Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interest rates and prices in the long run: a study of the Gibson paradox

This is a study of the relationship between commodity price inflation and interest rates. One of the chief avenues through which inflation has been posited to affect interest rates is through the effect of actual inflation on anticipated inflation, which is then taken to help determine the "nominal" rate of interest. For this reason, the manner in which price anticipations are formed is a topic that cannot help but occupy an important role in a study such as this. Although many papers have been written on the topic,l no single explanation of the relationship between inflation and interest commands wide acceptance. As proof of this statement, it is sufficient to note that the name that Keynes gave to that relationship-the Gibson paradox-has stuck. Keynes's claim was that over long periods of time in the United States, England, and other countries, interest rates had been highly correlated with the aggregate level of commodity prices. Keynes [20] named this empirical regularity the Gibson paradox2 since it seemed
Serum Antibodies against Hepatitis C Virus in Iranian Patients with Graves' Disease.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with a plethora of immune and autoimmune perturbations. A variety of conditions ranging from endocrinopathies to different skin diseases has been described in HCV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of HCV infection in patients with graves' disease (GD). A total of 55 patients with GD (30 women, 25 men, mean age: 35.24 +/- 12.27 years) and 50 control subjects (28 women, 22 men, mean age: 33.34 +/- 11.99 years) were examined. Third generation ELISA test was used for detection of antibodies to HCV in human sera, and anti-HCV seropositivity was confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA). All normal controls were anti-HCV negative whereas anti-HCV antibody was present in 1 patient with GD and confirmed by Western blotting. These results indicate that there was no significant difference of anti-HCV antibodies between patients and controls.In this study no relationship was found between GD and HCV infection, which imply that hepatitis C virus has not a direct causal role in the pathogenesis of GD, however, this does not rule out a "hit and run" virus induced disease.
Efficacy of risk-reduction counseling to prevent human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted diseases: a randomized controlled trial. Project RESPECT Study Group.

CONTEXT The efficacy of counseling to prevent infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has not been definitively shown. OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of 2 interactive HIV/STD counseling interventions with didactic prevention messages typical of current practice. DESIGN Multicenter randomized controlled trial (Project RESPECT), with participants assigned to 1 of 3 individual face-to-face interventions. SETTING Five public STD clinics (Baltimore, Md; Denver, Colo; Long Beach, Calif; Newark, NJ; and San Francisco, Calif) between July 1993 and September 1996. PARTICIPANTS A total of 5758 heterosexual, HIV-negative patients aged 14 years or older who came for STD examinations. INTERVENTIONS Arm 1 received enhanced counseling, 4 interactive theory-based sessions. Arm 2 received brief counseling, 2 interactive risk-reduction sessions. Arms 3 and 4 each received 2 brief didactic messages typical of current care. Arms 1, 2, and 3 were actively followed up after enrollment with questionnaires at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and STD tests at 6 and 12 months. An intent-to-treat analysis was used to compare interventions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self-reported condom use and new diagnoses of STDs (gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV) defined by laboratory tests. RESULTS At the 3- and 6-month follow-up visits, self-reported 100% condom use was higher (P<.05) in both the enhanced counseling and brief counseling arms compared with participants in the didactic messages arm. Through the 6-month interval, 30% fewer participants had new STDs in both the enhanced counseling (7.2%; P= .002) and brief counseling (7.3%; P= .005) arms compared with those in the didactic messages arm (10.4%). Through the 12-month study, 20% fewer participants in each counseling intervention had new STDs compared with those in the didactic messages arm (P = .008). Consistently at each of the 5 study sites, STD incidence was lower in the counseling intervention arms than in the didactic messages intervention arm. Reduction of STD was similar for men and women and greater for adolescents and persons with an STD diagnosed at enrollment. CONCLUSIONS Short counseling interventions using personalized risk reduction plans can increase condom use and prevent new STDs. Effective counseling can be conducted even in busy public clinics.
Developing a framework for network and cluster identification for use in economic development policy-making

Drawing on extensive academic research concerning clusters and networks, this paper seeks to create a framework capable of reviewing and monitoring different aspects of clusters and networks on an ongoing basis. The nine-element framework allows evaluation of the structures and processes for the eight basic cluster types identified from the literature. The use of this framework as a complimentary tool to the Multi-sectoral Qualitative Analysis (MSQA) methodology is then demonstrated using three examples (the construction, hardwood timber and higher education sectors). The data was gathered from three sets of key stakeholders (government, institutions and industry) provided from a recent study funded by the Welsh Assembly Government's Small Grants Research Programme. These cases illustrate the use of the framework in helping to generate the initial information necessary for subsequent cluster development policy (within overall regional economic development) by government to occur. The framework provides tools for reviewing and monitoring individual sectors. Information captured within the framework can also help in ameliorating problems in sectors likely to decline further. The need for further development research is also identified. Specifically at the level of the firm and network, there is a need to generate a more detailed framework of analysis of factors that contribute to successful processes of network management, learning and innovation, from which more detailed policy could be enacted in future.
Delay Insensitivity Does Not Mean Slope Insensitivity!

Asynchronous circuits are well known for their intrinsic robustness to process, voltage and temperature variations. Nevertheless, in some extreme cases, it appears that their robustness is not sufficient to guarantee a correct circuit behavior. This limitation, which is caused by an analog phenomenon, appears when the transition slopes in input of C-elements become very slow. This paper describes in details this phenomenon and studies the robustness of different C-element topologies. The simulations, which have been performed in 130, 65 and 45 nm CMOS technologies, show an overview of the C-element behavior in presence of these slow ramps. This gives a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon and suggests an appropriate approach for choosing the well-suited C-element topology for everybody facing these difficulties.
Detection of Land Subsidence in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, Using DInSAR Technique

Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) is a remote sensing technique that is capable of detecting land surface deformation with centimeter accuracy. In this research, this technique was applied to two pairs of Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-band SAR (PALSAR) data to detect land subsidence in the Kathmandu valley from 2007 to 2010. The result revealed several subsidence areas towards the center of the valley ranging from a maximum of 9.9 km2 to a minimum of 1 km2 coverage with a maximum velocity of 4.8 cm/year, and a minimum velocity of 1.1 cm/year, respectively. The majority of the subsidence was observed in old settlement areas with mixed use development. The subsidence depth was found to gradually increase from the periphery towards the center in almost all detected subsidence areas. The subsidence depth was found to be in a range of 1 cm to 17 cm. It was found that the concentration of deep water extraction wells was higher in areas with higher subsidence rates. It was also found that the detected subsidence area was situated over geological formations mainly consisting of unconsolidated fine-grained sediments (silica, sand, silt, clay and silty sandy gravel), which is the major factor affecting the occurrence of land subsidence due to groundwater extraction.
Specification and Estimation of Production Risk, Risk Preferences and Technical Efficiency

This article deals with specification and estimation of risk preferences, production risk, and technical inefficiency. It makes contribution in three separate areas of production economics. First, we model producers' attitude toward risk and derive risk preference functions (without assuming any parametric form of the utility function and any distribution of the error term representing production risk) when risk arises from production uncertainty and technical inefficiency. Second, the standard production risk model is extended to accommodate technical inefficiency and producers' attitude toward risk. Finally, the technical efficiency model is generalized to accommodate production risk and producers' attitude toward risk. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
A Framework to Study Level of Comfort between Employees of Local and Foreign Cultures in Multinational Firms

Geert Hofstede studied the cultural dimension in multinational firms which play significant role in the professional conduct of employees. Fifth dimension was supplemented on a cross cultural study of Chinese Confucius behavior. In the changing global cross cultural conduct at work place, the firms are facing more challenges than ever before in forming and performing in multi-location and multi-national teams. This study attempts to read the variables to build a framework which measures the Level of Comfort (LoC) between local culture and foreign culture in the multinational firms. The framework developed is also tested on a pilot study with 200 respondents from 10 countries. Results show that Level of Comfort can be measured through a structured questionnaire and also that this level of comfort vary among countries included in the study.
Labour Pains and Labour Power: Women and Childbearing in India

The authors investigate childbearing in India as a socially organized phenomenon. "By focussing on childbearing in two north Indian villages we demonstrate the dramatic impact of womens subordination on female reproductive health and the survival of young children especially girls.Our analysis also casts serious doubt on the current advocacy of schemes to train traditional birth attendants in north India.This book is based on data collected during two main field-trips to Bijnor District in western Uttar Pradesh (from February 1982 until June 1983 and during August and September 1985) and during brief visits in 1984 and 1986. " Aspects considered include women as property; class and womens work; attitudes toward pregnancy; childbirth; postpartum health care and cultural restrictions; domestic policies and ethnicity; discrimination against female children; attitudes toward family size contraception and the value of children; and the probable impact of government policy on childbearing and womens status. (EXCERPT)
Effects of dietary calcium soaps of unsaturated fatty acids on digestion, milk composition and physical properties of butter

Dairy cows fitted with ruminal, duodenal and ileal cannulas were utilized to investigate the effects of feeding with Ca soaps (CaS) of palm fatty acids (FA) and rapeseed FA. Diets compared were control diet based on maize silage and concentrate, and two diets with 40 g CaS of palm oil FA or rapeseed oil FA/kg diet, replacing part of the concentrates of the control diet. Total digestibilities of dry matter, fibre and fat, and ruminal fermentation were not significantly altered by giving CaS; the extent of ruminal biohydrogenation of total unsaturated C18 FA was significantly reduced by both CaS diets. Apparent intestinal digestibility of FA was not different among diets, although the amount of FA absorbed with the CaS diets was twice that with the control diet. No difference among diets was observed for milk production, or fat and protein contents. Giving CaS diets decreased the proportions of 4[ratio ]0 to 14[ratio ]0 FA in milk fat, and increased cis-18[ratio ]1n−9, compared with control diet. The rapeseed diet lowered the content of 16[ratio ]0, and increased the contents of 18[ratio ]0 and trans-18[ratio ]1n−7. CaS diets did not result in a marked increase of polyunsaturated FA content in milk fat. Butter from cows fed on the CaS diets contained more liquid fat at 6 and 14°C than butter from the cows fed on the control diet. Incorporating CaS, particularly those from rapeseed, in dairy cows' diets increased C18 FA in milk and improved butter spreadability.
The supply and demand of net primary production in the Sahel

Net primary production (NPP) is the principal source of energy for ecosystems and, by extension, human populations that depend on them. The relationship between the supply and demand of NPP is important for the assessment of socio-ecological vulnerability. We present an analysis of the supply and demand of NPP in the Sahel using NPP estimates from the MODIS sensor and agri-environmental data from FAOSTAT. This synergistic approach allows for a spatially explicit estimation of human impact on ecosystems. We estimated the annual amount of NPP required to derive food, fuel and feed between 2000 and 2010 for 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When comparing annual estimates of supply and demand of NPP, we found that demand increased from 0.44 PgC to 1.13 PgC, representing 19% and 41%, respectively, of available supply due to a 31% increase in the human population between 2000 and 2010. The demand for NPP has been increasing at an annual rate of 2.2% but NPP supply was near-constant with an inter-annual variability of approximately 1.7%. Overall, there were statistically significant (p < 0.05) increases in the NPP of cropland (+6.0%), woodland (+6.1%) and grassland/savanna (+9.4%), and a decrease in the NPP of forests (−0.7%). On the demand side, the largest increase was for food (20.4%) followed by feed (16.7%) and fuel (5.5%). The supply-demand balance of NPP is a potentially important tool from the standpoint of sustainable development, and as an indicator of stresses on the environment stemming from increased consumption of biomass.
Identifying Optimal Rapport-Building Behaviors In Inducing Patrons’ Emotional Attachment In Luxury Restaurants

The purposes of this study were to (a) identify optimal rapport-building behaviors for inducing patrons’ emotional attachment to a service provider in the luxury restaurant context, (b) investigate the moderating role of patrons’ motivational orientation in the emotional attachment formation process, and (c) examine the ways in which patrons’ emotional attachment induces dedicational behaviors in the luxury restaurant industry. Based on the existing theoretical backgrounds, five rapport-building behaviors and three dedicational behaviors were derived. The theoretical relationships between the proposed concepts were also developed via literature review, which resulted in the development of a conceptual model. The proposed conceptual model was empirically tested via structural equation modeling analysis using data collected from 379 luxury restaurant patrons. Based on data analysis, it was found that five types of rapport development behaviors are crucial factors in the formation of patrons’ emotional attachment. During the attachment development process, motivational orientation plays a moderating function. Furthermore, patrons’ emotional attachment toward service employees induces patrons’ dedicational behaviors. The critical theoretical/managerial implications of these findings are then discussed in the article.
Boltje-Maisch resolutions of Specht modules

In \cite{21}, Boltje and Maisch found a permutation complex of Specht modules in representation theory of Hecke algebras, which is the same as the Boltje-Hartmann complex appeared in the representation theory of symmetric groups and general linear groups. In this paper we prove the exactness of Boltje-Maisch complex in the dominant weight case.
The participatory web in the context of academic research: Landscapes of change and conflicts

This thesis presents the results of a narrative inquiry study conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions. The study aims to describe and foster understanding of the beliefs, perceptions, and felt constraints of ten academic researchers deeply involved in digital scholarship. Academic research, as one of the four categories of scholarship, is the focus of the analysis. The methods of data collection included in-depth online interviews, field notes, closed blog posts, and follow up dialogues via email and web-telephony. The literature review within this study presents a narrative on scholarship throughout the ages up to the current environment, highlighting the role of technology in assisting different forms of networking, communication, and dissemination of knowledge. It covers aspects of online participation and scholarship such as the open access movement, online networks and communities of practice that ultimately influence academic researchers’ sense of identity and their approaches to digital scholarship. The themes explored in the literature review had a crucial role in informing the interview guide that supported the narrative accounts of the research participants. However, the data collected uncovered a gap in knowledge not anticipated in the literature review, that of power relations between the individual and their institutions. Hence, an additional sociological research lens, that of Pierre Bourdieu, was adopted in order to complete the analysis of the data collected. There were three major stages of analysis: the construction of research narratives as a first pass analysis of the narrative inquiry, a thematic analysis of the interview transcripts, and a Bourdieuian analysis, supported by additional literature, that reveals the complexity of current academic practice in the context of the Participatory Web. This research set out to study the online practices of academic researchers in a changing environment and ended up examining the conflicts between modern and conservative approaches to research scholarship in the context of academic researchers’ practices. This study argues that the Participatory Web, in the context of academic research, can not only empower academic researchers but also place them in contention with traditional and persistent scholarly practice.
Closed-form analysis of DC noise immunity in subthreshold CMOS logic circuits

In this paper, subthreshold static CMOS logic is analyzed in terms of DC noise immunity in a closed form for the first time. Simplified circuit models of MOS transistors in subthreshold are developed to gain a deeper understanding of the degradation in the DC characteristics under ultra-low voltages, as well as its dependence on design and process parameters. The noise margin is explicitly evaluated and modeled with a simple expression. The impact of PMOS/NMOS imbalance is also explicitly analyzed. Results are validated with simulations in a 65-nm CMOS technology.
A Weberian model applied to the study of accounting stagnation in late Qing China

The industrialization and commercial expansion that China experienced following foreign intrusion, in 1840, necessitated the modernization of its accounting, but its accounting technology continued to stagnate for more than half a century. Weber's socio-historical model provides a framework for posing the question why indigenous accounting systems persisted even though superior western bookkeeping techniques were available. Weber's framework for the study of the relations of accounting to organizations and society may be divided into two analytic layers: structural conditions of accounting and the historical dynamic arising from the tensions between formal and substantive rationalities. All structural conditions specified in his first analytic layer as necessary for capital accounting were basically satisfied in Qing China. The second layer of Weber's framework is ideational. Rationality is the key concept in Weber's work. Replacing traditional accounting amounted to a direct challenge to substantive rationality of ti (‘substance’, ‘essence’) by the formal rationality of yung (‘instruments’, ‘utility’).
Culture, ethnicity and chronic conditions: reframing concepts and methods for research, interventions and policy in low- and middle-income countries

Chronic physical and mental conditions constitute a significant proportion of the global burden of disease. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean are disproportionately affected. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2008), four major chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes cause an estimated 60% of all global deaths, with an estimated 80% of these deaths occurring in LMICs. Similarly, an estimated 14% of the global disease burden is attributable to common mental disorders like depression and anxiety disorders; almost 75% of these disorders occur in LMICs (WHO 2010). In high-income countries of Europe and North America, the pattern of high chronic disease risk, disability and death persists among migrant populations from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, despite higher standards of living and improved health infrastructure (Agyemang et al. 2009; Davies et al. 2011; Dressler et al. 2005)
Copula: A Primer for Fund Managers

Traditional equity risk models focus on estimating stock return variance-covariance matrix. Ignoring high-order moments, they implicitly assumes normal return distributions. The recent credit crisis has reminded us again that the normality assumption is insufficient in risk management. Moving away from normality requires a tractable technique to allow investigation of alternative distributions. Copula is a good choice since it helps modulise our job and enriches our distribution selection menu. This paper aims to demystify copulas for equity portfolio managers by addressing the following questions:1) What is copula and what does it represent 2) With correlation as a commonly used dependence measure, why is copula worth the extra complexity 3) What is 'tail dependence' 4) What are Gaussian, t-, Clayton, Gumbel and Frank copulas; how do they look and behave; and how to simulate 5) How to model equity markets with copulas where the dimensions are high 6) How can copula-based market model be applied to equity PM process.