Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The human resource challenge to outward foreign direct investment aspirations from emerging economies: the case of China

The continued influx of foreign investment into China and the growing desire by indigenous Chinese companies to invest abroad have created an unprecedented demand for people who possess competencies to compete successfully in a global economy. Without this pool of human talent, China's economic growth will slow and its outward foreign direct investment aspirations will be thwarted. This paper presents two inter-related studies that can shed light on China's ability to meet this human resource challenge in the years ahead. The first study pertains to the intention of a sample of Chinese university students in Canada to return to work in China upon graduation. Most Chinese students were receptive to the idea of returning to China. The second study examines the willingness of non-Chinese university students to work for Chinese firms overseas or in China. In general, non-Chinese students were more willing to work in the North American operations of Chinese companies and less so in relocating to China. These two surveys are supplemented by in-depth interviews with Chinese who have returned to work in China and those who chose to remain overseas. The implications of these findings, both theoretical and practical, are discussed.
Comment on Overcoming the Zero Bound on Interest Rate Policy

In this paper Marvin Goodfriend provides a very interesting analysis of three ways of trying to deal with the zero bound on interest rate policy. The first offers a somewhat radical proposal to achieve negative interest rates, while the second involves a detailed analysis suggesting that the effects of open market transactions on aggregate demand can be much greater than is the case in certain mainstream models, even when short-term interest rates are at a zero floor. The third relates to the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy. While Goodfriend argues that the various elements discussed in his paper can complement each other (and I don't disagree with this), he treats the first two quite separately and I propose to do the same in my comments and to do so in reverse order to their presentation in the paper. In addition, I will expand on some other actions that Goodfriend touches on that a central bank might consider when interest rates are at zero. One of the principal elements in the debate about recent Japanese monetary policy (which is, of course, the current example of monetary policy apparently constrained by an interest rate floor) is whether a much greater expansion of the balance sheet of the Bank of Japan, in some form, would have significant expansionary effects on the Japanese economy even if it left short-term interest rates unchanged at zero. There are a number of strands to this debate. These can be put in the form of questions and applied more generally to central banks facing the zero constraint. First, would increased purchases of short-term government debt lead to increased spending even though short-term interest rates remained unchanged at zero? Second, would purchases of long-term government debt result in increased spending by reducing longterm interest rates and rates of return on other assets? Third, would purchases of commercial paper lead to increased spending? Fourth, would unsterilized intervention in the foreign exchange ma1ket, with the central bank increasing its U.S. dollar holdings, lead to a depreciation of the domestic currency and thereby an increase in foreign demand for domestic goods? While there are similarities in the way one
Positioned for success: Designing the optimal corporate real estate organisation Part 1

It is tempting to begin the process of reorganisation by taking a blank sheet of paper and rearranging squares and lines. That should, however, be the last step of the process. Redesigning an organisation involves not only thinking about the same things in a different way, but also thinking about issues that have never been considered before. Reorganisation should be viewed as a deep operational innovation that results in far more than an incremental performance improvement. Much of conventional organisational thinking in corporate real estate is inwardly focused. This paper, the first of a three‐part series, suggests beginning with a higher, broader and more comprehensive view of the forces of change and a company’s external environment. It concludes with a review of organisational structures and suggestions for ways to approach an organisational redesign of a CRE department.
Distribution of airway smooth muscle remodelling in asthma: Relation to airway inflammation

Pathological phenotypes of asthma have been based predominantly on inflammation, rather than airway wall remodelling. Differences in the distribution of airway smooth muscle (ASM) remodelling between large and small airways may affect clinical outcomes in asthma. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of ASM remodelling and its relation to airway inflammation.
FIGNL1 is overexpressed in small cell lung cancer patients and enhances NCI-H446 cell resistance to cisplatin and etoposide

Abnormal DNA repair plays an important role in tumor occurrence, progression and resistance to therapy. Fidgetin-like 1 (FIGNL1) expression was assayed in 42 small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and 45 normal lung specimens from Chinese patients by qRT-PCR. Notably, FIGNL1 was upregulated by 1.5-fold in the SCLC specimens compared to that noted in the normal counterparts. The SCLC cell line NCI-H446 that overexpresses FIGNL1 was adopted to explore the biological significance of FIGNL1 in SCLC. Even when FIGNL1 expression was suppressed by up to 48.6%, H446 cell growth was increased by only 10–16%. Although no significant changes in cell cycle distribution were observed in the H446 cells, the levels of cyclin E1 and CDK2, key cell cycle regulators, were significantly reduced. After downregulation of FIGNL1 expression by 13.5% in the H446 cells, the cells were 61.8% (24 h) to 29.1% (48 h) more sensitive to etoposide and cisplatin, respectively, consistent with the FIGNL1 function of DNA double-strand repair. The sensitivity of H446 cells to etoposide and cisplatin was negatively correlated with FIGNL1 expression. Meanwhile, an obvious positive correlation between DNA damage severity and the sensitization effect of FIGNL1 knockdown was observed. Since FIGNL1 is essential in the homologous recombination (HR) pathway, these findings suggest that abnormal activation of the HR pathway featured by FIGNL1 overexpression contributes to rapid progression and relapse of SCLC in addition to chemotherapy resistance. Further research assessing the functions and mechanisms of FIGNL1, and other HR pathway genes may disclose unique pathological characteristics of SCLC, and help identify potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers.
Combination Carbapenem‐Sulbactam Therapy for Critically Ill Patients with Multidrug‐Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Bacteremia: Four Case Reports and an In Vitro Combination Synergy Study

Infections caused by multidrug‐resistant Acinetobacter baumannii have become a therapeutic challenge for clinicians worldwide. Although colistin and tigecycline have been successful in treating patients with these infections, these agents are not available on a worldwide basis. We describe four critically ill patients in Taiwan who were diagnosed with multidrug‐resistant Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia. All bacterial isolates from these patients were resistant to commonly available antibiotics, including carbapenems and sulbactam; however, combination therapy with a carbapenem and sulbactam led to favorable clinical outcomes in all four patients. We also conducted an in vitro study using isolates from these patients that showed that this drug combination had a synergistic effect with enhanced antibacterial activity against the isolates. Thus, a carbapenem‐sulbactam combination may be a therapeutic alternative for multidrug‐resistant Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia in countries where colistin and tigecycline are not available for clinical use.
Relative Importance of Economic Factors in the U.S. and Japanese Stock Markets

This paper investigates various economic state variables as systematic influences on U.S. and Japanese stock market returns, and compares their influence on stock returns. For this purpose, we employed a VAR analysis. We found that economic news about risk premiums, term premiums, and the growth rate in industrial production is most significant in U.S. stock market returns. However, unlike in Hamao′s study, we found that international factors, such as changes in oil prices, are most significant in Japanese stock market returns. The difference between our findings and those of Hamao is primarily due to the difference in sample period and empirical methodology. We provide some evidence of changes in the economic environment for the Japanese stock market around 1985. J. Japan. Int. Econ., September 1995 9(3), pp. 290–307. Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University, 15-45, Mita 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan. Department of Finance, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455.
Private Enforcement of Corporate Law: An Empirical Comparison of the United Kingdom and the United States

It is often assumed that strong securities markets require good legal protection of minority shareholders. This implies both “good” law—principally, corporate and securities law—and enforcement, yet there has been little empirical analysis of enforcement. We study private enforcement of corporate law in two common-law jurisdictions with highly developed stock markets, the United Kingdom and the United States, examining how often directors of publicly traded companies are sued, and the nature and outcomes of those suits. We find, based a comprehensive search for filings over 2004–2006, that lawsuits against directors of public companies alleging breach of duty are nearly nonexistent in the United Kingdom. The United States is more litigious, but we still find, based on a nationwide search of court decisions between 2000–2007, that only a small percentage of public companies face a lawsuit against directors alleging a breach of duty that is sufficiently contentious to result in a reported judicial opinion, and a substantial fraction of these cases are dismissed. We examine possible substitutes in the United Kingdom for formal private enforcement of corporate law and find some evidence of substitutes, especially for takeover litigation. Nonetheless, our results suggest that formal private enforcement of corporate law is less central to strong securities markets than might be anticipated.
The causal relationship between construction workload and construction price

Based on the Engle-Granger (1987) methodology for cointegration and error correction mechanism models the paper examines causal relationships between the UK construction workload and price. The model tests the intuitive belief that the construction price (tender price index) is a long run determinant of construction workload (new orders) and that the relationship is constantly correcting itself back on to this long run path. The results suggest that there is a relationship between the variables but a very weak one.
Optimal Monetary Policy in OLG Models with Long-Lived Agents: A Note

This note reexamines Crettez, Michel, and Wigniolle ([CRETTEZ, P., 2002]), who studied a two-period overlapping generations model with cash-in-advance constraints and showed that a combination of saving tax and monetary policy involving positive nominal interest rates could achieve the first-best allocation. The note shows that their result does not hold if agents live for three periods. The implementation of the first best requires the Friedman rule. If agents are long-lived, saving tax cannot offset a distortion caused by the positive nominal interest rate.
Pay and Employment Equity in the United States and Canada

Pay and employment equity initiatives clearly have been important policies in Canada and the United States. While the policies appear to have had some positive effects for some members of the target groups for which they are to apply, large gaps still remain in the pay and employment opportunities for these groups. In part this reflects the limited application of these policies as well as their limited scope even if they were fully applied.
Can Wage Increases Pay for Themselves? Tests with a Production Function

Efficiency wage theories predict that companies that pay high wages will have higher productivity from high work effort, low turnover, and other efficiency-enhancing effects. This paper uses the PIMS line-of-business data set to test whether high wage businesses are more productive. Relative wages were measured by managers' assessments of their relative compensation, holding worker quality constant. A positive relation was found between changes in relative wages and changes in total factor productivity. The elasticity of output with respect to wages was of the magnitude predicted by efficiency wage theories. Also consistent with efficiency wage theories, the relationship between changes in wages and changes in productivity was weaker at businesses with high unionization. Results from two additional data sets imply that high wages are not merely measuring high human capital. Copyright 1992 by Royal Economic Society.
The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08: Is it Unprecedented?

This paper compares the recent global crisis and recession to earlier international financial crises and recessions. Based on existing chronologies of banking, currency and debt crises we identify clusters of crises. We use an identification of extreme events and a weighting scheme based on real GDP relative to the U.S. to identify global financial crises since 1880. For banking crises we identify five global ones since 1880: 1890-91, 1907-08, 1913-14, 1931-32, 2007-2008. In terms of global incidence the recent crisis is fourth in ranking and comparable to 1907-08. We also calculate output losses during the recessions associated with global financial crises and again the recent crisis is similar in severity to 1907-08 and is fourth in ranking. On both dimensions the recent crisis is a pale shadow of the Great depression. The relatively mild experience of the recent crisis may reflect institutional and policy learning.
Functional Capacity and Levels of Physical Activity in Aging: A 3-Year Follow-up

Over the last decades, the world elderly population has increased exponentially and this tendency will continue during the coming years; from 2000 to 2050, people over 60 will double and those over 80 will quadruple. Loss of independence occurs as people age due to mobility restrictions, frailty, and decreased functional fitness and cognitive abilities. Evidence has shown that appropriate programs and policies contribute to keep older adults healthy and independent over time. The purpose of this chapter is to report the results of our 3-year follow-up study designed to characterize functional physical fitness in a sample of Portuguese community-dwelling older adults to propose a set of functional parameters that decline the most. We studied a group of 43 elderly people, aged 60 and over. Variables assessed on the participants were anthropometric measurements, functional capacity with the Senior Fitness Test battery (muscle strength, aerobic endurance, flexibility, agility, and dynamic balance), handgrip strength, levels of physical activity, and balance. Three years after the first assessment, a second assessment of the same variables was conducted. We analyzed what were the variables that, for this group, were related with a healthier aging and the relation with different physical activity levels. Our study showed that the distance covered in 6-min walk test and handgrip strength seem to explain a great amount of variability on functional variables that have changed on this period (68% of balance, lower and upper functional strength, respectively) and the active participants showed less decrements with aging in anthropometric and functional variables than those inactive or insufficiently active (p < 0.05). Greater importance should be given to prescription of exercise targeting older adults and, specifically, walking and manual activities should be given more attention as components of a community exercise program.
Recent progress in the field of non-auditory health effects of noise. Trends and research needs

With the aim to identify recent research achievements, current trends in research, remaining gaps of knowledge and priority areas of future research in the field of non-auditory health effects of noise, recent research progress was reviewed. A search was performed in PubMed (search terms “noise AND health”), for peer reviewed journal articles, published between 1 January 2014 and 1 January 2017 in English. Resulting references were screened for relevance by title and abstract where needed in case of doubt. Inclusion criteria: Original research papers on health effects of environmental or occupational noise exposure. Studies on auditory health effects (hearing loss) and animal studies were excluded. The search resulted in over 3000 references. A total number of about 150 papers was included in the review, 18 papers addressed mental health effects, a majority focused on (a wide range of) physiological health effects. A wealth of new research on non-auditory health effects of noise has been published over the last 3 years. Current trends, knowledge gaps and priority future research areas will be discussed.
Comorbidity associated with atrial fibrillation: a general practice-based study.

BACKGROUND [corrected] Atrial fibrillation is an important risk factor for ischaemic stroke. Anticoagulation treatment with warfarin can substantially reduce the risk of stroke in people with atrial fibrillation but concerns about their side-effects have limited their use in clinical practice. However there has been little population-based research on the comorbidity associated with atrial fibrillation and on the prevalence of potential contraindications to anticoagulantion treatment among these patients. AIM To determine the prevalence of known risk factors for ischaemic stroke and possible contraindications to anticoagulant treatment among patients with atrial fibrillation. METHOD One-year prospective cohort study in 60 general practices in England and Wales with a total population of 502,493 people. Age and sex specific prevalence rates and relative risks of risk factors for ischaemic stroke and possible contraindications to antithrombotic treatment were calculated. RESULTS The number of patients who had a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation during the year was 1,414 (0.3%) patients. The prevalence of other nsk factors for ischaemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation increased with age in men, from 48% (relative risk [RR] = 3.78, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 3.23-4.41) at 45 to 64 years to 64% (RR = 2.21, 95% CI = 2.00-2.44) at 75years and over A similar increase of 50% (RR = 4.36, 95% CI = 3.54-5.38) to 60% (RR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.91-2.23) was seen in women. The percentage of men with atrial fibrillation with at least one contraindication to antithrombotic treatment was 5% at 45 to 64 years and 14% at 75 years and over. Among women with atrial fibrillation, 7% had a contraindication at 45 to 64 years and 16% at 75 years and over. The all-ages relative risk of a contraindication was 1.17 (95% CI = 0.92-1.48) in men and 1.53 (95% CI = 1.28-1.83) in women. Forty per cent (575) of patients with atrial fibrillation had at least one risk factor for ischaemic stroke and no contraindications to antithrombotic treatment. CONCLUSION Atrial fibrillation is associated with a substantial increase in the prevalence of risk factors for ischaemic stroke. By contrast, potential contraindications for antithrombotic treatment are more evenly distributed among patients with and without atrial fibrillation. Around 40% of patients with atrial fibrillation in primary care are at high risk of stroke and have no contraindicationsfor antithrombotic treatment.
New multiobjective optimisation algorithms for assembly lines design

Multiobjective optimisation methods for an assembly line design problem are presented in this paper. The studied problem consists of two parts. Among a set of candidate machines, the first part of the problem aims to assign a single machine to each workstation. The goal of the second part is to size the intermediate buffers. Two objectives are taken in consideration for our design problem: the minimisation of the cost of the line and the maximisation of the throughput rate. Different new multiobjective methods are developed to solve the problem. First, a multiobjective ant colony optimisation algorithm is proposed. Then, in order to get better results, the first algorithm is coupled with a guided local search. The third method proposed for the first time to solve our problem, called L-ant, is based on a multiobjective ant colony algorithm but using the Lorenz dominance. The fourth algorithm is another new method based on genetic algorithms and the Lorenz dominance and called Lorenz-archive. In order to compare the different methods to each others and to assess their efficiency, different measuring criteria are applied on the best fronts with the non-dominated solutions.
Evaluation of Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Property of Pleurotus ostreatus Mushroom

The study was conducted to estimate the performance of certain biological properties of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). For determination of antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of this mushroom disk diffusion technique and brine shrimp lethality bioassay were used. Ethyl acetate, hexane and chloroform extract were examined with ten test organism in which hexane extract showed higher antibacterial activity than chloroform and ethyl acetate for both gram positive and negative bacteria. The average zone of inhibition for hexane extract was in the range of 11-24mm. The total phenolic content ranged from 3.69 mg GAE/gm to 8.49 mg GAE/gm. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay LC 50 values obtained were 10 µg/ml, 40 µg/ml and 75µg/ml for hexane, ethyl acetate and chloroform, respectively. This study revealed that P. ostreatus mushroom has potential antimicrobial effect with significant antioxidant and anticancer activity.
The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union : Identity, Discourse and Power in the Post-Communist Transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

© 2012 Richard C. M. Mole. The Baltic States are unique in being the only member-states of the EU to have fought to regain their sovereignty from the Soviet Union, only then to cede it to Brussels in certain key areas. Similarly, no member-states have had to struggle as hard as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to preserve their identity after fifty years of Soviet nationality policy in the face of sub-state and supra-state challenges. The post-communist experience of the Baltic States thus allows us to examine debates about identity as a source of political power; the conditioning and constraining influence of identity discourses on social, political and economic change; and the orientation and outcome of their external relations. in particular, the book examines the impact of Russian and Soviet control of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; the Baltic independence movements of the late 1980s/early 1990s; the citizenship debates; relations with Russia vis-a-vis the withdrawal of the troops of the former Soviet Army; drawing of the shared boundary and the rights of Russian-speaking minorities as well as the efforts undertaken by the three Baltic States to rebuild themselves, modernise their economies, cope with the ensuing social changes and facilitate their accession to the EU and NATO.