Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The New and Improved Two-Sample t Test

This article considers the problem of comparing two independent groups in terms of some measure of location. It is well known that with Student's two-independent-sample t test, the actual level of significance can be well above or below the nominal level, confidence intervals can have inaccurate probability coverage, and power can be low relative to other methods. A solution to deal with heterogeneity is Welch's (1938) test. Welch's test deals with heteroscedasticity but can have poor power under arbitrarily small departures from normality. Yuen (1974) generalized Welch's test to trimmed means; her method provides improved control over the probability of a Type I error, but problems remain. Transformations for skewness improve matters, but the probability of a Type I error remains unsatisfactory in some situations. We find that a transformation for skewness combined with a bootstrap method improves Type I error control and probability coverage even if sample sizes are small.
Income Redistribution and the Diversity of Consumer Goods

Reductions in the generosity of welfare benefits and less progressive taxation have decreased the redistributive impact of fiscal policy since the mid-1990’s across the advanced democracies. We argue that the strong increase in the diversity of goods observed those last decades may have modified preferences for redistribution differently across groups in society and affected the political equilibrium tax rate. We show that if the share of diversified goods compared to that of basic (necessary) goods in the consumption bundle sufficiently increases with income, relatively rich consumers could disproportionately benefit from an increase in the diversity of goods. Consequently we show in a probabilistic voting model that this could lead to a decrease in the equilibrium tax rate. We then empirically demonstrate, using fixed effect regressions over a a panel of OECD countries, that there exists a strong correlation between our proxies for the diversity of goods and our proxies for the degree of fiscal redistribution.
Patients' and staff members' attitudes about the rights of hospitalized psychiatric patients.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess and compare patients' and staff members' attitudes about what rights hospitalized psychiatric patients should have. METHODS A 31-item inventory, developed for the study, for assessing attitudes about what rights hospitalized psychiatric patients should have was used with 122 hospitalized psychiatric patients and 35 staff members in the same hospital. RESULTS Patients were less likely than staff to express the view that involuntary hospitalization, the use of force or physical restrictions, or the compromise of confidentiality is justified. There were no significant differences in attitudes toward patients' rights to obtain information about their illness and treatment and their right to refuse treatment. CONCLUSIONS The differences in attitudes found in the study highlight the importance of considering multiple facets of patients' rights and the extent to which attitudes about patients' rights are associated with each facet.
The Effectiveness of Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement: A Review of the Empirical Evidence

Regulatory punishment for pollution violations is a mainstay of nearly every industrialized nation's environmental policy. This article reviews the existing empirical evidence on the impacts of environmental monitoring and enforcement actions. We first provide context by investigating the U.S. regulatory setting. We then briefly discuss how economists think about environmental enforcement. We next consider recent empirical evidence linking regulator actions to subsequent pollution discharges and compliance behavior. Since the literature primarily studies U.S. institutions, our review focuses mainly on the effects of Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. state activities. The consistent findings from this literature review are as follows: (1) environmental monitoring and enforcement activities generate substantial specific deterrence, reducing future violations at the targeted firm; (2) environmental monitoring and enforcement activities generate substantial general deterrence, reducing future violations at facilities other than the targeted one; and (3) environmental monitoring and enforcement activities generate not only reductions in violations but also significant reductions in emissions. We conclude by discussing policy implications and identifying gaps in the current state of knowledge.
The Demographic Transition in the Netherlands

The population of a developing area is divided into 3 stages: 1) static population with high levels of fertility and mortality; 2) a period of falling mortality and constant fertility with rapid population growth; and 3) static population at balanced levels of birth and death control. In the Netherlands modernization was achieved by allowing only one person from a farm/household to marry and have children. Joint households included unmarried family members. With the 19th century popularity of the nuclear family came a sense of parental responsibility and a desire to limit family size. Since the beginning of the modern era the Netherlands has experienced an increase in population. Population growth was not affected by net migration. Before the last decades of the 19th century the decline in mortality was not sufficient to account for the increase in numbers. Following the breakdown of institutional and moral inhibitions to procreation in the 19th century there was a rise in fertility.
The Evolving European Model of Professional Sports Finance

The sports business in Europe has been recently altered by a court decision granting greater freedom to players in the labor market. Also, the televising of major sporting events has become more popular, generating big increases in revenues to many clubs. These and other developments are transforming methods of financing sports operations. This article examines and compares four models of sports finance: European amateur, European professional (traditional), European professional (contemporary), and American. The authors relate the changes that are occurring in the product and labor markets to these models, and assess current and future impacts. Of particular interest is the convergence between the newly evolving European model and the one found in the United States.
Transforming the Teaching Profession

C coaching is a practical and powerful method for improving instruction and student learning. The essence of content coaching is simple: to improve learning teachers must focus on relevant, important, rich content. Robust lessons center around big ideas in a given domain and give students opportunities to grapple with significant problems or issues using reasoning and discourse particular to that domain. For example, mathematicians may seek to prove a conjecture logically whereas literary critics might attempt to make inferences about characters based on excerpts from a text. The premise of content coaching rests on the hypothesis that improved instruction significantly improves learning. The practice of content coaching is sophisticated and nuanced. Content coaching is an iterative process centering on thoughtful lesson design, skilled enactment of lessons, reflective analysis of student learning, and use of that analysis to construct ensuing lessons. Content coaches possess knowledge and understanding of the content of their discipline, awareness of which concepts within that discipline are appropriate for students at various stages, knowledge of current learning theories, a varied repertoire
CDK-Dependent Stabilization of Cdc6: Linking Growth and Stress Signals to Activation of DNA Replication

Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play a crucial role in cell cycle progression by controlling the transition from G1 phase into S phase where DNA is replicated. Key to this transition is the regulation of initiation of DNA replication at replication origins. CDKs are thought to regulate origins of replication both positively and negatively by phosphorylating replication proteins at origins. Several replication proteins that are potentially negatively regulated upon CDK phosphorylation have been identified. However, the mechanism by which CDKs activate replication is currently less well understood. New observations revealing that the initiation protein Cdc6 is stabilized by CDK2-dependent phosphorylation may give more insight in this process.
Combined therapy: what does acamprosate and naltrexone combination tell us?

AIMS Relapse prevention treatment with both acamprosate and naltrexone has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of alcoholism. Whereas both compounds act pharmacologically differently, there is up to now only limited evidence as to whether combined treatment is efficacious and pharmacologically safe. It remains to be answered whether data justify the combination of both drugs in clinical practice. METHODS Review of the three pre-clinical and four clinical studies that have been published to date on either combined tolerability or efficacy. RESULTS Data available up to now show no occurrence of severe adverse events during combined treatment. Diarrhoea and nausea were shown to be the most significant side-effects. Whereas pre-clinical studies regarding efficacy of combined treatment are not yet conclusive, clinical data show the superiority of combined treatment compared with both placebo and acamprosate monotherapy. The synergistic effect of combined treatment remained after 12 weeks of drug-free follow-up. CONCLUSIONS The combination of acamprosate with naltrexone in a clinical sample seems to be efficacious and safe. Numerous alcohol dependent patients could benefit, particularly those that responded insufficiently on monotherapeutic treatment with either acamprosate or naltrexone.
The efficacy of motivational interviewing as a brief intervention for excessive drinking: a meta-analytic review.

AIMS (1) To examine whether or not motivational interviewing (MI) is more efficacious than no intervention in reducing alcohol consumption; (2) to examine whether or not MI is as efficacious as other interventions. METHOD A literature search followed by a meta-analytic review of randomized control trials of MI interventions. Aggregated between-group effect sizes and confidence intervals were calculated for each study. RESULTS Literature search revealed 22 relevant studies, of which nine compared brief MI with no treatment, and met methodological criteria for inclusion. In these, the aggregate effect size was 0.18 (95% C.I. 0.07, 0.29), but was greater 0.60 (95% C.I. 0.36, 0.83) when, in a post-hoc analysis, the follow-up period was three months or less. Its efficacy also increased when dependent drinkers were excluded. There were nine studies meeting methodological criteria for inclusion which compared brief MI with another treatment (one of a diverse set of interventions), yielding an aggregate effect size of 0.43(95% C.I. 0.17, 0.70). The literature review pointed to several factors which may influence MI's long-term efficacy effectiveness of MI. CONCLUSIONS Brief MI is effective. Future studies should focus on possible predictors of efficacy such as gender, age, employment status, marital status, mental health, initial expectations, readiness to change, and whether the population is drawn from treatment-seeking or non-treatment-seeking populations. Also, the components of MI should be compared to determine which are most responsible for maintaining long-term changes.
Classification based on rules and thyroids dysfunctions

SUMMARY Classi " cation in ill - structured domains (ISD) is a di $ cult problem for the actual statistical and arti " cial intelligence techniques, because of the intrinsic characteristics of those domains. Classi , cation based on rules is our proposal to overcome the limitations of Statistics and Arti " cial Intelligence techniques referred to in this particular context. In this paper, an application of the classi , cation based on rules to a set of real data is presented. Data base is about thyroid function and data was provided by a hospital from Zagreb (Croatia) covering a period of two years. Copyright ( 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Strategies for assessing and managing organizational stakeholders

Executive Overview To cope with the environmental turbulence and uncertainty facing many U.S. industries, business executives must effectively manage their stakeholders. Stakeholders include those individuals, groups, and other organizations who have an interest in the actions of an organization and who have the ability to influence it. The stakeholder approach systematically integrates executives' concerns about organizational strategy with the organization's interests in marketing, human resource management, public relations, organizational politics, and social responsibility. This integrative perspective assumes that an effective organization strategy requires consensus from a plurality of key stakeholders about what it should be doing and how these things should be done. By assessing each stakeholder's potential to threaten or to cooperate with the organization, managers' may identify supportive, mixed blessing. nonsupportive, and marginal stakeholders. The 1989 strike at Eastern Airlines illustrates .
Neutrophils from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seronegative donors induce HIV replication from HIV-infected patients' mononuclear cells and cell lines: an in vitro model of HIV transmission facilitated by Chlamydia trachomatis

Infection with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) increases the risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) are recruited into the genital tract by STD pathogens, such as Chlamydia trachomatis. Semen of HIV-infected men contains HIV associated with mononuclear cells. This study investigated the interaction among PMNs from HIV-uninfected persons, C. trachomatis, and HIV-infected cells and examined the mechanisms for enhanced HIV replication. We demonstrated that PMNs from HIV-seronegative donors induced HIV replication in mononuclear cells from 17 HIV-infected patients in medium without exogenous IL-2. HIV in the cell-free supernatants from cocultures of PMNs and patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was replication competent, as indicated by their capacity to propagate HIV in a second round of culture using PBMCs from HIV-seronegative individuals and by the fact that proviral DNA was found in these cells. PMNs from HIV-seronegative donors increased HIV replication over 100-fold in chronically HIV-infected cell lines of the monocytic, T, and B cell lineages. Moreover, PMNs increased U1 cells' production of p24 antigen by as much as ninefold when compared with U1 cells cocultured with PBMCs. The addition of C. trachomatis to PMN and U1 coculture increased HIV replication by an additional ninefold at 24 h, whereas C. trachomatis alone had no effect on p24 antigen production by U1 cells. Thus, C. trachomatis serves not only to recruit PMNs, but also to interact with PMNs to increase HIV replication. HIV replication is triggered by contact of HIV-infected cells with PMNs, by the generation of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs), and by soluble factors such as TNF-alpha and IL-6. This is based on the findings that production of p24 antigen, IL-6, and TNF- alpha induced by PMNs is abrogated by disrupting or partitioning PMNs from HIV-infected cells; is inhibited by superoxide dismutase and catalase, enzymes that destroy ROIs; is enhanced by differentiated HL60 cells capable of producing ROIs; and is induced by PMNs tested negative for CMV. Furthermore, the production of ROIs is independent of HIV infection of mononuclear cells, since PMNs cocultured with HIV- uninfected parental monocytic and T cell lines generated ROIs. Therefore, the increased risk for acquiring HIV infection associated with chlamydia cervicitis may be related to the local recruitment of PMNs by C. trachomatis and the induction of infectious virus from mononuclear cells present in semen. These observations provide a rationale for strategies to reduce HIV transmission by control of STD.
Progression of lumbosacral spondylolisthesis.

SUMMARY A series of fifty-one cases of lumbo-sacral spondylolisthesis under the age of thirty years were followed up for a minimum period of one year. The overall progression rate in this series was 24%, but more significantly, the incidence of progression in adolescence was 38%. Furthermore, there was a marked difference in the incidence of progression in the dysplastic type (32%) compared with the isthmic type (4%). Radiological studies showed that adolescent progression occurred concurrently with significant structural changes in both the 5th lumbar vertebra and the sacrum. It was felt that the loss of support of the posterior vertebral complex in dysplastic spondylolisthesis resulted in an interference in the vertebral growth once displacement exceeded 25%, demonstrating that progression may occur before a fusion becomes sound. Late progression was not accompanied by structural changes, and was due to a loss of posterior ligamentous and disc integrity.
Prerequisites for modeling price and return data series for the Bucharest Stock Exchange

Time series data from the capital market exhibits certain qualities which invalidate the hypotheses necessary for obtaining meaningful results from statistical modeling. This paper presents some of these qualities by looking at the time series for prices and returns on the Romanian Stock Exchange. The examples are based on the price time series and return time series of the Antibiotice securities and the BET-C index. The choice of a certain security and of the stock exchange index has been made with the intention of analyzing, in the future, the correlation between these two variables, and drawing significant conclusions which can be used for forecasts. Firstly, we will identify the empirical proprieties of the capital market, as they are described in the field research. Secondly, we will investigate the prerequisites for modeling chronological data series; these are stationary mean and variance. In the paper, the three methods are used: graphical representation, autocorrelation and the ADF test (Augmented Dickey-Fuller). For the frequent cases where the mean is not stationary, we will present the time series differentiation method, which can be used to obtain stationary values. Lastly, we will investigate the normality of the time series through the skewness and kurtosis methods, and through the Jarque-Bera statistic. We find out a characteristic for the capital market, in that the majority of the time series for securities have non-normal distributions.
FX Cash Flow Risk Management: Financial Reporting Issues and Practical Implications

Companies having foreign sales can avoid large fluctuations in earnings and cash flows caused by changes in foreign exchange (FX) rates through the use of foreign exchange derivatives (FXDs). FXDs used to mitigate the effect of FX rate changes on forecasted transactions can qualify as cash flow hedges under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133 (SFAS 133). According to SFAS 133, the mark-to-market (MTM) gains/losses on effective cash flow hedges are reported in other comprehensive income on the balance sheet, instead of on the income statement. This article explains how CFOs and treasurers may benefit from understanding the strategic and practical implications of reporting foreign-exchange hedges, including the disclosure of hedge ratio data (i.e., the extent of cash flow hedge use).
Soft Prosthetic Forefinger Tactile Sensing via a String of Intact Single Mode Optical Fiber

We report a prosthetic forefinger with distributed tactile sensing capability based on an embedded single mode fiber (SMF) sensor. We developed a human-size prosthetic forefinger by using soft silicon rubber via a fast wax-casting procedure. A strand of SMF was directly embedded along the palmar side of the prosthetic forefinger. For the first time to our knowledge, an SMF sensor is embedded in a soft silicon rubber-made prosthetic forefinger for distributed tactile sensing that eases the fabrication processes and affords judicious way in large-area, high-resolution applications. Our tactile sensor is interrogated with a distributed Rayleigh backscattering-based optical frequency domain reflectometry system. A series of experiments were conducted to verify the proposed tactile sensor. The reported soft silicon rubber-made prosthetic forefinger with built-in fiber optic sensors opens up promising possibilities for the development of sensing abilities and feedback strategies in artificial intelligence.
EXCHANGE RATE REGIMES FOR THE NEW MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

This paper combines theoretical and empirical analysis to derive the desirable exchange rate regimes for eight of the New Member States of the EU in their initial steps towards EMU. The theoretical model takes into account the size of the internal market distortions and technological gaps of these countries, and assumes forward looking behaviour of both firms and households. In the empirical part, we calculate numerical values for the incumbent parameters and estimate SVAR models in order to extract variances and covariances between shocks to these economies and to the euro area, which are necessary to compute individual social losses and derive the optimal regimes. The main result is that the choice vanes depending on the institutional and structural features of each economy, and on the likely source and nature of economic shocks to which it is exposed.
Mechanical properties of lipid bilayers and regulation of mechanosensitive function

Material properties of lipid bilayers, including thickness, intrinsic curvature and compressibility regulate the function of mechanosensitive (MS) channels. This regulation is dependent on phospholipid composition, lateral packing and organization within the membrane. Therefore, a more complete framework to understand the functioning of MS channels requires insights into bilayer structure, thermodynamics and phospholipid structure, as well as lipid-protein interactions. Phospholipids and MS channels interact with each other mainly through electrostatic forces and hydrophobic matching, which are also crucial for antimicrobial peptides. They are excellent models for studying the formation and stabilization of membrane pores. Importantly, they perform equivalent responses as MS channels: (1) tilting in response to tension and (2) dissipation of osmotic gradients. Lessons learned from pore forming peptides could enrich our knowledge of mechanisms of action and evolution of these channels. Here, the current state of the art is presented and general principles of membrane regulation of mechanosensitive function are discussed.
Solar Enhanced Wastewater Treatment in Waste Stabilization Ponds

One of the most popular off‐site wastewater treatment plants used in the tropics is the waste stabilization pond (WSP). Although it has several advantages, its use in urban areas is limited because of its large land area requirement. Hence, this research is aimed at investigating if a solar‐enhanced WSP (SEWSP) can increase treatment efficiency and consequently reduce the land area requirement. The SEWSPs of varying sizes, made of a metallic tank with inlet and outlet valves and a solar reflector, were constructed to increase the incident sunlight intensity. Wastewater samples collected from the inlet and outlet of the SEWSPs were examined for physio‐chemical and biological characteristics for a period of 2 months. The parameters examined were total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen, 5‐day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), coliform, and Escherichia coli. The efficiencies of the SEWSPs, with respect to these parameters, fluctuated with temperature variation, with the shallowest SEWSP giving the highest treatment efficiency. The research revealed that the cost of treating wastewater using SEWSPs was approximately 2 times lower than the conventional WSP for the same treatment efficiencies.