Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fractional Cointegration of Fisher Hypothesis in Regulated and Deregulated Periods in Nigeria

This study investigates the validity of Fisher hypothesis in regulated period (January 1961 to September1986) and the deregulated (October 1986 to December 2010) using monthly nominal interest rate and inflation. Tests for unit root and fractional root were conducted on these variables for the two periods. Fractional cointegration analysis was used to test the long run relationship between nominal interest rate and inflation. The results indicate fractional integration in the deregulated period for the variables. The variables were found to be fractionally cointegrated which implied that they are mean reverting and have long run relationship in the deregulated period. In the regulated period on the other hand, the variables were not fractionally cointegrated. The cointegration test did not support long run relationship between the variables in the deregulation period. This research work confirms the validity of Fisher hypothesis with deregulated period in Nigeria and there is no evidence of Fisher hypothesis in the regulated period. This is because in the regulated period interest rate is fixed and inflation is controlled, therefore not allowing the two economic variables to interplay. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should adopt policies that reduce inflation and interest rate to the minima points since Fisher hypothesis does exist in the current dispensation.
Comparative study of framework, criteria and criterion weighting of excellence models

Summary Purpose – This paper seeks to present a comparative study of framework, criteria and criterion weighting of 20 Excellence Models/National Quality Awards (EM/NQA), to identify their common features, contradictions and to propose suggestions for development and review of EM/NQA. It also aims to provide some clues to attain sustenance of business results. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a literature review using the internet and research databases (Emerald and EBSCO). Nine generic criteria are identified and their relative importance within each model is computed based on scores given to their respective contents in the criteria/sub-criteria of each EM/NQA. The average relative importance of nine criteria, discussions with experts and the author’s own experience helped to visualise the emerging scenario and suggest improvements. Findings – EM/NQA frameworks have different shapes. Most EM/NQA start with the criterion ‘‘Leadership’’ and end with ‘‘Results’’. Ancient wisdom emphasises that the ultimate goal of business is the wellbeing of society. Although the criteria of EM/NQA are similar, the criterion weighting changes due to external environment and cultural factors. The study classifies nine criteria into core criteria, i.e. the need for survival, internal environment criteria, i.e. differentiators, and goodwill criteria, i.e. ensuring sustainability. The focus on goodwill criteria needs to be enhanced to ensure sustainable business growth. Research limitations/implications – This study is an attempt to integrate the common learning/contradictions of EM/NQA and provide clues to achieving sustainability. Many EM/NQA custodian websites have limited information in the public domain. A periodic review of models made this study difficult. Future research may focus on studying the impact of criteria weighting in different countries/economic environments to enhance the effectiveness of excellence models. Practical implications – The study may help the GEM council, custodians and managers to review EM/NQA and develop strategies for sustainable results. Originality/value – This paper is based on a literature review, the author’s own experience, and interaction with experts. It provides an analysis of 20 EM/NQAs, highlights the need for a universally acceptable model, and suggests emerging dimensions of excellence.
The Effect of Study Group Activity Guide in Expository Reading and Writing Course at the College of Architecture in Qassim University

This research was conducted to assess the effectiveness of study group activity guide in Expository Reading and Writing Course at the College of Architecture. The experimental group used the study group activity guide method while the control group used the traditional lecture method. Specifically, the study aimed to determine if by giving the architecture students ample time to answer guide questions and to interact with the other members of a particular group, with the teacher acting as a moderator, achievement in Expository Reading and Writing course can be improved. Two classes of level 2 students enrolled at the College of Architecture-Qassim University, in Second Semester 2012-2013 were the samples of the study. Both groups were composed of thirty students each, with one group as the experimental and the other group as the control. The study showed that that the experimental group which used the study group activity guide performed better as compared in the control group. This is attributed to better retention and learning among the architecture students in the experimental group because of several phases and types of learning experiences they were exposed.
The Regulatory Reform of Water Infrastructure in Italy: Overall Design and Local Variations

In 1994, the Italian Parliament passed a reform which aimed to radically change the economic regulatory institutions of the water sector in the country. The implementation of the reform, which lasted about twelve years, resulted in a new regulatory regime which combined selected features of public ownership, franchise allocation, and discretionary regulation. The reform was implemented in different ways across the country, resulting in different forms of organisation and management of water services at the local level. Drawing from this case, this paper aims to discuss two issues, namely why water regulatory reforms are designed as ‘hybrids’ between different regulatory ‘models’, and why, within a given regulatory institutional framework, water regulatory reforms may be implemented in different ways at the local level. This paper, therefore, aims to contribute to a broader scholarly discussion regarding the rationales for institutional variety of water infrastructure regulation at the national and sub-national levels, and regarding the practical implications for managing the implementation of water regulatory reforms.
Structural Influences on the Internal Allocation of School District Resources: Evidence From New York State

By drawing an explicit distinction between “base” and “share” effects, this study examines the potential for inconsistent resource allocation decisions to be made at different administrative levels of school districts and schools. The work builds on the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's “What Dollars Buy” project and employs multivariate models to examine the influences of school district spending, wealth, poverty, and size on internal decisions about how to divide staffing resources across different areas of the curriculum. Results indicate that there is more internal variation across districts in how teacher resources are distributed than is commonly supposed. The study also reveals evidence of inconsistency across levels of decision making about the supply of resources into particular areas of the curriculum. Finally, there is evidence of stronger than expected relationships between spending levels and allocations of resources into administrative uses.
Is the Efficiency Wage Efficient? The Social Norm and Organizational Corruption

The effectiveness of efficiency wage incentives is often jeopardized by perverse organizational corruption. We model organizational corruption as a phenomenon of social interaction and relate the substantial psychological role characterizing the social norm to the corruption problem. We find that if the status quo bribery rate within the firm is high, social norms can no longer serve as a sufficient sanction against a corrupt supervisor; pandemic organizational corruption tends to generate a critical mass effect--the snowball effect--which intensifies the corruption effect. This intensified effect, due to the snowballing character of social norms, may more than offset the usual incentive effect of wages, resulting in more widespread shirking in the firm. Copyright 2002 by The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.
International Outsourcing and Wage Rigidity

In industrialized economies, International Outsourcing is often blamed for destroying jobs and thus, inducing unemployment. Since most contributions examining International Outsourcing assume flexible wages, they do not address these concerns directly. This paper adopts a rigid wage approach and investigates the differences occurring. As theoretical results and the empirical panel data estimations for Germany show, effects depend on industry aggregation, the industry's skill intensity, and the labor market institution. Only in industries characterized by wage rigidity, outsourcing significantly increases low skilled unemployment. Consequently, not International Outsourcing but inflexible labor market institutions instead should be blamed for destroying low skill jobs.
Hybrid Modulation for Near Zero Display Latency

Binary displays for virtual reality can achieve low latency by integrating view tracking with modulation. We present a novel modulation scheme that combines tracking, pulse density modulation, and pulse width modulation to minimize grayscale artifacts. The hybrid modulator is applied to an AMOLED display at an update rate of 1.7 kHz on which we observe nearly zero latency in the perceived image.
Mostly Mismatched With a Chance of Settling

Mismatches between Americans’ actual and preferred hours of paid work are common, but the understanding of such mismatches is still limited. In this article, the authors provide the first large-scale, longitudinal study of hour mismatches in the United States. They found that the population of workers with hour mismatches is in constant flux. Nevertheless, hour mismatches seem to persist for long periods of time: The vast majority of respondents who wanted fewer hours when first interviewed still wanted fewer hours 5 years later. The authors also found inequalities in the methods through which people develop and resolve mismatches. Women who want fewer hours were less likely than men to resolve their mismatches by working less. Also, they found evidence suggesting that non-Whites who want fewer hours may be settling for the hours they can get rather than getting the hours they want.
The Growth and Welfare Consequences of Differential Tariffs

This paper analyzes the impact of differential tariffs on consumption and investment in a specific factors model of a small open economy in which capital is accumulated over time. Particular attention is devoted to the welfare aspects, highlighting the cost of the intertemporal distortions produced by protective trade policies. Several specific welfare propositions are obtained. First, tariff protection is shown to create short-run benefits but long-run costs in welfare. Second, the second-best policy for the two tariffs is characterized. Finally, several propositions summarizing the implications of the authors' analysis for tariff reform are derived. Copyright 1993 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Partisanship, Alignment and Legislative Lobbying in the EU

Political science research of EU interest groups and party politics represent two largely separate study fields between which cross-fertilization remains very limited. In this paper we elaborate why this gap exists and why it should be addressed in order to improve our understanding of EU legislative politics. Both literatures present a different image of EU legislative policymaking. Although most scholars of EU party politics endorse the notion that parties politicize EU legislative politics, scholarship of interest groups tends to portray the EU as a rather de- politicized system in which expertise-based exchanges between societal interests and bureaucratic agencies are pivotal. This paper is part of a large EU-wide comparative project on interest group politics. We argue that, despite the absence of exclusive and organizational party-group links, groups and parties regularly align in issue-based policy debates that are driven by proximities in terms of policy preferences. Preliminary evidence on party and group involvement in the policy process surrounding 43 legislative acts adopted by the EU between 2008 and 2010 is used in order to substantiate the role of partisanship in EU legislative lobbying processes.
The demand for aviation gasoline and the impact of an increased tax on lead emissions

A poisonous and environmentally hazardous byproduct of aviation gasoline combustion is lead emissions. A proposed increase in the aviation gasoline tax from 19.4 to 70.1 cents per gallon has generated a heated debate between pilots and the Federal Aviation Administration. Given that general aviation produces approximately 50% (over 1200 tons) of all lead emissions in the US, understanding the sensitivity that aviation gasoline demand has to price changes is essential to better understanding the policy implications and the environmental impact from an increased tax. Few studies have examined aviation fuel elasticities and no known study has estimated aviation gasoline elasticities. This paper fills that gap and estimates the price elasticity of demand to range from −0.043 to −0.185 in the short-run and from −0.132 to −0.303 in the long-run. Consequently, the estimated impact of the proposed tax increase is a reduction of between 10.71 to 21.30 tons of lead in the short-run and between 15.12 to 34.78 tons of lead in the long-run. Finally, tax revenue could be increased by more than 350% to over $196 million (2009 US$) with the proposed aviation gasoline tax increase.
Intra-mobility for Hospital Wireless Sensor Networks Based on 6LoWPAN

Low-power personal area networks (LoWPANs) are still in its early stage of development, but the range of conceivable usage scenarios is tremendous. The numerous possible applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) make obvious that mesh and multi-technology topologies will be prevalent in LoWPAN environments and mobility support will be a necessity. Mobility based communication can prolong the lifetime of devices and increase the connectivity between nodes and clusters. Using distributed LoWPANs is possible to sculpt the devices density to cluster around areas of interest, cover large areas, and work more efficiently. The required mobility is heavily dependent on the individual service scenario and the LoWPAN architecture, for that reason in this paper is defined a mobility protocol for clinical environments. This paper presents an intra-mobility protocol for Hospital Wireless Sensor Networks based on 6LoWPAN, where we have defined a protocol optimized for our continuous vital signs monitoring architecture. This protocol presents how to exploit the other elements of the architecture with high capacity and resources (6LoWPAN Border Router, gateways etc.) to reduce latency, power consumption and the number of interchanged messages with respect to other solutions such as Mobile IP (MIPv6).
The effects of management use of motivation on workers' job commitment: an empirical investigation of tertiary institutions in South-western Nigeria

This paper examines the perceived effects of management use of motivation on workers' job commitment in tertiary institutions in South-western Nigeria. The empirical study was conducted via the administration of 2,680 questionnaires on teaching and non-teaching staff of selected institutions. Using the framework from Aborisade and Obioha (2009) and Khong (2005), factors manifesting employee's job commitment were regressed on the key factors manifesting successful motivation. The dataset from the sample underwent series of statistical analysis (validity and reliability analysis, factor analysis-exploratory and confirmatory- and hypothesis testing). This study confirmed that motivation had a significant association on workers' job commitment. The empirical analysis conducted on the data revealed that workers of the institutions were not well motivated. The motivation schemes designed for the workers were not adequate and able to meet up with the level of expectation of the employees. The findings could be used by Nigerian universities to compose strategies to optimise their management of workers job commitment and motivational/reward policies. Policy implications were highlighted at the end of this report.
Inflation and growth dynamics: the Indian experience

This study investigates the impact of inflation on economic growth in India during the period 1960 to 2005. Applying cointegration procedures, I find that inflation rates have a significant adverse impact on economic growth while investment has a favorable impact. This suggests a policy of targeting price stability is desirable to achieve a higher rate of economic growth in emerging markets.
Clinical outcomes of halo-vest immobilization and surgical fusion of odontoid fractures.

OBJECTIVE In the present study, authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of halo-vest immobilization (HVI) versus surgical fixation in patients with odontoid fracture after either non-surgical treatment (HVI) or with surgical fixation. METHODS From April 1997 to December 2008, we treated a total of 60 patients with upper cervical spine injuries. This study included 31 (51.7%) patients (22 men, 9 women; mean age, 39.3 years) with types II and III odontoid process fractures. The average follow-up was 25.1 months. We reviewed digital radiographs and analyzed images according to type of injury and treatment outcomes, following conservative treatment with HVI and surgical management with screw fixation. RESULTS There were a total of 31 cases of types II and III odontoid process fractures (21 odontoid type II fractures, 10 type III fractures). Fifteen patients underwent HVI (10 type II fractures, 5 type III fractures). Nine (60%) out of 15 patients who underwent HVI experienced successful healing of odontoid fractures. The mean period for bone healing was 20.2 weeks. Sixteen patients underwent surgery including anterior screw fixation (6 cases), posterior C1-2 screw fixation (8), and transarticular screw fixation (2) for healing the odontoid fractures (11 type II fractures, 5 type III fractures). Fifteen (93.8%) out of 16 patients who underwent surgery achieved healing of cervical fractures. The average bone healing time was 17.6 weeks. CONCLUSION The overall healing rate was 60% after HVI and 93.8% with surgical management. Patients treated with surgery showed a higher fusion rate and shorter bony healing time than patients who received HVI. However, prospective studies are needed in the future to define better optimal treatment and cost-effective perspective for the treatment of odontoid fractures.
Effects of physical, technical, and tactical factors on final ladder position in semiprofessional rugby league.

PURPOSE A limitation of most rugby league time-motion studies is that researchers have examined the demands of single teams, with no investigations of all teams in an entire competition. This study investigated the activity profiles and technical and tactical performances of successful and less-successful teams throughout an entire rugby league competition. METHODS In total, 185 rugby league players representing 11 teams from a semiprofessional competition participated in this study. Global positioning system analysis was completed across the entire season. Video footage from individual matches was also coded via notational analysis for technical and tactical performance of teams. RESULTS Trivial to small differences were found among Top 4, Middle 4, and Bottom 4 teams for absolute and relative total distances covered and distances covered at low speeds. Small, nonsignificant differences (P = .054, ES = 0.31) were found between groups for the distance covered sprinting, with Top 4 teams covering greater sprinting distances than Bottom 4 teams. Top 4 teams made more meters in attack and conceded fewer meters in defense than Bottom 4 teams. Bottom 4 teams had a greater percentage of slow play-the-balls in defense than Top 4 teams (74.8% ± 7.3% vs 67.2% ± 8.3%). Middle 4 teams showed the greatest reduction in high-speed running from the first to the second half (-20.4%), while Bottom 4 teams completed 14.3% more high-speed running in the second half than in the first half. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate that a combination of activity profiles and technical and tactical performance are associated with playing success in semiprofessional rugby league players.
Genetic Analysis of Short Stature

Short stature is a major concern for patients and their parents, and represents a diagnostic challenge to the clinician. A correct diagnosis is of particular importance in view of the availability of effective, but costly, therapy in a small subset of cases. Many different genetic etiologies of short stature are known. Therefore, chromosome as well as molecular analysis are requisite diagnostic investigations in children with short stature. Particularly in the group of children with idiopathic short stature, possibilities of molecular analysis are often underestimated. Important options are UPD7 and the FGFR3, SHOX, GH1 and GHR genes. Furthermore, analysis of the IGF and IGF1R genes should be considered. We propose a flow chart for molecular analysis in short stature.
Managerial Incentive and External Knowledge Acquisition Under Technological Uncertainty: A Nested System Perspective

Although an extensive body of literature has stressed the firm-level barriers or drivers for knowledge acquisition, little attention has been paid to the barriers and/or drivers nested within manager–organization subsystem. This article aims to explore the factors from nested system perspective by investigating the effects of manager's wealth-oriented and career-oriented incentives (COIs) on firm's external knowledge acquisition and the moderating effects of technological uncertainty. Four hypotheses are proposed and tested by the data from 607 Chinese firms. We find that COI has a positive effect, whereas wealth-oriented incentive has an inverse U-shaped effect on external knowledge acquisition. Furthermore, we also find that the effects of wealth-oriented and COIs are contingent on technological uncertainty. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Arbitrage-free approximation of call price surfaces and input data risk

In this paper we construct arbitrage-free call price surfaces from observed market data by locally constrained least squares approximations. The algorithm computes derivatives of the call surface accurately so that implied volatility, local volatility and transition probability density can be obtained at no additional cost. Observed input data are afflicted by a price uncertainty due to the bid–ask spread, quote imprecision and non-synchrony and cause an input data risk on the computed call surface and subsequently on the implied volatility surface. We model the input risk and perform an analysis to study and measure the effect of the input risk on the surfaces. With this analysis we can determine the trustworthiness of the computed results and their implications for option pricing a posteriori.
"Scaffold-Hopping" by Topological Pharmacophore Search: A Contribution to Virtual Screening.

A chemically advanced template search (CATS) based on topological pharmacophore models has been developed as a technique for virtual screening. This technique has successfully identified novel potent Ca(2+) antagonists (such as 2) that have a similar activity to 1 (a known T-channel blocking agent) in a library of several hundred thousand compounds on the basis of a correlation vector representation.