Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protectivity Versus Productivity And Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence From Selected Countries

This paper tries to cast light on the effects of terrorism on some macroeconomic variables at the international level. Using the Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) we investigate the effects of terrorism on such variables as GDP growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) and total factor productivity (TFP) with cross section data of 2005 for a sample of both developed and developing countries. The results suggest that terrorism has adversely and significantly affected economic growth, FDI and TFP around the world. In line with Abadie and Gardeazabal (2007) we find that once the effects of other country-specific characteristics such as country risk, good governance, and restrictions on FDI are taken into account these results are still robust.
Workplace Violence Experienced by Substitute (Daeri) Drivers and Its Relationship to Depression in Korea

Workplace violence is related to various health effects including mental illness such as anxiety or depression. In this study, the relationship between the experience of workplace violence and depression in substitute drivers in Korea, namely, daeri drivers, was investigated. To assess workplace violence, questions regarding types and frequency of the experience of violence over the past year were asked to the daeri drivers. In order to assess the risk of depression, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale was used. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals of depression were estimated using multiple logistic regression analysis. All of the daeri drivers had experienced instance of verbal violence while driving and 66 of the drivers (34.1%) had been in such a situation more than once in the past quarter of a year. Sixty-eight daeri drivers (42.2%) had experienced certain type of physical violence over the past year. Compared to daeri drivers who had experienced workplace verbal violence less than 4 times and who had not experienced workplace physical violence over the past year, higher odds ratio was observed in daeri drivers who had experienced workplace verbal violence or physical violence, more than 4 times and more than one time respectively, after adjustment. Experience of verbal or physical type of workplace violence over the past year increased the risk of depression in the daeri drivers. Because violence against drivers can compromise the safety of the driver, the customer, and all the passengers, it is imperative that the safety and health of daeri drivers be highlighted.
Trust and economic growth in a democratic power shift: an empirical study of Taiwan

Purpose - This study aims to explore the impact of the movement from “authoritarian democracy” to full democracy on the relationships between trust with economic growth and investment. Design/methodology/approach - Simple regression models were applied to Taiwan as a case study. Findings - Results indicate that: the direct effect of social trust on growth was significant regardless of the democratic power changeover; the indirect effect through fixed investment was significant only after the transfer of political power; and the direct effect of political trust on growth and the indirect effect through fixed investment were both significant only after the transfer of political power. Research limitations/implications - The time span of the data used for the regression models in this paper is only ten years, which constrains the number of control variables used in the model. Practical implications - This study indicates that the political regime plays as a contingency to the essay of social capital and economic growth. Originality/value - This paper first provides a detailed investigation to specify the effects of social trust on economic growth during the first democratic power changeover.
Buyer-supplier embeddedness and patterns of innovation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe different ways in which a buyer and supplier can be embedded in a dyadic relationship and how these differences influence patterns of inter-firm innovation activities and outcomes. Specifically, to address the relative paucity of theoretical work on how dyadic configurations influence parties’ joint innovation behavior, this study examines how different buyer-supplier embeddedness (BSE) configurations change the four choices that pertain to the levels of involvement buyers and suppliers exhibit in inter-firm innovation activities. These choices concern the processes buyers use to engage suppliers; the scope of efforts in each party; the locus of effects determining the beneficiaries; and the extent to which parties disclose private innovations within the relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on social embeddedness literature, the authors conceptualize dyad level, BSE in two dimensions: relational and structural. The relational dimension desc.
The Influence of Organizational Culture on IT Governance: Perception of a Group of IT Managers from Latin American Companies

The IT Governance changes the form that companies make their decisions, organize their processes and define their organizational structures in order to obtain better decision-making in IT. Different factors contribute to the success or failure of the IT Governance model adopted by the organizations, among which the organizational culture. However, much research addresses this subject following a generic approach, not identifying the relationship with IT Governance. This empirical-exploratory study attempts to identify how the pillars of IT Governance are influenced by the variables that form the organizational culture. Based on a proposed conceptual model, 14 CIOs of Latin American companies, selected for convenience, were interviewed using a semi-structured instrument. The results demonstrated that, according to the perception of these managers, there is a strong influence of organizational culture in the IT Governance model, especially with regard to processes and structure.
Human Resource Management Problems in Sino‐foreign Joint Ventures

Sino‐foreign joint ventures have been the major form of foreign direct investment in China since the economic reform in late 1978. Among the many problems faced by the foreign partner of a joint venture, human resource management (HRM) is one of the most often cited. Offers a comprehensive review of the major HRM problems, namely recruitment, dismissal, remuneration, labour discipline, managerial skills, training and trade unions. In order to understand the nature of the problems better, an effort is made to trace the origin of these problems back to the former centrally planned economy and the Chinese culture. The discussion covers the entire Chinese workforce consisting of both workers and managers. Cites survey results and real life cases for illustration. In addition to analysing the problems, offers some practical solutions.
A Typology for Evaluating Branch-Level Perceptions of Internal Customer Management Processes within the UK Clearing Banks

Since the late 1980, the UK Clearing Banks have faced growing criticism over the quality of their finanical services. Advantages may exist in using internal marketing to ensure closer integration of multiple functions across all departments. Although adoption of an internal marketing philosophy may improve the quality of services delivered to both internal and external customers, it appears that there are few paradigms available which can be used by bankers seeking to introduce the concept into their organisation. By applying a quasi-ethnographic approach, a qualitative internal customer management model was developed based on the Peters and Waterman 7s framework to describe the factors influencing internal customer relationship which exist between branches and other departments within a bank. To determine if the model could be used to evaluate branch-level perceptions of internal customer management practices, a survey was undertaken using a modifed version of the Parasuraman SERVQUAL model. The response.
Age, Wealth Inequality and Life-Cycle Modelling

Most of the main observed features of the distribution of wealth have been studied in detail. We know much about the possible reasons for the long upper tail of the distribution, the age profile of mean wealth, portfolio composition, changes in the distribution over time, differences between countries, and the very low wealth-holdings observed for some people at all ages (see Davies and Shorrocks, forthcoming). Yet one of the most interesting stylized facts about the distribution of wealth ‐ that wealth inequality follows a pronounced U-shaped age profile ‐ has received hardly any attention and has not been satisfactorily explained. In all countries where data are available, wealth inequality declines at least until middle age, and in almost all datasets it increases from middle age through retirement. The fact that the age profile of wealth inequality is U-shaped contrasts with the behaviour of inequality in earnings, income, and consumption. While inequality in earnings declines for the first five to ten years of the working lifetime, the dominant pattern is that inequality in all three of these variables rises over the lifetime. This is such a strong and well-known empirical regularity that it may have drawn attention away from the finding of a U-shaped profile for wealth inequality. This paper explores alternative possible explanations for the U-shaped age profile of wealth inequality. Aside from satisfying our curiosity, such an investigation may help us understand processes of wealth accumulation better. Deaton and Paxson (1994) obtained valuable insights requiring just that a saving model should predict rising income and consumption inequality over the lifetime. But a satisfactory model must be capable of more. It should predict not only that inequality in income and consumption will rise with age but also that wealth inequality will initially decline with age before rising over the latter portion of the life-cycle. As argued by Friedman (1957), the ability to reproduce the stylized facts of wealth inequality is an important test of models of consumption. The only previous attempt to model a U-shaped age profile of wealth inequality of which I am aware is Shorrocks (1975a). Shorrocks investigated a queuing model of wealth accumulation and illustrated the model through an application to the age profiles of mean wealth and wealth inequality. In his model there are two sources of shocks to wealth at a point in time. One is independent of current wealth, and arises due to earnings innovations. The other is proportional to current wealth (in expected value). The independent shocks act to reduce wealth inequality over time, whereas the proportional shocks do the opposite. Initially
Fat distribution and end-expiratory lung volume in lean and obese men and women.

BACKGROUND Although obesity significantly reduces end-expiratory lung volume (EELV), the relationship between EELV and detailed measures of fat distribution has not been studied in obese men and women. To investigate, EELV and chest wall fat distribution (ie, rib cage, anterior subcutaneous abdominal fat, posterior subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat) were measured in lean men and women (ie, < 25% body fat) and obese men and women (ie, > 30% body fat). METHODS All subjects underwent pulmonary function testing, hydrostatic weighing, and MRI scans. Data were analyzed for the men and women separately by independent t test, and the relationships between variables were determined by regression analysis. RESULTS All body composition measurements were significantly different among the lean and obese men and women (p < 0.001). However, with only a few exceptions, fat distribution was similar among the lean and obese men and women (p > 0.05). The mean EELV was significantly lower in the obese men (39 +/- 6% vs 46 +/- 4% total lung capacity [TLC], respectively; p < 0.0005) and women (40 +/- 4% vs 53 +/- 4% TLC, respectively; p < 0.0001) compared with lean control subjects. Many estimates of body fat were significantly correlated with EELV for both men and women. CONCLUSIONS In both men and women, the decrease in EELV with obesity appears to be related to the cumulative effect of increased chest wall fat rather than to any specific regional chest wall fat distribution. Also, with only a few exceptions, relative fat distribution is markedly similar between lean and obese subjects.
What Makes a Landlord? Ownership of Real Estate by US Households

Households supply about three-quarters of US rental housing. The paper examines the real estate investment decision and the proportion of wealth invested in real estate. Hypotheses drawn primarily from the real estate finance literature about the role of wealth, expected inflation, human capital, income tax rates, race, health, risk aversion and inheritance are tested against data from the Health and Retirement Study. Wealth has a powerful non-linear effect on ownership of real estate, but ownership is negatively associated with human capital. Marginal tax rates, race and property gifts affect real estate investment; poor health, risk aversion and expected inflation do not seem to.
Measure of Activity and Participation (MAP) World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II)

Introduction The purpose of this bulletin is to document the results from the World Health Organization’s Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II) section of the National Physical and Sensory Disability Database (NPSDD) and to highlight the value of this information to service planning. The WHODAS II enables the usefulness of service interventions to be assessed across a range of service types and a range of difficulties. The NPSDD Committee saw the opportunity to introduce a Measure of Activity and Participation (MAP), which includes WHODAS II, to explore the importance of appropriate service provision to enhance participation and inclusion of people with a physical and/or sensory disability in society.
Myosin Light Chain Kinase Is Necessary for Tonic Airway Smooth Muscle Contraction*

Different interacting signaling modules involving Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase, Ca2+-independent regulatory light chain phosphorylation, myosin phosphatase inhibition, and actin filament-based proteins are proposed as specific cellular mechanisms involved in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction. However, the relative importance of specific modules is not well defined. By using tamoxifen-activated and smooth muscle-specific knock-out of myosin light chain kinase in mice, we analyzed its role in tonic airway smooth muscle contraction. Knock-out of the kinase in both tracheal and bronchial smooth muscle significantly reduced contraction and myosin phosphorylation responses to K+-depolarization and acetylcholine. Kinase-deficient mice lacked bronchial constrictions in normal and asthmatic airways, whereas the asthmatic inflammation response was not affected. These results indicate that myosin light chain kinase acts as a central participant in the contractile signaling module of tonic smooth muscle. Importantly, contractile airway smooth muscles are necessary for physiological and asthmatic airway resistance.
CXCR3+CD4+ T cells are enriched in inflamed kidneys and urine and provide a new biomarker for acute nephritis flares in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

OBJECTIVE The high frequency of CD4+ T cells in interstitial infiltrates of patients with lupus nephritis suggests a contribution of these cells to local pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to examine the role of CXCR3 and the chemokine CXCL10 in recruiting these cells into the kidney and to determine whether the infiltrating T cells could be monitored in the urine to provide a reliable biomarker for acute lupus nephritis. METHODS The frequencies of CD3+ T cells, CXCR3+ cells, and CXCL10+ cells were determined by immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence analyses of kidney sections from 18 patients with lupus nephritis. The frequency of CXCR3+CD4+ T cells was determined by flow cytometry of peripheral blood and urine from 38 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the values were compared with disease activity as determined by the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index. RESULTS In renal biopsy tissues from patients with lupus nephritis, a mean of 63% of the infiltrating cells expressed CXCR3, approximately 60% of them were T cells, and the CXCR3+ cells colocalized with CXCL10-producing cells. In biopsy tissues from SLE patients with acute nephritis, approximately 50% of the urinary CD4+ T cells were CXCR3+, as compared with 22% in the peripheral blood, and the frequency of urinary CXCR3+CD4+ T cells correlated with disease activity. Moreover, the number of urinary CD4+ T cells reflected nephritis activity, and elevation above 800 CD4+ T cells per 100 ml of urine sharply delineated active from inactive nephritis. CONCLUSION CXCR3+ T cells are recruited into the inflamed kidneys, are enriched in the urine, and are a valuable marker of nephritis activity in SLE. They also present a potential target for future therapies.
Processed and ultra-processed food products: consumption trends in Canada from 1938 to 2011.

PURPOSE A classification of foods based on the nature, extent, and purpose of industrial food processing was used to assess changes in household food expenditures and dietary energy availability between 1938 and 2011 in Canada. METHODS Food acquisitions from six household food budget surveys (1938/1939 , 1953, 1969, 1984, 2001, and 2011) were classified into unprocessed or minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, and ready-to-consume processed or ultra-processed products. Contributions of each group to household food expenditures, and to dietary energy availability (kcal per capita) were calculated. RESULTS During the period studied, household expenditures and dietary energy availability fell for both unprocessed or minimally processed foods and culinary ingredients, and rose for ready-to-consume products. The caloric share of foods fell from 34.3% to 25.6% and from 37% to 12.7% for culinary ingredients. The share of ready-to-consume products rose from 28.7% to 61.7%, and the increase was especially noteworthy for those that were ultra-processed. CONCLUSIONS The most important factor that has driven changes in Canadian dietary patterns between 1938 and 2011 is the replacement of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and culinary ingredients used in the preparation of dishes and meals; these have been displaced by ready-to-consume ultra-processed products. Nutrition research and practice should incorporate information about food processing into dietary assessments.
Promoting the Underlying Principle of Acceptance: The Effectiveness of Sexual Orientation Employment Antidiscrimination Legislation

Although previous research finds less perceived sexual orientation discrimination in areas with employment antidiscrimination legislation than in areas without such legislation, it remains unclear whether such findings hold for (a) quantitative hiring evaluations made by organizational decision makers and (b) privately held attitudes of prejudice. In a between-subjects design, human resource professionals in locales with or without sexual orientation antidiscrimination laws evaluated matched resumes of openly gay or presumably non-gay male applicants. Without antidiscrimination laws, gay applicants were rated as less hireable than non-gay applicants; with antidiscrimination laws, gay and non-gay applicants were rated equivalently. Further, antidiscrimination legislation was found to be related to decreased prejudice toward gay men, even after controlling for factors previously shown to impact community adoption of legislation (e.g., political and religious views). Analyses of hireability ratings lacked sufficient statistical power to discern this effect. Because of the long-established legal doctrine of employment at will, most employers in the United States may choose whom to hire, retain, and promote at their own discretion, even when these decisions are unmotivated by a concern for
Keynesian and Schumpeterian efficiency in a BOP-constrained growth model

The paper aims to contribute to the debate on specialization and growth in two forms. First, it develops a north-south model in which the ratio between the income elasticity of exports and imports in the south (which gives the rate of growth compatible with external equilibrium) depends on the Keynesian and Schumpeterian efficiencies of the pattern of specialization, as defined by Dosi et al. (1990). Second, the model is tested by including the technology gap and proxies for the pattern of specialization (Keynesian and Schumpeterian efficiency) in Keynesian growth regressions. Several estimation procedures are used to test the model, among which is finite mixture estimation, which allows for more robust estimations of the parameters for homogeneous groups of countries.
What factors influence the organizational commitment of public sector employees in China? The role of extrinsic, intrinsic and social rewards

This study investigates the relationship between extrinsic, intrinsic and social rewards, and the organizational commitment of 239 Chinese public sector employees. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that although variables included to measure extrinsic and social rewards were strongly related to organizational commitment, variables included to measure intrinsic rewards had limited influence. These findings suggest that the antecedents of organizational commitment in the Chinese public sector are significantly different from those in the Chinese private sector and public sector organizations in the West.
The sequence of a large L1Md element reveals a tandemly repeated 5' end and several features found in retrotransposons

The complete nucleotide sequence of a 6,851-base pair (bp) member of the L1Md repetitive family from a selected random isolate of the BALB/c mouse genome is reported here. Five kilobases of the element contains two overlapping reading frames of 1,137 and 3,900 bp. The entire 3,900-bp frame and the 3' 600 bp of the 1,137-bp frame, when compared with a composite consensus primate L1 sequence, show a ratio of replacement to silent site differences characteristic of protein coding sequences. This more closely defines the protein coding capacity of this repetitive family, which was previously shown to possess a large open reading frame of undetermined extent. The relative organization of the 1,137- and 3,900-bp reading frames, which overlap by 14 bp, bears resemblance to protein-coding, mobile genetic elements. Homology can be found between the amino acid sequence of the 3,900-bp frame and selected domains of several reverse transcriptases. The 5' ends of the two L1Md elements described in this report have multiple copies, 4 2/3 copies and 1 2/3 copy, of a 208-bp direct tandem repeat. The sequence of this 208-bp element differs from the sequence of a previously defined 5' end for an L1Md element, indicating that there are at least two different 5' end motifs for L1Md.
Gender and Informal Sector Analysis in India

The main purpose of this paper is to look at the incorporation of gender and the informal sector within a general equilibrium framework for India. Moreover, we clarify some important links between a gender aware informal sector based social accounting matrix (SAM) and general equilibrium models such as the computable general equilibrium (CGE) models including as a special case the fixed price multiplier (FPM) models. In particular, economy wide modelling of gender and the informal sector is facilitated by the use of national level data and constructing the base data set as an SAM. Another important strategy is to conceptualize the economy within gender structures, entailing the recognition of gender relations as an intervening variable in all economic activities.