Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HAS CANADA ADOPTED THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT?

Following review of definitions of New Public Management (NPM), the paper assesses whether Canada has adopted the NPM, organized by Kernaghan and Charih's (1997) categories and using Loeffler's (1997) definition. Canada has reorganized the machinery of government, changed management methods and reduced the federal public sector substantially. Despite high debt, Canada's federal government reduced its expenditures and/or public service as much or more than the UK and New Zealand. Its expenditures as a proportion of GDP are now similar to those of the UK and New Zealand, the major proponents of NPM.
The application of field imaging spectrometer system(FISS) in archeology of ancient copper smelting site

During the archaeological study of culture layers, much attention is paid to the filler of the materials. The fired soil (iron oxide) and carbonized substance are the primary targets of interest which are related to the culture layers. FISS is the first field imaging spectrometer based on a cooling area CCD developed in China. The number of bands of this instrument is 344, spectral range 379-870nm, and spectral resolution 4-7nm. The aim of this paper is to test how to use the imaging spectrometer data to help the discrimination of culture layers in ancient copper melting site since hyperspectral remote sensing provides new perspectives for the study of soils. In the application of FISS in the archeology of ancient copper smelting site, both supervised and unsupervised unmixing and classification techniques can be useful for detecting soil component.
Revisiting wage subsidies: How pro-poor is a South African wage subsidy likely to be?

Wage subsidies have been used in both developed and developing countries to raise employment. After a decade of deliberation, the South African Government recently announced the introduction of a wage subsidy scheme. Given the intrinsic link between unemployment and poverty in South Africa, the belief is that a wage subsidy programme sufficient in scope will also make inroads into poverty. However, the way in which jobs are distributed among poor and non-poor jobseekers is crucial. Our general equilibrium microsimulation model confirms the expectation that a higher wage elasticity of labour demand is associated with larger reductions in poverty. We also find that a greater proportion of new jobs accrue to poor jobseekers when the elasticity is high. While youth-targeting does not improve the poverty-reducing effect of the policy, sectors such as textiles, accommodation, and construction services with their pro-poor employment profiles are good candidates for targeting.
Creating ambidexterity through quality management

Ambidexterity is the capability of an organisation to be aligned and efficient in managing current business demands (exploitation) and also be adaptive to changes in the environment (exploration). However, it is yet unclear how organisation-wide ambidexterity can be achieved. Research shows that quality management (QM) can improve exploitation, but it is also accused of dampening exploration. This conceptual paper aims to explore how some important QM practices can be designed and executed to support ambidexterity. We found that indeed these practices can contribute to both exploitation and exploration and in this way give rise to ambidexterity. Related to each of the discussed QM practice there are different activities; some of these contribute more to exploitation, others to exploration. The key contribution of this paper is that it chalks out the dynamics of ambidexterity creation through QM. The paper challenges management to apply QM practices in a way that supports both exploitation and exploration simultaneously.
Common human Toll‐like receptor 9 polymorphisms and haplotypes: association with atopy and functional relevance

Background Toll‐like receptor 9 (TLR9) is a pattern‐recognition receptor that detects unmethylated CpG motifs prevalent in bacterial and viral DNA. TLR9 stimulation is a key event after bacterial infection, triggering innate immunity and T‐helper type 1 skewed adaptive immunity. Synthetic CpG‐oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG‐ODNs) represent a promising and novel class of immune adjuvants for allergy treatment, vaccination, and cancer therapy. However, common functional TLR9 gene variants could interfere with the clinical utilization of CpG‐ODN in immunotherapy. Recently, a possible association of TLR9 polymorphism C‐1237T with asthma has been reported.
Real Estate Valuation: The Effect of Market and Property Cycles

Traditional real estate valuation models stabilize cash flow variables in a single- or multi-year pro forma, assume efficient markets, and impute property return/risk expectations into a current overall market capitalization rate to determine value. This traditional valuation framework is biased toward trend analysis and often assumes constant annual changes in rents and expenses and constant terminal value capitalization rates over a seven-to-ten-year projection period. Economic cycles are not explicitly addressed by the valuation framework or models. This study uses a cycle valuation model to evaluate linkages between real estate supply and demand cycles, equilibrium price cycles, inflation cycles, rent rate catch-up cycles, and property life cycles; translates their effects on cash flow variables; and demonstrates their significant impact on asset value. The cycle model results are then compared to those produced from traditional borrower and lender "trend driven" valuation models. The study results suggest that appraisers should develop cash flow models that explicitly incorporate cycle impacts in order to produce realistic present value estimates and valuation conclusions. Further, the market research process must be redefined and reorganized to produce information and data for use in cycle models.
Testing the hypothesis of long-run money neutrality in the Middle East

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis of long-run money neutrality for Egypt, Jordan and Morocco using seasonal cointegration techniques. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses seasonal integration and cointegration techniques to test the neutrality of money hypothesis for three Middle Eastern economies, using quarterly data on money, prices and real income. The benefit of using this technique lies in its ability to distinguish between cointegration at different frequencies. Findings - The empirical results show that money is cointegrated with prices, but not with output at the zero frequency for Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. This suggests that money affects nominal but not real variables in the long run, implying that money is neutral in these three Middle Eastern economies. Practical implications - The implication of this finding for policy analysis suggests that the anti-inflationary policy prescription espoused by the monetarist school should be followed in these three Middle Eastern countries, in order to curb inflation. Originality/value - The paper provides further evidence in support of money neutrality using an unconventional approach for three developing Middle Eastern economies.
Government measures needed to promote building energy efficiency (BEE) in China

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the major differences between the government's role in building energy efficiency (BEE) in China and three developed countries, and to further the understanding of market expectations of the most effective government measures to encourage BEE development in China.Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken was: establish a framework for a critical comparative study; compare and assess the BEE promotion measures available to governments in the USA, Canada, the UK and China; survey the BEE market expectations of building design professionals to better understand the favourable measures the Chinese Government could take to further promote BEE; and triangulate the findings of the comparative study and questionnaire survey to develop recommendations for BEE promotion in mainland China.Findings – Economic incentives are important for BEE promotion at the current stage, but they are lacking in China. Active government interventions, such as adjusting energy .
The Short and Long-Run Labor Market Effects of Age Eligibility Rules: Evidence from Women's Professional Tennis

Age is often used in law and public policy as a low-cost proxy for competency, maturity, and ability. Age is also used in numerous sport (and non-sport) labor markets to determine workplace eligibility. We exploit the enactment of the women’s professional tennis minimum age rule (AR) in 1995 to estimate the effects of ARs on short-run and long-run labor market outcomes. We find very limited evidence that the AR has had any systematic beneficial effect on players’ career longevity or success. Our results suggest that sport governing bodies should (re-)evaluate the efficacy and necessity of “one size fits all” age eligibility rules.
An Alternative View to the “Africa Dummy”

For the last four decades the pace of economic growth in African countries remained too slow or stagnant. This problem is analyzed by first developing a framework that focus on growth process of indigent economy, where deferring current consumption is hardly possible, and by relaxing the usual assumption of unfailing market condition. The analytic result suggests that the degree and direction of effects of factors of market failure make a difference in nations' level of income per capita as well as its rate of growth. On this ground, the poor economic performance observed in the region can be well attributed to poor capacity to manage and exploit factors of market failure. The empirical evidence obtained from analysis of panel data supports strongly this argument.
Option Valuation with a Discrete-Time Double Markovian Regime-Switching Model

Abstract This article develops an option valuation model in the context of a discrete-time double Markovian regime-switching (DMRS) model with innovations having a generic distribution. The DMRS model is more flexible than the traditional Markovian regime-switching model in the sense that the drift and the volatility of the price dynamics of the underlying risky asset are modulated by two observable, discrete-time and finite-state Markov chains, so that they are not perfectly correlated. The states of each of the chains represent states of proxies of (macro)economic factors. Here we consider the situation that one (macro)economic factor is caused by the other (macro)economic factor. The market model is incomplete, and so there is more than one equivalent martingale measure. We employ a discrete-time version of the regime-switching Esscher transform to determine an equivalent martingale measure for valuation. Different parametric distributions for the innovations of the price dynamics of the underlying risky asset are considered. Simulation experiments are conducted to illustrate the implementation of the model and to document the impacts of the macroeconomic factors described by the chains on the option prices under various different parametric models for the innovations.
The Information Content of Stock Split Announcements: Do Options Matter?

We provide a new test of the informational efficiency of trading in stock options in the context of stock split announcements. These announcements tend to be associated with positive abnormal returns. Our traditional event study results show abnormal returns that are significantly lower for optioned than non-optioned stocks, whether traded on the NYSE, Amex, or Nasdaq. After controlling for market returns, capitalization, book-to-market ratio, and trading volume, we find that the abnormal returns are significantly lower for NYSE/Amex optioned than non-optioned stocks. Although the results for Nasdaq stocks are not as clear, the overall effects tend to be lower after optioning. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the prices of optioned stocks embody more information, diminishing the impact of the stock split announcement. They provide new evidence of the beneficial effects of options on their underlying stocks.
Decision-making under Pressure: The Negotiation of the Biometric Passports Regulation in the Council

This paper accounts for the so-called Biometric Passports Regulation of the European Community. Formally adopted by the Council of the European Union (EU) in December of 2004, the Biometric Passports Regulation prescribes the compulsory biometric “enrollment” of all EU citizens applying for a new passport or passport renewal. Member States fully participating in the Schengen regime and Schengen-affiliated third countries like Norway are obliged to include two biometric identifiers into their citizens’ passports by the end of June 2009. Schengen-made “e-Passports” will contain a chip storing a facial scan of the passport holder and two of his or her fingerprints. The author employs both Rationalist and Institutionalist perspectives in order to explain why the Council of the EU unanimously endorsed a bill which, as far as the mandatory incorporation of fingerprints into EU citizens’ passports is concerned, goes beyond what was necessary for meeting U.S. and international requirements. Rationalists may interpret the final legislative outcome as a reflection of the political success of “first mover” strategies on the part of relatively powerful executive actors engaged in a Battle-of-the-Sexes game. From an Institutionalist point of view, on the other hand, the substantive profile of the Biometric Passports Regulation stems from the reproduction of police-specific standard operating procedures, the “consensus reflex” among the members of the Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER), and the recognitional character of decision-making processes under time pressure.
Combined Fractal Dipole Wire Antenna

In today's world of expanding wireless communications, there is increasing need for more compact, multiband, and moderate gain antennas for portable communications systems to respond to the great demand for both military and commercial communications systems. Fractal antenna designs can assist in meeting these design requirements. This paper introduces a novel small size and multiband fractal dipole antenna called combined fractal antenna for 2D and 3D configurations where two different fractal geometries combined together to get the main antenna body. This antenna combines aspects of Hilbert and Koch curves and expected that the resulted antenna have a hybrid or combined properties related to the geometries that constructed this combined geometry. L-system generator was advantageously used to create desired geometry with possibility of adjusting its properties. Numerical analyses of this combined antenna were done using method of moments technique where the impedance and radiation behavior of proposed antenna are numerically studied with NEC-Win professional software.
Bad news bears: Effects of expected market volatility on daily tracking error of leveraged bull and bear ETFs

Purpose - – This study aims to look into how volatility significantly impacts the tracking error for daily-rebalanced leveraged bull and bear ETFs. Design/methodology/approach - – Using Morningstar return data and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) volatility index (VIX) data, the paper examines the daily tracking error for leveraged bull and bear ETFs. Tracking error is defined as the difference between the daily returns for a leveraged bull or bear ETF and the multiple of the daily return for that ETF's respective underlying benchmark index. Findings - – Changes in the market VIX of the CBOE have a significant and opposite effect on the daily returns for both leveraged bull and bear ETFs. Furthermore, these effects are more pronounced for bear ETFs than similarly leveraged bull ETFs. Research limitations/implications - – The sample period (June 19, 2006 to September 22, 2009) contains periods of extraordinarily high volatility. Considering that the VIX reached an all-time high during this period, the results may be time-period specific and may not translate to other time periods. Practical implications - – The implication is that market timing may be feasible for enhancing daily returns for both leveraged bull and bear ETFs. However, any specific timing strategies go beyond the scope of this paper. Originality/value - – In this study, the paper examined the effects of expected market volatility on the daily tracking error of leveraged bull and bear ETFs. Specifically, the paper performed multiple linear regression analysis using Morningstar return data for the ETFs and their underlying benchmark and CBOE VIX data. The findings suggest that market timing could be beneficial for increasing daily yields for leveraged and inverse ETFs.
Changes in calcium transport in mammalian sperm mitochondria and plasma membranes caused by 780 nm irradiation

Regulation of intracellular Ca2+ concentrations are very important in control of sperm motility and acrosome reaction. It was shown previously that low‐power lasers in the visible and near‐infrared range alter Ca2+ uptake by sperm cells. In the present work the effect of a 780 nm diode laser on Ca2+ uptake by sperm mitochondria and isolated plasma membrane vesicles is investigated.
Modular organization of protein interaction networks

MOTIVATION Accumulating evidence suggests that biological systems are composed of interacting, separable, functional modules. Identifying these modules is essential to understand the organization of biological systems. RESULT In this paper, we present a framework to identify modules within biological networks. In this approach, the concept of degree is extended from the single vertex to the sub-graph, and a formal definition of module in a network is used. A new agglomerative algorithm was developed to identify modules from the network by combining the new module definition with the relative edge order generated by the Girvan-Newman (G-N) algorithm. A JAVA program, MoNet, was developed to implement the algorithm. Applying MoNet to the yeast core protein interaction network from the database of interacting proteins (DIP) identified 86 simple modules with sizes larger than three proteins. The modules obtained are significantly enriched in proteins with related biological process Gene Ontology terms. A comparison between the MoNet modules and modules defined by Radicchi et al. (2004) indicates that MoNet modules show stronger co-clustering of related genes and are more robust to ties in betweenness values. Further, the MoNet output retains the adjacent relationships between modules and allows the construction of an interaction web of modules providing insight regarding the relationships between different functional modules. Thus, MoNet provides an objective approach to understand the organization and interactions of biological processes in cellular systems. AVAILABILITY MoNet is available upon request from the authors.
Theories of the Firm and the Relationship between Different Perspectives on the Division of Labour

This paper explores the tension between the organisational learning, market and hierarchies rationales for the firm. It is not clear, from the organisational learning and market-hierarchies literatures, what role exists for the different approaches. The paper suggests that this reflects the fact that each paradigm is premised on a particular notion of the division of labour but, at the same time, does not recognise that the division of labour is multifaceted. The paper suggests one possible approach to reconcile the various rationales for the firm. To do this, the different paradigms are placed in the context of different growth patterns that support different conceptions of the division of labour.
Why Taxing Executives' Bonuses Can Foster Risk-Taking Behavior

Bonus taxes have been implemented to prevent managers from taking excessive risks. This paper analyzes the effects of taxing executives' bonuses in a principal--agent model. Our model shows that, contrary to its intention, the introduction of a bonus tax intensifies managers' risk-taking behavior and decreases their effort. The principal responds to a bonus tax by offering the manager a higher fixed salary but a lower incentive-based component (bonus rate).
Preventing relapse after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for acute leukaemia: the role of post‐transplantation minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring and MRD‐directed intervention

Relapse is the main cause of treatment failure after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‐HSCT) for acute leukaemia (AL). Post‐transplantation minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring enables risk stratification and identifies AL patients at higher risk of relapse. MRD assessment primarily involves the determination of leukaemia‐associated immunophenotypic patterns using multiparameter flow cytometry, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based evaluation of expression levels of leukaemia‐related genes (specific reciprocal gene rearrangements and other mutation types). In addition, next generation sequencing and digital PCR may further enrich current MRD detection. Several MRD‐directed interventions have demonstrated the ability to reduce the risk of relapse with acceptable treatment‐related toxicities. Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) is the most important intervention for MRD‐positive patients, while several modified strategies, such as granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor–mobilized peripheral blood cells followed by short term immune suppression and escalating dose regimen, further improve the safety and efficacy of DLI. Interferon therapy, targeted drugs, and hypomethylating agents have also been introduced for MRD‐directed interventions. Referring to the issues of whether and who would benefit from pre‐emptive intervention according to MRD, in this review, we summarized this rapidly evolving area of MRD monitoring and MRD‐directed interventions in AL patients after allo‐HSCT.
The consensual democracies?: The government and politics of the Scandinavian states

The book is primarily a description of a set of political events and structures in Scandinavia coherently presented around the question of political consensus. This book fills a significant gap in instructional materials on Western Europe and orients scholars to a rich body of data and studies on the Nordic democracies. How much do the Scandinavian states have in common politically? That is the central question in this review of current political developments in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. In particular, is it possible to characterize these countries as being a distinct group of consensual democracies within the mainstream of western Europe? A definition of consensual democracy is proposed as a theme against which patterns of domestic and international policy-making in the region are examined, in order to locate distinguishing elements within its political landscape. These are viewed against the perspectives of the historical structuring of the mass politics; the pattern of social cleavages and partisan conflict since the World War II; and the major political institutions of the nation states. The study concludes, that after a turbulent period in the 1970s, new patterns of consensus and conflict are emerging in the 1980s. The book is aimed at specialists and students of European politics.