Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fostering secure attachment in infants in maltreating families through preventive interventions

The malleability of insecure and disorganized attachment among infants from maltreating families was investigated through a randomized preventive intervention trial. Findings from research on the effects of maltreatment on infant attachment were incorporated into the design and evaluation of the intervention. One-year-old infants from maltreating families (N = 137) and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: (a) infant–parent psychotherapy (IPP), (b) psychoeducational parenting intervention (PPI), and (c) community standard (CS) controls. A fourth group of infants from nonmaltreating families (N = 52) and their mothers served as an additional low-income normative comparison (NC) group. At baseline, mothers in the maltreatment group, relative to the nonmaltreatment group mothers, reported greater abuse and neglect in their own childhoods, more insecure relationships with their own mothers, more maladaptive parenting attitudes, more parenting stress, and lower family support, and they were observed to evince lower maternal sensitivity. Infants in the maltreatment groups had significantly higher rates of disorganized attachment than infants in the NC group. At postintervention follow-up at age 26 months, children in the IPP and PPI groups demonstrated substantial increases in secure attachment, whereas increases in secure attachment were not found for the CS and NC groups. Moreover, disorganized attachment continued to predominate in the CS group. These results were maintained when intent to treat analyses were conducted. The findings are discussed in terms of the utility of translating basic research into the design and evaluation of clinical trials, as well as the importance of preventive interventions for altering attachment organization and promoting an adaptive developmental course for infants in maltreating families.This research was supported by grants from the Administration of Children, Youth, and Families, the National Institute of Mental Health (MH54643), and the Spunk Fund, Inc.
Essays on Urban Amenities and Location Choice

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Research Series The increase in both the education level and in labour market participation of the Dutch population are two important trends of the last decades. This dissertation focusses on the effects of these trends on the location choice of households and on the commuting behaviour. Special attention is given towards the so-called ‘power couples’, couples of which both spouses are higher educated. In this thesis the costs and benefits of two spatial planning measures, namely the provision of open space within cities and the reduction of aircraft noise, are also investigated. By examining the estimated benefits and the associated costs of these urban amenities, it becomes apparent that the levels of these amenities are below their optimum. Increasing the amount of open space and reducing aircraft noise are considered to be welfare enhancing.
Do Interventions in Foreign Exchange Markets Modify Investors' Expectations? The Experience of Japan between 1992 and 2003

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the Bank of Japan’s official interventions on the JPY/USD parity during the period 1992-2003. The novelty of our approach is to combine two recent advances of the empirical literature on foreign exchange interventions: (i) drawing on overthe-counter option prices to characterize more precisely the distribution of market expectations; (ii) redefining interventions in terms of events as they tend to come in clusters. Moreover, in order to deal with the features of the data (small sample size, non-standard distribution), we use bootstrap tests. We show that interventions have a significant impact on the mean expectation (the forward rate). The results are more ambiguous for variance. Additionally, we find that the effect of interventions on skewness is significant, robust to different definitions of skewness, and consistent with the direction of interventions. On the contrary, our results clearly show that kurtosis is not affected by interventions. We finally show that: (i) coordination increases effectiveness of interventions; (ii) results are not altered when controlling for other economic and political news.
Investigating the Neural Correlates of Emotion–Cognition Interaction Using an Affective Stroop Task

The human brain has the capacity to integrate various sources of information and continuously adapts our behavior according to situational needs in order to allow a healthy functioning. Emotion–cognition interactions are a key example for such integrative processing. However, the neuronal correlates investigating the effects of emotion on cognition remain to be explored and replication studies are needed. Previous neuroimaging studies have indicated an involvement of emotion and cognition related brain structures including parietal and prefrontal cortices and limbic brain regions. Here, we employed whole brain event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an affective number Stroop task and aimed at replicating previous findings using an adaptation of an existing task design in 30 healthy young adults. The Stroop task is an indicator of cognitive control and enables the quantification of interference in relation to variations in cognitive load. By the use of emotional primes (negative/neutral) prior to Stroop task performance, an emotional variation is added as well. Behavioral in-scanner data showed that negative primes delayed and disrupted cognitive processing. Trials with high cognitive demand furthermore negatively influenced cognitive control mechanisms. Neuronally, the emotional primes consistently activated emotion-related brain regions (e.g., amygdala, insula, and prefrontal brain regions) while Stroop task performance lead to activations in cognition networks of the brain (prefrontal cortices, superior temporal lobe, and insula). When assessing the effect of emotion on cognition, increased cognitive demand led to decreases in neural activation in response to emotional stimuli (negative > neutral) within prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and insular cortex. Overall, these results suggest that emotional primes significantly impact cognitive performance and increasing cognitive demand leads to reduced neuronal activation in emotion related brain regions, and therefore support previous findings investigating emotion–cognition interaction in healthy adults. Moreover, emotion and cognition seem to be tightly related to each other, as indicated by shared neural networks involved in both of these processes. Emotion processing, cognitive control, and their interaction are crucial for healthy functioning and a lack thereof is related to psychiatric disorders such as, disruptive behavior disorders. Future studies may investigate the neural characteristics of children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders.
HARDLY EXISTENTIAL: TERRORISM AS A HAZARD TO HUMAN LIFE

Many politicians, leaders, opinion-makers, scholars, bureaucrats, and ordinary people routinely hold that the threat presented to the United States by terrorism is existential in nature. This paper deals with the nature of the challenge presented by terrorism, particularly the international or transnational terrorism that is of most concern to people in the West, and with the losses in human life terrorists have been able to inflict. It then places the issue in broader context, comparing the risk terrorism presents with other hazards to human life that have variously been considered acceptable or unacceptable. It is abundantly clear that under present conditions terrorism, as a hazard to human life in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, is hardly existential. Indeed, applying widely-accepted criteria established after much research by many international regulators and decision-makers, the risks from terrorism are low enough to be deemed "acceptable. "
Microeconomics of College Choice, Careers, and Wages

Understanding the economic payoff to human capital investments is very important from the standpoint both of individuals and of society. However, this article argues that correctly estimating these impacts necessitates having a well-developed idea of the microeconomic determinants of human behavior. Without this, empirical analyses of such topics as career choice, college choice, or wage determination will be flawed. The authors begin the article with a discussion of why these choice models are important—using examples of similar attempts that do not capture sufficient information—and illustrate their usefulness in a variety of contexts. They also describe the results of their attempts to examine college choice using microeconomic models.
Using human resource management to enhance competitiveness: Lessons from four excellent companies

Recent research has emphasized the strategic focus that human resource management must have in order for an organization to fully utilize its human resources in a competitive market. However, few empirical studies have been done to date regarding how human resource planning should be linked to strategy. An extensive in-depth study of four large, complex, and very successful companies supports the widespread belief that human resource management can be a powerful tool to enhance competitiveness when policies and practices are logically driven by a firm's strategy and by the key environmental factors it faces. This article describes that study and looks at how the areas of selection, appraisal, reward, and development are handled by these firms. Based on both the specific policies and the actual practices as perceived by middle managers (those that implement the policies), the article presents a contingency framework which offers guidelines as to how certain HRM practices should be implemented to gain competitive advantage.
Structural Mechanism of Ring-opening Reaction of Glucose by Human Serum Albumin*

Background: Glucose can glycate human serum albumin (HSA), but the mechanism is unknown. Results: Crystal structures of rHSA in the presence of glucose show that glucose is linearized and covalently linked to rHSA. Conclusion: The residues Lys-195 and Lys-199 of rHSA are involved in glucose ring opening. Significance: This work provides a structural mechanism of protein glycation. Glucose reacts with proteins nonenzymatically under physiological conditions. Such glycation is exacerbated in diabetic patients with high levels of blood sugar and induces various complications. Human albumin serum (HSA) is the most abundant protein in plasma and is glycated by glucose. The glycation sites on HSA remain controversial among different studies. Here, we report two protein crystal structures of HSA in complex with either glucose or fructose. These crystal structures reveal the presence of linear forms of sugar for both monosaccharides. The linear form of glucose forms a covalent bond to Lys-195 of HSA, but this is not the case for fructose. Based on these structures, we propose a mechanism for glucose ring opening involving both residues Lys-195 and Lys-199. These results provide mechanistic insights to understand the glucose ring-opening reaction and the glycation of proteins by monosaccharides.
Cryptovalsa ampelina, a forgotten shoot and cane pathogen of grapevines

A diatrypaceous ascomycete with polysporous asci and reniform to allantoid, pigmented ascospores was isolated from grapevine canes in South Africa and Australia. The fungus was identified as Cryptovalsa ampelina based on its characteristic morphology. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses confirmed this species to belong to the Diatrypaceae. Pathogenicity was also confirmed by means of wound inoculations on grapevine canes.
Design of stabilizing controller for uncertain nonlinear systems under input saturation

The paper aim is to propose a new framework for the design of robust stabilizing controllers for uncertain nonlinear systems under input saturation. A new method for modeling the saturation effect is presented that allows taking its nonlinearity effects into the problem of controller design. The proposed controller is a modified parallel distributed compensation state feedback. Based on Lyapunov theory, sufficient conditions for assuring the system global stability are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMI). The problem of maximizing the domain of attraction is expressed as an optimization problem. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Towards action on social determinants for health equity in urban settings

More than half of the global population now live in urban settings. Urbanization can and should be beneficial for health. In general, nations with high life expectancies and low infant mortality rates are those where city governments address the key social determinants of health. Better housing and living conditions, access to safe water and good sanitation, efficient waste management systems, safer working environments and neighbourhoods, food security and access to services such as education, health, welfare, public transportation and child care are examples of social determinants of health that can be addressed through good urban governance. Failure of governance in today's cities has resulted in the growth of informal settlements and slums that constitute unhealthy living and working environments for one billion people. A credible health agenda is one that benefits all people in cities, especially the urban poor who live in informal settlements. International agreements calling for urgent action to reduce poverty, such as the Millennium Development Goals, can only be met through national strategies that include both urban and rural commitments and involve local governments and the poor themselves. Health inequalities in urban areas need to be addressed in countries at all income levels. Urban development and town planning are key to creating supportive social and physical environments for health and health equity. Achieving healthy urbanization in all countries is a shared global responsibility. Eliminating deprived urban living conditions will require resources — aid, loans, private investments — from more affluent countries in the order of US$ 200 billion per year, no more than 20 per cent of the annual increase in GDP in high-income countries. Creating global political support for a sustained and well-funded effort for social, economic and health equity is one of the greatest challenges of this generation.
An Interpolation Algorithm for Discrete Fourier Transforms of Weighted Damped Sinusoidal Signals

An algorithm for improving the accuracy of the estimation of parameters that characterize a multifrequency damped sinusoidal signal is presented. The core ideas of the algorithm is that the signal is weighted using Hann window before discrete Fourier transform and the frequencies, amplitudes, phases, and damping factors of the signal are obtained by frequency domain interpolation. It is shown that the purpose of improving the accuracy of parameter estimation is achieved using Hann window, which reduces long-range leakage and frequency-domain interpolation that eliminates the effect of the picket fence. The sensitivity analysis of the changing of the signal parameters, noise and spectral resolution, shows that both the effects of strong noise and spectral interference are considered, proving the reliability and high-accuracy parameters estimation in a number of engineering applications. Otherwise, the characteristic of efficiency computational and low memory demands are advantageously adopted for the poor computing resources situations. Extracting the impact signal of the rotor test bed using this method is illustrated. The result shows that the method can be an optional method for the fault features extraction of the mechanical impact.
Bean Seed Dissemination Systems in Malawi: A Strategy

ABSTRACT Farmers have shown considerable interest in purchasing seed of newly released dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) varieties in Malawi. However, this seed is not available on a large scale to farmers at present. The private seed sector in the country is not interested in bean seed production due to low profit margins. As a self-pollinating crop, once farmers have obtained initial seed stock, it can be recycled for some time. A strategy has been developed to focus on alternative sustainable informal seed production and dissemination systems, which builds on lessons learnt from previous experiences within Malawi and other African countries. These include: (i) informal seed multiplication, using smallholder farmers; (ii) informal seed distribution channels, using grocery shops, rural traders, extension agents, health clinics, and NGOs; and (iii) intensified variety promotion through publicity, using posters, leaflets, brochures and radio messages. These activities are carried out in close collaboration with farmers, NGOs, extension agencies, village traders and various other institutions. The results from initial sales through informal distribution channels were encouraging and 80% of the seed was sold.
Capital Market Consequences of Audit Partner Quality

ABSTRACT: This paper examines whether the identity of the individual audit partners provides informational value to capital market participants beyond the value provided by the identity of the audit firms. Using data from Taiwan, where firms are mandated to disclose the names of the engagement partners, we find a positive association between the partner's quality and the client firm's earnings response coefficient. We also find a positive market reaction when a firm replaces a lower quality partner with a higher quality one. Moreover, we find evidence that firms audited by higher quality partners experience smaller initial public offering (IPO) underpricing and are able to obtain better debt contract terms. Overall, these results suggest that the quality of engagement partners matters to capital market participants.
Economic Consequences of Accounting Enforcement Reforms: The Case of Germany

This study investigates recent reforms in financial reporting enforcement in Germany. The objective of these reforms was to promote a consistent and faithful application of accounting standards. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find some evidence of a decrease in earnings management, an increase in stock liquidity, and, to a limited extent, an increase in market valuation for companies that fall under the new enforcement regime. Our results also provide some support for the notion that companies characterized by an overall low level of enforcement through other internal and external mechanisms are particularly affected by these reforms. The results are largely robust in several sensitivity analyses, but the results must be interpreted with caution because we cannot completely rule out the possibility of other explanations.
Professional-Organizational Commitment: A Study of Canadian Professional Accountants

This paper extends the literature on professional and organizational commitment through an online survey of professional accountants that examines the influence of several contextual features, namely, workplace diversification, occupational stress, professional involvement, and culture. The survey was carried out around the end of year 2002 with Canadian Chartered Accountants (CAs) from four Canadian provincial institutes. Three of these provincial institutes are located in English-speaking provinces (Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia) while the fourth CA association is in Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking province. In contrast to prior research carried out more than two decades ago, our results indicate that respondents in public practice do not differ from respondents in non-public accounting settings in their level of professional commitment, and in their level of organizational commitment. Our results also suggest that occupational stress and professional involvement are both significantly related to professional commitment. Finally, our survey data indicate that accountants working in Quebec had a lower professional commitment than their peers working in English-speaking provinces, thereby suggesting that culture exerts significant influence on professional commitment.
A modified GMRES method for solving large-scale Lyapunov equations for multi-agent systems

We consider solving large-scale Lyapunov equations for multi-agent system. Focusing on the Kronecker product in the Lyapunov equations, we use third order tensors and its operations, which are useful to decrease memory requirements. In this paper, we propose the modified GMRES method for the Lyapunov equations which computes using third order tensor. Moreover, we display numerical examples of the proposed GMRES method and confirm convergences of that.
Forecasting Technique Familiarity, Satisfaction, Usage, and Application

A ten-year retrospective study of Mentzcr and Cox (1984) was undertaken to answer the question 'Have sales forecasting practices changed over the past ten years? ' A mail survey of 207 forecasting executives was employed to investigate this important question. Findings revealed both discrepancies and similarities between today's sales forecasting practices and those of ten years ago. One particular finding indicated greater reliance on and satisfaction with quantitative forecasting techniques today versus ten years ago. Another indicated that forecasting accuracy has not improved over the past ten years, even though the familiarity and usage of various sophisticated sales forecasting techniques have increased. Future research and managerial implications arc discussed based on these and other findings.
The Causes of Bi-partisan Votes in the U.S. Congress

This paper argues that bi-partisan votes, defined as compromises incorporating some policy preferences of both Republicans and Democrats, are caused by the lack of effective party government in the United States. It shows how the political movements and events of the 1960s and 70s have shaped modern polarization, creating distorted incentives for congressional actors to increase procedural and rhetorical conflict in Washington. Focusing analysis on major legislation proposed in the years of the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush Presidencies, with a look towards the Obama era, the frustration of party governance development and continuing patterns of partisanship are explained. Partisanship on the Agenda The Obama Presidency is extraordinary in several ways but one striking feature is the amount of political debate which is conducted not about issues, but process and partisanship. Allegations of ideological extremism and legislative manipulation travel loudly in both directions, obscuring substantial policy discussion. During the 2009 -2010 health care reform efforts more time was spent debating whether Democrats or Republicans were taking positions far from the mainstream or engaging in dirty parliamentary tactics than, for example, the distinction between government and co-operative run insurance schemes. Uniting these twin complaints is the proposed solution: bi-partisanship. Pundits and politicians from both parties repeat demands and promises for bipartisan approaches, summits and conduct yet an increase in bi-partisan votes remains elusive. Meanwhile, Americans watching complex Congressional manoeuvres executed by politicians espousing fiery rhetoric are either switching off or getting angry.