Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The rate of return of social investment on post-secondary initial vocational education and training in Greece

According to the human capital theory education and training produce, accumulate and diffuse human capital. They are a type of consumption but they are mainly considered as investments. In Greece, the Post Secondary Initial Vocational Education and Training is a sub-system of the Life Long Learning. The present study provides ex post estimates of the rates of return on the social investment to Post-Secondary Initial Vocational Education and Training by using a cost-benefit approach. Stratified sampling has been employed with a proportional distribution throughout the country in order to derive a sample on the private sector's earnings data. Data on social costs have also been used in this study. The empirical results showed that, in general, the rate of return on the social investment to Post-Secondary Initial Vocational Education and Training has been satisfactory. Moreover, sensitivity analysis showed that the rate of return increases slightly, when the duration of studies and the social cost of Post-Secondary Initial Vocational Education and Training system are decreased.
A Spatial Network Approach to Urban Configurations

We propose a spatial network approach to studying urban configurations by modelling explicitly knowledge transmission, aggregation and spillovers via links formed, as well as by allowing the population and the locality role (`core' versus `periphery') in each location to be endogenously determined in equilibrium. We establish conditions for the commonly assumed monocentric configuration to arise as the unique and efficient equilibrium outcome. We also illustrate under what circumstances a spatial equilibrium may feature multicentric, urban-rural, or multiple (disconnected) urban areas and under what conditions each configuration is socially efficient. We further characterize the spatial equilibrium by performing various comparative statics.
Monetary Transmission Mechanism in the East African Community: An Empirical Investigation

Do changes in monetary policy affect inflation and output in the East African Community (EAC)? We find that (i) Monetary Transmission Mechanism (MTM) tends to be generally weak when using standard statistical inferences, but somewhat strong when using non-standard inference methods; (ii) when MTM is present, the precise transmission channels and their importance differ across countries; and (iii) reserve money and the policy rate, two frequently used instruments of monetary policy, sometimes move in directions that exert offsetting expansionary and contractionary effects on inflation - posing challenges to harmonization of monetary policies across the EAC and transition to a future East African Monetary Union. The paper offers some suggestions for strengthening the MTM in the EAC.
Interrogating and manipulating at the nanometre scale — From scientific instrumentation to industrial applications

Microfabricated instruments featuring functional elements at the nanometre scale are ideally suited to interrogate and manipulate objects in the small domain. This ability would also be attractive and open new opportunities for industrial applications. However, robustness of the instrument and their currently low throughput are considered as almost insurmountable obstacles for a successful implementation in many commercial fields. Here, scientific instrumentation in harsh, demanding environments can play a pivotal role in validating the concept and demonstrating the reliability of the instrument. This is highlighted in two examples, one in medicine and one in planetary science.
The Shadow Economy in International Comparison: Options for Economic Policy Derived from an OECD Panel Analysis

Building on new behavioral theories, using a data set of about 450 variables and augmenting the Sala-i-Martin definition of robustness, we find evidence in support of the hypothesis that the standard causes of the shadow economy (SE), taxes, the administrative burden and labor market regulations, are not per se crucial in determining the size of the SE. Many of the robust influences emanate from relatively new theories such as elements of direct democracy, social interaction effects, and happiness, and from the institutional literature on the relative importance of specific institutions for economic performance. Most of them can well be affected by governments. Hence, if one believes the SE to be a problem in high income industrial countries, governments could address it through many ways, including their own behavior. And these could be more successful than a strategy built on more government control, increased punishment and less freedom, as adopted by some OECD countries. Simulations of the size of the SE demonstrate their sensitivity to the required velocity assumption and show that previous estimates, including those of the so-called Mimic model, appear to be based on very high velocity assumptions. A moderate velocity assumption yields macro estimates of the SE consistent with the micro evidence, i.e. not more than a few percent of official GDP. Finally, for the first time, we separate the relatively large ‘crime-related’ shadow activity from the ‘non-criminal’ one.
Organized Dependency and Cultures of Authority in Chinese Industry

In this article the author examines what he terms an “institutional culture of authority” that has come to characterize postrevolution Chinese industrial enterprises. This institutional culture is shaped by a pattern of organized dependency that is inherent in the economic relationship of employees to enterprises, and also in systems of reward and control that link the opportunities of employees to their behavior and attitudes. This institutional culture is manifested in widespread ritualism in political meetings, low exercise of voice by subordinates, the creation of patron-client networks linking the Party to selected employees, and the everyday cultivation of personal connections for individual gain.
Investigating core genetic-and-epigenetic cell cycle networks for stemness and carcinogenic mechanisms, and cancer drug design using big database mining and genome-wide next-generation sequencing data

ABSTRACT Recent studies have demonstrated that cell cycle plays a central role in development and carcinogenesis. Thus, the use of big databases and genome-wide high-throughput data to unravel the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying cell cycle progression in stem cells and cancer cells is a matter of considerable interest. Real genetic-and-epigenetic cell cycle networks (GECNs) of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and HeLa cancer cells were constructed by applying system modeling, system identification, and big database mining to genome-wide next-generation sequencing data. Real GECNs were then reduced to core GECNs of HeLa cells and ESCs by applying principal genome-wide network projection. In this study, we investigated potential carcinogenic and stemness mechanisms for systems cancer drug design by identifying common core and specific GECNs between HeLa cells and ESCs. Integrating drug database information with the specific GECNs of HeLa cells could lead to identification of multiple drugs for cervical cancer treatment with minimal side-effects on the genes in the common core. We found that dysregulation of miR-29C, miR-34A, miR-98, and miR-215; and methylation of ANKRD1, ARID5B, CDCA2, PIF1, STAMBPL1, TROAP, ZNF165, and HIST1H2AJ in HeLa cells could result in cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis through NFκB, TGF-β, and PI3K pathways. We also identified 3 drugs, methotrexate, quercetin, and mimosine, which repressed the activated cell cycle genes, ARID5B, STK17B, and CCL2, in HeLa cells with minimal side-effects.
Supermarkets as a Natural Oligopoly

This paper uses a model of endogenous sunk cost (ESC) competition to explain the industrial structure of the supermarket industry, where a few powerful chains provide high quality products at low prices. The predictions of this model accord well with the features of the supermarket industry documented here. Using a novel dataset of store level observations, I demonstrate that 1) the same number of high quality firms enter markets of varying sizes and compete side by side for the same consumers and 2) quality increases with the size of the market. In addition to documenting a local structure of competition consistent with the ESC framework, I demonstrate that the choice of quality by rival firms behaves as a strategic complement. This key finding, which is consistent with an ESC model of quality enhancing sunk outlays, eliminates several alternative explanations of concentration in the supermarket industry, including most standard models of cost-reducing investment and product proliferation. These results suggest that the competitive mechanisms sustaining high levels of concentration in the supermarket industry are inherently rivalrous and unlikely to lead to the emergence of a single dominant firm.
Risk management: a competitive advantage in the purchasing function

This paper aims to explore the purchasing function on behalf of the provider, when the purchasing takes the form of a request for proposals (RfP) from the client. A methodology for handling the bidding process is presented, illustrated by a case study from the IT sector. The proposed methodology places risk as a factor for the selection of the best and final offer of the provider in addition to the traditional decision factors: delivery time, product cost and performance. The method is supported by a structured corporate memory and a decision support system based on the analytical hierarchy process.
A decision-making framework for the selection of third-party reverse logistics provider

Outsourcing has provided many third-party providers with a unique opportunity to enter the reverse logistics market. The selection of partners for the specific function of reverse logistics support becomes more important. This paper proposes a structured model for evaluating and selecting Third-Party Reverse Logistics Provider (3PRLP) by considering factors such as Third-Party Logistics (3PL) services, organisational performance criteria, organisational role, reverse logistics functions, IT applications, user satisfaction and impact of use of 3PL and their respective sub-factors using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). A usability evaluation of the AHP-based model with four 3PRLPs is discussed. The effectiveness of the AHP and FAHP models is illustrated using a company in southern part of India.
LifeLossMOD: A microsimulation model of the economic impacts of premature mortality in Australia

While the direct costs of mortality to the health care system are known to be significant, there is less information regarding the wider economic impacts of mortality including the implications for productivity, household incomes and government revenue. This paper outlines the development of LifeLossMOD, a new microsimulation model to estimate the economic impacts of premature mortality in Australia. The model is based on a census of 2003 mortality records and applies projections from the APPSIM microsimulation model to estimate the counterfactual lifetime trajectories forgone to the year 2030. We estimated that mortality in 2003 accounted for over 280,000 full time working years lost to the Australian economy. Future applications of LifeLossMOD will explore the distributional impacts of mortality on employment, GDP, government revenue and household income, wealth and retirement savings. These estimates
Evidence for antitermination in Escherichia coli RRNA transcription

The stable RNA operons of Escherichia coli do not exhibit polarity, even though they make an RNA product that is not translated. By contrast, most E. coli operons that specify proteins exhibit polarity if their translation is interrupted. The transcriptional component of this polarity depends on the action of Rho protein on the exposed mRNA, which results in premature transcription termination. Here we examine how a stable RNA operon (rrnG) transcript is protected from the Rho protein-mediated polarity response. We compared transcription from the ara and the rrnG promoters through a 16S DNA segment. In each case, the promoter-16S sequences were joined to a trp-lac fusion, and lacZ mRNA was examined in rho+ and rho-115 strains. We found significant Rho protein-dependent termination of transcripts from the ara promoter but little or no Rho protein effect on transcription from the rrnG promoter. We concluded that the transcript of the 16S ribosomal DNA segment does contain Rho protein-dependent transcription terminators, but there is an antitermination system in the rrnG control region that allows it to transcribe through those terminators.
Institutional Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment In MENA Region: Panel Co-Integration Analysis

This study examines the impact of institutional Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region during the period 1984-2011. Using panel data techniques by considering two hypotheses of economic interdependencies and structural changes, it is found that the macro determinants like openness, growth rate, exchange rate, and economic instability, and institutional indicators like government stability, investment profile, rule of law, internal and external conflict, have a long-run effect on attracting FDI inflows.
Disputed Areas and the 10-Year Time Frame: A Legal Lacuna?

Where a coastal state intends to delineate, in accordance with Article 76 of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the outer limits of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, it is to submit scientific and technical data of such proposed limits to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf within 10 years of the entry into force of the Convention for that state. This obligation has subsequently been subject to a general de facto amendment by which the commencement of the 10-year time frame has been postponed to May 13, 1999, for the states for which the Convention had entered into force prior to the above date. This article discusses whether any provision in the Convention, any subsequent agreement, or any subsequent practice render inoperative the 10-year time frame with regard to those parts of the outer continental shelf that are disputed areas. It is concluded that nothing in the Convention, no subsequent agreements, and no subsequent practice allow for derogation of the 10-year time frame with regard to disputed areas.
INCARCERATION AND THE BONDS AMONG PARENTS IN FRAGILE FAMILIES

This paper utilizes the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to investigate if a father’s previous incarceration reduces the stability in the relationship between parents who recently had a child. Our results suggest that parents that were non-co-resident at the time of the birth of their child are 19 percent less likely to cohabit 12 months later if the father has been incarcerated. Similarly, non-co-resident couples are 37 percent less likely to be married 12 months after the birth of their child if the father has been incarcerated.
Class Size Effects on Student Achievement in Norway: Patterns and Explanations

The causal effect of class size on student performance is investigated using a maximum class size rule of 30 students to generate an instrument for actual class size. The data come from lower secondary schools in Norway, and the initial analysis reveals a small negative class size effect. Further investigations show that the effect varies among student subgroups and that the benefits of smaller classes are larger in schools with a high proportion of students who come from intact families. The second section of the paper uses information about the teachers' grading practices and the students' efforts in class to shed additional light on the revealed patterns of class size effects. Class size effects seem to be conditional on student effort.
Measurements of incident radio frequency power levels from the L3 technologies provision body scanner for the national academy of science

The Transportation Security Administration is tasked with the job of performing safety screening of millions of air travel passengers annually in a safe and efficient manner. One of the most widely deployed detection systems is the L3 Technologies “Provision” body scanner, which utilizes millimeter wave radio frequencies (RF). Have you ever wondered what type and levels of RF energy are used to execute this routine security screening test? Recently, the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, tasked the National Academies of Science (NAS) to execute an updated safety analysis of the L3 manufactured TSA ProVision Body Scanner units deployed in airports world-wide. In the process of executing their tasking, the NAS realized there was very little peer-reviewed published data on calibrated field incident power within the ProVision scanner itself. While L3 has their own factory acceptance program, the NAS wanted independent measurements executed on operational L3 machines at four randomly selected airports. The NAS contracted with the team of BerrieHill Research and Applied Research Associates to design a specialized field probe system that measures the RF field strength of the Provision Units. This very challenging measurement environment required design ingenuity to fulfill the contract needs, since this system was not allowed to physically connect to any part of the ProVision machine. We had to place a field measurement device inside the unit where the passenger stands, and record all data “over the air” only. This paper will completely describe the BRC/ARA Provision Scanner field probe measurement system, and present calibrated RF field measurements.
The possible effect of undercorrection on myopic progression in children

Background: Undercorrection has recently been found to enhance the rate of progression of myopia. This result was thought to be controversial as it contrasted with expectations based on animal studies, as well as the results found wearing progressive addition lenses. The aim of the present study was to again determine the effect of undercorrection on the progression of myopia in a random population of children who are known to be very susceptible to myopia.
Monitoring Switch-Type Sensors via Inductive Coupling: Application to Occupancy and Belt Detection in Removable Vehicle Seats

Inductive links have been widely proposed for sensors placed in harsh or inaccessible environments, where wiring is unpractical. Usually, the sensor forms part of an LC resonant network. The resonant frequency is dependent on the quantity to be measured and is estimated from a coupled reader. This paper proposes the use of inductive links for switch-type sensors, i.e., those that can be roughly modeled as switches in response to the sensed parameter. First, we present a comprehensive analysis for an arbitrary number of sensors. Second, we show the feasibility of using inductive links for occupancy and belt detection in removable vehicle seats, where wiring is unpractical. The state (open or closed) of the related sensors is attained by first measuring the equivalent resistance of the readout inductor and then estimating its resonant frequency. Ferrite-core coils were used to increase the detection distance. Experimental tests were carried out using an impedance analyzer with the readout coil and commercial seat sensors at the resonant network. The resistance value at the resonant frequency decreased with an increasing distance between the coupled coils. Even so, detection of the sensors' state was feasible at all the tested distances, from 0.5 to 3 cm.
Understanding CSR in the Maldivian context

Purpose – The objective of this study is to examine CSR practices in the Maldives. Design/methodology/approach – The perceptions of business and non-business stakeholders were analysed in order to identify CSR practices that are idiosyncratic to the Maldives and to reflect on the relevance of current mainstream CSR agenda for the Maldives. Surveys and in-depth interviews were used to draw the perceptions of a sample of 52 businesses and 36 non-business stakeholders. The study adopts an interpretive methodology to analyse the perceptions and to reflect on extant CSR theories. Findings – The paper suggests mediocre CSR practices of businesses and lukewarm responses from non-business stakeholders in the Maldives. There is a difference between what businesses consider ought to be CSR practices (the normative) and their actual CSR practices. Businesses prefer to keep their CSR practices discreet as publicity may cause increasing demands from local communities for financial and other assistance. CSR practices i.
PALB2 is an integral component of the BRCA complex required for homologous recombination repair

Mutations in breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 and 2 (BRCA1 and BRCA2) predispose individuals to breast and ovarian cancer development. We previously reported an in vivo interaction between BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, the biological significance of their association is thus far undefined. Here, we report that PALB2, the partner and localizer of BRCA2, binds directly to BRCA1, and serves as the molecular scaffold in the formation of the BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2 complex. The association between BRCA1 and PALB2 is primarily mediated via apolar bonding between their respective coiled-coil domains. More importantly, BRCA1 mutations identified in cancer patients disrupted the specific interaction between BRCA1 and PALB2. Consistent with the converging functions of the BRCA proteins in DNA repair, cells harboring mutations with abrogated BRCA1-PALB2 interaction resulted in defective homologous recombination (HR) repair. We propose that, via its direct interaction with PALB2, BRCA1 fine-tunes recombinational repair partly through its modulatory role in the PALB2-dependent loading of BRCA2-RAD51 repair machinery at DNA breaks. Our findings uncover PALB2 as the molecular adaptor between the BRCA proteins, and suggest that impaired HR repair is one of the fundamental causes for genomic instability and tumorigenesis observed in patients carrying BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 mutations.
Volatility forecasting and value-at-risk estimation in emerging markets : the case of the stock market index portfolio in South Africa : asset allocation

Accurate modelling of volatility is important as it relates to the forecasting of Value-at-Risk (VaR). The RiskMetrics model to forecast volatility is the benchmark in the financial sector. In an important regulatory innovation, the Basel Committee has proposed the use of an internal method for modelling VaR instead of the strict use of the benchmark model. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of RiskMetrics in comparison to other models of volatility forecasting, such as some family classes of the Generalised Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity models, in forecasting the VaR in emerging markets. This paper makes use of the stock market index portfolio, the All-Share Index, as a case study to evaluate the market risk in emerging markets. The paper underlines the importance of asymmetric behaviour for VaR forecasting in emerging markets’ economies.