Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OFFSETTING BEHAVIOR EFFECTS OF THE CORPORATE AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS

Research has concluded that regulatory attempts to improve fuel economy, such as the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards, lower the average weight of an automobile. Ceteris paribus , this reduction in weight is detrimental to the overall level of vehicle safety. However, this study attempts to explicitly measure possible behavioral responses on the part of drivers that could offset some of the loss in safety. The results indicate that CAFE, although increasing the vulnerability rate by approximately 20%, has reduced the accident rate by 26%. The net effect on the fatality rate is a decrease of approximately 6%. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Estimating The Employment Performance Indicator: The Case Of Universiti Utara Malaysia Graduates

This paper proposes an alternate method of estimating the employment performance indicator using the Cox Proportional Hazard model with competing risk framework. Simple aggregation and the logit model have also been used in the estimating for comparison purpose. Using the data of Universiti Utara Malaysia graduates, the study finds that the Bachelor of Accounting degree has the highest employment performance indicator. There are significant differences found in the employment performance ranking as constructed by the proportional hazard model, logit model and simple aggregation.
Europe: Common Money - Political Union?

Monetary Union marks the crowning step in the process of economic integration in Europe. This scenario of one currency, one market and 11 member countries raises the issue of whether further political integration is needed to complement the union already achieved in the monetary and economic fields. While there are pressures for change to the current status quo from several directions, further political integration will depend on the success of Monetary Union which crucially requires that countries tackle their reform challenges.
Discretionary Accounting Choices and CEO Compensation

This paper make four important contributions to the accounting literature. First, it shows that discretionary accruals are associated with CEO cash compensation, but that the coefficient is significantly less than that on nondiscretionary accruals. Second, a differential reaction is found to positive and negative discretionary accruals, i.e., only positive discretionary accruals are significantly associated with CEO cash compensation. Third, the association between discretionary accruals and CEO cash compensation varies depending upon the circumstances of the firm, i.e., the association of CEO cash compensation with positive discretionary accruals is stronger when the firm uses those discretionary accruals to achieve its earnings goal. Finally, the association of CEO cash compensation with reported net income generally increases with the level of discretionary accruals, consistent with management responding to the incentives provided. However when the level of discretionary accruals becomes extremely high (top 1%) the association between CEO cash compensation and positive discretionary accruals becomes insignificant, consistent with there being a limit on the ability of management to increase its compensation through discretionary accruals.
The Changing Nature of Personnel Management

The trend is towards a gradual increase in emphasis on manpower control, and a high commitment to employee relations. The ideal of the 1970s, that of developing and maintaining agreeable working relationships, is still professed by many personnel managers. Research arising from detailed questionnaires distributed to 350 establishments as part of a Leverhulme Trust/IPM‐funded project has identified six broad tendencies in personnel departments. These cover the enabling function (action as a service to managers and department); the “odds and ends” function (being given “bits” of responsibility); the attenuated function (having rank and responsibility but little professional support); the symbolic function (developing a symbiosis between personnel departments and consultants); the futuristic function (moving towards adopting information technology); and the professional function (being technically skilful, using consultants sparingly but effectively).
Cross-country technological differences as a determinant of vertical intra-industry trade: a theoretical model

Vertical intra-industry trade accounts for a large share of trade between countries characterized by similar factor endowments. Moreover, it is observed even at a very disaggregated level of statistical classifications, suggesting that the traded products have similar factor intensities. This paper aims at modelling trade in vertically differentiated goods that are produced with the same factor intensity at any given factor prices ratio. In a neoclassical setting including three goods and two factors, we allow for Hicks-neutral technological differences across countries and we show that vertical intra-industry trade can be driven by these differences in technology.
Incorporating Home Equity into a Retirement Income Strategy

Strategic use of a reverse mortgage can improve retirement outcomes. The benefits are non-linear in nature, as they relate to the synergies created by reducing sequence risk for portfolio withdrawals and to the non-recourse aspects of reverse mortgages that can potentially allow a client to spend more than the value of their home. This article explores six different methods for incorporating home equity into a retirement income plan through the use of a reverse mortgage. Generally, strategies which spend the home equity more quickly increase the overall risk for the retirement plan. More upside potential is generated by delaying the need to take distributions from investments, but more downside risk is created because the home equity is used quickly without necessarily being compensated by sufficiently high market returns. Meanwhile, opening the line of credit and that start of retirement and then delaying its use until the portfolio is depleted creates the most downside protection for the retirement income plan. This strategy allows the line of credit to grow longer, perhaps surpassing the home’s value before it is used, providing a bigger base to continue retirement spending after the portfolio is depleted. Use of tenure payments or one of the coordinated spending strategies can also be justified as providing a middle ground which balances the upside potential of using home equity first and the downside protection of using home equity last. A key theme is that there is great value for clients to open a reverse mortgage line of credit at the earliest possible age.
bcl-2 Antisense Treatment Prevents Induction of Tolerance to Focal Ischemia in the Rat Brain

In the rat, 60 minutes of transient ischemia to the middle cerebral artery results in infarction of the caudate putamen. Ischemic preconditioning with 20 minutes of transient focal ischemia produced tolerance (attenuated infarction volume) to 60 minutes of subsequent focal ischemia administered three days, five days, or seven days later. Western blots from tolerant caudate putamen demonstrated increased bcl-2 expression, maximum at 3 days and persisting through 7 days. Immunocytochemical examination found that bcl-2 was expressed in cells with both neuronal and nonneuronal morphology in striatum after preconditioning ischemia. bcl-2 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), bcl-2 sense ODNs, or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, vehicle) was infused into the lateral ventricle for the 72 hours between the 20-minute ischemic preconditioning and the 60-minute period of ischemia. Antisense ODN treatment reduced expression of bcl-2 in the striatum and blocked the induction of tolerance by preconditioning ischemia. Sense and CSF treatments had no effect on either bcl-2 expression or tolerance. In this model of induced tolerance to focal ischemia, bcl-2 appears to be a major determinant.
Influence of L-365,260, a CCK-B/Gastrin Receptor Antagonist, on Tetragastrin- Stimulated Mucin Metabolism in Rat Gastric Mucosa

The effect of L-365,260, a CCK-B/gastrin receptor antagonist, on gastric mucus metabolism induced by tetragastrin was investigated in rats. In vivo application of L-365,260 at a dose of 3 mg/kg p.o. significantly reduced the tetragastrin (12 μg/kg s.c.)-stimulated gastric acid secretion, but 0.3 mg/kg of L-365,260 did not affect the gastric acid secretion induced by the tetragastrin administration. A single administration of 12 μg/kg of tetragastrin caused an increase in gastric mucin content in the soluble mucus (175% of control), the mucus gel (155% of control) and the surface mucosa (125% of control). L-365,260 at the doses of 0.3 and 3 mg/kg considerably inhibited the tetragastrin-induced mucus secretion in the soluble mucus (70–80% of tetragastrin) and the mucus gel (45–70% of tetragastrin) and resumed the mucus accumulated in the surface mucosa to the control situation (80% of tetragastrin). In the in vitro incubation system of rat gastric mucosa, L-365,260 (0.1–10 μmol/l) caused no significant change in gastric mucin synthesis. An in vivo study also showed that the increase in total gastric mucin content and the distributional changes in mucin content induced by 12 μg/kg of tetragastrin reverted with 3 mg/kg of L-365,260 pretreatment to the control situation. It is evident from these results that the CCK-B/gastrin receptor is involved in the mechanism of the stimulation of mucus secretion and/or mucus accumulation in rat gastric mucosa and not directly concerned with the action of gastrin-induced gastric acid secretion.
How to encourage conflict in the environmental decision-making process: imparting lessons from civic environmentalism to local policy-makers

The literature on civic environmentalism suggests that the environmental decision-making process must be perceived by citizens to be inclusive, transparent, and legitimate in order to avoid conflict and encourage stakeholder collaboration. We suggest that studies of environmental decision-making must apply this framework to three key variables: agenda setting, conflicts of interest, and politicised institutions, which impact the potential for citizen collaboration at the local level. Using content analysis of newspaper articles, participant observations, and informal field interviews, we evaluate a case study of citizen opposition to a power plant air permit. We demonstrate how citizen perceptions of agenda setting by local officials, conflicts of interest, and the inability of citizens to affect final decisions after winning in multiple legal and administrative venues, creates conflict by not embodying these civic environmentalist principles. We conclude with policy suggestions for creating a less conflict-riddled process.
Fluoroquinolone susceptibility among Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from the United States and Canada.

BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in the possible role of new fluoroquinolone antibiotics for treatment of tuberculosis, but widespread use of fluoroquinolones for treatment of other bacterial infections may select for resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. METHODS We evaluated fluoroquinolone susceptibility using the proportion method (critical ciprofloxacin concentration for susceptibility testing, 2.0 mu g/mL) in isolates obtained from patients enrolled in Tuberculosis Trial Consortium clinical trials during the period of 1995-2001 and in a referral sample of isolates sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA) during the period of 1996-2000 for additional testing, often because of drug resistance. RESULTS Of the 1373 isolates from the clinical trials, 1324 (96%) were susceptible to isoniazid and rifampin; 2 (0.15%) of these isolates were also resistant to ciprofloxacin. Of the 1852 isolates from the referral sample, 603 (32.6%) were resistant to isoniazid and rifampin (i.e., multidrug resistant), 849 (45.7%) were resistant to >or=1 first-line drug but were not resistant to both isoniazid and rifampin, and 400 (21.6%) were susceptible to all first-line agents. Ciprofloxacin resistance was found in 33 (1.8%) of the referral-sample isolates. Most ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates (25 [75.8%]) were resistant to isoniazid and rifampin. CONCLUSIONS Despite widespread use of fluoroquinolones for treatment of common bacterial infections, resistance among clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis in the United States and Canada remains rare, occurring primarily among multidrug-resistant strains.
The Optimal Balance between Economies of Scale and Variety of Products: An Illustrative Model

In conditions of monopolistic competition there is a number of independent producers each producing its own particular brand or quality of a class of products which, while they are not exactly identical, are nevertheless partial substitutes for each other. A well-known problem in the economics of welfare then arises which can be expressed by asking the following two questions. First, is each producer producing the optimal output of his particular brand? Second, are the best number and assortment of brands being produced, or should there be more or less variety of products to meet the consumers' needs? The answer to the first of these two questions is reasonably straightforward. Since each producer will be faced with a less than infinitely elastic demand curve for his particular brand, his selling price will be above his marginal revenue and, therefore, above his marginal cost. He must produce more if he is to equate marginal cost to selling price. This proposition is, of course, subject to all the familiar limitations of the "second best". In particular, in a world of monopolistic competition the proposition that marginal costs should be equated to selling prices will hold good only if it is applied simultaneously in all lines of production; and if it is so applied and if we start from a position of full employment, it will clearly be impossible for all producers to expand their outputs simultaneously. What will happen as every producer simultaneously attempts to expand output will be a bidding up of the prices of the variable factors so that relationships between marginal costs and prices will be altered in the various lines of production. As a result some outputs will be increased and others decreased. Equilibrium will be reached only when outputs have been so adjusted that in each line of production marginal cost equals selling price. But what about the second question? Will the number and variety of products being produced be optimal? The marginal conditions for optimality may be satisfied; but is the structure of production optimal? The answer to this question is not so straightforward or familiar.
The Impact of Segregation and Sorting on the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from German Linked Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data

For this study, the author inspects the relationship between segregation in the workplace (measured as the proportion female in job cells) and the gender wage gap using linked longitudinal employer-employee data from the German Employment Register. He extends the literature by controlling for nonrandom sorting of workers into job cells, establishments, and occupations. In line with previous studies, the pooled least squares estimates show that the gender wage gap increases as the job-cell-level proportion of females increases. This increase is attributable to the fact that women experience greater wage declines than men do when additional women enter their job cells. Controlling additionally for unobserved heterogeneity at the individual, establishment, occupation, and job-cell levels considerably reduces the size of the proportion female effects on women's wages while rendering the effects on men's wages insignificant or even positive. The same controls also significantly decrease the proportion effects on the wage gap. The related sorting analysis shows that a good deal of the proportion effects can be explained by unobserved individual ability and suggests that especially women working in job cells with small proportions of females show above-average unobserved individual ability.
Tackling Obesity: Developing a Research Agenda for Advertising Researchers

Abstract Whilst many people around the world are becoming obese, some at an alarming rate (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2005), informed observers and researchers recognise that childhood obesity is the real problem to be tackled as research has shown that childhood obesity tracks with fidelity into adulthood. Advertisers are firmly in the line of fire in terms of allocating blame. This paper builds on systematic and other reviews of this area conducted in recent years and focuses on some salient issues raised by them which may prove fertile ground for a research program advancing knowledge in this complex field. The research agenda presented is highly focused, with a particular emphasis on the responsibility of marketing communicators.
Comparison between Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Oleic Acid Rich Sunflower Oil: Effects on Postprandial Lipemia and LDL Susceptibility to Oxidation

The aim of our study was to determine whether the minor polar components of virgin olive oil could have favorable effects (1) on fasting and postprandial lipid profile and (2) on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) composition and susceptibility to oxidation in vitro. Ten normolipidic subjects were included in a crossover study (two diet periods of 3 weeks) and received either virgin olive oil (OO diet) or oleic acid rich sunflower oil. An oral fat load was performed at the end of each period. The plasma lipid levels were not significantly different after both diets in the fasting and postprandial states. A few minor variations of the LDL composition were observed only in the postprandial lipemia, and they were different after both diets. The LDL oxidation susceptibility was evaluated by the formation of conjugated dienes. With LDL isolated in the fasting state, the diene production decreased (p = 0.0573) only after the OO diet. The dienes determined at time 0 and the maximal dienes obtained during the oxidation reaction decreased (p = 0.0145 and p = 0.0184, respectively) only after the OO fat load. Nevertheless, the diene production decrease was not significant (p = 0.0848). Our results suggest a mild effect of minor components of virgin olive oil related to a decrease of LDL susceptibility to oxidation; further analyses are necessary to give clear conclusions about their role.
Transnational Models for Regulation of Nanotechnology

There is much we do not know about nanotechnology. Despite its tremendous promise, nanotechnology today is mostly forecast and fervent hope. Predictions that spending on nanotechnology will increase from current levels of $13 billion to more than $1 trillion by 2015 are no more than that – simply predictions. Hopes that nanotechnology will be an essential part of solving the globe's energy, food, and water problems should be tempered by recalling a century of revolutionary technologies that failed to live up to their early promise such as nuclear energy, supersonic airplanes, or gene therapy. Many other questions continue to nip at nanotechnology's heels, not the least of which are debates about what is and is not technically feasible. Despite these uncertainties, we can have complete confidence in one aspect of nanotechnology's future – it will be subject to a host of regulations.
Uncertainty of VNA S-parameter measurement due to nonideal TRL calibration items

For the 7-term TRL calibration of a four-sampler vector network analyzer (VNA), expressions for the deviations of the S-parameters of two-port test objects are presented as functions of the deviations from the ideal values of the S-parameters of the TRL standards used. The sensitivity coefficients obtained are suitable for establishing the Type-B uncertainty budget for the S-parameter measurement.
Olive Entrepreneurship in the Southern Hemisphere

New Zealand's olive-growing industry has experienced continuous development in recent years; recent reports and success stories not only indicate progress achieved in quantity, but also, and more importantly, in quality. However, to date, research on this industry and particularly from entrepreneurs’ perspective is very limited. For example, little is known about the business goals of olive growers, or challenges they may face while developing their olive groves. The present case study explores these dimensions of olive growing in New Zealand using a quantitative approach. The findings demonstrate the very developmental stage the olive growers are undergoing, as well as several challenges, including marketing issues, that are limiting the further development of olive growers’ operations. Implications include the need to strengthen marketing efforts of the olive oil product, both at a domestic and at an international level, particularly in view of the potential future increase of olive oil production in New Zealand.
On-Line Electromyographic Signal Processing System

An on-line electromyographic signal (EMG) processing system using a microcomputer is described. It allows real-time diagnostic aid, interference electromyogram acquisition and processing, and signal-base constitution. It includes a preprocessing unit, microprocessor based, with specialized routines (segmentation of motor unit action potentials (MUAP) in multiunit records, programmable sample frequency and duration recording, as well as specific multichannel operation), graphic display microcomputer with hard copy, mass storage, and force experimental setup (strain gauge connected to digital voltmeter).
Density‐dependent seedling mortality varies with light availability and species abundance in wet and dry Hawaiian forests

Conspecific density may contribute to patterns of species assembly through negative density dependence (NDD) as predicted by the Janzen‐Connell hypothesis, or through facilitation (positive density dependence; PDD). Conspecific density effects are expected to be more negative in darker and wetter environments due to higher pathogen abundance and more positive in stressful, especially dry, environments (stress‐gradient hypothesis). For NDD to contribute to maintaining diversity, it should be apparent at the community‐wide scale as a negative correlation between seedling recruitment, growth or survival and conspecific adult abundance (community compensatory trend; CCT). We examined seedling survival in relation to con‐ and heterospecific adults within 10 m and con‐ and heterospecific seedlings within 1 m for 13 species within two 4‐ha permanent plots located in dry and wet forests in Hawaii. We also examined interactions between conspecific density and light and species’ commonness. For all species pooled, adult conspecific effects were positive (PDD) in both dry and wet forests, though they were stronger in the dry forest. In contrast, seedling conspecific effects were negative (NDD), though only significantly so in the wet forest. The strength and direction of density effects varied with understorey light such that seedlings had the highest survival where both adult conspecific density and light were high but the lowest survival where seedling conspecific density and light were high. In the wet forest, the most common species showed positive effects of adult conspecifics, but the less common species showed negative adult conspecific effects. We found mixed evidence for a CCT: seedling survival was positively correlated with basal area, but negatively correlated with tree density (stems ha−1). Thus, it remains unclear whether NDD is a diversity‐maintaining mechanism in these forests. Synthesis. Overall, we found that positive conspecific effects influenced seedling mortality patterns more than negative interactions did, even in tropical wet forest where NDD is predicted to drive species’ abundances. Additionally, the strength and direction of density effects varied with forest type, PAR, and species’ abundance, underscoring the need to consider abiotic factors and species’ life‐history traits in tests of density dependence hypotheses.