Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Environmental Correlates of Maternal Emotion Talk

SYNOPSIS Objective . The primary goal of this study was to examine contextual, child, and maternal factors that are associated with mothers' early emotion talk in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample. Design . Emotion talk (positive and negative labels) was coded for 1111 mothers while engaged with their 7-month-olds in viewing an emotion-faces picture book. Infant attention during the interaction was also coded. Mothers' parenting style (positive engagement and negative intrusiveness) was coded during a dyadic free-play interaction. Demographic information was obtained, as well as maternal ratings of child temperament and mother's knowledge of infant development. Results . Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that social context and maternal qualities are significant predictors of mothers' early positive and negative emotion talk. In particular, mothers who were African American, had higher income, and who showed more positive engagement when interacting with their infants demonstrated increased rates of positive and negative emotion talk with their infants. For negative emotion talk, social context variables moderated other predictors. Specifically, infant attention was positively associated with negative emotion talk only for African American mothers, and knowledge of infant development was positively associated with negative emotion talk only for non-African American mothers. The positive association between maternal positive engagement and negative emotion talk was greater for lower-income families than for higher-income families. Conclusions. Mothers' emotion language with infants is not sensitive to child factors but is associated with social contextual factors and characteristics of the mothers themselves.
Recognizing Pitfalls in Virtual Screening: A Critical Review

The aim of virtual screening (VS) is to identify bioactive compounds through computational means, by employing knowledge about the protein target (structure-based VS) or known bioactive ligands (ligand-based VS). In VS, a large number of molecules are ranked according to their likelihood to be bioactive compounds, with the aim to enrich the top fraction of the resulting list (which can be tested in bioassays afterward). At its core, VS attempts to improve the odds of identifying bioactive molecules by maximizing the true positive rate, that is, by ranking the truly active molecules as high as possible (and, correspondingly, the truly inactive ones as low as possible). In choosing the right approach, the researcher is faced with many questions: where does the optimal balance between efficiency and accuracy lie when evaluating a particular algorithm; do some methods perform better than others and in what particular situations; and what do retrospective results tell us about the prospective utility of a particular method? Given the multitude of settings, parameters, and data sets the practitioner can choose from, there are many pitfalls that lurk along the way which might render VS less efficient or downright useless. This review attempts to catalogue published and unpublished problems, shortcomings, failures, and technical traps of VS methods with the aim to avoid pitfalls by making the user aware of them in the first place.
Language Policy for Linguistic Minority Students in Japanese Public Schools and Prospects for Bilingualism: The Nikkei Brazilian Case

As a result of the recent wave of immigration to Japan, most public schools in Japan are coping with the new challenge of educating the children of immigrant families. I explore the national and local-level responses of the Japanese education system to the problem of language instruction for immigrant children since the mid-1990s. Throughout I focus on the children of one of the largest of the recent immigrant groups, the people of Japanese descent from Brazil. I describe the array of social, structural, and attitudinal factors that have contributed to many of these children entering into a "linguistic limbo" in which they are in danger of not being able to maintain proficiency in Portuguese nor become proficient in Japanese.
Cost-benefit distribution of ecosystem services and contracting under a PES scheme : the case of the Güisayote Biological Reserve, Honduras

This thesis assessed the costs and benefits distribution of improving drinking water quality through a land set-aside payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme in a watershed of Honduras. The benefits of improving drinking water quality were determined using a contingent valuation survey for a stated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved drinking water quality through a PES scheme; and a revealed WTP was determined as the sum of averting expenditure and illness damage costs. Likewise, the costs of water conservation were determined through two approaches, the flow and rent opportunity costs of upstream landholders. Both WTP measures evidenced that beneficiaries could afford and were willing to pay for improved drinking water quality. The two WTP measures were not correlated, but this could be due to biased estimates or context-dependent preferences for each approach. Conversely, the cost of water conservation came to an overall flow net return of US$ 1,410 ha-1, with coffee exhibiting the highest returns. However, the median positive returns without coffee, US$ 140, are used and they are correlated to the rent opportunity costs. Identifying a reliable, accurate and cost-effective method to determine opportunity costs is challenging, but the two methods employed provided valid estimates. This study identifies and discusses several distributional issues for PES schemes; these are the upstream-downstream externality framework, peoples’ perceptions, unequal water governance, and fair targeting of payments to service providers. The WTP for improved drinking water quality is not sufficient to compensate the opportunity costs of landholders. The WTP would only cover 6% to 10% of the estimated cost of the water conservation. Thus, a user-based PES scheme at the study site is not feasible. Water conservation is more likely to be possible if substantial external support is obtained or through a sustainable land management-based scheme.
La nouvelle politique de voisinage de l'Union européenne: Une estimation des potentiels de commerce

This article is devoted to the assessment of the new eu neighbourhood policy, relying on the calculation of trade potentials. It is based on the new theoretical developments of gravity models, concerning in particular trade costs. The model is subsequently estimated by using two estimators : Hausman and Taylor (static) and Arellano, Bond and Bover (dynamic). This allows the calculation of trade potentials. The main result indicates that most of the new neighbours enjoy a significant trade potential with the eu. However, this potential is limited for some countries which have already liberalized their trade with the eu. These are mainly Israel as well as candidate countries (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey), in addition to Maghreb countries. Another result shows that the trade potential does not differ very much whether we assume or not the implementation of the “acquis communautaire” with the new neighbours. Classification JEL : F14, F15, F17
Success beyond success: the “golden triangle” of continuous performance improvement

Purpose – The main subject of the article is continuous performance improvement (CPI). More specifically, the author seeks to understand the most important management challenges under that heading. An extensive empirical study determines companies' most important continuous performance improvement roots. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted from January to September 2008. The author conducted 48 interviews with senior executives of well‐known global companies. The companies cover a wide range of industries. Findings – Three categories of performance roots are undeniably the chief variables of company and management effectiveness: leadership, business models, and people, i.e. the “golden triangle” of continuous performance improvement. CPI at world‐class levels will only occur if all of these levers are focused upon on an ongoing basis. Research limitations/implications – The study is embedded in qualitative research, i.e. mainly open‐ended interviews. Practical implications – Continuous performance improvement means constantly searching for a “better practice”, implementing that practice, and then searching for another “better practice”. Without the emphasis on continuous improvement, one‐time gains are unlikely to lead to further improvements. The competitive squeeze provides the main rationale for executives to build a continuous performance improvement mindset. In doing so, they preserve margins and vitality. A continuous performance improvement approach must be developed that minimizes both perceived and actual risk while ensuring that the benefits from the changes are captured quickly. Originality/value – Each industry faces a regular, predictable and persistent erosion of competitive positions as a result of competitive pressure, technological progress and changes in industry dynamics. While the dynamics of industries are not easy to understand, the real challenge is how to build a continuous performance improvement mindset and how to roll it out at a pace that will be sufficiently fast to stay ahead of the pack. This article is about the main components of a continuous performance improvement approach (the golden triangle of CPI).
Stability versus efficiency of the banking sector and economic growth

The paper investigates, from the welfare and growth point of view, the existence of a trade-off between the stability and the efficiency of the banking system, studying the costs and benefits of regulatory programs. Welfare is considered in the context of an overlapping generation model with endogenous growth. There is horizontal differentiation and imperfect competition in the banking sector. Macroeconomic shocks affect the return on capital. We specify how deposit insurance may increase the number of deposits, welfare and growth. We characterize the conditions under which excess banking capacity may appear and how its reduction may improve welfare
Investigating the Strategic Utilization of IT Resources in the Small and Medium-Sized Firms of the Eastern Free State Province

This study investigated the extent to which the Small-to-Medium sized firms (SMEs) utilized their IT resources strategically, and also identified factors inhibiting such utilization. An attribute approach was adopted to identify attributes characterizing strategic IT utilization in SMEs. Seventy SMEs participated in the study and factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying factors that explained the inhibitors of strategic IT utilization. While the results show that some SMEs utilize IT resources to reduce costs and improve customer services, many SME managers are still ignorant about their business environment. They do not use IT resources to create links with suppliers, neither do they use them to differentiate products/services nor to enable innovations. Lack of skills and knowledge to employ IT competitively emerged as the prime inhibitor of strategic IT utilization. Other factors were: poor planning; lack of resources; poor IT vision and leadership; and environmental uncertainty.
Towards accessible Semantic Web applications

The importance for Web applications to reach all kind of potential users and customers is being stressed by companies and public sectors. The standardization initiative for Web applications, WAI and the Universal Design framework establish useful rules for building accessible applications for any kind of disabled and non-disabled users. The proliferation of Semantic Web technologies and formal ontologies offer a technological opportunity for establishing automatic and advanced methods for accessible Web applications. In this work we introduce a method for publishing Semantic Web content that establishes separated stages for content selection and its presentation, through Semantic Portal. We are applying some of those principles to a portal devoted to international affairs.
Empirical essays on commodity prices

This dissertation contains four empirical essays on commodity prices and aims to improve our understanding of the natural resource curse. Paradoxically, the economic growth of developing countries is found in most empirical papers to be negatively correlated with natural resource abundance. We explore two mechanisms behind this counterintuitive empirical finding: volatility and real exchange rate. Firstly, we show that commodities have a specific price dynamic. The price volatility exhibits a significant asymmetric effect related to the evolutions of the inventories. We develop an optimal hedging strategy accounting for this asymmetry by relying on asymmetric multivariate volatility models. Secondly, we explore the way commodity prices affect real exchange rates of developing countries highly specialized in the export of commodities. We find that the relationship is the strongest in countries specialized in the production and export of one main commodity. We then analyze and show which structural factors contribute to this effect (trade openness, financial openness, currency regime). These four essays on the natural resource curse are especially relevant in the current economic context, where the commodity price volatility is high and the level of the commodity prices largely above historical trends.
Parameter optimization of multi-stage coilgun using orthogonal test approach

Energy conversion efficiency is a crucial factor which restricts the development of the synchronous induction coilgun. To improve the efficiency, many parameters should be considered in the design stage, such as the structural parameters of the drive coils and the armature, trigger discharge position of armature and the parameters of power supply. In this paper, an optimal design method considering 11 parameters is proposed to improve the energy conversion efficiency of a three-stage coilgun. In order to avoid costly trials, the current filament method (CFM) is employed to analyze the operations of different structural coilguns with different parameters respectively. And the orthogonal test approach is used to guide the simulation for choosing the better parameters' combination, as well reducing the calculation cost. The experiments show that the proposed method achieves a better result in the energy efficiency of the system.
Can School Characteristics Influence University Entrance Scores?

This article examines the importance of schools relative to individual characteristics in explaining Tertiary Entrance Rank scores, using Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth data. The school characteristics explain around 20 per cent of the variance in Tertiary Entrance Rank scores, with the measured school characteristics explaining around 7 percentage points, indicating that idiosyncratic factors—which we interpret as reflecting schools' ethos—dominate. School sector is an important explanator; whilst the government, independent and Catholic systems all contain ‘good’ schools, schools that have low Tertiary Entrance Rank scores, after controlling for individual characteristics, are dominated by the government sector.
Impact of injection drug use on distribution and severity of chronic venous disorders

We examined chronic venous disorders (CVD) in persons who injected illicit drugs. The study design was cross‐sectional, comparative stratified by age, gender, ethnicity, as well as by three types of drug use (noninjection; arm or upper body injection only; and legs with or without upper body injection). Subjects completed demographic, health, and substances abuse questionnaires and were evaluated using the clinical component of the Clinical‐Etiology‐Anatomy‐Pathophysiology Classification. Seven hundred and thirteen participants were evaluated. Those who injected in the legs ± arms had significantly worse CVD. Thirty‐nine percent of leg ± arm injectors vs. 4.2% or noninjectors or arm only injectors had moderate to severe CVD. Persons who injected in the legs ± arms were 9.14 times more likely to develop venous ulcers than those that injected in the arms and upper body only and 34.64 times more likely as those who never injected. CVD was associated with injecting in the groin, legs and feet as compared with other sites. The pattern of disorders associated with leg injection is consistent with the underlying pathology of chronic venous insufficiency.
The Australian Asset‐Pricing Debate

type="main" xml:id="acfi12097-abs-0001"> Utilising a comprehensive data set for Australian firms, we examine a range of competing asset-pricing models, including the four- and five-factor models where the equity-risk premium is augmented by size, value, momentum and liquidity premia, and find that none of the models tested appears to adequately explain the cross section of Australian returns. A model accounting for Australia's integration with the US equity market appears to be the best of the competing models we study. Our argument that a model recognising Australia's integration with the USA is supported when we apply the portfolio and factor construction methodology suggested by Brailsford et al. (2012a,b).
IMPLEMENTING PERFORMANCE‐BASED FUNDING FOR HEALTH RESEARCH: WHEN GOVERNANCE AND PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS MATTER

The article examines the implementation by the Italian Ministry of Health of performance-based funding to allocate resources for research to IRCCS (Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) hospitals. The analysis provides evidence that ten years from its introduction the performance-based funding system has persisted, but it has been implemented rather differently from what had been imagined by its proponents. By drawing on the theoretical frameworks of policy implementation, agency, and relational contracting, the study establishes that the overall design of the system has contributed to this final outcome only to a limited extent. Rather, the lack of procedural fairness, as well as of political leadership in linking the system to national research priorities, has undermined the basis for trust between hospitals and the Ministry of Health. The article discusses how, in this, the governance of performance-based funding and its strong ownership by the ministerial bureaucracy has been determinant.
‘All the King's Horses and All the King's Men couldn't put Humpty‐Dumpty Together Again’

Summary Most African countries face crises of state policy. This article outlines an ‘ideal-type’ to explain why these have proved so intractable. The ‘developmental state’ originated in the combination of ‘etatiste’ theories and state regulation after World War II. when the state became the main instrument for pursuing private and public goals. Decisions were centralised in a ‘political class’ producing factional conflict for control of the state. But the ‘developmental state’ generated a revenue and a foreign exchange crisis as governments tried, unsuccessfully, to manage scarce resources by direct controls. The article argues that people should not look to political vanguards to solve their problems but should fight for democratic po1itical organisations. Resumen Ni todos los hombres ni todos los caballos del rev podrian reconstituir ‘Humpty-Dumpty’ Muchos paises africanos enfrentan crisis de politica estatal. Este articulo esquematiza un tipo ideal para explicar las causas de su dificil manejo. El Estado desarrollista se origino en una combinacion de teorias estatistas y de regulacion estatal despues de la segunda guerra mundial, cuando el Estado se constituyo en el principal instrumento para lograr las metas publicas y privadas. Las decisiones se centralizaron en una clase politica produciendo conflictos faccionales por el control estatal Sin embargo, el Estado desarrollista genero una jurisdiccion y una crisis de divisas en la medida en que los gobiernos trataron infructuosamente de manejar recursos escasos mediante controles directos. El articulo sostiene que la gente no deberia buscar la solucion de sus problemas en las vanguardias politicas, sino luchar por organizaciones politicas democraticas. Resume ‘Tous les chevaux du roi et tous ces sujets ne purent remettre Humpty-Dumpty sur ses pieds’ La plupart des pays africains font face aux crises dues aux mesures prises par l'etat. Cet article trace le profil d'un ‘type ideal’ pour expliquer pourquoi ces mesures se sont montrees si intraitable. La ‘phase developpementale’ prend son origine dans la combinaison des theories ‘etatiques’ et dans la reglementation de l'etat d'apres guerre (Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale), a une epoque ou l'etat etait en train de devenir l'instrument principal de la poursuite des ambitions privees et publiques. Les decisions etaient centralisees dans une ‘classe politique’ ce qui produisit un conflit lactionel pour le controle de l'etat. Mais la ‘phase developpementale genera, alors que les gouvernements essayaient, sans succes, d'administrer par controle direct, les ressources sparses, une juridiction et une crise du marche des changes. Cet article soutient la these que les peuples ne devraient pas compter sur Lavant-garde politique pour resoudre leurs problemes et devraient se battre pour des organisations politiques democratiques.
Financial Deregulation and the Dynamics of Money, Prices, and Output in New Zealand and Australia

Effects of financial deregulation in the 1980s on the dynamic interactions among money, prices and output in New Zealand and Australia are evaluated. Prior to deregulation, the series appear to be nonstationary and cointegrated based on Johansen's maximum-likelihood tests, with money proportional to prices but less than proportional to output in the long run. The series also appear cointegrated in New Zealand through the 1980s when the effects of deregulation are accounted for with a deterministic shift parameter. The cointegrating coefficients are similar for the pre-liberalization and full-sample periods, and dynamic responses are evaluated for error-correction models incorporating the estimated long-run relationships. Copyright 1993 by Ohio State University Press.
Working Overtime Hours: Relations with Fatigue, Work Motivation, and the Quality of Work

Objectives: We sought to better understand the relationship between overtime and mental fatigue by taking into account work motivation and the quality of overtime work and studying theoretically derived subgroups. Methods: We conducted a survey-study among a representative sample of the Dutch full-time workforce (n = 1807). The prevalence of overtime work and the associations between overtime and job demands, job variety, decision latitude, fatigue, and work motivation was studied through descriptive statistics. We used MANCOVA (covariates: age, gender, salary level) to compare six overtime-fatigue subgroups with respect to work motivation and job characteristics. Results: A total of 67% of the respondents worked overtime (mean, 3.5 hours). Overtime workers appeared to be nonfatigued, motivated workers with favorable work characteristics. MANCOVA revealed no significant overtime-fatigue interaction. Conclusions: Moderate overtime is common among Dutch workers, who seem to be happy workers with attractive jobs rather than fatigued employees.