearth of information about the level of satisfaction of business students in Northern Ontario, a vast geographical area representing only a small percentage of the Canadian population. This study aims to fill the gap in existing knowledge about international business students in a regional context. The study addresses the following questions: 1)What is the level of satisfaction of international business students studying in this northern Ontario region? 2)What are the perceived factors that affect the level of satisfaction of international business students in the region? Data were collected from international business students at Laurentian University using the Service Quality Model (SERVQUAL) to develop the conceptual framework guide. The model provided an explanation for the relation between the quality of service and customer expectations. The results of this study showed a satisfaction level that was lower than expected for international business students. This was evident particularly for females who had taken fewer courses with limited work experience and for graduate students. However, students-especially females-with more work experience were more satisfied. The findings lead to a number of implications for future research related to the formulation of curriculum and administrative policy.
Karl Marx and Mathematical Economics

This article, based partly on Marx's and his collaborators' unpublished manuscripts, examines and rejects the claim that the use of advanced mathematical methods in economic research and planning is incompatible with Marx's economics. Marx was neither ignorant of such methods nor opposed their use on methodological grounds, nor was he primarily interested in nonquantifiable "qualitative" problems. Soviet planners' past "mathematicophobia" originated in the fear that model builders might interfere with their monopoly on goal setting rather than in Marxist ideology.
Developing linear ADL ability measures based on the ADL Taxonomy: A Rasch analysis

Purpose. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the possibility of developing linear measures of ADL ability based on the ADL Taxonomy and a three-category rating scale. Method. Data were obtained from medical records of adults with moderate to severe brain injury. The participants were rated on the ADL taxonomy, and recorded on the ADL Taxonomy Circle, based on direct observations. By applying the Rasch rating scale model, we examined the possibility of converting the raw ordinal scores into equal-interval estimates of the participants’ ADL ability. Results. The data analysis indicated that the rating scale used in this study displays sound psychometric properties. Items from the ADL taxonomy defined one construct after 10 actions were removed, but retention of all items did not disrupt the measurement system. Except for one item in each of five different activity domains, the item difficulty hierarchy was the same as in the hierarchy originally published, supporting reliability of the item difficulty estimates. The ADL taxonomy discriminated well between different levels of ability in this sample of persons with brain injury. Conclusion. This preliminary study indicates that the ADL taxonomy has potential to become a linear measure of a person's ability to perform ADL tasks.
Occupational X‐ray examinations and lung cancer risk

Occupational X‐ray examination programs have been conducted in many countries to screen for occupational and nonoccupational respiratory diseases, resulting in widespread exposure to X‐radiation. We conducted a multicentre case‐control study of lung cancer in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia, including 2,589 cases and 2,859 controls enrolled during 1998–2002. We collected detailed information on occupational X‐ray examinations, occupations and tobacco smoking. We calculated odds ratios of lung cancer via multiple logistic regression after adjustment for age, sex, center and tobacco smoking.
DECONSTRUCTING RELATIONSHIP BANKING

During the last decade the concept of relationship banking has been forged in the theory of banking to reflect the sharing of private information between a bank and its clients and the benefits of a continuing relationship. A number of theoretical contributions have examined the implications of relationship banking on the banking industry market structure, but their results are sometimes contradictory. This paper constitutes an analytical survey that examines relationship banking by means of a simple basic model and studies the implications of relationship banking on the pricing of loans, as well as its effect on the degree of competition in the banking industry.
Stigma and HIV infection in Russia

Abstract Few studies have examined the personal and social consequences of stigma associated with HIV infection in Russia, a country with one of the most rapidly advancing HIV epidemics globally. By May 2005, Samara Oblast, Russia had 24,022 notified seropositive individuals. Focus-group discussions with randomly sampled seropositive and seronegative individuals, matched by age, gender and education were selected from the general population and used to provide an informal forum for discussion of attitudes to HIV and potentially stigmatizing behavior. The results demonstrated that the perception that HIV was associated with immoral behaviour underpinned stigma. Discriminating attitudes are strongly associated with misperceptions regarding transmission and frequent over-estimation of risks from casual contact. The general population was unforgiving to those who had become infected sexually or through drug use. Infection through a medical procedure or from an assault was perceived as a likely route of infection. Knowledge of population attitudes and perceptions, as well as those who are HIV-positive, is critical for successful interventions and to encourage people to come forward for HIV testing. This research offers insights into the distance that needs to be traveled if stigma is to be addressed in wider efforts to control HIV in Russia.
Town planning in Sweden and Finland until the middle of the nineteenth century

Abstract No one travelling through the towns of western Europe with his eyes open can fail to notice that the grid-plan, or even more complicated but regular geometric town plan, dominates the centres of Swedish and even more of Finnish towns, whereas these patterns are rare elsewhere. This town planning idea which prevailed from the Renaissance to the middle of the nineteenth century, and which was also not unknown in the Middle Ages, was implemented chiefly by the monarchy. However, it could only be realised when new towns were founded and existing ones were enlarged, or if the Crown was able to begin the replanning of old towns without regard to the ownership of the plots. So many towns had arisen in western Europe in the Middle Ages that there was little need to found new ones and expansion occurred chiefly in the towns of the royal residences. On the other hand, an obstacle to the regulation of existing urban settlement was the inviolability of property rights which, for example, precluded the re-org.
Hearing Aid Use with Minimal High-Frequency Hearing Loss

This Study evaluated the use of hearing aids by patients with hearing threshold levels of 20 dB or less at 500 and 1000 Hz and 35 dB or less at 2000 Hz. Ninety-eight patients completed a 30-day trial with amplification. Six months later, patients were interviewed by telephone and questioned on hearing aid use and perceived unaided and aided difficulty in various listening environments. Results of the study demonstrated that patients with minimal high-frequency hearing loss can benefit from the use of hearing aids. Ninety-two percent of the patients elected to purchase the hearing aids and 85% considered the aids a worthwhile investment after 6 months of use. Patients showed a mean improvement from moderate unaided to slight aided difficulty at work and in general social situations. The only variable that predicted success with hearing aids was degree of unaided difficulty at work. Patients who perceived less unaided difficulty at work were less likely to obtain benefit from the use of the hearing aids.
Subclassification of non‐solid‐type papillary thyroid carcinoma identification of high‐risk group in common type

Two hundred and sixty‐three cases of primary human papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) were analyzed. All cases met the following parameters: tumor size ≥ 10 mm, no distant metastasis at presentation, and no coexistence of other histological type. The histological features of the solid/trabecular component, encapsulation, tall/columnar cell component and loss of polarity/cohesiveness were utilized to subclassify the 263 cases of PTC into five groups: solid type (15.6%), encapsulated group (9.5%), tall/columnar cell group (7.2%), micropapillary/discohesive group (19.8%) and not‐otherwise‐specified group (47.9%). We focused on the latter four non‐solid groups and compared their prognosis with the solid type. The tall/columnar cell group showed the worst disease‐free survival rate (DFS) analyzed by the Kaplan–Meier method, followed by the micropapillary/discohesive group. The not‐otherwise‐specified group and encapsulated group showed a better DFS rate than the solid type. Cancer‐related death was noted in the tall/columnar cell group (21.1%) and micropapillary/discohesive group (3.8%), but not in the other groups. The four non‐solid histological groups were further categorized into two prognostic groups: high‐risk group (including tall/columnar cell group and micropapillary/discohesive group); and low‐risk group (including encapsulated group and not‐otherwise‐specified group). Their 10‐year disease‐free survival rates were 78.7% and 93.1%, respectively. In the present study, histological grouping was significantly correlated with prognosis in the multivariate analysis according to the Cox proportional hazards regression model in addition to clinical parameters of extrathyroid invasion and gross lymph node metastasis, which predicts the patient outcome in terms of tumor recurrence and cancer‐related death more precisely. (Cancer Sci 2008; 99: 1908–1915)
Victim-centred restorative justice

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Malignancy Risk Stratification of Thyroid Nodules: Comparison between the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System and the 2014 American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines.

PURPOSE To compare malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules with the 2014 American Thyroid Association (ATA) management guidelines and the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TIRADS). MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. The requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. From November 2013 to July 2014, 1293 thyroid nodules in 1241 patients (mean age, 50.8 years ± 13.5) were included in this study. All nodules measured at least 10 mm. Solidity, hypoechogenicity or marked hypoechogenicity, microlobulated to irregular margin, microcalcifications or mixed calcifications, and nonparallel shape were considered suspicious features at ultrasonography (US). A TIRADS category and the US pattern as determined with ATA guidelines were assigned to each nodule. The correlation between the TIRADS category or ATA pattern and the malignancy rate was evaluated with the Spearman rank test. RESULTS Of the 1293 thyroid nodules, 1059 (81.9%) were benign and 234 (18.1%) were malignant. Forty-four of the 1293 nodules (3.4%) did not meet the criteria for the ATA patterns and were classified as "not specified. " The malignancy rates of TIRADS category 3, 4a, 4b, 4c, and 5 nodules were 1.9% (six of 316 nodules), 4.2% (17 of 408 nodules), 12.9% (33 of 256 nodules), 49.8% (130 of 261 nodules), and 92.3% (48 of 52 nodules), respectively, with significant differences between categories (P < .001). Malignancy rates of nodules with very low, low, intermediate, and high suspicion for malignancy with the ATA guidelines and not specified patterns were 2.7% (11 of 407 nodules), 3.1% (10 of 323 nodules), 16.7% (39 of 233 nodules), 58.0% (166 of 286 nodules), and 18.2% (eight of 44 nodules), respectively, with significant differences between patterns (P < .001). There was high correlation between classification with TIRADS (r = 1.000, P < .001) and ATA guidelines (r = 0.900, P = 0.037), without statistically significant differences (P = .873). CONCLUSION Both TIRADS and the ATA guidelines provide effective malignancy risk stratification for thyroid nodules. Nodules that do not meet the criteria for a specific pattern with the ATA guidelines have a relatively high risk of malignancy (18.2%).
Propensity for self‐employment: contrasting the USA and Mexico

Purpose – The paper aims to test the direct and mediating effects of a set of environmental (family self‐employment background, social networks, legal system support, governmental support, and social norms) and individual (entrepreneurial self‐efficacy and risk propensity) factors on the propensity for self‐employment in the USA and Mexico.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was administrated among students in three universities in the USA and in two universities in Mexico. Factor, reliability, t‐tests, and regression analyses were carried out. Mediation was assessed following Baron and Kenny.Findings – Most direct and mediating effects were higher for the USA than for Mexico. Entrepreneurial self‐efficacy fully mediated several factor relationships in both countries. Results suggest a pattern of a strong formal institutions‐individual nexus in the USA, and a strong informal institutions‐individual nexus as well as a significant impact of the individual in Mexico.Research limitations/implications – The.
Limitation of Small-Solute Exchange across the Visceral Peritoneum: Effects of Vibration

Objective To evaluate the importance of the peritoneal membrane diffusion resistances to small solutes prevailing outside the capillaries in the visceral versus the parietal peritoneum during acute peritoneal dialysis (PD). Design Experimental study in anesthetized Wistar rats undergoing PD in a single exchange (120 min) using 1.36% Dianeal as dialysis fluid. Vibration, using a standard laboratory shaker at 10 Hz, was used to induce dialysate mixing and reduce the impact of “unstirred layers” in intact and eviscerated rats. Nonvibrated rats served as controls. Measurements The mass transfer area coefficient (PS) for chromium 51-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (51 Cr-EDTA), continuously infused intravenously, the plasma-to -peritoneal clearance (CI→D) of radioiodinated (1251) serum albumin (human) (RISA), as well as the total clearance out of the peritoneal cavity (CI) of Evans blue labeled albumin, given as an intraperitoneal volume marker, and the portion of this C1 reaching the plasma per unit time (CI→P) were assessed. Results In intact rats there was a marked increase in PS for 51Cr -EDTA, from 0.297:I: 0.036 mL/min to 0.642 :I: 0.122 mL/min (n = 7, p < 0.01), and a moderate increase in CI and CI→D, from 37.6 :I: 1.3 μL/min to 63.3 :I: 9.0 μL/min and from 6.04 :I: 0. 51μL/min to 9.54 :I: 0.93 μL/min (n = 7, p < 0.05), respectively, upon vibration. However, the plasma absorption clearance of albumin (CI→P) was unchanged after vibration. Furthermore, in eviscerated rats, vibration caused no significant changes in either of the exchange parameters measured. Conclusion In conclusion, the visceral peritoneal transport of small solutes is normally limited by the presence of diffusion resistances outside the capillaries, which may be markedly reduced by “stirring” of the dialysate by vibration. Normally, the parietal, rather than the visceral, peritoneum is the major site for small-solute mass transfer in stationary animals. However, the visceral peritoneum apparently becomes increasingly important after stirring. The moderate increases in transperitoneal clearances of macromolecules occurring upon vibration, which were quite unexpected, indicate that vibration may also increase the dialysatelperitoneal membrane contact and/ or cause some recruitment of capillaries.