Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survey of Foreign Aid: History, Trends and Allocation

This paper (i) traces the historical origins of foreign aid, (ii) investigates tren­ds in the volume, composition, allocation and quality of aid flows, and (iii) reviews the empirical literature on aid allocation. The paper concludes that, historically, aid has served a multitude of objectives. For some donors, the allocation and quality of aid have been largely shaped by concern for the development needs of recipients. By contrast, the foreign aid of some larger donors has been used principally as a foreign and commercial policy tool. Yet while this particular character of aid flows may well have impaired the effectiveness of aid, there is no automatic contradiction between donor and recipient objectives. Perhaps the most important change in the aid picture is the reversal after 1992 of the historic upward trend in aid volumes. This may not be a problem when smaller aid flows are compensated by private flows, as has happened in several developing countries. Yet it may be a problem in low-income countries without access to private capital, which continue to rely on aid for financial resources. The underlying premises of donor-recipient cooperation are very different when aid resources become more limited, especially when debt service is still a factor of significance. The need to keep objectives and rationales clear turn out to be even more important.
Consumer demand for sorghum and millets in eastern and southern Africa: Priorities for the CGIAR Research Programme for Dryland Cereals; Socioeconomics Discussion Paper Series 35

This report was prepared to help the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Cereals set research priorities for ESA. A clearer understanding of consumer demand for sorghum and millets is required so that the priorities for crop improvement and value chain development are based on market demand. This report summarizes current information on consumer demand for sorghum and millets in ESA, with particular reference to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. The analysis is based primarily on data from nationally representative household expenditure surveys for these four countries conducted between 2005 and 2012. The original data was obtained and re-analysed to determine the drivers of consumer demand for sorghum and millets. Results showed that the consumption estimates from these surveys were inconsistent with the data on the production and availability of sorghum and millets reported in national statistics. Consequently, we adjusted the results from the household expenditure surveys to match the production and population estimates for each country to allow comparisons across the four countries for 2013. Information on price and income elasticities was obtained from secondary literature, while information on prices were gathered from the World Bank and FAO data sets on commodity markets and prices Consumer demand for sorghum and millets in ESA is driven by population growth, urbanisation, income and price. Below, we summarise the findings for cereals in general, then separately for sorghum and millets.
The L'Aquila Earthquake of 6 April 2009 and Italian Government Policy on Disaster Response

Abstract This paper describes the impact of the earthquake that struck the central Italian city of L'Aquila on 6 April 2009, killing 308 people and leaving 67 500 homeless. The pre-impact, emergency, and early recovery phases are discussed in terms of the nature and effectiveness of government policy. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) in Italy is evaluated in relation to the structure of civil protection and changes wrought by both the L'Aquila disaster and public scandals connected with the misappropriation of funds. Six of the most important lessons are derived from this analysis and related to DRR needs both in Italy and elsewhere in the world.
Double-Blind Comparison of Hepatitis C Histological Recurrence Rate in HCV+ Liver Transplant Recipients Given Basiliximab+Steroids or Basiliximab+Placebo, in addition to Cyclosporine and Azathioprine

Background. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence in HCV+ liver transplant recipients is almost inevitable and may be promoted by immunosuppression. We compared the amount of liver damage with regard to usage of steroids and basiliximab. Methods. A total of 140 HCV+ adult liver transplant recipients were randomly allocated to basiliximab+steroids or basiliximab+placebo (plus cyclosporine and azathioprine). Primary endpoint: hepatitis C histological recurrence (liver damage as for Ishak grading score ≥8 by biopsy at 12 months); secondary endpoints: treatment failure (death, graft loss, patient withdrawal), biopsy proven acute rejection (BPAR), treated acute rejection (tAR), allograft and patient survival rates at 12 months. Results. Any significant difference has been observed in the 12-month hepatitis C histological recurrence rate (41.2% basiliximab+steroids, 37.5% basiliximab+placebo, P=0.354). The treatment failure rate was significantly higher in basiliximab+steroids (28.8%) than in basiliximab+placebo (15.6%), P=0.03; the combination test for the evaluation of the joint hypothesis resulted in a borderline nonsignificant overall result (P=0.059). BPAR rate was significantly lower in the group treated with steroids (24.3% basiliximab+steroids, 39.4% basiliximab+placebo, P=0.04), while the tAR rate was similar (29.7% basiliximab+steroids and 37.9% basiliximab+placebo). Any significant differences in 1-year graft and patient survival rates have been observed (72.9% and 84.8% basiliximab+steroids; 81.5% and 89.0% basiliximab+placebo). Conclusions. Results suggest that steroid-free therapy is associated with a significantly lower treatment failure rate, although histological recurrence rate of hepatitis C is similar in the two groups. This benefit is not offset by an evident increase in graft rejection rate requiring treatment.
Study on the application of recurrent fuzzy neural network in PH control system of absorption tower

Based on the nonlinear and time-delay issues of the PH value change in wet flue gas desulfurization process, a kind of recurrent fuzzy neural network (RFNN) method was used in the pH value control system of absorption tower. All the simulations were carried out in MATLAB, and a lot of simulation works were done. This paper compared the control algorithm based on RFNN with the traditional PID control method. The results showed that the performance of control method based on RFNN is better than that of traditional PID control method.
Identification of the genomic locations of duplicate nucleotide sequences in maize by analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms.

While preparing a linkage map for maize based upon loci detected through the use of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), it was found that 62 of the 217 cloned maize sequences tested (29%) detected more than one fragment on genomic Southern blots. Thus, more than one nucleotide sequence is present within the maize genome which is in part homologous to each of these cloned sequences. The genomic locations of these ;;duplicate'' sequences were determined and it was found that they usually originated from different chromosomes. The process which produced them did not operate randomly as some pairs of chromosomes share many duplicate sequences while many other pairs share none. Furthermore, these shared duplicate sequences are generally arrayed in an ordered arrangement along these chromosomes. It is believed that chromosomal segments which contain several duplicate loci in a generally ordered arrangement must have had a common origin. The presence of these duplicated segments supports the idea that allopolyploidy may have been involved in the evolution of maize. Nevertheless, the duplicate loci do not primarily involve five pairs of chromosomes and thus, five pairs of homeologous chromosomes are not currently present within the maize genome. The data clearly indicate that maize is not a recent allotetraploid produced by hybridization between two individuals with similar genomic structures; however, the data are also consistent with the possibility of these shared duplicate chromosomal segments having been generated through internal duplication.
Kinetic properties in inhomogeneous self-aware media

The new framework for finance is proposed. This framework based on three known approaches in econophysics. Assumptions of the framework are the following: 1. For the majority of situations market follows non-arbitrage condition. 2. For the small number of situations market influenced by the actions of big firms. 3. If actions of big players lead to the arbitrage opportunity, small players could self-organize to take advantage of this opportunity. The framework is an attempt to combine approaches of Bouchaud, Gabaix, Sornette, Stanley and coauthors. Suggested framework is applied for the analysis of market impact models, behavior of big players, self-organization of market firm and volatility description.
Formatting by Demonstration: An Interactive Machine Learning Approach

Many routine formatting tasks are subject to patterns. This is especially true of formatting actions performed by users in Excel. Excel has built-in functionality to perform some of these tasks, however their application requires the user to explicitly define logical rules. We show that by using interactive machine learning techniques, such patterns can be learned automatically by iteratively analyzing actions as they are performed by the user. This decreases the amount of work required of the user, and eliminates the necessity of explicitly defining logical rules. Our results show that many useful formatting patterns can be learned with only a few examples.
Structure of synthetic peptide analogues of an eggshell protein of Schistosoma mansoni

The peptide (Gly‐l‐Tyr‐l‐Asp‐l‐Lys‐l‐Tyr)6, referred to as F4–6, was synthesized as a model for a schistosome eggshell protein in which the Gly‐Tyr‐Asp‐Lys‐Tyr consensus sequence is repeated over 40 times. Analysis by CD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, potentiometric and spectrophotometric titrations, NMR, and molecular modeling suggests that F4–6 forms some type of left‐handed structure. A likely possibility appears to be a left‐handed α‐helix stabilized by Lysi‐Aspi+4 salt bridges and possibly Aspi‐Tyri+4 hydrogen bonding and Tyr‐Tyr interactions. Spectroscopic studies of a number of F4–6 analogues support this conclusion. For example, substitution of d‐Ala for Gly produces a peptide with enhanced left‐handed helical spectral characteristics, whereas an l‐Ala substitution results in a peptide with minimal structure. These studies suggest that the F4 protein from Schistosoma mansoni may be the first example of a naturally occurring protein devoid of proline and carbohydrate that forms a left‐handed helix composed of l‐amino acids, although alternative forms of other left‐handed structures have yet to be rigorously excluded.
Search Intensity and Wage Differences

Differences in job search behaviour have long been recognized in theoretical literature as a potential source of wage differentials. The aim of the current paper is to estimate whether there exists a systematic difference in search activity between genders and whether this can explain a part of the gender wage gap. These hypotheses are tested using micro-level data for the years 1998-2000 from the Estonian Labour Force Survey. The empirical model yields a result that unemployed men search more actively for new jobs than women. Controlling for the difference in search intensity significantly reduces the residual gender wage differential.
The Fiscal and Monetary Linkage between Stock Returns and Inflation

Contrary to economic theory and common sense, stock returns are negatively related to both expected and unexpected inflation. We argue that this puzzling empirical phenomenon does not indicate causality. Instead, stock returns are negatively related to contemporaneous changes in expected inflation because they signal a chain of events which results in a higher rate of monetary expansion. Exogenous shocks in real output, signalled by the stock market, induce changes in tax revenue, in the deficit, in Treasury borrowing and in Federal Reserve “monetization” of the increased debt. Rational bond and stock market investors realize this will happen. They adjust prices (and interest rates) accordingly and without delay. Although expected inflation seems to have a negative effect on subsequent stock returns, this could be an empirical illusion, since a spurious causality is induced by a combination of: (a) a reversed adaptive inflation expectations model and (b) a reversed money growth/stock returns model. If the real interest rate is not a constant, using nominal interest proxies for expected inflation is dangerous, since small changes in real rates can cause large and opposite percentage changes in stock prices.
Risk Measures Theory: a comprehensive survey

A fundamental aspect of proper risk management is the measurement, especially forecasting of risk measures. Measures such as variance, volatility and Value at Risk had been considered valid because of their practical intuition. However, a solid theoretical framework it is important to ensure better properties for risk measures. Such background is the risk measures theory. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on risk measures theory, focusing in basic theory and extensions to this fundamental outline. The paper is structured in order to cover the main risk measures classes from literature, which are coherent risk measures, convex risk measures, spectral and distortion risk measures and generalized deviation measures.
Performance Measurement in SMEs: Literature Review and Results from a German Case Study

A literature review of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) shows that the main contributions focus on the development of theoretical models, but not on guidelines for practical implementation. In this context, an important neglected aspect is the general fitness or readiness of a SME to implement a PMS. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine critical prerequisites for a successful PMS implementation in SMEs. For this purpose, a case study in a German SME was conducted. The findings indicate that the existence of specific contingency factors - Corporate Strategy, software-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Activity Based Costing (ABC) - strongly supports the successful implementation of a PMS and its later use. Hence, further research shall include these prerequisites as new variables determining the PMS process. Based on that, researchers and managers of SMEs can develop individual indicators to identify their own PMS readiness.
Change and Stability of the EU Institutional System: the Communitarization of the Council Presidency

Abstract The aim of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of taking into account the variable of EU institutional development when analysing the dilemma of the Council Presidency in terms of role conception. Using a historical institutionalist perspective, the article examines the path of the EU Council Presidency since its origins and argues that five decades of institutional feedback have altered its nature. Originally conceived as an intergovernmental function, today the Presidency is identified increasingly with the defence of Community interests. This process of institutional conversion has essentially limited the scope of action of the member states.
Genesis of resting microglia in the gray matter of mouse hippocampus

The genesis of resting microglia in the gray matter of mouse hippocampus was studied by 3H‐thymidine autoradiography in combination with electron microscopy. Newborn mice were injected with 3H‐thymidine singly or repeatedly at different postnatal stages, and killed shortly after the injection or after various intervals. Tissue specimens of the hippocampus at CA1 and CA2 were processed for light and electron microscopic autoradiography. The results showed that at least 91% of glial cells in the stratum radiatum of the hippocampus are produced after birth. About three‐fourths of astroglia in this area are produced before the sixth postnatal day, and a larger part of resting microglia are formed after the ninth postnatal day. Morphological transition can be traced from either proliferating cells in the stratum radiatum at late postnatal days to resting microglia or from those in early postnatal days to astroglia. A continuous morphological transition was observed between the proliferating cells at the late postnatal days (microglial production period) and those at the early postnatal days (astroglial production period). The latter retain some fine structural characteristics similar to small glioblasts in the subependymal layer. These findings strongly suggest that resting microglia, as well as astroglia, are derived from glioblasts, and are of neurectodermal origin.
Étude de fonctions de distribution de la réflectance bidirectionnelle

La quete d'un photorealisme accru en synthese d'images passe par l'amelioration de la modelisation geometrique des scenes, des algorithmes de calcul de l'eclairement global, et des modeles locaux de reflexion. Ces modeles locaux de reflexion sont representes par les BRDFs (fonctions de distribution de la reflectance bidirectionnelle). Nous etudions dans ce memoire un certain nombre de modeles analytiques de BRDFs et les comparons a des mesures reelles de BRDFs. Cette etude nous montre que la diversite du reel ne saurait etre prise en compte par un modele unique de BRDF, et la necessite d'utiliser directement des mesures de BRDFs en calcul d'images. Nous presentons alors les methodes existantes pour representer ces mesures, et introduisons une nouvelle methode particulierement adaptee au cas particulier des BRDFs. Cette methode est basee sur des fonctions a support local et une approche hierarchique. Afin de valider ces recompositions de BRDFs, nous introduisons aussi un critere d'erreur permettant de comparer les BRDFs entre elles. Afin de relier BRDFs mesurees et BRDFs informatiques, nous presentons un appareil informatique simulant le comportement d'un goniophotometre existant, appareil servant a mesurer des BRDFs. Ce goniophotometre virtuel nous permet de valider des modeles analytiques de BRDFs, et de comparer des BRDFs reelles et leur _equivalent simule a partir de releves sur les materiaux_
Assessing the Initial Impact of Welfare Reform

Abstract The research examining welfare programs and populations has increased substantially since the enactment and implementation of the Personal Opportunity and Work Responsibility Act (PRWORA), the most substantial change in welfare policy since 1935. This literature review examines studies conducted between 1997 and 2002. It captures the major findings in four principle areas of inquiry: (1) barriers to employment, (2) population characteristics, (3) welfare to work service programs and the impact on service delivery organizations, and (4) outcomes of welfare reform with regard to family well-being and family formation. The review concludes with a research agenda that can guide the next phase of research in a post-welfare reform environment that continues to await federal reauthorization.
Preparing the Next Generation for the Responsibilities of Ownership

Sustaining the family and its wealth beyond the lifetime of the founder is a challenging goal to which most families aspire. Unfortunately, all too many families fall short, not for lack of desire but of preparation of the next generation for the responsibilities of ownership. More than anything else, it takes thoughtful, intentional preparation of all family members to sustain wealth generation after generation. The result of six months of research and study with some of Family Office Exchange's most sophisticated members, this landmark article not only examines the need for thoughtful, intentional preparation for ownership but also provides proven strategies for sustaining family wealth for multiple generations.
Regulation and Capacity Competition in Health Care: Evidence from Dialysis Markets

This paper studies entry and capacity decisions by dialysis providers in the U.S. We estimate a structural model where providers make strategic continuous choices of capacities based on private information about own costs and beliefs about competitors’ behaviors. We evaluate the impact on market structure and provider profits under counterfactual regulatory policies that increase per capacity cost or reduce per capacity payment. We find that these policies reduce the market capacity of dialysis stations. However, the downward sloping reaction curve shields some providers from negative profit shocks in certain markets. The paper also has a methodological contribution in that it proposes new estimators for Bayesian games with continuous actions, which differ qualitative from discrete Bayesian games such as those with binary entry decisions.
Three scenarios for industrial relations in Europe

The author outlines three scenarios for the future of industrial relations in Europe. The first – perhaps the most realistic – projects continuing erosion of national industrial relations systems and conditions of employment, in line with current trends. The second envisages that “elite reform” from above will succeed in re-engineering industrial relations and workers' protection according to an ideal social policy agenda – an unlikely prospect given the overriding importance of financial considerations and globalized competition. The third scenario centres on a counter-movement from below which presents trade unions with the daunting challenge of mobilizing the discontented far beyond their traditional constituency.
The role of the liver in the production of thrombopoietin compared with erythropoietin.

The liver plays an important role in the production of haemopoietic hormones. It acts as the primary site of synthesis of erythropoietin (EPO) in the fetal stage, and it is the predominant thrombopoietin (TPO)-producing organ for life. In contrast to that of EPO and other liver proteins, the hepatic synthesis of TPO is influenced little by external signals. Hepatocytes express the TPO gene in a constitutive way, i.e. irrespective of the level of platelets in blood. Megakaryocytes and platelets remove the hormone from blood by means of their high-affinity TPO receptors. Normally, the plasma level of TPO is relatively low ( approximately 10(-12) mol/l). However, in thrombocytopenic states due to marrow failure or bleeding, the concentration of circulating TPO may increase greatly. The simple feedback regulation by TPO and its target cells is efficient in maintaining constant platelet numbers in healthy people. Persisting thrombocytopenia develops only in severe liver or marrow failure. On the other hand, an increase in circulating TPO and interleukin 6 (IL-6) may cause reactive thrombocytosis in inflammatory diseases, including cancer. The indications for recombinant human thrombopoietin (rHuTPO) therapy and its impact on transfusion medicine are still under investigation.