Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current land policy in Latin America: regulating land tenure under neo-liberalism.

This book offers a critical reflection on current land policies in Latin America. Privatization and individualization of land rights, the corner stone of these policies, are analyzed from different perspectives. Attention is paid to the process of institutional reform and underlying assumptions, indicating some of the major shortcomings and ambiguities. The operation of free land markets is analyzed in relation to its implications for production, social goals (e.g., the rights of women and indigenous people), and sustainable resource management. The book includes a number of case studies from Costa Rica, Mexico, Bolivia, and Honduras, address the complexities of land tenure regulation. This book includes contributions by economists, sociologists, agronomists, historians, anthropologists, and geographers. By bringing about a better understanding of the implications of current land policy and generating concrete policy recommendations it aims to make a positive contribution to the land debate. It is the most comprehensive evaluation to be made of the land policies implemented in Latin America since the 1980s.
DUAL CLASS SHARES: ARE THERE RETURNS DIFFERENCES?

We examine dual classes of shares with identical dividends and liquidation treatment, but with different voting rights. We extend previous dud class studies by examining bid-ask adjusted prices and by examining returns after controlling for bid-ask spread and market value differences between voting classes. We establish that voting right differences, although related to price differences between superior and restricted voting shares, do not impact on average returns behavior. These findings are consistent with previously forwarded voting premium hypotheses.
Do demographics influence aggregate entrepreneurship?

Analysing a cross-country panel of 53 countries from 2001 to 2009, we find that the age distribution of a population is related to entrepreneurial activity. More specifically, a high share of young people in a country positively influences nascent entrepreneurship, whereas a high share of older people has a negative influence.
Traumatic Brain Injury Severity, Neuropathophysiology, and Clinical Outcome: Insights from Multimodal Neuroimaging

Background The relationship between the acute clinical presentation of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), long-term changes in brain structure prompted by injury and chronic functional outcome is insufficiently understood. In this preliminary study, we investigate how acute Glasgow coma score (GCS) and epileptic seizure occurrence after TBIs are statistically related to functional outcome (as quantified using the Glasgow Outcome Score) and to the extent of cortical thinning observed 6 months after the traumatic event. Methods Using multivariate linear regression, the extent to which the acute GCS and epileptic seizure occurrence (predictor variables) correlate with structural brain changes (relative cortical atrophy) was examined in a group of 33 TBI patients. The statistical significance of the correlation between relative cortical atrophy and the Glasgow Outcome Score was also investigated. Results A statistically significant correlative relationship between cortical thinning and the predictor variables (acute GCS and seizure occurrence) was identified in the study sample. Regions where the statistical model was found to have highest statistical reliability in predicting both gray matter atrophy and neurological outcome include the frontopolar, middle frontal, postcentral, paracentral, middle temporal, angular, and lingual gyri. In addition, relative atrophy and GOS were also found to be significantly correlated over large portions of the cortex. Conclusion This study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between clinical descriptors of acute TBI, the extent of injury-related chronic brain changes and neurological outcome. This is partly because the brain areas where cortical thinning was found to be correlated with GCS and with seizure occurrence are implicated in executive control, sensory function, motor acuity, memory, and language, all of which may be affected by TBI. Thus, our quantification suggests the existence of a statistical relationship between acute clinical presentation, on the one hand, and structural/functional brain features which are particularly susceptible to post-injury degradation, on the other hand.
Genetic polymorphisms and drug interactions modulating CYP2D6 and CYP3A activities have a major effect on oxycodone analgesic efficacy and safety

Background and purpose: The major drug‐metabolizing enzymes for the oxidation of oxycodone are CYP2D6 and CYP3A. A high interindividual variability in the activity of these enzymes because of genetic polymorphisms and/or drug–drug interactions is well established. The possible role of an active metabolite in the pharmacodynamics of oxycodone has been questioned and the importance of CYP3A‐mediated effects on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of oxycodone has been poorly explored.
Molecular Distinction between Pathogenic and Infectious Properties of the Prion Protein

ABSTRACT Tg(PG14) mice express a prion protein (PrP) with a nine-octapeptide insertion associated with a human familial prion disease. These animals spontaneously develop a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by ataxia, neuronal apoptosis, and accumulation in the brain of an aggregated and weakly protease-resistant form of mutant PrP (designated PG14spon). Brain homogenates from Tg(PG14) mice fail to transmit disease after intracerebral inoculation into recipient mice, indicating that PG14spon, although pathogenic, is distinct from PrPSc, the infectious form of PrP. In contrast, inoculation of Tg(PG14) mice with exogenous prions of the RML strain induces accumulation of PG14RML, a PrPSc form of the mutant protein that is infectious and highly protease resistant. Like PrPSc, both PG14spon and PG14RML display conformationally masked epitopes in the central and octapeptide repeat regions. However, these two forms differ profoundly in their oligomeric states, with PG14RML aggregates being much larger and more resistant to dissociation. Our analysis provides new molecular insight into an emerging puzzle in prion biology, the discrepancy between the infectious and neurotoxic properties of PrP.
Cambia la Inflación Cuando los Países Adoptan Metas Explícitas de Inflación

Este trabajo revisa la evidencia existente sobre el impacto de la adopcion del esquema de metas explicitas de inflacion (MEI) sobre la dinamica de la inflacion. En particular, se pasa revista a la evaluacion econometrica de Vega y Winkelried (200S) y se compara sus resultados con aquellos obtenidos de estudios recientes sobre la materia. Un resultado general de esta revision es que los efectos sobre la inflacion son leves o estadisticamente no significativos cuando un pais desarrollado es el que adopta el esquema MEl, en tanto que los efectos son bastante beneficiosos cuando un pais en desarrollo es el que adopta el esquema.
PREDICTORS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT POLICY ISSUES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

12 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 14 Background of the study 14 Statement of the Problem 15 Significance of the Problem 17 Purpose of the Study 18 Research Questions 19 Potential Implications of study 20 Definition of Terms 22 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 28 Introduction to Kenya 28 A Profile of the University of Nairobi. 35 Disabilities in Kenya 38 Historical Overview of Disability Situation in Kenya 39 Attitudes Toward Disability 43 Scales that Measure Attitudes Toward Disability 44 Potential Predictors of Attitudes toward Disability and Organizational Policy 47 Gender 47 Age 50 Marital Status 50
Telling tales in and out of school: youth performativities with digital storytelling

This article examines the performativities of three marginalised ‘at risk’ youth who participated in a longitudinal digital storytelling project undertaken in formal and informal settings in Singapore. Seeking to foster young people's agency, identity and multiple literacies, the three and one half year project developed a range of digital storytelling workshops to engage young people's creativity and expressions of self within a community of authors of digital texts. This article articulates the ways in which the project provided three young people with a platform from which to explore and play with a range of performative identities through the construction of digital and virtual personas and considers some of the possible implications for educators.
The institutional pillars of management accounting function

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to theorize the institutional pillars of management accounting function.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a comparative case study approach.Findings – Institutional pillars of management accounting are explored on the basis of two longitudinal case studies. Competitive/economic forces and three analytical elements of institutional theory are composing institutions: regulative, normative and cultural‐cognitive pillars. Each element is important, and all of them may work in combination, but they operate through distinctive mechanisms and processes. This paper illustrates how they provide the basis for compliance, order and the legitimacy of not the whole organization, nor of the management accounting systems but of the management accounting function. This “organizational legitimacy” of management accounting function may provide one potential additional explanation for the change and stability of management accounting in organizations.Originality/value – Th.
Homeland Entitlement

Given that there is scarcity of evidence on travel/tourism of resident populations, a study was undertaken to explore the perceptions of domestic visitors on being a tourist in their own country. For this purpose, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted into the Israeli sense of “being a tourist” in Israel. Analysis of interview data from Israeli Jewish participants generated two primary themes, namely, homeland entitlement and othering. The emergence of these themes lends to the development of a framework of reference toward furthering our understanding of domestic tourism. The article concludes with suggestions for a future research agenda in domestic tourism.
Inconsistent trade-offs between attributes: new evidence in preference assessment biases

One of the fundamental postulates of rational choice is that preferences manifested by an individual towards alternatives should only depend on the merits of these alternatives and not on extraneous, irrelevant factors. Violations of this basic principle, so-called preference reversals, have puzzled researchers for over twenty years and raised concerns about the use of preference modeling in decision analysis. The present work seeks to further determine the nature of these phenomena, in particular the role played by response mode in certain types of preference reversals. Hershey and Schoemaker (1985) found Probability and Certainty Equivalents to differ systematically and attributed this difference to a framing effect. Here, we generalize their experimental design to control for framing effects and study biases on a larger scope. Our results show that biases do not disappear in the absence of framing, instead they reveal a clear and pervasive bias occurring under more controlled experimental conditions than previously known: direct trade-offs between two attributes X and Y are biased depending on whether X is traded off against Y, or Y traded off against X. From among several hypotheses, the data lend support to the general principle of compatibility (Tversky et al. 1988; Slovic et al. 1990), which implies that an attribute receives more relative weight when it is used as "currency" in trading off.
An automated approach to isolate dominant SER susceptibilities in microcircuits

With the ever decreasing feature sizes of modern integrated circuits (IC), new test and analysis approaches are needed to isolate dominant soft error rate (SER) susceptibilities. A new test capability which provides SER raster scanning of microcircuits with a collimated heavy-ion beam, having spatial isolation as small as 10 microns, is presented. The system termed the Milli-Beam™ provides, through post processing, three-dimensional surface plots showing the location of error counts over an entire IC. A new cross section measurement technique that accounts for beam variations and uncertainties independent of laboratory dosimetry is also presented.
Real Estate Markets Are Informationally Efficient: Evidence from Buyer and Agent/Broker Surveys

This article presents new evidence based on unpublished buyer surveys and real estate agent and broker surveys supporting the consensus in the published literature that real estate markets are informationally efficient. This evidence is drawn from expert reports submitted in litigation involving claims that contamination caused property value diminution, and presents a new hedonic regression model of residential sales prices that includes as an independent variable the state of knowledge of the buyer regarding a contamination event. In this model the state of knowledge of the buyer has no statistically significant effect on the sales price. The article also discusses standards for the use of buyer and agent/broker surveys in litigation.
Road, forestry and regional planners' work for biodiversity conservation and public participation: a case study in Poland's hotspot regions

We studied how regional, road and forestry planning sectors work to implement policies about biodiversity conservation and public participation. Evaluations were based on a normative model for planning derived from the existing international policies and relevant literature. Key planning actors were then interviewed with regard to their understanding of biodiversity and participation policies as well as ability to act and willingness to implement them. The results indicate several gaps in planning processes, for example, insufficient knowledge about biodiversity conservation and participation, limited resources and tools for planning of functional habitat networks and collaboration, poor connections between local and regional planning, and weakly developed public participation. The main problem for effective policy implementation seems to be related to planners' ability to act, which indicates that relatively low priority was given to provide resources for biodiversity conservation and public participation by the relevant units. We discuss our findings in relation to the implementation of environmental policies in the new EU countries of Eastern and Central Europe.
The Little Problem of Longevity: Searching for Answers to Uncertainty

This article examines historical and future trends in life expectancy across the world. The expected increases in longevity could have significant implications for the structure of pension systems in the future. Individuals, businesses, and governments have already responded to these expected increases—for example, by working longer, closing defined-benefit pension schemes, or introducing parametric reforms to state pension systems—and are likely to make further changes in the future. However, future longevity trends are uncertain, making it more difficult not only to allocate longevity risk efficiently and fairly across different economic but also to guarantee the sustainability of the system overall. Now, innovative solutions to this challenge are being developed by the capital markets and others.
Environmental Uncertainty within the Hospitality Industry: Exploring the Measure of Dynamism and Complexity between Restaurant Segments

The use of aggregated macro-level data is underrepresented in hospitality research, and it is suggested here that traditional measures of environmental uncertainty are insufficient when measuring differences within a hospitality sector. This article reviews the traditional measures of environmental uncertainty using secondary data and proposes a measure of heterogeneity as an alternative method grounded in previous theory. Aggregated segments of the restaurant industry are used to illustrate the usefulness of heterogeneity in resources as a measure of environmental uncertainty. Using this exploratory measure, significant differences are shown to exist between limited service and full service restaurant segments.
2014 Update on the ‘growing spine surgery’ for young children with scoliosis

Purpose of review Spinal fusion procedures that are the mainstay of the treatment of progressive or severe curves in adolescents and adults are not suitable for most young children as there is a large magnitude of remaining growth. Early spinal fusion stunts the growth of the thorax and may interfere with the development of the lungs. Therefore, in children with early-onset scoliosis, ‘growth friendly’ instrumentation systems have been utilized to control the deformity while allowing the growth of the spine and the thoracic cage. Recent findings The experience with growing rods has been increasing, along with expanding indications. Several self-lengthening instrumentation systems have been introduced aiming for guided spinal growth. There has been considerable progress in the clinical and laboratory studies using magnetically controlled growing rod constructs. Growing rods and vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR) systems provide deformity control while allowing for spinal growth along with a risk of spontaneous vertebral fusions. VEPTR may cause rib fusions as the implants overlie the thoracic cage and, therefore, the use in pure spinal deformities is controversial. Summary There have been exciting recent advances concerning the treatment of spinal deformities in young children. Despite these advances, the surgical treatment of early-onset scoliosis remains far from optimal and more development is on the way.
The Determination of Unity Gain for InGaAs/InP Avalanche Photodiodes With Excess Noise Measurements

We propose a methodology for determining the unity gain of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with excess noise measurements. Compared with previous reports, the relative intensity noise from the laser can be deduced in our experiments, which alleviates the strict requirements for the light source during measurements. The unity gain of APDs can be determined from the abrupt change in the derivative function of the total noise versus the photocurrent. With the proposed technique, a relative error for gain is of 3.3%. Thus the excess noise can be extracted from the total noise and the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{k}_{eff}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> can be derived with a satisfactory accuracy.
Optimizing methyl‐eugenol aromatherapy to maximize posttreatment effects to enhance mating competitiveness of male Bactrocera carambolae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

Methyl‐eugenol (ME) (1,2‐dimethoxy‐4‐(2‐propenyl)benzene), a natural phytochemical, did enhance male Bactrocera carambolae Drew & Hancock (Diptera: Tephritidae) mating competitiveness 3 d after ingestion. Enhanced male mating competitiveness can significantly increase the effectiveness of the sterile insect technique (SIT). ME application to mass reared sterile flies by feeding is infeasible. ME application by aromatherapy however, would be a very practical way of ME application in fly emergence and release facilities. This approach was shown to enhance mating competitiveness of B. carambolae 3 d posttreatment (DPT). Despite this added benefit, every additional day of delaying release will reduce sterile fly quality and will add cost to SIT application. The present study was planned to assess the effects of ME‐aromatherapy on male B. carambolae mating competitiveness 1DPT and 2DPT. ME aromatherapy 1DPT or 2DPT did enhance mating competitiveness of B. carambolae males whereas ME feeding 1DPT and 2DPT did not. Male mating competitiveness was enhanced by the ME aromatherapy irrespective if they received 1DPT, 2DPT or 3DPT. ME aromatherapy, being a viable approach for its application, did enhance mating competitiveness of male B. carambolae 1 d posttreatment as ME feeding did 3 d after ingestion.
Financial Market Integration in Pakistan

This research evaluates the issue of financial integration with reference to financial market of Pakistan; subsequent to liberalization (1991) capital flows rapidly growing due to openness reforms. This openness reforms specifically increased capital flow in short run in domestic market. It is imperative to explore causes pertaining to this issue to obtain positive impact with growing sustainable financial markets. For this purpose, monthly data of Karachi interbank offer rate (KIBOR), 3 months treasury bills rate, Pakistani rupee/US dollar exchange rate, stock prices (Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index) and the London Interbank offer rate (LIBOR) were used. Applying Johnson co integration technique, it is found that there is a long run correlation among local foreign exchange market and LIBOR but this relationship is not robust due to high control of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Securities market is still found at the developing stage and not fully integrated with international financial market. It is suggested that further steps and initiatives be taken to increase international financial integration in securities market. This may be very helpful to reduce arbitrage and speculation in financial market in Pakistan.
Algebraic surfaces and 4-manifolds: Some conjectures and speculations

Introduction. Since the time of Riemann, there has been a close interplay between the study of the geometry of complex algebraic curves (or, equivalently, compact Riemann surfaces) and the topology of 2-manifolds. These connections arise from the uniformization theorem, which asserts that every simply connected Riemann surface is conformally equivalent to either the Riemann sphere, the plane, or the interior of the unit disk. Prom this it follows that every compact Riemann surface has a conformally equivalent metric of constant curvature. A key idea in the proof of this result is the Dirichlet problem: Find a harmonic function on a Jordan region R in the plane with given boundary values. Any such harmonic function minimizes the functional
Endogenous Cost Differentials between Public and Private Enterprises: A Mixed Duopoly Approach

We investigate a mixed duopoly, where a state-owned welfare-maximizing public firm competes against a profit-maximizing private firm. We use a Hotelling-type spatial model which represents product differentiation. We endogenize production costs by introducing cost-reducing activities. We show that the private firm's cost becomes lower than the public firm's because the private firm engages in excessive strategic cost-reducing activities. Even though each firm's cost is heterogeneous, the locations of the firms are socially efficient, given the cost differentials. Privatization of the public firm would improve welfare because it would mitigate the loss arising from excessive cost-reducing investments.
BIODEGRADABLE PEG NANOPARTICLES FOR COLORECTAL CANCER USING IRINOTECAN AS ANTICANCER AGENT

Objective: The idea behind this work was to formulate nanoparticles of irinotecan hydrochloride using poly ethylene glycol as carrier molecule and to evaluate the formulation. Methods: Irinotecan loaded nanospheres were prepared by the emulsification solvent evaporation method. Results: The preformulation studies of FT-IR and XRD shows better compatability between the drug and polymer. Evaluation of prepared Irinotecan hydrochloride nanoparticles was carried out for characteristics like SEM analysis and In-Vitro release kinetic studies. Conclusion: The formulation shows better drug release performance of about 81.3 % in drug release kinetics. The in- vitro drug release profile shows the controlled drug release and better percentage of drug release in 24 hrs release study. Keyword: Antineoplastic, Preformulation, Nanoparticle, Emulsification, Controlled drug release.