Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive performance and the evolution of multiple behavioral display traits

Title of Document: COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF MULTIPLE BEHAVIORAL DISPLAY TRAITS Jason Christopher Keagy, Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Directed By: Dr. Gerald Borgia, Professor Behavior, Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Program Department of Biology Males of many species have complex behavioral sexual displays and it is possible that these displays indicate aspects about male quality because of their relationship with cognitive ability. However, the relationship between behavioral display traits, cognitive ability, and reproductive success has received little attention. Satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, are an excellent species for studying this relationship because their complex male courtship suggests a selective advantage to individuals with superior cognitive abilities. Here I show that cognitive performance can have important effects on mating success and the quality of behavioral displays. First, I present males with two novel problem solving tests and find that males who are better at solving these problems have higher mating success, establishing a link between male cognitive ability and sexual attractiveness. Second, I add four additional cognitive tests to expand the diversity of cognitive abilities tested and construct two measures of general cognitive ability using these data: the scores from an analysis that best explains covariation among performance on the different cognitive tests (g), and the average rank score on these cognitive tests (“IQ"). I show that these measures of general cognitive ability, as well as the majority of the independent cognitive tests, are positively associated with mating success. Third, I construct a different composite measure of male cognitive ability using an analysis that determines the combination of cognitive traits that make males most successful in attracting females (f). I show that this measure is significantly associated with my measures of general cognitive ability, suggesting that evolution of cognitive ability in bowerbirds is possible if there is sufficient heritability. I construct three different aggregate measures of male display quality (produced from four behavioral display traits) and find that they are all associated with f and with mating success. Finally, I show some support for the hypothesis that separate display traits may indicate different aspects of male cognitive ability. These results suggest that behavioral display traits may have a special role in sexual selection because of their connection to cognitive ability. Overall, this research highlights the importance of considering the interrelationship between cognitive ability and sexual selection. COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF MULTIPLE BEHAVIORAL DISPLAY TRAITS
New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time

New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time continues the innovative exploration of major issues concerning democracy and socialism which was staked out in Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Examining the meanings of social struggle in the context of late capitalism, Laclau situates the re-making of political identities within a framework of democratic revolution. The critical method is one which describes major structural changes in the contemporary world-system at the same time as it theorizes a coherent and radical interpretative form. This marriage of politics and theory allows the book to embrace topics ranging from the relationship between Marxism and psychoanalysis to the historical significance of May 1968 and forms of political struggle in the third world. In a final section of illuminating interviews the author expounds his most recent thought on politics and philosophy.
The Revival of Traditional Water Buffalo Cheese Consumption: Class, Heritage and Modernity in Contemporary China

This article provides an ethnography and analysis of the revival of the tradition of indigenous water buffalo cheese and milk product consumption in Shunde, Guangdong. Contrary to the widely held belief that dairy products are not part of the traditional Chinese diet, water buffalo cheese and milk products have been part of the food systems of Guangdong for centuries. But in the past 30 years, these indigenous milk products have been reinvented as a kind of culinary heritage, supplemented by new forms and practices. The popularity of water buffalo milk products in Shunde today has come about as a result of marketing by various agents, including cheese makers, milk merchants, chefs and the government in post-Mao China. Furthermore, the culture of milk consumption in Shunde today has been shaped by both the forces of post-reform economic development, international cultural institutions, the changing perceptions of members of different social classes, and modernity. The reinvented tradition of milk products provides people of different social classes with new ways of consuming milk products and of conducting social interactions.
The Negotiation Dance: Time, Culture, and Behavioral Sequences in Negotiation

We propose a normative model of transactional negotiation in which cooperative and competitive behaviors wax and wane across four stages: relational positioning, identifying the problem, generating solutions, and reaching agreement. Based on a classic proposition of communicative flexibility in high-context cultures, we propose culture-specific dyadic movements within and across these stages. Our sample included 102 high-context dyads from Russia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand; 89 low-context dyads from Germany, Israel, Sweden, and the United States; and 45 United States-Hong Kong and United States-Japan mixed-context dyads. Dyads negotiated a complex, 90-minute transaction with integrative potential. We audiotaped, transcribed, and coded their negotiations for sequences of information and influence behaviors. The unit of analysis was the action-response sequence. Results confirmed that the pattern of sequences varied across the four stages and the frequency of particular sequences varied with culture. We suggest that negotiators can use this model to manage the evolution and strategic focus of their negotiation, especially during the first two stages, when the use of influence-information sequences and reciprocal-information sequences generate the groundwork for joint gains.
H I C N Households in Conflict Network the Long-term Direct and External Effects of Jewish Expulsions in Nazi Germany Mevlude Akbulut Yuksel and Mutlu Yuksel

This paper examines the long-term direct and spillover effects of large-scale human capital loss caused by the persecution of Jewish professionals in Nazi Germany. Using region-by-cohort variation in the Jewish population as a quasi-experiment, we find that on average German children who were of school age during the persecutions have fewer years of schooling in adulthood, and are less likely to finish high school or go to college. These results are robust after controlling for regional unemployment and income, wartime destruction, Nazi and Communist Party support, the compulsory schooling reform, migration, urbanization and mortality. HICN Meeting for very useful comments and discussions. Authors bare the sole responsibility for any errors that may remain.
Searching for Answers: Sierra Leone's Truth & Reconciliation Commission

This article examines the creation and operation of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offers an assessment of its work to date. Despite the brutal atrocities committed during the decade-long conflict, the 1999 Lome Peace Agreement granted a full amnesty to all sides. The TRC was established as an accountability mechanism, and tasked with investigating and reporting on the causes, context and conduct of the war and with offering both victims and perpetrators a public forum in which to relate their experiences. During a multi- phase process in 2002-2003, the TRC collected over 9,000 statements and conducted reconciliation activities. However, the TRC lacked adequate funding and suffered from serious mismanagement and staff recruitment problems. Its relationship with the contemporaneous Special Court for Sierra Leone ran into difficulties at the end of 2003 that bruised both institutions. The TRC successfully gained the participation of major stakeholder groups—women and girls, children, amputees and ex-combatants—but its larger impact on society remains to be seen. The TRC's contribution to peace and reconciliation in Sierra Leone rests on its final report, which is months overdue. Sierra Leoneans suffered through a brutal ten-year war marked by the commission of appalling atrocities. The rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the military junta Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) committed the most egregious abuses, including the widespread use of purposeful amputation, but the pro-government forces—the Civil Defense Forces (CDFs) and the peacekeeping troops of the Economic Community of West African States Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG)—also perpetrated violations of humanitarian law. Indiscriminate killing, rape and sexual slavery, the use of children as combatants, and arson were widespread tactics in a war of terror mainly directed at civilians. By the war's end in January 2000, an estimated 50-75,000 people were dead, two million had been displaced, tens of thousands of women and girls had been raped or forced into sexual slavery, thousands of children had participated in the fighting, and some 4,000 people had been the victims of purposeful amputation. The scars of the war are evident. Sierra Leone ranks last (177/177) on the Human Development Index, the result of high infant, child and maternal mortality rates, an illiteracy rate estimated at 80%, extremely low enrollments in school at all levels, and extreme poverty, with
In Vitro and In Vivo Studies on Quercus acuta Thunb. (Fagaceae) Extract: Active Constituents, Serum Uric Acid Suppression, and Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitory Activity

Quercus acuta Thunb. (Fagaceae) (QA) is cultivated as a dietary and ornamental plant in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. It has been widely used as the main ingredient of acorn tofu, a traditional food in China and South Korea. The aim of this study was to determine in vitro and in vivo xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory and antihyperuricemic activities of an ethyl acetate extract of QA leaf (QALE) and identify its active phytochemicals using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography (LC) systems. The QALE was found to possess potent in vitro antioxidant and XO inhibitory activities. In vivo study using hyperuricemic mice induced with potassium oxonate demonstrated that the QALE could inhibit hepatic XO activity at a relatively low oral dose (50 mg/kg) and significantly alleviate hyperuricemia to a similar extent as allopurinol. Several active compounds including vitamin E known to possess XO inhibitory activity were identified from the QALE. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the active constituents and antihyperuricemic effect of QA, suggesting that it is feasible to use QALE as a food therapy or alternative medicine for alleviating hyperuricemia and gout.
Growth, demographic structure, and national saving in Taiwan

This paper is concerned with the effects that changes in demographic structure have had on Taiwan's national saving rate, and how coming changes in its age structure -- notably population aging -- will affect the future saving rate. We examine this topic within the framework of the life-cycle hypothesis (LCH). Life-cycle theory is a natural starting place, since it implies that changes in demographic structure can exert potentially large effects on national saving: increases in the number of people who save (presumably those in middle age) relative to those who save little or dissave (the very young and the elderly) will increase the aggregate saving rate. A related implication of the LCH is that changes in the rate of growth of per capita income affect saving: higher rates of economic growth increase the life-time wealth of the young relative to the old, and the effects on saving of higher growth are much the same as the effects of increasing the numbers of young relative to the old. The LCH also delivers a rich set of predictions about interactions between economic growth and the age structure. As is emphasized in the variable rate-of-growth models of Fry and Mason (1982) and Mason (1987, 1988), the effects of changes in age structure on the saving rate will depend on the life-time wealth of individuals in different age groups, something determined by economic growth. These interactions are important for understanding how the Taiwanese saving rate has evolved over time, and how it may change in the future.
Increased Risk of Dementia in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract Neurodegenerative disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was observed. We aim to clarify the risk of dementia in patients with COPD. The study used claims data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. Subjects were those who received a discharge diagnosis of COPD between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2011. Only the first hospitalization was enrolled, and the index date was the first day of admission. Patients younger than 40 years or those with a history of Alzheimer disease (AD) or Parkinson disease (PD) before the index date were excluded. The patients with COPD were then followed until receiving a diagnosis of AD or PD, death, or the end of the study. Control subjects were selected from hospitalized patients without a history of COPD, AD, or PD and were matched according to age (±3 years), gender, and the year of admission at a 2:1 ratio. The comorbidities were measured from 1 year before the index date based on the ICD-9-CM codes. The study included 8640 patients with COPD and a mean age of 68.76 (±10.74) years. The adjusted hazard ratio of developing dementia (AD or PD) was 1.74 (95% confidence interval = 1.55–1.96) in patients with COPD compared with patients without COPD after adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities. This nationwide cohort study demonstrates that the risk of dementia, including AD and PD, is significantly increased in patients with COPD compared with individuals in the general population.
The effects of outward FDI on home‐country productivity: Do location of investment and market orientation matter?

Purpose - The paper aims to examine the effects of outward foreign direct investment (O-FDI) on home-country productivity. Design/methodology/approach - A panel data set for 15 Taiwanese manufacturing industries over the period between 1991 and 2007 is employed for a model in which productivity is regressed on a measure of O-FDI. Findings - The study finds no significant positive or negative effect of O-FDI on productivity. Breaking down the data by location of the investment, however, we find that O-FDI in other countries enhances productivity in Taiwan, while O-FDI in China does not. We interpret the positive role of O-FDI in other countries as relating to the outcome of strategic asset-seeking nature of Taiwanese investments in these countries. Research limitations/implications - In order to analyse the productivity effect of O-FDI more precisely, one would need to compare the firm outcomes in the presence of multinational production with the outcomes that would have prevailed in the absence of multinational production. Unfortunately, we cannot observe what would have happened to firms that did engage in multinational production had they not done so. Practical implications - The findings suggest that the Taiwanese Government should distinguish the level of liberalization towards O-FDI for different locations and in different types of industries. In particular, the government should channel more investment towards export-oriented industries especially those in “other countries”. Originality/value - The paper employs a contingency approach, examining the conditions under which O-FDI impacts upon home productivity.
The Innovation Dilemma and the Consolidation of Autocratic Regimes

Despite the obvious (though as of yet unclear) relationship between economic growth and the persistence of autocratic regimes, there are only few studies that examine how innovation processes affect autocracies – and vice versa. Linking the scholarship on authoritarian consolidation with insights from the National Innovation Systems- and Science and Technology Studies literature, this article argues that processes of innovation in autocracies initiate social, economic and political processes that force a regime to constantly improve its institutional structures and enhance its channels into society. This consolidation of authoritarian rule in turn benefits further innovation. As a comparison of China and Myanmar will illustrate, this strategy can enhance a regime’s legitimacy, but is a difficult and risky process. As a result, many regimes instead choose to uphold their rule by relying on repression.
Sexual Functioning and Behavior of Men with Body Dysmorphic Disorder Concerning Penis Size Compared with Men Anxious about Penis Size and with Controls: A Cohort Study

Introduction Little is known about the sexual functioning and behavior of men anxious about the size of their penis and the means that they might use to try to alter the size of their penis. Aim To compare sexual functioning and behavior in men with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) concerning penis size and in men with small penis anxiety (SPA without BDD) and in a control group of men who do not have any concerns. Methods An opportunistic sample of 90 men from the community were recruited and divided into three groups: BDD (n = 26); SPA (n = 31) and controls (n = 33). Main Outcome Measures The Index of Erectile Function (IEF), sexual identity and history; and interventions to alter the size of their penis. Results Men with BDD compared with controls had reduced erectile dysfunction, orgasmic function, intercourse satisfaction and overall satisfaction on the IEF. Men with SPA compared with controls had reduced intercourse satisfaction. There were no differences in sexual desire, the frequency of intercourse or masturbation across any of the three groups. Men with BDD and SPA were more likely than the controls to attempt to alter the shape or size of their penis (for example jelqing, vacuum pumps or stretching devices) with poor reported success. Conclusion Men with BDD are more likely to have erectile dysfunction and less satisfaction with intercourse than controls but maintain their libido. Further research is required to develop and evaluate a psychological intervention for such men with adequate outcome measures.
Vertical Intra-Industry Trade and the Division of Labor in East Asia

This paper investigates the deepening of the international division of labor and its effect on factor intensities in Japan, mainly focusing on the manufacturing sector. In the first half of the paper, we analyze factor contents of trade and find that Japan's factor content net-exports of capital and non-production labor grew rapidly while net-exports of production workers fell by a large amount. Interestingly, the decline in the factor content of net-exports of production workers was almost entirely caused by Japan's trade with China and Hong Kong. According to our decomposition analyses, however, most of the macro-economic change in the capital-labor ratio and the change in the skilled-labor ratio are attributable to a "within-industry" shift rather than a "between-industry" shift. Although we clearly see a drastic increase in VIIT and outsourcing to foreign countries, particularly to Asian countries, our empirical analysis provides only weak evidence that the deepening international division of labor contributes to the change in factor intensities in each industry. Our results suggest that specialization in the export of skilled-labor-intensive products may have contributed to the increase in the relative demand for skilled (professional, technical, managerial, and administrative) labor within industry. However at the same time, our results also imply that changes in trade patterns (specialization in capital-intensive production) did not offset the excess supply of capital in Japan. That is, Japan is not adequately specializing in the export of capital-intensive goods despite the fact that the price of capital is low and capital is abundant.
Housing policy and asset building: exploring the role of home ownership in East Asian social policy

Western societies promote home ownership in the belief that it provides a means to build up individual welfare and security, potentially offsetting the inadequacy of social security to meet needs in retirement. Some East Asian economies have long focused on advancing ‘asset building’ through housing policy. These efforts have two purposes: to use housing investment to drive economic development and to build family assets throughout life as a component of income protection for old age. These purposes work well in some countries but not as well in others. In policy terms, the common element among them is that governments promote home ownership as a component of social policy or as a complement to mainstream welfare. This article examines how home ownership fares as a form of asset-based welfare in selected East Asian countries (Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan) and considers the implications for understanding the role of institutions in development.
The pricing of risky assets in two emerging Asian markets—Korea and Taiwan

This study presents the results of empirical tests on the relationships between average stock returns and various measures of risk in two of the most important emerging Asian stock markets, Korea and Taiwan, over the period 1980–88. The findings show that the applicability of CAPM seems weak in both markets, particularly in Taiwan. In some subperiods, total risk appears to be a better risk measure in both markets. A comparison with other studies on Hong Kong and Singapore reveals that the inapplicability of the CAPM on emerging Asian markets is rather common.
Patent citations and knowledge spillovers: an analysis of Chinese patents registered in the USA

This paper examines US patent citation data and analyses how different firms in China affect knowledge spillovers. Patents granted by the US patent office to applicants located in China are collected along with their citation counts. Two kinds of patent citations, namely citations of previous patents and those of non-patent literature, are used to measure knowledge flows. In the empirical analysis, the negative binomial and zero-inflated count models are considered. The regression results suggest the existence of heterogeneity among firms of different ownership. In terms of knowledge spillovers, the US multinational corporations perform better than those from other western countries; Taiwanese companies outperform their counterparts from Hong Kong and Chinese private corporations contribute more than Chinese state-owned enterprises. These results have important policy implications for the development of a knowledge-intensive economy in China.