Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marginal Valuation of Improving the Sport-Fishing Catch

This paper presents estimates of the marginal willingness-to-pay to improve sport-fishing conditions in a county in southern Sweden. Previous valuation studies have focused mainly on mean estimates, but policy decisions often require marginal values. The estimates are obtained by using the contingent valuation method within a parametric model that allows for zero willingness-to-pay values (a spike model). The data were collected using a mail survey sent to anglers in the county of Bohus in Sweden in 1998. The results show that the value of improved catch conditions depends on the type of angling and decreases at the margin when the catch increases. The marginal willingness-to-pay for catching an extra fish ranges from about SEK 5 (SEK 12 per kilo) for coastal angling to about SEK 530 (SEK 172 per kilo) for river angling (US$1 ≈ SEK 9). Such economic information is useful for managers with limited budgets who need to prioritize between different alternatives or actions to improve sport-fishing.
Finding strongly connected components of circle cover graph in one-dimensional

Given a set C=(c/sub 1/, c/sub 2/, . . ., c/sub n/) of n circles in the plane, the circle cover graph is the digraph G(C)=(V, E) where a vertex upsilon /sub i/ in V stands for the center of circle c/sub i/, and a directed edge < upsilon /sub i/, upsilon /sub j/> in E if and only if circle c/sub i/ covers the center of circle c/sub j/. The authors propose an O(n log n) algorithm with O(n) space to find all the strongly connected components of G(C) for the one-dimensional case. Based on this result, the time complexity of the algorithm proposed by N.F. Huang, C.H. Huang (Inf. Process. Lett., vol.40, p.13-20, October, 1991) to solve the repeaters allocation problem for one-dimensional case can be improved from O(n log n+e) to O(n log n); where e is the number of edges in G(C). <<ETX>>
Frequency of Microsatellite Instability inBreast Cancer Determined by High-Resolution Fluorescent Microsatellite Analysis

In breast cancer, the rates of positivity for microsatellite instability (MSI), vary greatly in the literature. Using high-resolution fluorescent microsatellite analysis (HFRMA), we studied microsatellite alterations in 75 patients with sporadic breast cancer. In this system, several devices were prepared to improve reproducibility of polymerase chain reaction products, migration accuracy of electrophoresis, and characteristics of the detection system. Precise and objective analyses of microsatellite alterations are made feasible using HRFMA. Seven of the 75 cases were judged to be positive for MSI, the rate of positivity being 9.3%. This rate is relatively low compared to the data in the literature. All the microsatellite changes observed in this system can be classified into two types: type A with relatively small changes in microsatellite sequences observed in limited loci and type B with drastic and widely dispersed changes. The former was thought to be connected to abnormal activity in DNA mismatch repair (MMR). Among the 7 cases, 6 (8.0%) had type A alterations, which means that the tumors may have an abnormal MMR activity. Application of precise and objective systems for microsatellite analysis is expected to be clinically useful to detect patients at high risk for cancers.
Diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analysis of the ventral striatum in adults with traumatic brain injury

Objectives: The aim was to determine if there are changes in the integrity and volume of the ventral striatum following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and if these changes relate to executive functioning. Methods: This study recruited 14 participants with severe TBI (mean age: 22 years) and 15 demographically-matched controls. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and volumetric analysis at 6 months post-injury. Participants with TBI underwent neuropsychological testing and the relation between imaging data and cognitive performance was examined. Results: Differences in DTI parameters (fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)) were found between participants with TBI and controls. Correlations between right and left ventral striatum ADC and the executive functioning factor of the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale-Revised (NRS-R) were found. Correlations between right ventral striatum FA and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Trails Making Test Part B (TMT-B) time and NRS-R executive functioning factor were also found. Volumetric analysis showed a difference only in left nucleus accumbens between TBI and control groups. Conclusions: The integrity of the ventral striatum is affected following severe TBI. Decreases in executive functioning are related to damage to the ventral striatum and its associated structures.
Trunk Muscle Activity During Stability Ball and Free Weight Exercises

The purpose of this investigation was to compare trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. Nine resistance-trained men participated in one testing session in which squats (SQ) and deadlifts (DL) were completed with loads of approximately 50, 70, 90, and 100% of one-repetition maximum (1RM). Isometric contractions during 3 stability ball exercises (quadruped (QP), pelvic thrust (PT), ball back extension (BE)) were also completed. During all exercises, average integrated electromyography (IEMG) from the rectus abdominus (RA), external oblique (EO), longissimus (L1) and multifidus (L5) was collected and analyzed. Results demonstrate that when expressed relative to 100% DL 1RM, muscle activity was 19.5 ± 14.8% for L1 and 30.2 ± 19.3% for L5 during QP, 31.4 ± 13.4% for L1 and 37.6 ± 12.4% for L5 during PT, and 44.2 ± 22.8% for L1 and 45.5 ± 21.6% for L5 during BE. IEMG of L1 during SQ and DL at 90 and 100% 1RM, and relative muscle activity of L5 during SQ and DL at 100% 1RM was significantly greater (P ≤ 0.05) than in the stability ball exercises. Furthermore, relative muscle activity of L1 during DL at 50 and 70% 1RM was significantly greater than in QP and PT. No significant differences were observed in RA and EO during any of the exercises. In conclusion, activity of the trunk muscles during SQs and DLs is greater or equal to that which is produced during the stability ball exercises. It appears that stability ball exercises may not provide a sufficient stimulus for increasing muscular strength or hypertrophy; consequently, the role of stability ball exercises in strength and conditioning programs is questioned. SQs and DLs are recommended for increasing strength and hypertrophy of the back extensors.
Enabling Employee Choice: A Structural Approach to the Rules of Union Organizing

The proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has led to fierce debate over how best to ensure employees a choice on the question of unionization. The debate goes to the core of our federal system of labor law. Each of the potential legislative designs under consideration - including both “card check” and “rapid elections” - aims to enhance employee choice by minimizing or eliminating managerial involvement in the unionization process. The central question raised by EFCA, therefore, is whether enabling employees to limit or avoid managerial intervention in union campaigns is an appropriate goal for federal law. This Article answers this foundational question in the affirmative. It reaches this conclusion by conceptualizing federal labor law in terms of legal default rules, drawing in particular on the preference-eliciting default theory of statutory interpretation and the reversible default theory from corporate law. Doing so leads to the argument that card check, rapid elections, and similar mechanisms are best understood as “asymmetry-correcting altering rules” - means of mitigating the impediments that block departure from the nonunion default. Understanding EFCA in this way also requires that we ask how such an altering rule should be constructed. This Article addresses this institutional design question by arguing that card check’s open decision-making process is flawed and that rapid elections, while an improvement over the status quo, are an insufficient method of mitigating the relevant impediments to employee choice. Accordingly, this Article offers two new designs - alternatives to both card check and rapid elections - that would accomplish the legitimate function of minimizing managerial intervention while at the same time preserving secrecy in decision-making.
Economic Implications of Public‐Sector Comparable Worth: The Case of San Jose, California

This study evaluates the wage and employment effects of comparable worth in San Jose, California, one of the first cities in the United States to implement comparable worth wage adjustments. The empirical evidence indicates that, contrary to the predictions of many economists, females posted large employment gains in jobs targeted by comparable worth adjustments. Male employment in these jobs was stagnant. The increasing percentage female in the targeted jobs is attributable to the combined effects of comparable worth and pro-female hiring policies. No overall decrease in employment appears to have occurred in the city of San Jose, nor is there any indication of substitution from targeted to nontargeted jobs.
Will the TRIPS Agreement Foster Appropriate Biotechnologies for Developing Countries

While almost all of the investment in agricultural biotechnology to date has been in temperate crops suitable for developed countries, developing countries are the greatest potential beneficiaries of this major technological advance. To realise this potential requires investment in crops appropriate to climatic and agronomic conditions in developing countries. Protection of intellectual property rights is a necessary condition for the private sector to invest in appropriate biotechnologies. This paper develops a game theoretic model of a bioscience firm that adapts a new technology to a range of agronomic conditions in response to the enforcement of intellectual property rights in a developed and a developing country. Over a range of potential penalties, low levels of enforcement by the developing country remain endemic despite the desire to have the bioscience firm adapt the biotechnology to its local conditions. In particular, the trade penalties contained in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights are likely to be ineffective. The developing country might increase enforcement if the developed country was more aggressive in liberalising agriculture trade because there would be greater symmetry in the benefits of the technology. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Patriotism is not enough: Chinese intellectuals and the knowledge economy

This paper examines the changing appeal of patriotism and nationalism in the civic consciousness of Chinese intellectuals shaped by the notion of a global knowledge economy. It investigates the career aspirations of scientists and IT professionals returning from overseas study in the US and argues that the famous motto of intellectuals during the 1980s – “Science does not have national boundaries but I (the scientist) have the nationality”, is losing its appeal. Scientists and IT professionals are acknowledged as knowledge-workers and are valued in nation building. At the same time they have the freedom to not return home by virtue of a global demand for their services and attractive skilled-migrant schemes in a number of western countries. In examining recent policy changes by the Chinese government to recruit scholars of Chinese origin studying and working overseas, the paper discusses the Chinese government’s response to the “brain drain” and how it has sought measures to ensure growth in its national knowledge capital.
Institutional distance influences on the multinational enterprises (MNES') ownership strategies of their affiliates operating in an emerging market

Building on Scott’s (1995, 2001) three pillars –cognitive, normative and regulative–, this paper examines how the institutional differences between the home and host country influence the entry strategies of the multinational enterprises (MNEs). Based on a dataset of 3716 foreign affiliates in an emerging market, this paper explores the entry mode (ownership structure) of the MNEs from 49 different home countries over the period 1995 to 2003. The effect of the institutional distance on the entry strategies of the MNEs is tested through binominal logistic regression analysis in which a series of the indigenous and endogenous control variables are taken into account. The findings show that the cognitive distance factor is more important than either the normative or regulative distances in influencing entry strategies of the MNEs. Moreover, the results show that the entry mode of the MNEs are explained in light of the economic crisis, the international openness of the home country of the MNE and the size of the foreign direct investment operating in a country as well as the institutional distance. Key words: Institutional distance, entry strategies, emerging markets, Turkey.
The Effect of Seed-Borne Fungi and Epichloë Endophyte on Seed Germination and Biomass of Elymus sibiricus

The interactive effects of asexual Epichloë (formerly known as Neotyphodium) endophytes isolated from Hordeum brevisubulatum, Elymus tangutorum and Achnatherum inebrians, and seed-borne fungi on Elymus sibiricus seeds, were determined by an in vitro study using supernatants from liquid cultures of the endophyte strains. In an 8 week greenhouse study, the effects on the seedlings growth was measured. The in vitro study was carried out with the seed-borne fungi Alternaria alternata, Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium avenaceum, and a Fusarium sp. isolated from E. sibiricus. Different concentrations and combinations of the liquid cultures of endophytic fungi enhanced the interim germination, germination rate, length of coleoptile and radicle, and seedling dry weight of E. sibiricus under stress from seed-borne fungi. In the greenhouse study, different concentrations of the supernatant of the endophytes from H. brevisubulatum and E. tangutorum but not A. inebrians, signficantly (P < 0.05) enhanced E. sibiricus seed germination. There was no significant (P > 0.05) increase of the tiller numbers after 2 weeks. However, later on, there were significant (P < 0.05) increases in tiller number (4–8 weeks), seedling height (2–8 weeks) and dry weight (2–8 weeks). The application of Epichloë endophyte culture supernatants was an effective strategy to improve seed germination and growth under greenhouse conditions.
Ease of use and preference of a new versus widely available prefilled insulin pen assessed by people with diabetes, physicians and nurses

Objective: FlexTouch (FT; Novo Nordisk A/S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark) is a new prefilled insulin pen that has no push-button extension and low injection force. This multi-centre, crossover usability study evaluated the perceptions of, and preference for, FT versus another widely used prefilled pen, SoloStar (SS; Sanofi, Paris, France), by people with diabetes and healthcare professionals. Research design and methods: Following instruction, participants performed injections into a foam cushion, randomly alternating between doses of 20, 40 and 80 international units (IU). Participants then answered questions on usability and preference. Results: In all, 59 people with diabetes and 61 healthcare professionals (30 physicians and 31 nurses) took part. Overall, significantly more respondents preferred to use FT than SS (83 vs 10%, respectively), found FT easier to use (83 vs 9%) and would recommend FT to others (83 vs 8%; p < 0.001 for all). More respondents found it ‘very/fairly easy’ to reach the push-button and to inject 20, 40 and 80 IU with FT (93, 90 and 88% to inject, respectively) than with SS (73, 43 and 15% to inject, respectively; p < 0.001 for all). Most respondents chose FT as giving them the most confidence in correct and complete insulin delivery (76 vs 6%; p < 0.001) and considerably more were ‘very/rather confident’ in managing their daily insulin injections with FT than with SS (88 vs 58%). Conclusions: Most participants rated FT as easier to use and to inject with, were more confident in its accuracy of insulin delivery and preferred it to SS.
Comparative modeling methods: Application to the family of the mammalian serine proteases

Comparative modeling methods are described that can be used to construct a three‐dimensional model structure of a new protein from knowledge of its sequence and of the experimental structure and sequences of other members of its homology family. The methods are illustrated with the mammalian serine protease family, for which seven experimental structures have been reported in the literature, and the sequence for over 35 different protein members of the family are available. The strategy for modeling these proteins is presented, and criteria are developed for determining and assigning the reliability of the modeled structure. Criteria are described that are specially designed to help detect cases in which it is likely that the local structure diverges significantly from the usual conformation of the family.
Regime-switching analysis for the impacts of exchange rate volatility on corporate values: a Taiwanese case

A second-moment, regime-switching model with not only a switching intercept and a switching slope, but also a switching error variance, is applied to examine the impacts of exchange rate volatility (ERV) on corporate values (CV) for the 10 industries investigated in Taiwan. Two different regimes categorized as strong-impact and weak-impact are identified. The dominant power varies from one industry to another. The Wald statistics for the null of equality are ambiguous, which show that if the Markov-switching (MS) model is plausible, then the ERV might not be one major factor, but another factor that could switch the CV of Taiwan's industries. For the model's volatility influence, the data of 8 out of 10 industries are shown to fit a two-state model when the volatility is stimulated. A two-state, first-order MS model is appropriate for the ‘goodness of fit’ analysis at the 10% significant level.
A Semiparametric Analysis of the Term Structure of the US Interest Rates

The short end of the US$ term structure of interest rates is analysed allowing for the possibility of fractional integration and cointegration. This approach permits mean-reverting dynamics for the data and the existence of a common long run stochastic trend to be maintained simultaneously. We estimate the model for the period 1963-2006 and find it compatible with this structure. The restriction that the data are "I"(1) and the errors are "I"(0) is rejected, mainly because the latter still display long memory. This result is consistent with a model of monetary policy in which the Central Bank operates affecting contracts with short term maturity, and the impulses are transmitted to contracts with longer maturities and then to the final goals. However, the transmission of the impulses along the term structure cannot be modelled using the Expectations Hypothesis. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Department of Economics, University of Oxford, 2009.
A new measure of fiscal shocks based on budget forecasts and its implications

This paper develops a new measure of US fiscal policy shocks that intends to avoid the anticipation problem affecting conventional measures, being also arguably free from endogeneity. The shocks are intended to capture changes to the component of anticipated fiscal policy that is exogenous to economic developments. Key economic variables such as output and interest rates respond quickly and significantly to a realization of the estimated shock and, in the first part of the sample, 1969-1988, in a way consistent with the Keynesian prior. In contrast, over the period 1989-2008 the effects are at odds with that prior, with fiscal loosening producing contractionary impacts.
Advancing the Field: Considering Acceptable Evidence in Educational Technology Research

The Spring 2005 issue of the Journal of Research on Technology in Education (JRTE) included an unprecedented position paper collaboratively authored by a group of journal editors. The paper issued a call for a proactive approach to a research agenda in educational technology. The participating educational technology periodicals and journals included Learning and Leading with Technology, the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, the Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, Computers in the Schools, the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE Journal).
The use of p-phenylenediamine in the block to enhance osmium staining for electron microscopy.

Pieces of tissue 1 mm3 of rat renal medulla and cortex and rabbit myocardium were fixed in 2 or 4% glutaraldehyde, washed in buffer, postfixed in OsO4, rinsed in 70% alcohol, treated with 0.5–1% p-phenylenediamine in 70% alcohol 15–25 min, dehydrated, and embedded in Epon. Ultrathin sections were viewed in the electron microscope without further staining. Contrast was adequate except at very high magnification, when additional lead staining was required. In general, the appearances were similar to those seen after conventional lead staining. However, lipid droplets in myocardium and medullary interstitial cells were densely stained, and there was a tendency for extracellular material on the luminal surface of renal tubular epithelium and myocardial capillary endothelium also to stain densely. The main value of the method lies in the elimination of the need for section staining in both light and electron microscopy.
Future Biomass Energy Supply: The Consumptive Water Use Perspective

There are major expectations that bioenergy will supply large amounts of CO2 neutral energy for the future. A large-scale expansion of energy crop production would lead to a large increase in evapotranspiration appropriation for human uses, potentially as large as the present evapotranspiration from global cropland. In some countries this could lead to further enhancement of an already stressed water situation. However, there are also countries where such impacts are less likely to occur. Studies that assess bioenergy potentials need to consider restrictions from competing demand for water resources. Studies of the future state of water availability and use need to include the possibility of new high demands for water from a growing bioenergy sector.
Discount factor and conditional return volatility

Using Campbell's (1991) unexpected return decomposition, the implications of the Rational Valuation Formula are derived in terms of unconditional volatility of discount factors, given conditional return volatility and hence given the volatility of unexpected returns. This provides a bound on the discount rate volatility that any econometric specification must produce in order to be admissible. Using 130 years of monthly data on the S&P Composite Index, it is shown that one needs about 10% annualized expected return volatility to explain observed conditional return volatility. The study also shows that the static and Consumption CAPM and a GARM-M specification, broadly consistent with Merton's (1973) ICAPM, produce too little discount rate variability, under a standard assumption about the degree of persistence of returns.
Estimates of the Impact of Crime Risk on Property Values from Megan's Laws

We estimate the willingness to pay for reductions in crime risk using the location and move-in dates of sex offenders. We find significant effects of sex offenders' locations that are geographically localized. House prices within 0.1 miles of a sex offender fall by 4 percent on average. We then use this finding to estimate the costs to victims of sexual offenses, and find costs of over $1 million per victim--far greater than previous estimates. However, we cannot reject the alternative hypotheses that individuals overestimate risks posed by offenders or that living near an offender poses significant costs exclusive of crime risk.