Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic model of OPEC coalition

Efforts to formulate the economic behavior of OPEC are complicated because the coalition is made up of member countries, each of which pursues a different objective, arrives at its own optimum price and quantity, and has an opportunity to participate in a group consensus. This requires a new cartel model that will explain the coalitionary process, yet remain flexible enough to consider the diverse objectives of individual members. The author analyzes the possibility of realizing this consensus in relation to the differing politico-economic structures of the members. He concludes that the long-run stability of OPEC requires reversing some historical patterns, although offsetting effects may avoid a short-term instability. 19 references, 3 figures, 2 tables.
Two-angle parametrization of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix: A relation between CP violation and the Cabibbo-type angles.

A new parametrization of the Kobayashi-Maskawa (KM) matrix is proposed. It is based on the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of the KM matrix. In this parametrization the experimental data for the KM matrix (including {ital CP} violation) can be reproduced with only two angles. This suggests that {ital CP} violation is intimately connected with the Cabibbo-type rotations. We also predict that {vert bar}{ital V}{sub {ital ub}}/V{sub cb}{vert bar}=0.128{plus minus}0.001.
Is Responsible Aquaculture Sustainable Aquaculture? WWF and the Eco-Certification of Tilapia

Public awareness of possible environmental impacts of seafood consumption is growing. The seafood industry and environmental pressure groups have begun to certify fish and other aquatic products produced to sustainable standards. Representations of sustainability advanced by both groups in relation to tilapia converge around limited definitions related primarily to technical parameters. Such an approach does not adequately represent the complexity of sustainable aquaculture and may be counterproductive. This is illustrated by a comparing assumptions embedded in the text of the World Wide Fund for Nature's “tilapia aquaculture dialogue” with empirical findings from a study assessing the sustainability of tilapia farming systems in Central Thailand. Building on these findings, representations of sustainable tilapia aquaculture produced by the “tilapia aquaculture dialogue” are criticized, and it is argued that new approaches are required if sustainable aquaculture is to be meaningfully understood and implemented.
Gated Communities as Club Goods: Segregation or Social Cohesion?

Gated communities are normally presented in highly negative terms, based on the common assumption that they are a major factor in the intensification of social segregation. In contrast to received wisdom, this paper argues that the theory of club goods can be used to understand gating as a response to both real and perceived issues of crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. It is suggested that gating can help to foster social cohesion in an area or neighbourhood by involving a wide spectrum of communities and income groups to create management vehicles which can: reduce crime, protect parked vehicles, increase safety and enhance the local environment by preventing unsolicited entry. Through two case studies, the paper explores how communities struggling with neighbourhood problems including crime are using gating as a way of improving their environment rather than abandoning poorer areas of the city to find a safer home in more residentially segregated affluent neighbourhoods. If housing and planning policy makers are to take seriously a commitment to resident democracy and local participation, such concerns should not be dismissed out of hand as examples of ‘isolationism’ or ‘particularistic consumerist interests’.
A firm’s assets as a foundation for strategy. Learning and the grounds to success

Firm assets are the most important element in strategy formulation and implementation. A company’s grounds to success can be found here. However, not all are equally important. Some will be considered strategic and others ordinary, depending on how influential they are when it comes to obtaining and appropriating rents, as well as how they hold up during a span of time. This will depend upon their relevance and scarcity, suitability and continuance, as well as on the difficulty encountered when they are to be imitated or substituted. The above features will depend on the characteristics that are intrinsic to the asset itself. These are heterogeneity and transparency, duration and mobility. The connections between the external factors and these internal characteristics will allow the presentation of a written explanatory model of the firm assets in the organisation’s success.
Electricity Pricing in New Zealand and the Australian State of Queensland: Accounting for the Impact of Sector Restructuring

The electricity industries of New Zealand (NZ) and the Australian state of Queensland have undergone substantial structural and regulatory reform with the common intent to improve economic efficiency. Deregulation and privatisation have been key elements of the reform but have been approached differently by each jurisdiction. This study traces the link between structural and regulatory regimes and asset valuation, profits and, ultimately, pricing. The study finds that key drivers in recent price increases are the government‐owned generation and retail sector in NZ and the government‐owned distribution sector in Queensland. It is concluded that, contrary to the rationale for the imposition of regulatory controls in a non‐market environment, the regulatory regimes appear to have contributed to higher rather than lower pricing structures.
Investigational glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists for the treatment of obesity

ABSTRACT Introduction: Obesity is a worldwide problem predisposing to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other comorbidities. Lifestyle modification is the first line intervention but adjunctive pharmacotherapy is often required. The GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) were developed primarily for T2DM and they also reduce body weight. Liraglutide was approved for the treatment of obesity and other GLP-1RAs are likely to be suitable for this indication. Areas covered: This review describes the GLP-1RAs that have been approved for the treatment of T2DM as potential candidates for the treatment of obesity and the new agents currently under development which may have advantages in patient adherence. Expert opinion: The GLP-1RAs offer a welcome addition to obesity pharmacotherapy. They appear to be free of serious adverse effects although uncertainty remains about possible risks of pancreatitis and neoplasms. However, they have frequent gastrointestinal side effects, particularly nausea, which limits their tolerability. Cardiovascular outcome studies in T2DM support their use and this is likely to increase in both T2DM and obesity. Other GLP-1RAs which can be given by subcutaneous injection once weekly or less frequently or by oral administration would have advantages especially if nausea is less frequent than with liraglutide.
A Comparison between Two Public Expenditure Management Systems in Africa

Many African countries are benefiting from reductions in their external debt. One important objective is to redirect the budgetary resources released from servicing external debt towards poverty-reducing expenditures. Several questions arise in this context. First, are the public expenditure management (PEM) systems of African countries robust enough to allow specific povertyreducingexpenditures to be identified in annual budgets and tracked in countries’ accounting systems? Second, does the expenditure control system allow poverty-reducing expenditures to be protected from cuts should there be unforeseen shortfalls in revenues? Third, are internal and external audit mechanisms effective, so as to ensure the integrity of expenditure reports, both in-year and annually? To answer these and other questions, an assessment of the entire PEM system is required in each country. Such a study has already been prepared.1 During 2001, the PEM systems of 24 low-income countries were assessed based on a common set of 15 questions in the areas of budget preparation, budget execution, and fiscal reporting. Figure 1 shows the results for two regions of Africa (Anglophone countries and Francophone countries) – well below what is required to meet the objectives of effective PEM systems (both regions attained only about 40% of the required benchmarks).
Enhanced QoS Provisioning in Distributed Wireless Access

Although the IEEE 802.11e enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) can differentiate high priority traffic such as real-time voice from low priority traffic such as delay-tolerant data, it can only provide statistical priority, and is characterized by inherent short-term unfairness. In this paper, we propose a new distributed channel access scheme through minor modifications to the EDCA. Guaranteed priority is provided to real-time voice traffic over data traffic, while a certain service time and short-term fairness enhancement are provided to data traffic. We also present analytical models to calculate the percentage of time to serve voice traffic and the achieved data throughput. Both analysis and simulation demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme.
Combining computer models to account for mass loss in stellar evolution

Intricate computer models can be used to describe complex physical processes in astronomy such as the evolution of stars. Like a sampling distribution, these models typically predict observed quantities as a function of a number of unknown parameters. Including them as components of a statistical model, however, leads to significant modeling, inferential, and computational challenges. In this article, we tackle these challenges in the study of the mass loss that stars experience as they age. We have developed a new Bayesian technique for inferring the so‐called initial–final mass relation (IFMR), the relationship between the initial mass of a Sun‐like star and its final mass as a white dwarf. Our model incorporates several separate computer models for various phases of stellar evolution. We bridge these computer models with a parameterized IFMR in order to embed them into a statistical model. This strategy allows us to apply the full force of powerful statistical tools to build, fit, check, and improve the statistical models and their computer model components. In contrast to traditional techniques for inferring the IFMR, which tend to be quite ad hoc, we can estimate the uncertainty in our fit and ensure that our model components are internally coherent. We analyze data from three star clusters: NGC 2477, the Hyades, and M35 (NGC 2168). The results from NGC 2477 and M35 suggest different conclusions about the IFMR in the mid‐ to high‐mass range, raising questions for further astronomical work. We also compare the results from two different models for the primary hydrogen‐burning stage of stellar evolution. We show through simulations that misspecification at this stage of modeling can sometimes have a severe effect on inferred white dwarf masses. Nonetheless, when working with observed data, our inferences are not particularly sensitive to the choice of model for this stage of evolution. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 6: 34–52, 2013
Neighbourhood Destination Accessibility Index: A GIS Tool for Measuring Infrastructure Support for Neighbourhood Physical Activity

The sharp increase in obesity in recent years has prompted researchers to examine the various pathways through which urban built environments influence population-level physical activity. Walking access to everyday destinations is one such pathway. This paper describes a measure of pedestrian access to neighbourhood destinations. Using eight domains of neighbourhood destinations (education, transport, recreation, social and cultural, food retail, financial, health, and other retail) we developed a GIS-based ‘Neighbourhood Destination Accessibility Index’ (NDAI) for four New Zealand cities. We found that the intensity of neighbourhood destination opportunities varied considerably among cities and between neighbourhoods within cities. Further, access to neighbourhood infrastructural support tends to be better in more socially deprived places. Potential explanations for the sociospatial distribution of neighbourhood destinations in New Zealand cities include historical processes of residential and economic development and infrastructural investment.
Research mentoring teachers in intercultural education contexts; self‐study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the theory and practice of Generative Research mentoring. The author has been involved in research mentoring teachers in schools since 2002 and in the course of her work her concepts about integrating mentoring and action research have changed. She explains how and why she has moved to adopt an Appreciative Inquiry approach integrated with a model of mentoring that she developed in the course of her own practice in schools.Design/methodology/approach – This is a self study of teacher education practice where the author analyses her own theories and practices of research mentoring for teachers in schools in England and in Japan, over a ten year period. She investigates how the nature of self‐study is impacted upon by culture in diverse intercultural contexts.Findings – This article reflects work in process. The findings to date suggest that teacher research and thus (potentially) research mentoring for teachers: is not informed by consensus on what teachers.
The Ethics of Tax Evasion: A Comparative Study of Australian, New Zealand and U.S.A. Opinion

The findings of this study show that tax evasion is considered to never be justifiable by the majority of people in each country. But the data also show that a large minority in each country consider tax evasion to be justifiable in some cases. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = never justifiable and 10 = always justifiable, 60 percent or more of the people sampled in each country thought that tax evasion was never justifiable. Phrased differently, about 38 to 40 percent thought tax evasion was justifiable in certain circumstances. Overall mean scores for Australia, New Zealand and the United States were 2.16, 2.30 and 2.28, respectively. Wilcoxon tests found that there was no significant difference overall for Australia, New Zealand or the United States. There were also no significant differences betweenthe male scores (2.43, 2.64 and 2.54), meaning that the men of Australia, New Zealand and the United States all had the same opinion about the justifiability of tax evasion. There were no significant differences between the female scores (1.89, 2.03 and 2.01) either, but the differences between the male and female scores were all significant at the 1 percent level. Women in each country were significantly more opposed to tax evasion than were men for the same country. This paper uses the data gathered as part of a much larger study on human beliefs and values and compares the views of 2039 Australians, 1155 New Zealanders and 1198 Americans on the ethics of tax evasion. Comparisons are made for general viewpoints as well as by gender, age and level of education to determine if there were any significant differences.
Human resource practices and workforce diversity: an empirical assessment

Workforce diversity has become an important issue in Australia. This study examined the extent to which human resource management practices were being used by organisations in Australia to manage workforce diversity. The study also assessed the perceived challenges and benefits of diversity in the workforce. The findings of this study indicated that overall, management of workforce diversity is only “mediocre”. In particular, inadequate diversity management practices were found in the areas of recruitment and selection and training and development. As migrant employees do not create any problems and are very compliant, the challenges that workforce diversity presents does not receive adequate attention by organisations in Australia. However, these organisations seek several benefits from their multicultural workforce. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Predictive value of serum calcitonin levels for preoperative diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma in a cohort of 5817 consecutive patients with thyroid nodules.

CONTEXT Routine serum calcitonin (CT) measurement in patients with thyroid nodules for diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is controversial. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of systematic CT measurement in non-multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 patients with nodular thyroid disease. SETTINGS This study was conducted at a national healthcare system hospital (outpatient and inpatient sectors). SUBJECTS Consecutive patients with nodular thyroid disease (n = 5817) were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Serum CT levels were measured under basal conditions, and when basal values were more than or equal to 20 and less than 100 pg/ml, testing was repeated after pentagastrin stimulation. Basal or stimulated levels more than 100 pg/ml were indication for surgery. RESULTS Fifteen cases of MTC and seven of C cell hyperplasia (CCH) were identified. MTCs were diagnosed in all patients with basal CT more than 100 pg/ml. The four patients with basal CT more than or equal to 50 and less than 100 pg/ml included two diagnosed with MTC and two with CCH. In 10 patients with basal levels more than or equal to 20 and less than 50 pg/ml, histology confirmed the presence of MTC in four, four others had CCH, and the remaining two were negative for thyroid malignancy. Positive predictive values for basal CT levels in the preoperative diagnosis of MTC were: 23.1% for values more than or equal to 20 pg/ml, 100% for values more than 100 pg/ml, 25% for levels more than or equal to 50 and less than 100 pg/ml, and 8.3% for values more than or equal to 20 and less than 50 pg/ml. Positive predictive values for the pentagastrin test (>100 pg/ml) were 40% in the entire series. CONCLUSIONS CT screening of thyroid nodules is a highly sensitive test for early diagnosis of MTC, but confirmatory stimulation testing is necessary in most cases to identify true positive increases.
Expatriation and repatriation in MNCs: A taxonomy

The challenge of the management of expatriates and repatriates has never been more timely nor urgent: globalization has forced expatriation into the corporate agenda, confronting us with an array of questions on HRM strategy and practice. We propose that a wide range of current thinking and practice may be conveniently grouped into a taxonomy of five organizational options, each advancing a different set of expatriation relationships: Global, Emissary, Peripheral, Professional, and Expedient. A framework outlining the main configurations of these options generates a generic model for expatriation at the organizational level. This forms the principal part of the article, followed by a comprehensive discussion and implications for practice. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Helicopter Money: Irredeemable Fiat Money and the Liquidity Trap

The paper provides a formalisation of the monetary folk proposition that fiat base money is an asset of the holder but not a liability of the issuer. The issuance of irredeemable fiat base money can have pure fiscal effects on private demand. With irredeemable fiat base money, weak restrictions on the monetary policy rule suffice to rule out liquidity trap equilibria - equilibria in which all current and future short nominal interest rates are at their lower bounds. In a model with flexible prices, liquidity trap equilibria cannot occur as long as the private sector does not expect the monetary authority to reduce the nominal money stock to zero in the long run. In a New-Keynesian model out provided the private sector expects the authorities not to reduce the nominal stock of base money below a certain finite level in the long run. Liquidity trap equilibria can exist if and for as long as the private sector expects that the monetary authorities will ultimately reverse any current expansion of the monetary base in present value terms.
Private micro-hydro power and associated investments in Nepal: the Barpak village case and broader issues

This article examines a number of issues connected with the development of small-scale hydroelectric power and related investments in Nepal. The micro-hydro investment scheme in Barpak village serves as a case study, and the article also presents a number of related issues discussed against the background of the evolution of micro-hydro power in Nepal. The article outlines the success of micro-hydro development, modest in relation to its enormous potential, the realization of which depends on whether a number of challenges and constraints can be overcome. The article closes with suggestions on implementing sustainable micro-hydro development in rural areas, based on the Barpak experience and the authors' other recent studies of rural energy issues in Nepal.
Hepatotoxicity and liver injury induced by hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

As hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HA NPs) are increasingly used in biomedical and biotechnological fields, risk assessment of HA NPs has attracted extensive attention. Nevertheless, little is known about the potential adverse effects of HA NPs on normal hepatocytes and the liver. In the present study, we conducted an in vitro study in which 80‐nm HA NPs were incubated with normal Buffalo rat liver (BRL) cells. By analyzing the changes in cell viability, apoptosis/necrosis and the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, we investigated the cytotoxicity and potential mechanism of HA NPs in hepatocytes. Furthermore, we used the serum hematology and histopathology examinations to explore the in vivo effects of HA NPs on the structure and function of the liver. Our results showed that exposure to HA NPs at a concentration above 200 µg ml−1 decreased cell viability, increased levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage, induced apoptosis and necrosis, and triggered the MAPK signaling pathway in BRL cells in a dose‐dependent manner. Moreover, our in vivo study indicated that HA NPs increased the white blood cell count (WBC) and the levels of tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the serum, caused inflammatory cell infiltration at the portal area in the liver, and induced hepatic oxidative stress with elevated levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA). These data demonstrate that at certain concentrations, 80‐nm HA NPs cause hepatotoxicity and liver injury. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Heterogeneous Learning Dynamics and Speed of Convergence

Abstract In a simple, forward looking linear stochastic model we investigate the impact of heterogeneity in expectations formation on the speed of convergence of the learning process of agents towards equilibrium. We find that even when heterogeneity does not affect learnability in term of its asymptotic outcome, it can still have an important impact on the learnability of an equilibrium in terms of the speed of convergence of learning dynamics.