Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do they all perform alike? An examination of perceived performance, citizen satisfaction and trust with US federal agencies

What drives citizen satisfaction and trust with US federal government agencies? Are these determinants constant across agencies, or do they differ? In this article, we examine elements of citizen perceived performance as determinants of satisfaction and trust in federal agencies using a multi-year, cross-sectional, multi-agency sample of respondents. Focusing on six high-incidence federal agencies experienced by a large cross-section of American citizens, we observe differences in the determinants of satisfaction and trust, which include perceptions of the quality of the services experienced and the information provided, demographic factors, citizen expectations, and e-government adoption. We discuss these differences, with a particular focus on the implications of these findings for the practice of performance benchmarking. Given that one central objective of a variety of recent federal initiatives has been to better measure bureaucratic performance with the goal of improving the quality of services delivered to citizens through benchmarking, these findings highlight the complexity of government efforts to realize this goal. In conclusion, suggestions for improving cross-agency benchmarking are provided. Points for practitioners The key finding in this article for public administration and management practitioners relates to the difficulties inherent in identifying benchmarking partners, and thus in effectively benchmarking performance across agencies with the goal of identifying best practices useful in improving performance. These difficulties arise from the differential nature of what determines citizen satisfaction across agencies with different missions, purposes and goals. An alternative strategy for identifying benchmarking partners based on similarities in satisfaction determinants — what we call ‘benchmark partner selection by determinants’ — is discussed.
Pavlovian inhibitory conditioning and tolerance to pentobarbital-induced hypothermia in rats.

In this experiment we investigated inhibitory Pavlovian conditioning in the development of tolerance to pentobarbital-induced hypothermia. During an initial phase, one group of rats (discrimination group) received training in which, on alternate days, one conditional stimulus (CS+) was associated with administration of 30 mg/kg pentobarbital, and a different conditional stimulus (CS-) was associated with administration of physiological saline. During the phase, control groups received either exposure to both CSs but not the drug or to the drug but no CSs or to neither the CSs nor the drug. Subsequently, half the rats in each group received injections of pentobarbital in the presence of one of the CSs and the remaining half in the presence of the other CS. Rats from the discrimination group injected with pentobarbital in the presence of CS+ displayed the most tolerance (i.e., smallest drug effect), whereas rats from the discrimination group injected with pentobarbital in the presence of CS- displayed the least tolerance (i.e., greatest drug effect). The attenuation of tolerance seen in rats of the discrimination group injected in the presence of CS- provides evidence of inhibitory Pavlovian conditioning. Additional evidence of inhibitory conditioning was provided by the fact that CS2 enhanced the hypothermic effects of pentobarbital in the discrimination group, whereas CS1 attenuated these effects. Implications of the results for the nature of inhibitory conditioning are discussed.
Measurement of Human Development: an alternative approach

The quality of life of an individual is standardly regarded as having three dimensions: (i) prospective longevity, (ii) educational attainment and (iii) standard of living. An index of human development in a population should be based on the distribution of characters representing these in the population and should ideally take account of both the general level and the extent of inequality (i.e. equality or concentration) in the ‘values’ of each character. The Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme nowadays takes account of only the general levels of the characters — such as expectation of life for, (i) literacy rate and enrolment ratio for, and (ii) Gross Domestic Product per capita for. In this paper first a joint measure of the general level and concentration of the distribution of an ordered qualitative or a quantitative character is proposed. The measure is then applied on the distribution of prospective longevity, educational level and income, and an alternative Human Development Index is set up on that basis. The method is illustrated by computing the proposed index for the rural and urban sectors of a number of Indian States and of India as a whole.
Legitimacy, Institutional Design, and Dispute Settlement: The Case of Eco-Certification Systems

Abstract Certification is becoming a significant global governance instrument for regulating transnational supply chains. The article analyses more than 400 eco-certification systems (CS) on three components related to legitimacy: the openness of the standard-setting process, the independent nature of conformity assessment, and the presence of dispute settlement systems. The article focuses specifically on the so far neglected third component, since the presence of dispute systems plays an important role in the development and granting of legitimacy to CS. These systems open up the CS to external stakeholders with sometimes conflicting interests. The article shows that only a few CS contain dispute settlement systems and explores potential explanations for this, highlighting the importance of the political and economic institutional environment for the institutional design of CS. This design, in turn, affects their ability to gain legitimacy.
Modeling and parameter estimation for in-pipe swimming robots

State-of-the-art, in-pipe, crawling robots face challenges in small diameter, non-smooth, water distribution pipes, mostly because of their direct contact with the pipe walls. On the other hand, swimming robots show greater potential in performing various maneuvers inside the pipes, because of the freedom in their motion. Such autonomous, swimming robots are needed for pipe-monitoring and leak detection in all sorts of pipe networks. Swimming motion inside confined environments is not well studied, and thus, this paper tackles the problem of modeling an in-pipe swimming vehicle. A conventional methodology that involved hydrodynamic coefficients is adopted, however the confined environment is affecting the parameters under study heavily. We discuss how these parameters rely on the pipe and robot geometry, unlike the case where the robot would swim in open-water.
Nematocyst inactivation during feeding in Hydra littoralis

Hydra littoralis uses stenotele nematocysts for prey-killing. Unused stenoteles are retained when prey-killing ceases. This inactivation results from an accumulation of soluble factors in the surrounding medium, and ends when hydra are placed in fresh culture solution. The inactivation factors are most probably released from the hydra during nematocyst discharge since stenotele activity is reduced by KCl solutions containing nematocyst factors and is enhanced by prey homogenate.
Review article: Shock Index for prediction of critical bleeding post‐trauma: A systematic review

Early diagnosis of haemorrhagic shock (HS) might be difficult because of compensatory mechanisms. Clinical scoring systems aimed at predicting transfusion needs might assist in early identification of patients with HS. The Shock Index (SI) – defined as heart rate divided by systolic BP – has been proposed as a simple tool to identify patients with HS. This systematic review discusses the SI's utility post‐trauma in predicting critical bleeding (CB). We searched the databases MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Scopus and PubMed from their commencement to 1 September 2013. Studies that described an association with SI and CB, defined as at least 4 units of packed red blood cells (pRBC) or whole blood within 24 h, were included. Of the 351 located articles identified by the initial search strategy, five met inclusion criteria. One study pertained to the pre‐hospital setting, one to the military, two to the in‐hospital setting, and one included analysis of both pre‐hospital and in‐hospital values. The majority of papers assessed predictive properties of the SI in ≥10 units pRBC in the first 24 h. The most frequently suggested optimal SI cut‐off was ≥0.9. An association between higher SI and bleeding was demonstrated in all studies. The SI is a readily available tool and may be useful in predicting CB on arrival to hospital. The evaluation of improved utility of the SI by performing and recording at earlier time‐points, including the pre‐hospital phase, is indicated.
Financing firms with restricted access to financial markets: the use of trade credit and factoring in Belgium

Many authors emphasize the implications of restricted access to financial markets for both small and new firms. The paper reports investigations into the use of alternative means of financing. More specifically, the use of trade credit and factoring are examined. Indeed, following the trade credit management literature both institutional and macro economic restrictions on small business finance can be overcome by ‘larger suppliers’ extending trade credit to their smaller customers. However, the DSO-rate cannot be used to measure the supplier's willingness to invest in trade credit as it depends on both suppliers' and customers' characteristics. The decision to extend trade credit is therefore approximated by the will to control its management and operationalized by the decision to factor or not to factor. The results of our study are twofold. First, factoring is mainly used by small and medium-sized companies. Moreover, when looking at the characteristics of the factor's customers, new companies facing huge capital expenditure programmes and seasonal sales decide to factor. The prejudice about factoring being a last resort means of finance is, however, not supported: companies that decide to use factoring are indeed less profitable, but this is simply due to their high growth and/or capital intensive investment programmes.
THE FLEXIBLE BUDGET– BASIC TOOL OF THE MANAGEMENT CONTROL IN THE ECONOMIC ENTITIES

In the content of this article we emphasize the importance of flexible budgeting of expenses for an economic entity. We focused on indirect costs of production, since they include both variable costs and fixed costs, and the way of their budgeting is different. In the first part of the paper we illustrate how to prepare a flexible budget for more predictable levels of activity, and in the second part, we show how to recalculate budgeted expenses for the actual volume of activity. The budget recalculated for the actual volume of activity allows the comparison, in the correct way, of expenditure forecast to those actually incurred, expenses that relate to the same volume of activity.
Earnings Inequality in Australia: Changes, Causes and Consequences

This article reviews research on recent developments in earnings inequality in Australia. Four main issues are addressed. First, what are the main changes in earnings inequality that have occurred? Second, what do the authors know about the causes of changes in earnings inequality? Third, how have earnings differentials between workers in different skills groups changed and to what extent can those changes be explained by shifts in the relative demand for labor and relative supply of labor by level of skill? Fourth, how have changes in earnings inequality affected the distribution of income? Copyright 1999 by The Economic Society of Australia.
Determinants and probability prediction of college student retention: new evidence from the Probit model

In this study, we adopt the Probit model and employ data on nine new freshmen cohorts at a public regional university to examine predictive factors for students' retention and measure projected probability of retention for an average college student. Results suggest four main findings: 1) high school GPA and class rank are significant positive retention predictors while ACT scores are not; 2) graduating from a larger high school indicates greater likelihood of retention; 3) controlling other factors, being female indicates lower likelihood of retention; 4) programmes including orientation or remedial English courses, on-campus jobs, and on-campus residence positively impact retention. In addition, we discuss implications that connect retention with grade inflation. Grade inflation will have negative impacts on institutions and students, not only in the higher education market but also in both the job and knowledge markets in the long run.
Factors affecting employee knowledge acquisition and application capabilities

Purpose – The paper aims to analyze the influences of organizational context and information technology (IT) applications on employees' perceptions of knowledge acquisition and application capabilities in five public and five private sector organizations in South Korea.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes how employees' perceptions of organizational context and IT affect employee knowledge acquisition and application capabilities in five public and five private sector organizations in South Korea. It discusses the results of regression analyses based on a survey of 322 public and private employees that explored their perceptions of organizational vision and goals, social networks, centralization, performance‐based reward systems, the usage of IT applications, and knowledge acquisition and application capabilities.Findings – The results of a survey of public and private employees show that clear organizational vision and goals, social networks, and employee usage of IT applications are all posi.
Mixture toxicity of five biocides with dissimilar modes of action on the growth and photosystem II efficiency of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

ABSTRACT Biocides are extensively used and universally distributed. Some are highly toxic to algae, including antifoulants, herbicides, and fungicides. The inhibition of algal growth is an important regulatory endpoint for toxicity assessment of single compounds. However, in the aquatic environment, mixtures of compounds with unknown toxicities and mode of action (MoA) co-exist, making single toxicity assessment inadequate to ensure protection of the aquatic environment. This study aimed to characterize the combined toxicity of five environmentally relevant biocides—aclonifen, bifenox, dichlofluanid, metribuzin, and triclosan—with different MoA on growth and photosystem (PS) II efficiency of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. For growth inhibition, herbicides bifenox and metribuzin were the most toxic, whereas triclosan was least. Only aclonifen and metribuzin exerted a significant effect on PSII, which was also correlated with reduced algal growth. The combined effect of the five biocides on growth inhibition was predominantly additive and presumed to act by independent MoA with potential antagonism observed only at low concentrations and at shorter duration of exposure. The binary mixture of metribuzin and aclonifen exhibited additive effects on diminished PSII efficiency, and effects were apparently induced by an independent MoA. Potential synergy of this mixture on growth inhibition was identified at the highest concentrations. Growth inhibition was found to be a more valuable endpoint for regulatory studies than PSII inhibition due to its environmental relevance, integration of multiple MoA and sensitivity.
Financial Liberalization with Imperfect Markets: Indonesia during the 1970s

A strong market orientation has pervaded the recent development economics literature, in sharp contrast to the earlier conventional wisdom that focused on market failures and interventionism. Increasingly, economists have adopted the position that government is the problem and markets are the solution. A major manifestation of this market revival has been the surge of support for "financial liberalization" to promote a more efficient and more vigorous system of financial intermediation in the less developed countries (LDCs). Government interventions in LDC financial markets have become equated with "financial repression," causing stagnant savings, highly inefficient use of capital, and retarded growth. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider the issue of creditmarket interventions in the context of Indonesia's experience during the 1970s. By the beginning of this period, Indonesia had successfully introduced a series of financial liberalization measures as part of a sweeping program to overcome the chaotic legacy of the Sukarno era. While the reforms fell well short of full liberalization, both E. Shaw and R. McKinnon included Indonesia as a case validating their arguments about the efficacy of financial liberalization.1 During the ensuing decade, the "New Order" technocrats who had designed the initial reforms introduced what appear to be increasingly heavy doses of financial repression. Yet the economy defied Shaw's dictum that "in all cases this strategy [of financial repression] has stopped or gravely retarded the development process. "2 Real GDP grew during the 1970s at an annual rate of 7.6%, with an increase in real domestic investment of 14.4% per annum.3 Indisputably, oil was an exceptional factor; however, the oil windfall does not trivialize the issue of how financial policy affected economic performance. Were Indonesia's interventions "repressive"? To what extent should market forces have been per-
Parkinson disease and incidental Lewy body disease

Objective: To quantify the loss of pigmented neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) of autopsy-confirmed Parkinson disease (PD) and incidental Lewy body disease (ILBD) vs age-matched controls (C). Methods: Unbiased stereology methods were used to rigorously count number and measure volumes of nigral pigmented neurons in PD, ILBD, and C brains. The obtained stereologic results were correlated with Lewy body (LB), amyloid plaque (AP), neurofibrillary tangle (NFT), and vascular pathology loads assessed in nigral and extranigral regions of each PD, ILBD, and C brain. The stereologic measurements were also correlated to predeath motor and cognitive scores as available for each participant. Results: A marked nigral neuronal loss (NNL) in PD (−82%) and ILBD (−40%) compared to C (p < 0.0001) was found. While there was significant correlation between NNL and LB in some cortical areas of PD (i.e., olfactory bulb), there were no correlations between NNL and LB, AP, or NFT loads or cerebral infarct volumes in any other examined regions for PD and ILBD brains. Conclusions: Using unbiased stereology methods, we show that there is a significant loss and absence of hypertrophic changes in nigral pigmented neurons of ILBD in comparison to C brains. Intriguingly, no significant correlations were found between NNL and LB loads in the SN of both PD and ILBD brains. These autopsy-verified stereologically based findings are novel and support ILBD as a pathologic condition. These results suggest possible new and alternative pathophysiologic hypotheses on the actual relationship between NNL and LB pathology.
Distributed beamforming in cognitive multi-cell wireless systems by fast interference coordination

We consider the energy-efficient design of transmit beamforming in the downlink of a cognitive multi-cell wireless system. In this system, multiple secondary cells minimize their total transmit power while satisfying given SINR requirements for the secondary users. At the same time, the secondary base stations are not allowed to exceed aggregate interference temperature limits to the users of a primary system. We propose a distributed optimization framework to decompose this multi-cell problem into parallel single-cell beamforming subproblems. As a result, the cognitive cells independently compute their beamformers using only local channel information. Moreover, they coordinate their inter-cell interference as well as the interference temperature to the primary users by exchanging some signaling information through a backhaul. This coordination is achieved through a consensus-based optimization. In contrast to classical decomposition methods, our approach is based on the alternating direction method of multipliers. Therefore, it leverages the augmented Lagrangian technique to accelerate the interference coordination between the secondary cells, thanks to the quadratic penalty terms that are added in the objective function with the standard pricing terms. Numerical results are provided to verify the effectiveness of this distributed algorithm.
Assessing the finance-growth channel in Kenya : a VAR analysis

The government of Kenya is implementing strategies that will deepen the financial sector with the aim of propelling economic growth. However analytical and empirical evidence shows that in Kenya, financial deepening does not cause economic growth as expected. This paper seeks to establish the points of disconnect in the finance - growth transmission channel. Using the VAR approach, the analysis reveals that enhanced financial deepening leads to increased interest rates. Increased interest rates in turn lead to increased savings mobilization. However, these savings do not influence capital formation. Moreover, capital formation does not lead to enhanced economic growth.
The evolution of the pharmaceutical-biotechnology industry

This paper presents an application of network economics to the formation of alliances in the biotechnology-pharmaceutical industry. The framework analysis provides insights under which firms create hybrid governance forms, integrate strategy and economics into a more holistic perspective on network strategy. Firm network types link network economies, competencies and market structure, creating integration between participants and change as additional dimensions. ‘Change’ introduces a dynamic, evolutionary aspect. The resulting contructs involve the network dimension as a mechanism design for investigating the evolution and life cycles of firm networks. An analysis of alliances within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries develops the framework, including a historical tracing, and an empirical examination of the relationship between collaboration rate (CR) and market performance of major globally operating pharmaceutical firms. Case examples, supported quantitatively and qualitatively, provide evidence for the efficacy and implications of the network dimension.
Rickettsial Diseases in Russia

Abstract: Currently, several rickettsioses are officially being reported in the Russian Federation. These are epidemic typhus and Brill–Zinsser disease, both caused by Rickettsia prowazekii which has a historic prevalence in Russia. Nowadays only single sporadic cases of R. prowazekii infection are reported. The last significant outbreak occurred in 1997 in a mental nursing home, where 29 cases were identified. Registered morbidity of typhus in Russia varies from 0 to 0.01 per thousand for the last decade. Siberian tick typhus, caused by R. sibirica, is registered on a large territory from Pacific coasts to Western Siberia, and its incidence continuously increases, varying between 2.5 and 4.0 thousand officially registered cases per year. Astrakhan spotted fever, caused by R. conorii subsp. caspia has been recognized since 1983. Recently, Far Eastern tick‐borne rickettsiosis, caused by R. heilongjiangensis, has been described. Several other pathogenic spotted fever group rickettsiae have been detected and isolated from ticks in Russia; however, they have not yet been linked with clinical cases in these regions.