Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effective Governance Policies for Water and Sanitation

The true value of water should be utilized to help orchestrate the governance of managing water, in social, economic, and environmentally effective objectives. Despite the fact that water is a fundamental instrument for human survival, it is the most underestimated resource in the world. The question remains, what is the true economic value of this depleting resource? Generally, the sector responsible for controlling water, focuses on the fiscal aspect of this resource, ensuring that the quality and quantity of the resource are upheld. The economic value of water reflects upon the benefits and services that are scarcity affects. The value of water is higher in dry climates, due to the fact that this vital resource is scarce, triggering competition among users (NWRI, 2003). The more pressing question that needs to be analyzed is what purpose is water being used for. The reason why this question is difficult to answer is because the value of water is closely tied to productivity and value of the resource (Ramachandra, Rajanikanth & Ranjini, 2005).
Activation of JAK-STAT and MAP kinases by leukemia inhibitory factor through gp130 in cardiac myocytes.

BACKGROUND Interleukin (IL)-6-related cytokines share gp130 as the signal-transducing protein. Downstream of gp130, two signal-transducing pathways have been recognized, the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway and the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. To determine whether these two signaling pathways through gp130 are present in cardiac myocytes, we examined their activation by using leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), which is a member of the IL-6 cytokine family. METHODS AND RESULTS Lysates from neonatal rat cardiac myocytes were immunoprecipitated with anti-gp130, anti-JAK1, or anti-STAT3 antibody and blotted with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. Tyrosine phosphorylation of gp130, JAK1, and STAT3 was observed after LIF stimulation in cardiac myocytes. MAPKs were maximally activated 5 minutes after LIF stimulation. Furthermore, anti-gp130 antibody significantly inhibited the LIF-induced activation of JAK1, STAT3, and MAPKs. To examine whether these signaling pathways were also activated in the adult heart in vivo, LIF was injected intravenously into a 6-week-old mouse, and the heart was examined subsequently. gp130, STAT3, and MAPKs were activated in the heart after LIF treatment. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate for the first time that a JAK-STAT pathway and a MAPK pathway are present down-stream of gp130 in cardiac myocytes and are rapidly activated by LIF both in vitro and in vivo. Activation of gp130 constitutes a novel signaling pathway in cardiac myocytes.
Association Between Abnormal Psychosocial Situations in Childhood, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Objective: Psychosocial stressors are important in the pathogenesis of most mental disorders. However, little is known about the way psychosocial stressors uniquely combine to create risk for different expressions of child and adolescent psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether core dimensions of stressful psychosocial situations are differentially associated with childhood generalized anxiety disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Method: A case-control design conducted in Trondheim (Norway) from 2002 to 2004 comparing exposure to ICD-10-defined abnormal psychosocial situations (Z-codes) among 21 children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and 22 children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) recruited from a university outpatient clinic with 42 non-patient school controls. Results: Multigroup discriminant analysis extracted two significant dimensions within the psychosocial variables assessed. Function 1 was characterized by overprotection, parental pressures and acute life events and was associated with GAD. Function 2 was characterized by parental abuse/hostility and interpersonal stress and was associated with ODD. Both dimensions were able to correctly classify 89.7% of the cases, compared to 35.9% by chance. Conclusions: The results indicate that specific psychosocial dimensions are differentially related to childhood GAD and ODD. This may be useful in targeting at-risk populations for preventive intervention as well as informing more accurate alignment of psychosocial resources for treatment.
Selective projections from the cat red nucleus to digit motor neurons

Classical studies of the cat rubrospinal tract describe dense terminations in spinal laminae V–VII and an absence of any significant projection to lamina IX. In contrast, our recent studies, utilizing the anterograde transport of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated with horseradish peroxidase, have demonstrated a consistent and circumscribed area of label in lamina IX at caudal cervical segments.
Movers and stayers: determinants of post-16 educational choice

Abstract The authors develop an economic analysis of educational decision-making to investigate the determinants of post-16 educational choice in England and Wales. Concentrating upon the decision of whether to stay at their current school, they examine the nature of the costs and benefits of moving. They conclude that the existence of search and switching costs, together with the similarity of provision amongst providers in local schooling markets, should lead to a high degree of consumer inertia. The results from the questionnaire provide support for this proposition. Their data enables a detailed examination of the decision-making process. They show that the decision-maker is best viewed as a composite of student and parent, and that parents are still an active partner in decision-making. Movers predominately reject the A-level pathway, in favour of the more diverse curriculum available at their local further education college. However, they also find evidence that switching costs differ between movers and stayers. Consumption good aspects, such as social considerations and the ambience of the chosen provider, having an important and independent effect on choice at 16. These findings are used to explore the likely consequences of current changes in curriculum and in the focus and organisation of careers service companies.
Taxation and Changes in Price Levels

Changing price levels give rise to important theoretical and practical problems of taxation which have received no systematic treatment and only occasional mention in the economic literature on taxation and on price levels. The adequate theoretical presentation of the case for or against a particular tax often demands consideration of the special conditions resulting from the upward or downward swing of the general price level. Tax laws are almost invariably written in pecuniary terms. They may not operate in the manner intended by the legislators or they may even operate in a manner directly contrary to that anticipated by the legislators and productive of gross inequalities if provision is not made therein for changes in the value of the monetary unit. The relation of taxation to price levels is a problem of sufficient importance to merit a greater measure of attention from students of government finance than has been vouchsafed to it in the past. This article is an attempt to open up the subject in the hope that it will lead to further discussion of the general problem and its detailed manifestations.
Logistics in Lagging Regions: Overcoming Local Barriers to Global Connectivity

This report is based on two case studies carried out in Brazil and India on the impact of various strategies to reduce the cost of trade for small-scale producers. Small scale producers especially those located in lagging regions in developing countries lack easy access to efficient logistics services. They are faced with long distances from both domestic and international markets. Unless the enterprises are able to consolidate traffic volumes they can be excluded from international supply chains. However, the process of consolidation is not without cost nor does it occur on its own accord. It is typically handled by outside parties in the form of intermediaries. The study was designed around the horizontal relationships between the small scale producers and their vertical connections to higher tier parties involved in the same supply chain. It analyzes the cooperative approach to linking producers, the role of itinerant traders, and a newer and innovative approach to the same problem through virtual integration of farmers using modern information communication technologies. These approaches were explored by studying two separate supply chains, sisal in Brazil and soybean in India, enabling the assessment of logistics patterns from the farm gate to onboard vessel at the export gateway. The assessment of logistics performance at the sub-national level is still evolving. The more widely used density-type indicators emphasize the infrastructure dimension of logistics but do not handle effectively the relationships and service quality attributes identified by the study. A model built around spatial and social networks is proposed to represent the horizontal and vertical attributes of logistics in lagging regions.
The Contradiction in China's Gradualist Banking Reforms

China’s state-owned banks have historically funded money-losing state enterprises as a way of maintaining employment and social stability, but this practice has led to bank insolvency and bailouts. We survey the Chinese banking industry, focusing on the largest banks, which are being reformed to increase their competitiveness following China’s 2001 commitment to open its domestic banking market. We assemble macroeconomic, microeconomic, and anecdotal evidence suggesting that government influence, although less explicit than in the past, continues despite the reforms. Indeed, the reforms thus far do not resolve the tensions between government objectives and the obligation of commercial banks to base their credit decisions on an objective appraisal of ability to repay. We conclude that, when growth slows, this contradiction will become fully apparent, and the government will resolve it by again bailing out the banks. We describe alternative bank reform proposals that would help reconcile the banks’ conflicting objectives.
Hypoxia-Induced Changes in Extracellular Matrix Metabolism in Renal Cells

The mechanisms underlying the progressive fibrosis that characterises end-stage renal disease in vivo remain to be established but hypoxia, as a result of microvascular injury and loss, has been suggested to play an important role. In support of this hypothesis, in vitro studies show that hypoxia (1% O2) induces a fibrogenic phenotype in human renal tubular endothelia, interstitial fibroblasts and microvascular endothelial cells, simultaneously increasing extracellular matrix (ECM) production and decreasing turnover via effectors on matrix-degrading enzymes and their inhibitors. The effects of hypoxia on ECM metabolism are independent of hypoxia-induced growth factors and are mediated by a haem-protein sensor and activation of both protein kinase C- and tyrosine kinase-mediated signal transduction pathways. De novo gene transcription is regulated by both hypoxia-inducible factor-1-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Further understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which decreased oxygen alters expression of genes involved in ECM metabolism in renal cells may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of fibrosis and identify novel avenues for intervention.
Strategic bidding in an energy brokerage

This focus of this paper is to present a framework in which strategies may developed for the individual participants in an energy brokerage. Such a framework is expected to be important with the increasing interest in electricity market structures, such as the energy brokerage, that deregulation has produced. To illustrate the process of strategic bidding, a simple suboptimal bidding strategy is presented with the aid of a numerical example. The bidding strategy must be suboptimal because of the amount of unknown information about the other bidders. Further tuning of this strategy will be required before application to realistic scenarios.
Pancreas and kidney transplantation: long‐term endocrine function

Mora M, Ricart MJ, Casamitjana R, Astudillo E, López I, Jiménez A, Fernández‐Cruz L, Esmatjes E. Pancreas and kidney transplantation: long‐term endocrine function. Clin Transplant 2010: 24: E236–E240. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Did Economics Cause World War Ii?

Historians have long recognized the role of economic resources and organization in determining the outcome of World War II: the Nazi economy lacked the economic resources and organization to oppose the combined might of the U.S., U.K., and U.S.S.R. A minority view is that the Germans were defeated not by economics, but by Hitler's many strategic and tactical mistakes, of which the most important was the invasion of the Soviet Union. Compared to this debate about the outcome of the war, there has been less attention to economics as the cause of World War II. This is a review article of a new economic history of the Nazi economy by Adam Tooze which cuts through the debate between economics and Hitler's mistakes as fundamental causes of the outcome. Instead, Tooze argues that the invasion of the Soviet Union was the inevitable result of Hitler's paranoia about the land-starved backwardness of German agriculture as contrasted with the raw material and land resources of America's continent and Britain's empire. The American frontier expansion that obliterated the native Indians provided Hitler with a explicit precedent, which he often cited, for pushing aside the native populations in the east to provide land for German Aryan farmers. Germany's agricultural weakness is summarized by its low land-labor ratio, but Poland and the Ukraine had even less land per person. Thus simply acquiring the land to the east could not solve Germany's problem of low agricultural productivity without removing the native farming populations. Far better than other histories of the Third Reich, Tooze reveals the shocking details of General Plan Ost, the uber-holocaust which would have removed, largely through murder, as many as 45 million people from eastern agricultural land. Tooze, like the Nazis before him, fails to emphasize that the solution to Germany's agricultural problem was not acquiring more land for the existing German farm population, but rather by raising the land-labor ratio by making the existing German land more efficient, mechanizing agriculture and encouraging rural-to-urban migration within Germany.
The Role of Quality Auditing in the Continuous Improvement of Quality: Lessons from Pakistani Experience

Internal auditing is widely recognized as an important business tool in the area of quality management. This article examines the technique and role of internal audits in the continuous improvement of the quality of the sports goods industry in Pakistan. Toward this goal, a survey of 100 ISO 9000 certified companies was conducted at the end of 2001 and 88 usable questionnaires were obtained. It was observed that about 70 percent of the firms have established internal quality audit departments with an average duration of 2.5 years. Since then, the rejection rate has been reduced to an average 2.8 percent from the initial 7.9 percent defects. Moreover, the internal auditors are well trained, their professional skills are highly rated and they enjoy good relations with the production staff and/or auditees. The management of the sports goods industry benefited in terms of reduction in cost, defects, non-conformity, rejection and also better and improved ways of doing their routine work. It is anticipated that the finding of this study will work as a benchmark for other industries in the region.
El nuevo régimen de fiducie en el Derecho francés a la luz de las últimas reformas

espanolEn el ano 2007 se introdujo en el Derecho frances el contrato de fiducie, que fue objeto de varias reformas ultimamente. Este articulo pretende explicar el actual regimen legal de este contrato. Se trata de una institucion inspirada en el trust continental, que se asienta en la transmision de la propiedad de un bien por parte del constituyente al fiduciario quien actua en provecho del beneficiario, dentro del objetivo fijado en el contrato. Aparte del tipo general, en el Derecho frances existen tambien dos modalidades autonomas de fiducia: fiducie-surete y fiducie-gestion. La primera de ellas sirve para garantizar el cumplimiento de una obligacion. La segunda es un instrumento de gestion de creditos bancarios sindicados. EnglishIn the year 2007 the contract of fiducie was introduced into French law. It has been object of several legal reforms recently. This article tries to explain the present legal regime of this contract. Fiducie is meant as an institution inspired by the figure of trust, based on the transfer of property right over an asset from settlor to trustee who acts for the benefit of the beneficiary, within the object established in the contract. Apart from the general type, in French law there are also two independent modalities of fiducie: fiducie-surete and fiducie-gestion. The first one is applied for purpose of securing the performance of an obligation. The second one is an instrument of syndicated loans management.
Risk of Postnatal Depression, Miscarriage, and Preterm Birth in Bulimia Nervosa: Retrospective Controlled Study

Objective: Bulimia nervosa is common and treatable. An association between bulimia and obstetric complications has been suggested, but sample size and absence of control have limited previous studies. Our aim was to determine if active bulimia nervosa affects obstetric outcome. Methods: This was a retrospective case-control comparison of obstetric complications in primigravidae previously treated for bulimia in a specialist eating disorder service. A cohort of 122 women with active bulimia during pregnancy was contrasted against 82 with quiescent bulimia, using structured interviews comprising the Eating Disorders Examination, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, and systematic questions addressing obstetric complications. Results: Odds ratios (ORs) for postnatal depression, miscarriage, and preterm delivery were 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2–6.2), 2.6 (95% CI, 1.2–5.6) and 3.3 (95% CI, 1.3–8.8) respectively. Risk of unplanned pregnancy was markedly elevated (OR, 30.0; 95% CI, 12.8–68.7). Risk estimates were not explained by differences in adiposity, demographics, alcohol/substance/laxative misuse, smoking, or year of birth, but relative contributions of bulimic behaviors were not discerned. Conclusions: Active bulimia during pregnancy is associated with postnatal depression, miscarriage, and preterm delivery. Bulimia may be a treatable cause of adverse obstetric outcome. BN = bulimia nervosa; CI = confidence interval; DSM-IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; EDNOS = eating disorder not otherwise specified; GP = general practitioner; OR = odds ratio; PCOS = polycystic ovary syndrome; SCID = Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R; SD = standard deviation.
Access to publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy services in Quebec: waiting lists and management strategies

Abstract Purpose: Problems with access to outpatient physiotherapy services have been reported in publicly funded healthcare systems worldwide. A few studies have reported management strategies aimed at reducing extensive waiting lists, but their association with waiting times is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to document access to public outpatient physiotherapy services for persons with musculoskeletal disorders in hospitals and explore organizational factors associated with waiting time. Methods: We surveyed outpatient physiotherapy services in publicly funded hospitals in the province of Quebec (Canada). Results: A total of 97 sites responded (99%) to the survey. The median waiting time was more than six months for 41% of outpatient physiotherapy services. The waiting time management strategies most frequently used were attendance and cancelation policies (99.0%) and referral prioritization (95.9%). Based on multivariate analyses, the use of a prioritization process with an initial evaluation and intervention was associated with shorter waiting times (p = 0.008). Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that a large number of persons wait a long time for publicly funded physiotherapy services in Quebec. Based on our results, implementation of a prioritization process with an initial evaluation and intervention could help improve timely access to outpatient physiotherapy services. Implications for Rehabilitation Access to publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy services is limited by long waiting times in a great proportion of Quebec’s hospitals. The use of a specific prioritization process that combines an evaluation and an intervention could possibly help improve timely access to services. Policy-makers, managers, and other stakeholders should work together to address the issue of limited access to publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy services.
Plant-Level Analysis Using the Ard: Another Look at Gibrat's Law

This study uses the Annual Respondents Database to test whether Gibrat's law of proportionate effect holds for the UK manufacturing industry during the period 1973-1998. For a sample of manufacturing industries, four different panel unit root tests were carried out to test the relationship between growth and size for three measures of size: gross output, employment and gross value added. The tests were applied to unbalanced plant-level panel data. The results show that there is strong evidence to reject Gibrat's law that firm growth is a random process in favour of the alternative proposition of mean reversion.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE USEFULNESS OF DISAGGREGATED ACCOUNTING DATA FOR FORECASTS OF CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this paper is to derive the conditions under which disaggregated accounting data contribute to more accurate forecasts of corporate performance. A comparison formula is derived and applied to actual data. The results obtained indicate that disaggregated data do not necessarily produce better forecasts of corporate performance than do aggregated data. The paper concludes with implications of the results to some reporting issues.