Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do types of economic ownership matter in getting employees to commit? An exploratory study in the People's Republic of China

Economic reforms launched in the People's Republic of China led to rapid growth in the non-state sector. Economic organizations in this sector adopt different styles of business operations and management practices when compared with their state counterparts. These systematic differences generate work dynamics with implications for workers' job attitudes and behaviours. The present study explores the relationship between workers' perception of the workplace and organizational commitment after the reform. Three hundred employees in Shanghai, from six enterprises, were randomly sampled for interview. Differences were found between state and non-state employees in their demographic characteristics, organizational perceptions and commitment. Findings suggested that state and non-state workers differed in their commitment and these relationships were mediated through various perceptual dimensions. Implications of the results for theory and practice are discussed.
The Effect of Changes in the Federal Funds Rate Target on Market Interest Rates in the 1970s

The standard empirical test of whether the Federal Reserve can influence interest rates is to regress interest rates on current and past (actual or unexpected) values of money growth. This literature generally finds little support for the view that the Fed can influence interest rates, except perhaps through the positive impact on inflation expectations of increases in money growth.
EFFICIENT FORECASTS OR MEASUREMENT ERRORS? SOME EVIDENCE FOR REVISIONS TO UNITED KINGDOM GDP GROWTH RATES*

Previous studies of revisions to key economic time series for the United States have suggested that, in some cases, the revisi ons are like pure measurement errors and, in others, that they are not forecastable from information available at the time the data is compiled. In this study, the authors analyze these issues for an extensive set of revisions to estimates of GDP for the United Kingdom and draw out some of the implications of their findings for statistical practice. Copyright 1992 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Prior exercise alters the difference between arterialised and venous glycaemia: implications for blood sampling procedures

Abstract Oral glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity are common measures, but are determined using various blood sampling methods, employed under many different experimental conditions. This study established whether measures of oral glucose tolerance and oral glucose-derived insulin sensitivity (insulin sensitivity indices; ISI) differ when calculated from venous v. arterialised blood. Critically, we also established whether any differences between sampling methods are consistent across distinct metabolic conditions (after rest v. after exercise). A total of ten healthy men completed two trials in a randomised order, each consisting of a 120-min oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), either at rest or post-exercise. Blood was sampled simultaneously from a heated hand (arterialised) and an antecubital vein of the contralateral arm (venous). Under both conditions, glucose time-averaged AUC was greater from arterialised compared with venous plasma but importantly, this difference was larger after rest relative to after exercise (0·99 (sd 0·46) v. 0·56 (sd 0·24) mmol/l, respectively; P<0·01). OGTT-derived ISIMatsuda and ISICederholm were lower when calculated from arterialised relative to venous plasma and the arterialised–venous difference was greater after rest v. after exercise (ISIMatsuda: 1·97 (sd 0·81) v. 1·35 (sd 0·57) arbitrary units (au), respectively; ISICederholm : 14·76 (sd 7·83) v. 8·70 (sd 3·95) au, respectively; both P<0·01). Venous blood provides lower postprandial glucose concentrations and higher estimates of insulin sensitivity, compared with arterialised blood. Most importantly, these differences between blood sampling methods are not consistent after rest v. post-exercise, preventing standardised venous-to-arterialised corrections from being readily applied.
Does insurance activity promote economic growth? Further evidence based on bootstrap panel Granger causality test

This study applies the bootstrap panel Granger causality test to test whether insurance activity promotes economic growth, using data from 10 OECD countries over the period of 1979–2006. Empirical results indicate that one-way Granger causality running from all insurance activities to economic growth for France, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK, and economic growth Granger causes insurance activities in Canada (for life insurance), Italy (for total and life insurance) and the USA (for total and non-life insurance). There is a two-way Granger causality between life insurance activity and economic growth in the USA, while no causality between insurance activities and economic growth is found in Belgium (for all insurance), Canada (for total and non-life insurance), Italy (for non-life insurance) and Sweden (for life insurance). Our results also confirm the finding of Ward and Zurbruegg [Does insurance promote economic growth? Evidence from OECD economies. Journal of Risk and Insurance 67, no. 4: 489–506] showing that the insurance–growth nexus varies across countries, since their paper have previously demonstrated heterogeneity in this vein. In an analysis of a broader, though overlapping 17-country sample and taking into account banking activities, the results suggest the importance of including banking activities when investigating the insurance–growth relationship.
A Review of Earnings Management in China and its Implications

This paper reviews the academic literature on earnings management in China. We discuss the motivations behind the listed firms’ earnings management, and provide empirical evidence on earnings management using various accounting measures. The literature shows that earnings management occurs most often before security issuance, or when a firm is facing the risk of delisting. While non-core income was widely used to measure earnings management in China, as it is easily detected, researchers are now focusing their attentions on accrual-based models. We then explore the real causes of earnings management in China, and conclude that the two main causes are the concentrated ownership structure, and the strong political and economic connections between government and the listed companies. We review the impact of corporate governance mechanisms and government supervision on earnings management in China. Finally, we discuss implications for the regulators and make suggestions for future research.
WLCp2-11: On the Downlink Performance of Stratospheric Platform Mobile Communications Channel

This paper considers the downlink performance of mobile communication channel based on a novel wireless infrastructure that is called stratospheric platforms (SPF). The SPF has been recently proposed as an alternative method for delivering mobile communication services such as IMT -2000 in parallel with cellular tower-based terrestrial system or satellite. Channel performance evaluation is now becoming a matter of urgency in the designing of communication link between the platform and mobile user. We first evaluate propagation characteristic in urban area in order to obtain propagation parameters in terms of path loss model and Rice factor. Due to their unique positioning, elevation and azimuth angle are considered as main parameter in SPF environment compared with terrestrial tower-based system. The propagation parameters are then used in order to evaluate downlink performance for IMT -2000 services served by the SPF. Different applications refer to different information bit rate that is carried by IMT -2000 system are considered in the analysis. In all scenarios, downlink performance decreases as the service bit rate increases and it becomes worse when elevation angle lower than 40deg.
Climate‐Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Implications for Land Acquisition and Population Relocation

In response to the challenge of climate change developing‐country governments are evolving adaptation and mitigation programmes for which they are seeking international financing. This article presents the findings of a review of national action programmes and other interventions to assess their likely societal impacts with an emphasis on land‐use change, future land acquisitions, population displacement and resettlement. It considers the policy and development challenges involuntary resettlement in particular will pose, and assesses the robustness of current governance arrangements to manage them and cautions that at present the financing arrangements do not prioritise the legal protection of affected populations.
A session setup mechanism based on selective scanning for device-to-device communication in cellular networks

As demands for multimedia services are increased, shortage of radio resources becomes serious problem in cellular network. In order to overcome the resource shortage problem, device-to-device (D2D) communication has been considered. D2D communication is a technology enabling cellular devices to directly communicate with each other. D2D communication operating as an underlay of cellular networks can efficiently utilize radio resource by reusing resources of conventional cellular networks. However, as D2D communication reuses resource of cellular networks, it can reduce system performance by occurring interference if D2D session is established without considering its effects on cellular networks. Thus, we propose a session setup mechanism in order to improve performance of cellular networks. In the proposed mechanism, D2D communication session is only established when D2D communication is determined to be efficient. By performing simulations, we show that the proposed mechanism can improve total data rate of cellular networks than existing schemes.
Using the PhysX engine for physics‐based virtual surgery with force feedback

The development of modern surgical simulators is highly challenging, as they must support complex simulation environments. The demand for higher realism in such simulators has driven researchers to adopt physics‐based models, which are computationally very demanding. This poses a major problem, since real‐time interactions must permit graphical updates of 30 Hz and a much higher rate of 1 kHz for force feedback (haptics). Recently several physics engines have been developed which offer multi‐physics simulation capabilities, including rigid and deformable bodies, cloth and fluids. While such physics engines provide unique opportunities for the development of surgical simulators, their higher latencies, compared to what is necessary for real‐time graphics and haptics, offer significant barriers to their use in interactive simulation environments.
Refined wing asymptotics for the Merton and Kou jump diffusion models

Refining previously known estimates, we give large-strike asymptotics for the implied volatility of Merton's and Kou's jump diffusion models. They are deduced from call price approximations by transfer results of Gao and Lee. For the Merton model, we also analyse the density of the underlying and show that it features an interesting "almost power law" tail.
Fiscal Sustainability and Its Implication for Fiscal Policy in Korea

A sharp rise in government debt in Korea has followed over years the Asian financial crisis. This paper aims to assess the fiscal performance and test whether the current level of government debt is sustainable for a severely attacked country, namely, Korea. Under the intertemporal budget constraint model, the study tests for fiscal sustainability and examines whether there was any discernible change in the behaviour of government debt following the crisis. It applies the well-known test procedure by Hamilton and Flavin and Trehan and Walsh to the Korean case under study. In a different context, the study also applies the procedure of Campbell and Shiller to the tests of intertemporal budget balance. Their method also allows us to assess whether there was any discernible change in the behavior of government debt following the crisis. This task may not be accomplished with the use of unit roots or cointegration tests because there is only a short sample span since the crisis. The situation is particularly acute for Korea in which only a yearly data are readily available. Empirical analysis indicates that the levels of government debt are not sustainable in Korea. It also shows that the crisis contributes significantly to push the government debt in excess of its sustainable level. This draws a particular policy attention for fiscal consolidation.
Shamanism, history, and the state

The literature on shamanism and related topics is extensive, but has in general been biased toward curing and trance; the political and historical significance of shamanic activities has been largely neglected. The contributors to" Shamanism, History, and the State"--distinguished anthropologists and historians from England, Australia, and France--show that shamanism is not static and stable, but always changing as a result of political dynamics and historical processes.Contributors are Tamsyn Barton, Sysan Bayly, Mary Beard, Maurice Bloch, Peter Gow, Roberte N. Hamayon, Stephen Hugh-Jones, Caroline Humphrey, and Nicholas Thomas. "The importance of this collection lies in the painstaking, many-sided ways in which it shows 'shamanism' to be a multifarious and continuously changing 'dialogue' or interaction with specific, local contexts. Thus, rather than tackling the issue in principle, this collection tries to demonstrate through 'case studies' just how different 'shamanism' becomes if seen through a lens sensitive to history and the influence of institutions, such as the state, which seem far removed from it. I think the demonstrations add up to an impressive force. " --Michael Taussig"This new, ably edited volume provides . chapters that are rich in historic detail and that provide insights into general cultural processes and social interactions. " --"Historian"Nicholas Thomas is Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow, Department of Prehistory and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra. He is the author of "Out of Time: History and Evolution in Anthropological Discourse. "Caroline Humphrey, author of "Karl Marx Collective: Economy, Society and Religion in a Siberian Collective Farm, " is Fellow of King's College and Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
Can Firms with the Best Training Program Withstand the Storm of Economic Policy Uncertainty?

This study examines if firms whose training programs ranked as the best ones in the United States can withstand the changes in economic policy uncertainty. The regression analysis of monthly changes in economic policy uncertainty index, monthly returns on the CRSP value-weighted index, and monthly returns on an equal-weighted portfolio of public firms in the United States ranked consecutively from 2006 to 2011 in the top 50 of the Training Top 125 shows that the increased changes in economic policy uncertainty negatively affect the portfolio returns; however, this effect is not statistically significant at the 1% level. The result from regressing monthly returns on CRSP value-weighted index on the monthly changes of economic policy index yields a statistically significant negative coefficient at the 1% level, and this coefficient is more negative than the coefficient obtained from regressing the monthly portfolio returns on the monthly changes in economic policy uncertainty. This study provides empirical evidence of the ability of firms in the US with the best training program to withstand the storm of economic policy uncertainty better than the whole market. In other words, the findings suggest that firms with the best training program are more prepared than the whole market in responding to the changes in economic policy uncertainty.
Translation gains and losses and firms' accounting choices: UK evidence on and before SSAP No. 20

In the light of foreign exchange (FX) rate fluctuation, this paper concentrates in the accounting choices of firms and their motivation to adopt or defer the adoption of the UK Statement of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAP) No. 20 "Foreign Currency Translation". The paper provides evidence that the implementation of SSAP No. 20 has improved the financial accounting measures of firms, such as profitability and leverage. The effects of the standard tended to be more substantial for adopters that exhibited larger size and higher leverage measures. In the absence of a clear regulatory framework, prior to SSAP No. 20, the financial reporting of translation gains and losses displayed significant variation and inconsistencies. Overall, firms anticipated the issue of SSAP No. 20 and tended to recognise the translation differences in the balance sheet.
A High-Throughput Hardware Design of a One-Dimensional SPIHT Algorithm

Video display systems include frame memory, which stores video data for display. To reduce system cost, video data are often compressed for storage in frame memory. A desirable characteristic for display memory compression is support for the raster-scan processing order and the fixed target compression ratio. Set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) is an efficient two-dimensional compression algorithm that guarantees a fixed target compression ratio, but its one-dimensional (1D) variation has received little attention, even though its 1D nature supports the raster-scan processing order. This paper proposes a novel hardware design for 1D SPIHT. The algorithm is modified to exploit parallelism for effective hardware implementation. For the encoder, dependences that prohibit parallel execution are resolved and a pipelined schedule is proposed. For the parallel execution of the decoder, the algorithm is modified to enable estimation of the bitstream length of each pass prior to decoding. This modification allows parallel and pipelined decoding operations, leading to a high-throughput design for both encoder and decoder. Although the modifications slightly decrease compression efficiency, additional optimizations are proposed to improve such efficiency. As a result, the peak signal-to-noise ratio drop is reduced from 1.40 dB to 0.44 dB. The throughputs of the proposed encoder and decoder are 7.04 Gbps and 7.63 Gbps, respectively, and their respective gate counts are 37.2 K and 54.1 K.
Consumer Willingness to Pay for Safer Vegetables in Urban Markets of a Developing Country: The Case of Kale in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract The rapid urban population growth, rising level of urban poverty, and problems with food supply and distribution systems have increased the importance of developing local supplies of perishable produce of safe and good nutritional value in developing countries. This examination of consumer preferences for food safety across major urban fresh vegetable market categories revealed that the explanations behind purchase intentions were market segment-specific. There is a need to target agricultural policies relating to handling practices and for public health policies to be more differentiated in promoting food safety.
Factor Saving Innovations and Factor Income Shares

We present an endogenous growth model where innovation are factor saving. Tecnologies can be changed paying a cost so, tecnological change take place only if the benefits are larger than the cost. Since the gains derived from factor saving innovations depend on factor abundance, biased innovations respond to changes in factor supply, that is, as economy becomes more capital abundant agents try to use in a more intensively. Therefore (a) the elasticity of the output with respect to reproducible factors depends on the capital abundance of the economy and (b) the income share of reducible factors increase as the economy growths. Another insight of the model is that in some economies the production function converges to an AK in the long run, while in others long run growths is cero.
Adaptation in the Production Process

The paper presents a new type of learning function useful in describing how firms improve their performances in new processes. The function, termed the "adaptation function," is shown to be capable of being related to variables that may affect a firm's rate of learning. Next, these variables are discussed, and the adaptation function is fitted to some actual sets of data. Finally, the paper turns to some normative implications of the function. Specifically, the adaptation function is shown to be useful to firms in their budgeting of training and in aiding their equipment replacement decisions.
Dual Priority Assignment: A Practical Method For Increasing Processor Utilisation

Static priority schemes have the disadvantage that processor utilisations less than 3 00% must be tolerated if a system is to be guaranteed off-line. By comparison earliest deadline scheduling can theoretically utilise all of a processors capacity, although in practice run-time overheads are increased that undermine this advantage. In this paper a dual priority scheme is proposed: a task may execute in two phases; each phase has a static priority assigned, the transition from one phase to another is made at a Jived offset in rime from the release of the task. Utilisations equal to 100% can now he obtained whilst retaining an essentially static priority model. Examples of the scheme are given and some of its properties investigated. Implementation issues are also considered.
The Incidence and Effect of Job Training Among Japanese Women

Using panel data of Japanese women, this paper analyzes who participates in firm-initiated training programs and the effect of this participation on wage level and wage growth. The analysis found that workers with stronger educational backgrounds are more likely to participate in firm-initiated training activities. Training participation and wage are positively correlated. Even after controlling for endogenous selection into training participation by a first-difference estimation, current training participation significantly explains current wage growth.
The role of IL‐6 in the inflammatory and humoral response to adenoviral vectors

The major concern for the use of adenoviral vectors for gene therapy is the viral‐induced immune response that has been shown to be responsible for short‐term transgene expression and inefficient viral readministration. In vivo studies and clinical trials with recombinant adenovirus have suggested a role for interleukin 6 (IL‐6) in the inflammatory reaction that follows Ad‐infection. IL‐6 plays an important role in the acute‐phase innate response, in the differentiation of B‐cells and in the activation of the Th2 cell subsets.
An Error-Bound-Regularized Sparse Coding for Spatiotemporal Reflectance Fusion

This paper attempts to demonstrate that addressing the dictionary perturbations and the individual representation of the coupled images can generally result in positive effects with respect to sparse-representation-based spatiotemporal reflectance fusion (SPTM). We propose to adapt the dictionary perturbations with an error-bound-regularized method and formulate the dictionary perturbations to be a sparse elastic net regression problem. Moreover, we also utilize semi-coupled dictionary learning (SCDL) to address the differences between the high-spatial-resolution and low-spatial-resolution images, and we propose the error-bound-regularized SCDL (EBSCDL) model by also imposing an error bound regularization. Two data sets of Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus data and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer acquisitions were used to validate the proposed models. The spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model and the original SPTM were also implemented and compared. The experimental results consistently show the positive effect of the proposed methods for SPTM, with smaller differences in scatter plot distribution and higher peak-signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity index measures.