Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reforming Institutions: Where to Begin?

No society is devoid of institutions but many live with poor institutions. Institutions promote growth. This is a view now held firmly and widely. The task then is to engineer growth-promoting institutions. Endogeneity characterises institutions; for example, groups enjoying political power influence economic institutions, but political power itself is a function of wealth. Given endogeneity, if the task is to design institutional reforms, the question then arises, as to what to reform first. We use the theories of institutional evolution put forth by Douglas North, Darron Acemoglu and Dani Rodrik and the historical experiences of different countries in the context of development (or non-development) of institutions, to determine the starting-point of institutional reforms, if the objective is to design institutional reforms. We argue that in Pakistan, neither large commercial interest nor fiscal constraints can force the de jure power to reform institutions. Typically, large commercial interests in Pakistan have thrived on favours from de jure power, and therefore do not have teeth. Given strategic interests of foreign powers, foreign aid will alleviate the fiscal constraint and the ruler-citizens bargainthough reforming institution in exchange for tax revenue will remain a dream. The country does not seem ready for a revolution either; the thought process that typically precedes revolutions seems to have barely begun. The alternative, that remains, then is the gradualist approach preferred by North, Acemoglu, and Rodrik. Institutional reforms in Pakistan should begin with reform of the educational systemthe introduction of a common educational system for all and sundry up to a certain level. Two reasons make us chose the educational system as the candidate to start the process of institutional reform. First, a common educational system will produce a shared value system which, in turn, will reduce the heterogeneity in the society. Lesser heterogeneity in society will then facilitate an agreement over the minimal set of institutional reforms. Second, politicians being myopic, the de jure power is more likely to concede to the demand for reform of the educational system as compared to the demand to, say, put an end to rent-seeking. The former will affect the de jure power a generation hence, while the latter will affect them today.
Toxicity of seven monoterpenoids to tracheal mites (Acari: Tarsonemidae) and their honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) hosts when applied as fumigants

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to characterize the acute toxicity of 7 monoterpenoids to tracheal mites, Acarapis woodi (Rennie), and their honey bee, Apis mellifera L. , hosts. Citral, thymol, carvacrol, a-terpineol, pulegone, d-limonene, and menthol were applied as fumigants to mite-infested honey bees. Thymol and menthol were the most toxic compounds to honey bees, and a-terpineol was the least toxic. Menthol, citral, thymol, and carvacrol were more toxic to tracheal mites than to honey bees. Pulegone, d-limonene, and a-terpineol were more toxic to honey bees than to tracheal mites. Menthol was 18.9 times more toxic to tracheal mites than to honey bees at the LCso concentrations; however, as the concentration increased, bee mortality increased more rapidly than mite mortality, and men­ thol was only 5.7 times more toxic at the LCgo concentrations. Probit regressions for bee and mite mortality were parallel for citral and thymol. Citral and thymol were 2.9 (2.5-3.3) and 2.0 (1.0-3.6) times more toxic to tracheal mites, respectively, at all concentrations estimated.
Latex agglutination test for the diagnosis of Haemophilus influenzae meningitis.

Abstract Capsular antigens of Haemophilus influenzae were detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 28 of 30 (93.3 per cent) clinically diagnosed or suspected cases of H. influenzae meningitis with the use of a rapid, sensitive slide test with antibody-coated latex particles. Two specimens were nonreactive. In one of these, no organisms were found on direct microscopic examination of the CSF, and growth in culture was delayed. No cross-reactions occurred among antigens of H. influenzae types a through f, with type 6 pneumococcal antigen, or with CSF specimens from patients with other bacterial meningitides. Heat-labile factors were responsible for low-titered nonspecific reactions in 2.3 per cent of control CSF specimens. This non-specific reactivity was destroyed by heating the specimens at 100 °C. for 15 minutes. Conversely, the reactivity in CSF specimens from cases of H. influenzae meningitis was not altered by heat. Results of this study indicate that the latex agglutination technique is a valuable diagnostic aid. It provides a rapid and reliable indication of H. influenzae infection, even in some cases where organisms are scarce or not found in the CSF and growth in culture is delayed or absent.
Condensed fuzzy nearest neighbor methods based on fuzzy rough set technique

As a generalization of K-nearest neighbor K-NN algorithm, the fuzzy K-nearest neighbor fuzzy K-NN algorithm was originally developed by Keller in 1985 to overcome one of the drawbacks of K-NN i.e. all of instances are considered equally important in K-NN. However, fuzzy K-NN algorithm still suffers from the problem of large memory requirement same as K-NN. To deal with this problem, based on fuzzy rough set technique, this paper proposed two condensed fuzzy nearest neighbor methods denoted by CFK-NN1 and CFK-NN2 and a modified fuzzy K-NN. The CFK-NN1 and CFK-NN2 both consists of three steps: 1 obtaining a fuzzy attribute reduct based on fuzzy rough set technique, 2 finding two sets of prototypes, the one is selected from fuzzy positive region corresponding to CFK-NN1 and the other is selected from fuzzy boundary region corresponding to CFK-NN2, 3 extracting fuzzy classification rules with the modified fuzzy K-NN from the two sets of prototypes. Extensive experiments and statistical analysis are conducted to verify the effectiveness of our proposed method. The experimental results and the statistical analysis of the experimental results both demonstrate that the proposed methods outperform other related methods such as CNN, ENN, and ICF et al.
Advancing the analysis of treatment process.

AIMS To review the role of process research in clinical research, to summarize progress in statistical methods for process analyses, and to describe a dynamic analytical approach that can provide new insights into the processes responsible for the effects of treatments and other variables. SUMMARY Process research helps us to understand what happens during our interventions, and can yield valuable knowledge regardless of whether an intervention is found to have significant effects. This is a review of recent statistical advances for dealing with missing data, tests for mediation and hierarchical modeling and demonstrate how these advances can help process researchers overcome obstacles that had limited past studies. However, the standard paradigm for process analysis, although conceptually sound, is based upon a static model that does little justice to the dynamics of treatment. Therefore, it is proposed that the paradigm is extended to study the time-course of dynamic processes, using existing statistical methods. Hierarchical linear modeling, structural regression modeling and event history methods are among the most promising tools for more advanced process analyses because of their ability to incorporate time-varying predictors. CONCLUSIONS The function of process analysis is to probe into the mechanisms of action of treatment to locate both weaknesses and strengths, but methods for process research are still rudimentary. By conceptualizing process analysis as a problem of relating multiple time-series, many new analytical opportunities, and challenges, present themselves. Modern statistical methods can help to lead to broad advances in our understanding of the processes that affect treatment success.
Electoral behaviour in a two‐vote system: Incentives for ticket splitting in German Bundestag elections

The ballot structure of German Bundestag elections allows two votes: one for a constituency candidate and the second for a party list. About one-fifth of the voters usually split their ticket. Several hypotheses are derived about incentives for ticket splitting and tested with survey data from a 1998 pre-election poll. We argue that an explanation of split tickets in the German system has to take into account both party rankings and coalition preferences. One of the most important incentives is a preference or top ranking of a minor party like the FDP or Greens, if it is combined with a preference for a coalition with either the CDU/CSU or SPD. Contrary to this finding, the hypothesis of threshold insurance voting of CDU/CSU or SPD supporters choosing the party list of their prospective minor coalition partner is rejected for the 1998 election.
Testing weak form efficiency of capital markets: A case of Pakistan

Efficient Market Hypothesis has attracted considerable attentions from researchers of all over the world. A large number of studies have already been conducted by the researchers and a lot of importance has given to the emerging markets. Different studies give different outcomes on market efficiency of the emerging markets. To institute a more perfect conclusion about Market Efficiency in Pakistani financial markets this study is conducted on the major Stock Market of Pakistan such as the Karachi Stock Exchange. Three econometric tests have applied on the daily data of KSE-100 index for two years from 2009 and 2010 including the famous Runs Test, Autocorrelation Function (ACF) test and the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (Unit Root) test. Different tests are applied to form a distinctive opinion on the Weak Form Efficiency of the KSE. The results of this study revealed that there exists a positive correlation in the KSE 100-index. The runs test gives zero p-value which shows continues growing trend. This illustrate that the performance of the market is inefficient. The similar results have been shown in the previous studies on the KSE.
NANOPARTICLES USED IN BIOMATERIALS

The paper presents the magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles used in hybrid biomaterials, showing the difference between the ferrite nanopowder and the bulk one. The samples, measured by the vibrating sample magnetometer VSM-7304 LakeShore include materials composed by ferrite nanoparticles coated with sodium alginate or chitosan biopolymers. The results show the superparamagnetic behaviour of the nanoparticles and allow the computing of the average size of the magnetic nanoparticles.
Methylation of p 16 CpG Islands Associated with Malignant Transformation of Gastric Dysplasia in a Population-Based Study

Purpose: Inactivation of p16 by aberrant methylation of CpG islands is a frequent event in carcinomas and precancerous lesions of various organs, including the stomach. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between p16 methylation and malignant transformation of human gastric dysplasia (DYS) based on follow-up endoscopic screening in a high-risk population. Experimental Design: Genomic DNA samples were extracted from paraffin blocks of gastric mucosal biopsies that were histopathologically diagnosed as low-grade DYS from patients who developed gastric carcinomas [GCs (n 21)] and those that did not do so (n 21) during 5 years of follow-up. The methylation status of p16 CpG islands of each sample was detected by methylation-specific PCR, denatured high-performance liquid chromatography, and sequencing. Results: Aberrant p16 methylation was observed in 5 of 21 samples of DYS that progressed to GC but in 0 of 21 samples that did not progress to GC (P 0.048, two-sided). Sequencing results confirmed that all CpG sites were methylated in the analyzed sequence from these five p16-methylated cases. Furthermore, p16 methylation was also observed in the five subsequent GCs. Unmethylated p16 CpG islands were detected in all of the samples without p16 methylation. Conclusions: Our findings suggest p16 methylation is correlated with the malignant transformation of gastric DYS, and p16 methylation might be a useful biomarker for prediction of malignant potential of gastric DYS.
Measuring productivity increase by long-run prices: the early analyses of G.R. Porter and R. Giffen

Abstract The nineteenth-century economic commentators did not possess a formal measure of the rate at which productivity was increasing during the industrial take-off. Yet they did develop an intuitive method based on the comparative change in long-period prices and wages. This paper reviews the contributions of G.R. Porter and R. Giffen and, in the light of some modern contributions, presents an assessment of their rationality and improvability under current standards. It is argued that a proper measure of industrial productivity increase based on long-run prices is the mathematical dual of a Solovian measure of the industrial total factor productivity growth.
Effects of human immunodeficiency virus and methamphetamine on cerebral metabolites measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and methamphetamine (METH) use disorders are associated with cerebral dysfunction. To determine whether these effects were evident on in vivo neuroimaging, quantitative, single voxel magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy was used to assess frontal white matter, frontal gray matter, and basal ganglia in 40 HIV+/METH+, 66 HIV+/METH-, 48 HIV-/METH+, and 51 HIV-/METH-participants. HIV was associated with lower N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in frontal white and frontal gray matter but METH was not associated with cerebral metabolite differences in any region. Among HIV+ individuals, lower CD4 counts and higher plasma HIV viral loads were associated with lower NAA in frontal gray matter and basal ganglia. The relationship between detectable plasma HIV viral load and NAA in frontal white matter was significantly stronger in the HIV+/METH+ group, compared to HIV+/METH-. Higher detectable plasma HIV viral load was significantly associated with higher myo-inositol (MI) in frontal white and gray matter for HIV+/METH+, but not HIV+/METH-. For the HIV-/METH+ group, lifetime duration of METH use was associated with higher choline levels in frontal gray matter and higher MI levels in basal ganglia. Our findings are consistent with significant disruption of neuronal integrity in the frontal lobes of HIV-infected individuals. Although METH was not associated with cerebral metabolite levels, other findings suggested that METH use did affect the brain. For example, the relationship between detectable plasma HIV viral load and NAA levels was limited to HIV+/METH+ individuals. This evidence indicates when HIV is poorly suppressed, METH may modify the effects of the virus on neuronal integrity.
World-Class Or Good Enough — The Choice Of Partner When Outsourcing New Product Development In Medium-Sized Firms

Research on outsourcing normally focuses on outsourcing of production and often uses large firms as samples. Only a few studies address the outsourcing of services or knowledge-intensive activities such as new product development (NPD), and especially in the context of medium-sized firms. Our earlier research in medium-sized firms indicates that outsourcing of NPD is frequent in medium-sized firms, and that there is a lack of knowledge about the phenomenon.This article offers a theoretical framework to study the outsourcing of NPD, and includes the results from a longitudinal case study carried out in six Swedish medium-sized firms to help understand the rationales behind outsourcing of NPD. Results from the present study indicate that 'good enough' is the keyword for medium-sized firms with limited resources. This means that it is considered more important with proximity and trust than world class competence, since close and frequent contacts are crucial, when outsourcing knowledge-intensive activities such as NPD. A conceptual model and a definition of the good enough concept are also presented.
Effect of Platelet‐Activating Factor on Microvascular Permselectivity: Dose‐Response Relations and Pathways of Action in the Hamster Cheek Pouch Microcirculation

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) has recently been described as a mediator of inflammatory processes. In this study, we quantitated the dose-response effects of topically applied PAF on microvascular permselectivity and investigated the biochemical pathways of this compound. Permselectivity alterations were assessed by measuring the clearance of macromolecules with fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran 150 (FTTC-dx 150) as a tracer. The microvascular bed of the hamster cheek pouch served as a model. PAF was found to induce leakage of macromolecules from postcapillary venules. Control FTTC-dx 150 plasma clearance ( ± SEM) was 72 ± 10 nl/90 min. Clearances of 61 ± 10, 474 ± 145, 622 ± 57, 301 ± 86, and 142 ± 3 nl/90 min were obtained at PAF concentrations of 10-9, 10-2, 10-7, 10-6, and 10-5 M, respectively. A one-way analysis of variance showed that the population means were not equal. Multiple comparison by the Student-Newman-Keuls test demonstrated that the clearances obtained with 10-8, 10-7, and 10-6 M were significantly greater than controls. Significant differences existed between 10-7 M PAF and 10-9, 10-6, and 10-5 M PAF. In an effort to elucidate the biochemical pathways of PAF activity, several inhibitors of the arachidonic acid cascade and receptor blockers were used. Dexamethasone and kadsurenone attenuated the clearance response to PAF in a statistically significant manner, while indomethacin, OKY-046, and chlorpheniramine were without effect. These experiments demonstrate that 1) PAF produces a dose-related extravasation of macromolecules, 2) histamine does not contribute significantly to the leakage response, 3) leukotrienes may be responsible for the increased plasma clearance of macromolecules caused by PAF, and 4) clearance responses are mediated by PAF-receptor interactions.
Shelf Registration and the Reduced Due Diligence Argument: Implications of the Underwriter Certification and the Implicit Insurance Hypotheses

Abstract Critics argue that shelf registration greatly reduces the ability of underwriters to perform adequate due diligence. This argument suggests underwriters will demand greater compensation for shelf issues compared to such traditional issues as an insurance premium for protection against potential litigation or loss of reputation caused by inadequate due diligence. Our findings suggest the presence of such a premium, that the premium is higher for firms with higher expected due diligence liabilities, and that underwriters perceive that shelf registration erodes due diligence and, subsequently, price the due diligence erosion accordingly. This pricing behavior is consistent with our findings that firms with higher expected due diligence liabilities are more likely to choose traditional registration.
Structure and shear strength of microbial biofilms as determined with confocal laser scanning microscopy and fluid dynamic gauging using a novel rotating disc biofilm reactor

The cohesive strength of microbial biofilms cultivated on a rotating disc has been measured using fluid dynamic gauging (FDG). The thickness of heterotrophic mixed culture biofilms was found to depend on substrate concentration and shear force at the biofilm surface during the cultivation. For high substrate concentrations and low shear forces the biofilm thickness increased to several 100 µm within 7 days. Low substrate concentration and higher shear forces yielded thin biofilms of about 100 µm thickness. Independent from cultivation conditions and thickness of the biofilms their cohesive strength ranged between 6.0 and 7.7 N m−2. The ratio between cohesive strength measured with FDG and shear forces applied during biofilm cultivation have ranged from 200 to 1,100. Higher concentrations of iron in the cultivation media has a positive effect on the stability of the biofilms cultivated. By using the CLSM technique a stable base biofilm with a high amount of stained EPS glycoconjugates could be visualized after gauging. The thickness of the base biofilm was about 100 µm for all biofilms cultivated and was not removable under the applied shear conditions used during FDG. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;98: 747–755. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mobility Adaptive Energy Efficient and Low Latency MAC for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper a high throughput, low latency, mobility adaptive and energy efficient medium access protocol (MAC) called Mobility Adaptive (MA) for wireless sensor networks. MAMAC ensures that transmissions incur no collisions, and allows nodes to undergo sleep mode whenever they are not transmitting or receiving. It uses delay allocation scheme based on traffic priority at each node and avoids allocating same back off delay for more than one node unless they are in separate clusters. It also allows nodes to determine when they can switch to sleep mode during operation. MA-MAC for mobile nodes provides fast association between the mobile node and the cluster coordinator. The proposed MAC performs well in both static and mobile scenarios, which shows its significance over existing MAC protocols proposed for mobile applications. The performance of MA-MAC is evaluated through extensive simulation, analysis and comparison with other mobility aware MAC protocols. The results show that MA-MAC outperforms significantly the existing CSMA/CA, Sensor Mac (S-MAC), Mobile MAC (MOBMAC), Mobility aware Delay sensitive MAC (MD-MAC) and Dynamic Sensor MAC (DS-MAC) protocols including throughput, latency and energy consumption.
Evaluating functional relationship between image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty using general maximum entropy

Much has been written in the past few years on customer satisfaction. Traditional approaches to customer satisfaction, however, have been too narrow in scope in the way satisfaction is measured. Most instruments to measure customer satisfaction are not sensitive to the fact that a customer’s voice has a wide spectrum and goes beyond the single note of satisfaction or happiness. Most approaches fail to link customer satisfaction to drivers of loyalty and market share and to processes that contribute to pro® tability. Traditional approaches to customer satisfaction also do not oVer a comprehensive way to measure the range of perceptions that in ̄ uence customer behaviour. Organizations that want to improve quality signi® cantly by aligning internal processes to the voice of the customer must look beyond customer satisfaction to market-oriented measures for gauging progress. This requires shifting attention away from customer satisfaction to the more comprehensive concept of customer loyalty. Loyal customers stick with their suppliers or service providers over the long run. They also express their loyalty by giving a greater share of their wallets to their high-value brands or service providers and by generating word-of-mouth referrals. All of these behaviours will directly aVect pro® tability. But it takes a lot more than customer satisfaction to make a customer loyal and to make internal processes truly responsive to customer needs, market share opportunities and pro® t objectives. Recent studies have demonstrated mixed results in analysing the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. Several studies have indeed found satisfaction to be a (and often the) leading factor in determining loyalty (e.g. Anderson & Fornell, 1994; Oliver & Linda, 1981; Pritchard, 1991). Other studies, however, suggest satis® ed customers may not be suYcient to create loyal customers (e.g. Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Fornell, 1992; Oliva et al., 1992). These studies tend to support Reichheld’s (1993) argument that customer satisfaction is not a surrogate for customer loyalty, and thus increasing customer satisfaction does not necessarily lead to increased customer loyalty to a product, service or organization. To gain further insight into the development of customer loyalty toward a service or product, this study looks