Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Attitudes to Risk Vary by Country?

This study examines whether risk attitudes differ internationally, finding some limited evidence of variation. National identity is less important in explaining risk attitudes than other factors such as gender, income and age. The study is motivated by previous research in the corporate use of derivatives which showed more speculative applications of derivatives in countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. There are a number of possible reasons for the international variation in speculative behaviour, including differing attitudes to risk. The study finds, however, that differing risk attitudes do not explain the speculative corporate use of derivatives in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Impact of Macroeconomic Conditions, Economic Development and Government Industrial Policy on Capital Structure of Firms: Evidence from Taiwan

The thesis examines the impact of macroeconomic conditions, economic development and government industrial policy on capital structure. These three macro-level factors have been neglected by most of the voluminous studies on capital structure that have emerged since Modigliani and Miller’s irrelevance propositions in 1958. Very few studies have examined the impact of macroeconomic conditions and economic development on capital structure. In the case of macroeconomic conditions, a few studies on capital structure have analysed this variable in the context of default risk or investor protections while, in regards to economic development, a handful of studies have found that the impact of economic development on capital structure varies amongst countries. No study on capital structure decisions has examined the impact of government industrial policy. Thus, the effect of these three important variables on capital structure is not yet clearly established in the literature. The thesis therefore addresses this knowledge gap. The investigation of these three factors is conducted based on the Partial Adjustment Model, i.e. PAM, of Capital Structure that the thesis reformulates. The thesis considers two important situations that have not been addressed by previous studies based on PAM – when firms are under financial constraint of either over-leverage or under-leverage relative to their target capital structure. Unlike previous studies, the thesis investigates macroeconomic conditions, economic development and government industrial policy guided by the agency theory of capital structure and with consideration given to growth opportunities. The thesis research is undertaken in the context of Taiwan – a country that has recently joined the ranks of developed countries after successfully transforming itself from being a Third World country, and
Exhibition layout, values, and benefits of tourism of two crafts museums

Abstract Since 2003, Taiwanese government aggressively promoted industrial tourism development for facing the economic structures challenges; moreover, the enhancement of tourist values through various software and hardware exhibitions and services are crucial topics for tourism factory tourism developments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the values and benefits associated with factory tourism. Evaluation items were used to investigate the influence of implications in exhibition layout on tourist values and its effect on the benefits of tourism. Two crafts museums, the winners of ‘excellent tourism factory’, were investigated. The results show that exhibit experience, service management, and theme design reached significance in value which functional value exerted the most influence on the benefits of tourism. Also, findings of the relationship between exhibit layout and factories suggested that individual strengths, strengthening insufficiencies, and reviewing exhibition layout items that optimally generate tourist values and benefits is conducive to improved resource investment planning.
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH ON FUTURE OUTPUT GROWTH Evidence from a Panel of East Asian Countries

Total factor productivity (TFP) has gained increased importance as it has been helpful in accelerating the rate of economic growth in developed countries. The East Asian Countries (EACs) have also followed the developed countries. There has been a debate among growth economists whether the unprecedented growth of these countries has been factor-driven or productivity- driven. In this backdrop, the present study has tested the predictability of TFP for economic growth in four EACs (Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand) using the fixed effects regression model and the pooled regression model over the period 1970-2004. The study concludes that productivity growth is a significant source of output growth as well as of investment growth. Further, the countries under study converge to their own steady state paths.
Technology Accumulation and the Division of Labour between China, Taiwan and Japan: Taiwanese Automotive Parts, and Die and Mould Firms in China

This paper seeks to analyze changes in the technical division of labour of Taiwanese automotive parts, and die and mould manufacturers in China using empirical data from a 2010 survey conducted in Kunshan. The evidence shows that these firms have upgraded considerably through strong technical collaboration with firms and imports of capital equipment from Japan. Both competition and cooperation have played an important role in the advancement of Taiwanese component and parts firms. The division of labour of automobile parts and dies and moulds appear to show firms in Japan and Taiwan enjoying cutting edge and intermediate technologies, while those in China are characterized by low end technology. However, owing to intense competition, the catching up speed of Chinese firms in China has accelerated and the gap has narrowed.
Dispersal Modes and Spatial Patterns of Tree Species in a Tropical Forest in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

We characterized the dispersal modes and spatial patterns of 128 tree species in a tropical semi-evergreen forest of Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. A high percentage of species are animal-dispersed (78%), while about 22% (28) are dispersed abiotically (wind or gravity-dispersed). Of the animal-dispersed species, 54 species were primarily bird-dispersed, 25 were mammal-dispersed, and 21 were dispersed by both groups. We hypothesized that adult tree distribution patterns were related to dispersal mode and fruit size. We predicted that tree species with mechanisms for long-distance seed dispersal are likely to show more uniform or random spatial patterns than those with limited seed dispersal. Tree species with large fruits were also predicted to have greater levels of clumping than those that have small fruits. However, all tree species had a clumped distribution pattern. At the community level, we found no differences in spatial patterns based on dispersal mode for a subset of 50 tree species. Fruit size was, however, positively correlated with higher levels of spatial aggregation suggesting that tree species distributions are to an extent limited by dispersal. The importance of dispersal mode in determining adult tree distribution patterns at the community level may be obscured by interacting effects of other factors such as patchy habitat conditions and density-dependent mortality factors at different life-history stages that ultimately determine adult tree distributions.
Maoist Control and Level of Civil Conflict in Nepal

Was the Maoist influence during the insurgency in Nepal stronger in districts with high rates of poverty and inequality? In contrast to previous studies, we limit the analysis to the hill/mountain districts as very few terai (plains) districts were classified as Maoist. And we conduct separate analyses for Maoist control and level of conflict. We find that income poverty and land inequality were high in Maoist districts, while the less visible income inequality was not so important. We also demonstrate that previous findings by Murshed and Gates (2005), where landlessness appears to be important, are due to two outliers that are the core Maoist districts. Without the outliers landlessness is negatively, and not positively, correlated with Maoist influence.
Economic Integration and Structure Change in Stock Market Dependence: Empirical Evidences of CEPA

This study investigates dependence structure changes between the Hong Kong and Chinese stock markets as a result of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). Four copulas, Gaussian, student t, Gumbel, and Clayton are used to search for unknown dependence structure changes. This study presents two main findings. First, the dependence between the Hong Kong and Chinese stock markets increased significantly following the structure change that occurred on February2, 2005, about one year after CEPA took effect. Second, the distribution of dependence structure altered from Gumbel copula before the structure change to t copula after the structure change. CEPAâ€™s effects not only changed the dependence parameters but also changed the dependence structureâ€™s distribution.
Knowledge Management in Collaborative Manufacturing Food Companies Performances: Twin Impacts of Learning and Innovation

The purpose of this approach is to establish the twin impacts of organizational innovation (OI) with organizational learning (OL) in the relation between knowledge management (KM) and organizational performance (OP). 168 companies of manufacturing Food Company were chosen from Malaysia, Taiwan, China and path analysis is used to analyse the underlying hypotheses. The research framework under study contain four latent variables (OP; OL; KM; OI) and three observed indicators (firm type; firm size; firm age). Structural equation modelling include mediation and moderation analysis were used in this study. The obtained results support the literature regarding the relationship among these four constructs and prove that the combination of OI and OL is mediator in the linkage between KM and firm performance. Moreover, firm age, size and type are acting as moderators among the research latent variables. The introduced model can be consider as a basic framework for technology management modelling studies. Limitation and implications for future studies are discussed.
English and Chinese Children’s Performance on Numerical Tasks

East Asian pupils have consistently outperformed Western pupils in international comparisons of mathematical performance at both primary and secondary school level. It has sometimes been suggested that a contributory factor is the transparent counting systems of East Asian languages, which may facilitate number representation. The present study compared 35 7-year-old second-year primary school children in Oxford, England and 40 children of similar age in Hong Kong, China on a standardized arithmetic test; on a two-digit number comparison test, including easy, misleading and reversible comparisons; and on a number line task, involving placing numbers in the appropriate position on four number lines: 1–10, 1–20, 1–100, and 1–1000. The Chinese children performed significantly better than the English children on the standardized arithmetic test. They were faster but not significantly more accurate on the Number Comparison and Number Line tasks. There were no interactions between language group and comparison type on the number comparison task, though the performance of both groups was faster on easy pairs than those where there was conflict between the relative magnitudes of the tens and the units. Similarly, there were no interactions between group and number line range, though the performance of both groups was influenced by the range of the number line. The study supports the view that counting systems affect aspects of numerical abilities, but cannot be the full explanation for international differences in mathematics performance.
The Impacts of Foreign Capital and Price Discovery Process between Taiwan and Singapore Futures Contracts

This paper investigates the cross-market linkage between Singapore and Taiwan futures markets for the pre- and post-participation of qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) in Taiwan futures' trading. We employ error correction model and generalized impulse response function to gauge the causal transmission patterns between the two markets. The two markets cointegrated after the participation of QFIIs in Taiwanese market, suggesting that QFIIs play an important role between the two markets. We also find that Singapore futures market performs the price discovery of Taiwan stock index futures.
Pre-Earthquake Processes : A Multidisciplinary Approach to Earthquake Prediction Studies

Pre-Earthquake signals are advanced warnings of a larger seismic event. A better understanding of these processes can help to predict the characteristics of the subsequent mainshock. Pre-Earthquake Processes: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Earthquake Prediction Studies presents the latest research on earthquake forecasting and prediction based on observations and physical modeling in China, Greece, Italy, France, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, and the United States.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND CHANGING VOTING PATTERNS IN HUNGARY

After nearly half a century of single-party communist dictatorship Hungary returned to a pluralist democratic system in 1989-1990. The electoral system that was designed hastily before the first post-communist elections held in March 1990 remained intact for two decades. Combining geographical representation (single candidates) and proportional party representation (party-lists) according to the German model, it provided a solid basis for six consecutive parliamentary elections. However, due to demographic processes and migration the size of electoral districts became very much disproportionate already by the early 2000s. Nevertheless, the elaboration of a new electoral law became possible only after the landslide victory of Orbán’s conservative party (FIDESZ) in 2010, with two-thirds majority in the Hungarian parliament. The new law was finally accepted by the house in November 2011. The mixed nature of the electoral system was kept, however, the total number of MPs was nearly halved, and the boundaries of the single member electoral districts were redrawn substantially. The new electoral system was tested in the parliamentary elections in April 2014. This paper provides an overview about the changes of the Hungarian electoral system and its consequences for political representation. Based on the results of the 2014 Hungarian parliamentary elections the paper also explores the geographical bias of the new Hungarian electoral system with special attention to malapportionment and partisan gerrymandering.
Antibody responses to periodontopathic bacteria in relation to rheumatoid arthritis in Japanese adults.

BACKGROUND Periodontopathic bacteria have been implicated as contributory to the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies and rheumatoid factor (RF) were shown to be associated with RA. This study examines whether serum levels of antibodies to periodontopathic bacteria may affect clinical and laboratory profiles of RA. METHODS The study participants consisted of 80 patients with RA, and 38 age-, sex-, smoking status-, and periodontal condition-balanced healthy controls. After periodontal and rheumatologic examination, serum levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) (previously Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans), and Eikenella corrodens (Ec) and those of anti-CCP antibodies and RF were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS Patients with RA showed significantly higher levels of anti-Pg and anti-CCP antibodies than controls (P = 0.04 and P <0.0001). In contrast, IgG responses to Aa and Ec in patients with RA were significantly lower than those in controls (P <0.0001 and P = 0.0001). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association of anti-Pg and anti-Aa IgG responses with RA, after adjustment for age, sex, and smoking (P = 0.005 and P = 0.02). Anti-Pg titer displayed a significant correlation with RF levels, probing depth, and clinical attachment level (P = 0.03, P = 0.03, and P = 0.02). CONCLUSION These results suggest that serum levels of anti-Pg IgG antibodies were associated with RA, and might affect serum levels of RF and periodontal condition in patients with RA.
Effects of environmental factors and omega-3 fatty acids on rheumatoid arthritis

With a prevalence that has been estimated to be 0.5%±0.2% and a female predominance, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents the most common chronic systemic autoimmune rheumatism. Typically, RA is characterized by polyarticular pain, morning stiffness, fatigue, joint and bone inflammation and destruction (1). A more severe evolution is encountered in RA patients with an age lower than 50 years at diagnosis, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptides (anti-CCP) autoantibody (Ab) positivity, IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) at elevated levels (>50 UI/mL), and bone erosions (2,3). RA appears to present geographical variations with an apparent reduction from north to the south, and from urban to rural areas (4).
The Determinants of Pakistan’s Bilateral Trade and Trade Potential with World: A Gravity Model Approach

Nonlinear measurement of gravity model with PPML regression technique has become admired for modeling international trade flows since it approves a better accounting for zero flows and excessive values in distribution tail. In the present study, we have endeavored to investigate the bilateral trade milieu of Pakistan with 198 trading cohorts over the time epoch (1992-2016) 25 years and to stumble on latent markets in case of Pakistan’s bilateral trade. The empirical results revealed that market size, bilateral exchange rates, income differential, common religion, border, and trade agreements positively influence bilateral trade volume while bilateral distance and landlocked countries showed a negative relationship towards bilateral trade of Pakistan with rest of the world. The outcome also illustrates that the trade pattern of Pakistan hinges on the Heckscher-Ohlin (H-O) theory, therefore, can be explained by the dissimilarity in factor endowments whereas the WTO membership does not have any influence on bilateral trade of Pakistan. Pakistan owns satisfactory potential to enhance its bilateral trade with nearly 102 countries. The highest potential lies with countries Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Somalia, Hong Kong, Iran and USA whereas actual trade has exceeded with countries like China, Oman, Spain, UAE, Germany, and the UK. Hence, there is need to address all measures to improve bilateral trade with potential countries moreover per se Pakistan can perhaps decrease or handle the trade discrepancy by targeting these economies, to bring about a reasonable quality in mutual trading relations.
Evolution of COVID-19 pandemic: Power law growth and saturation

In this paper, we analyze the real-time infection data of COVID-19 epidemic for 21 nations up to April 20, 2020. We observe that China, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, and Switzerland have flattened their infection curves. For these nations, the total number of infected individuals (I(t)) exhibits a succession of exponential growth and power-law growth (t2,t,{surd}t in sequence) before flattening of the curve. USA, Italy, UK, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Netherlands, India, and Sri Lanka have reached up to the linear growth (I(t) [~] t), but they are yet to flatten their curves. Russia and Singapore are still in the exponential growth regime. Such features of I(t) curves could be used for understanding and forecast of the epidemic evolution. Besides this detailed analysis, we compare the predictions of an extended SEIR model and a delay differential equation-based model with the reported infection data, and observed a general agreement between them.
Subacute Thyroiditis After Sars-COV-2 Infection

Abstract Context Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a thyroid disease of viral or postviral origin. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that began in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly worldwide and Italy has been severely affected by this outbreak. Objectives The objective of this work is to report the first case of SAT related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods We describe the clinical, laboratory, and imaging features of an 18-year-old woman who came to our attention for fever, neck pain radiated to the jaw, and palpitations occurring 15 days after a SARS-CoV-2–positive oropharyngeal swab. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been mild and the patient had completely recovered in a few days. Results At physical examination the patient presented with a slightly increased heart rate and a painful and enlarged thyroid on palpation. At laboratory exams free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine were high, thyrotropin undetectable, and inflammatory markers and white blood cell count elevated. Bilateral and diffuse hypoechoic areas were detected at neck ultrasound. One month earlier, thyroid function and imaging both were normal. We diagnosed SAT and the patient started prednisone. Neck pain and fever recovered within 2 days and the remaining symptoms within 1 week. Thyroid function and inflammatory markers normalized in 40 days. Conclusions We report the first case of SAT after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. We alert clinicians to additional and unreported clinical manifestations associated with COVID-19.
Venous Thromboembolism Risk and Thromboprophylaxis Assessment in Surgical Patients Based on Caprini Risk Assessment Model

Purpose Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the most common preventable cause of hospitalization-associated mortality. In the absence of optimal prophylaxis and depending on the type of surgery and patient-related factors, the risk of developing VTE increases by 10% to 50%. We aimed to assess VTE risk and thromboprophylaxis among surgical patients hospitalized at surgical wards of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Materials and Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from September 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Data were collected using a pretested observational checklist which is prepared based on the VTE Caprini risk assessment model. Then, the collected data were checked for completeness and finally entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results Out of 155 admitted patients, almost equal numbers of males (49.68%) and females (50.32%) participated in the study with a mean age of 41.87±16.84 and an age range of 13 to 89 years. Undergoing major surgery, resting in bed for more than 3 days and having acute infections (including pneumonia) were the most frequently seen VTE risk factors. Most of the study participants (135, 87.10%) were at risk of developing VTE (>1 Caprini risk score), and 47.11% were in the highest risk category (≥5 Caprini score). The maximum and minimum total risk scores were 19 and 1, respectively with a mean score of 4.53±2.31. Among patients who were at risk of developing VTE and eligible for thromboprophylaxis, only 17.78% received thromboprophylaxis and two ineligible patients received prophylaxis. Parental unfractionated heparin twice or three times per day was the most widely used thromboprophylaxis regimen. A total of 29 (18.71%) patients had one or more contraindication(s) for thromboprophylaxis and three of them took prophylaxis despite the contraindications. Only 3 (1.93%) patients admitted to surgical wards developed VTE during hospitalization. Conclusion As per the Caprini risk assessment model, the majority of surgical patients treated at TASH were at risk of developing VTE. However, thromboprophylaxis was underutilized. The incidence of VTE was 1.93% in our study.