Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of Market Efficiency and its Periodicity: A Non-Bayesian Time-Varying Model Approach

Focusing attention on market efficiency varying with time, we develop a non-Bayesian time-varying model to examine whether the U.S. stock market has evolved or not. In particular, we estimate the time-varying impulse responses which is based on our non-Bayesian time-varying autoregressive model. The empirical results show that (1) the U.S. stock market evolves over time, and (2) the market efficiency in the U.S. stock market has a cyclical fluctuation with very long periodicity, from 30 to 40 years.
Fair pricing of deposit insurance. Is it possible? Yes. Is it desirable? No

This note elaborates on a recent article by Chan, Greenbaum and Thakor (1992) who contend that fairly priced deposit insurance is incompatible with free competition in the banking sector, in the presence of adverse selection. We show here that at soon as one introduces a real economic motivation from private banks to manage the deposits from the public, then fairly priced deposit insurance becomes possible. However, we also show that such a fairly priced insurance is never desirable, precisely because of adverse selection. We compute the characteristics of the optimal premium schedule, which trades off between the cost of adverse selection and the cost of ``unfair competition ''.
The barriers to customer responsive supply chain management

Purpose – It has been suggested that “customer responsive supply‐chain management” and “agile supply‐chain management” are necessary for the new competitive conditions. However, there is an enormous gap between the idealised prescription and actual practice. The aim of this paper is to examine, in some detail, the factors that can help to explain this mismatch between rhetoric and reality.Design/methodology/approach – To do so, it focuses on a “best‐case” situation – the retailer Marks and Spencer and its relations with its clothing suppliers. This company has traditionally been renowned, among other things, for the sophistication of its supply‐chain activities. The research reported here is based on detailed interviews with suppliers and buyers.Findings – The research reveals that the tenets of the customer responsive supply‐chain management model are technically feasible. But, the study also finds that even under circumstances where there is evidence that it works well, and produces valued outcomes, it .
Joint positioning and radio map generation based on stochastic variational Bayesian inference for FWIPS

Fingerprinting based WLAN indoor positioning system (FWIPS) provides a promising indoor positioning solution to meet the growing interests for indoor location-based services (e.g., indoor way finding or geo-fencing). FWIPS is preferred because it requires no additional infrastructure for deploying an FWIPS — achieving the position estimation by reusing the available WLAN and mobile devices, and is capable of providing absolute position estimation. For fingerprinting based positioning (FbP), a model is created to provide reference values of observable features (e.g., signal strength from access points (APs)) as a function of location during offline stage. One widely applied method to build a complete and an accurate reference database (i.e. radio map (RM)) for FWIPS is carrying out a site survey throughout the region of interest (RoI). Along the site survey, the readings of received signal strength (RSS) from all visible APs at each reference point (RP) are collected. This site survey, however, is time-consuming and labor-intensive, especially in the case that the RoI is large (e.g., an airport or a big mall). This bottleneck hinders the wide commercial applications of FWIPS (e.g., proximity promotions in a shopping center). To diminish the cost of site survey, we propose a probabilistic model, which combines fingerprinting based positioning (FbP) and RM generation based on stochastic variational Bayesian inference (SVBI). This SVBI based position and RSS estimation approach has three properties: i) being able to predict the distribution of the estimated position and RSS, ii) treating each observation of RSS at each RP as an example to learn for FbP and RM generation instead of using the whole RM as an example, and iii) requiring only one time training of the SVBI model for both localization and RSS estimation. We validate the proposed approach via experimental simulation and analysis. Compared to the FbP approaches based on a single-layer neural network (SNN), deep neural network (DNN) and k nearest neighbors (κNN), the proposed SVBI based position estimation outperforms them. The reduction of root mean squared error of the localization is up to 40% comparing to that of SNN based FbP. Moreover, the cumulative positioning accuracy, defined as the cumulative distribution function of the positioning errors, of the proposed FbP and κNN are 92% and 84% within 4 m, respectively. The improvement of the positioning accuracy is up to 8%. Regarding the performance of SVBI based RM generation, it is comparable to that of the manually collected RM and adequate for the applications, which require room level positioning accuracy.
Time Trends and Determinants of the Method of Payment in M&As

We examine the time trends and determinants of the method of payment in M&As spanning four decades. The fraction of mixed payments tripled from about 10% before the turn of the century to 30% in the new century, while the fraction of stock (cash) payments peaked (bottomed out) in the late 1990s but has since plunged (surged). We can explain a portion, but not all, of these trends using explanatory variables linked to adverse selection theory, taxation, and contracting costs. We also show that mixed payments are not merely hybrids between cash and stock payments, but have unique determinants and features.
Q Fever in Human and Livestock Populations in Oman

Abstract: In 2000, Q fever was documented for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman in two patients, one with chronic pericarditis and the other with acute pneumonia. In 2001, a study of a randomly selected group of 102 adult patients from different provinces in northern Oman, presenting to the University Hospital in Muscat with unrelated conditions (e.g., diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease), revealed that 10 (9.8%) were seropositive for previous Coxiella burnetii infection. Examination of sera from a randomly selected group of 54 healthy goats from eight different herds from three different provinces of Oman, obtained by the Veterinary Research Center in Muscat, revealed that 28 (52%) had been infected, and 5 sheep, each from one of four herds, were seropositive for C. burnetii. We suspect that Q fever is widely prevalent in human populations in Oman, and that infection is widespread in goat, and probably sheep and other livestock populations, throughout the country.
ProtTest: selection of best-fit models of protein evolution

SUMMARY Using an appropriate model of amino acid replacement is very important for the study of protein evolution and phylogenetic inference. We have built a tool for the selection of the best-fit model of evolution, among a set of candidate models, for a given protein sequence alignment. AVAILABILITY ProtTest is available under the GNU license from http://darwin.uvigo. es
Trends and Characteristics of the Turkish Party System in Light of the 2011 Elections

This article offers an analysis of basic trends in the post-1980 Turkish party system. How has the Turkish party system evolved during the last eight elections? How do these characteristics change with the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi)? Utilizing statistical methods informed by fieldwork conducted during the parliamentary elections of 2002, 2007, and 2011, the article suggests that Turkish elections exhibit unmistakable patterns of regionalization, which in turn have strongly contributed to the AKP's electoral ascendancy. Barring external shocks such as major economic crisis or leadership replacement, these regional patterns make it difficult for the opposition parties to effectively challenge the AKP.
Support kernels regression for NARMA system identification (SKRNARMA)

This paper deals with the identification of nonlinear systems using multi-kernel approach. First, we have improved the support vector regression (SVR) method in order to identify nonlinear complex system. Our idea consists of dividing the regressor vector in several blocks, and, for each one a kernel function is used. This blockwise SVR approach is called support kernel regression (SKR). Furthermore, we have proposed two methods, SKR(rbf-lin) and SKR(rbf-rbf). Second, the SKR approach is improved to deal with the problem of NARMA system identification. Therefore, a new method called support kernel regression for NARMA model (SKRNARMA) is suggested. The basic idea is to consider the terms of auto-correlation and cross-correlation of the nonlinearity of input output discrete time processes, and for every term a kernel function is used. An example of MIMO system is presented for qualitative comparison with the classical SVR approach based on a single kernel function. The results reveal the accuracy and the robustness of the obtained model based on our proposed (SKRNARMA)-based approach.
Estate Agents as Interpreters of Economic and Cultural Capital: The Gentrification Premium in the Sydney Housing Market

This article focuses on the role of real estate agents as interpreters of the relationship between housing aesthetics (taste) and price. The research includes an analysis of housing advertisements, observation of housing auctions, and interviews with real estate agents in the gentrified inner western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Adapting the work of Pierre Bourdieu on social class, the article argues that the relationship between housing taste and price captures the interaction of cultural and economic capital and that the intermediary role of the estate agent can be used to explore this. It concludes that the gentrification aesthetic is dynamic and increasingly demands economic capital at the expense of cultural capital (a gentrification premium) to maintain class distinction. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2001.
Health in women on long-term sick leave because of pain or mental illness

Mental illness and pain are common causes of long-term sick absence and major difficulties in vocational rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to investigate health in a group of women with pain or mental illness who had exhausted their days of sickness benefit. This cross-sectional study uses baseline data from 355 women on long-term sick leave participating in controlled intervention studies aiming at returning to work. The study population filled in a written questionnaire with questions of self-rated health and sleep quality and validated indexes of mental health, satisfaction with life and general self-efficacy. Clinical psychiatric screening was performed on 230 individuals. The study population had a mean age of 48.8 years (SD 8.4), with an average time on sick leave of 7.8 years (SD 3.2). Self-rated health and sleep quality was poor compared with other populations. In all, 80.1% had at least one psychiatric diagnosis according to the psychiatric screening, and the average numbers of psychiatric diagnoses were 2.2 (SD 1.9). Foreign-born women showed significantly higher levels of mental illness, poorer self-rated health and sleep quality and lower self-efficacy and life satisfaction than native Swedish women. Women with long sick leave because of mental illness and/or pain have poor self-rated health and sleep quality, high prevalence of mental illness and low self-efficacy and life satisfaction. Psychiatric screening suggests more extensive mental illness than what was stated on the sick leave certificates. The health of foreign-born women seems to be worse than that of native Swedish women.
agr-Dependent Interactions of Staphylococcus aureus USA300 with Human Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

The emergence of serious infections due to community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has fueled interest in the contributions of specific staphylococcal virulence factors to clinical disease. To assess the contributions of agr-dependent factors to the fate of organisms in polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), we examined the consequences for organism and host cells of feeding PMN with wild-type CA-MRSA (LAC) or CA-MRSA (LAC agr KO) at different multiplicities of infection (MOIs). Phagocytosed organisms rapidly increased the transcription of RNAIII in a time- and MOI-dependent fashion; extracellular USA300 (LAC) did not increase RNAIII expression despite having the capacity to respond to autoinducing peptide-enriched culture medium. HOCl-mediated damage and intracellular survival were the same in the wild-type and USA300 (LAC agr KO). PMN lysis by ingested USA300 (LAC) was time- and MOI-dependent and, at MOIs >1, required α-hemolysin (hla) as USA300 (LAC agr KO) and USA300 (LAC hla KO) promoted PMN lysis only at high MOIs. Taken together, these data demonstrate activation of the agr operon in human PMN with the subsequent production of α-hemolysin and PMN lysis. The extent to which these events in the phagosomes of human PMN contribute to the increased morbidity and mortality of infections with USA300 (LAC) merits further study.
Factors Affecting the Level of Depression and Life Satisfaction of Family Caregivers of Frail Older People in Korea

South Korea is rapidly becoming an aged society and with changing family structures there is increasing concern about the care of older people. This paper considers the well being of family carers of older people who suffer from dementia or a stroke. One hundred and sixty eight family caregivers, who were caring for elderly relatives, were selected and the major factors affecting their psychological well-being and proposals to improve their quality of life are identified and discussed.
The Norm of Consensus on the U.S. Supreme Court

For four decades scholars have sought to explain the rise of dissensus on the U.S. Supreme Court. While the specific explanations they offer vary, virtually all rest on a common story: during the nineteenth (and into the twentieth) century, the Supreme Court followed a norm of consensus. That is, the justices may have privately disagreed over the outcomes of cases but masked their disagreement from the public by producing consensual opinions. The problem with this story is that its underlying assumption lacks an empirical basis. Simply put, there is no systematic evidence to show that a norm of consensus ever existed on the Court. We attempt to provide such evidence by turning to the docket books of Chief Justice Waite (1874-1888) and making the following argument: if a norm of consensus induced unanimity on Courts of by-gone eras, then the norm may have manifested itself through public unanimity in the face of private conference disagreements. Our investigation, which provides systematic support for this argument and thus for the existence of a norm of consensus, raises important questions about publicly unified decision-making bodies, be they courts or other political organizations. ver the course of four decades, scholars have produced mounds of paper providing explanations for the cause of the dramatic phenomenon depicted in Figure 1: the rise of dissensus on the U.S. Supreme Court (e.g., Caldeira and Zorn 1998; Halpern and Vines 1977; Mason 1956; Murphy 1964; Pritchett 1948; Walker, Epstein, and Dixon 1988). 1 Certainly the specific reasons they offer vary (compare Goldman 1982 and Haynie 1992), but the underlying story contemporary scholars tell does not. During most of the nineteenth (and into the twentieth) century dissent rates remained low, so the story goes, because Supreme Court justices followed a norm of consensus, reflecting their belief that unanimity would "greatly strengthen the authority" of the Court and its rulings (Rehnquist 1996, 58; see also Beveridge 1919; Goebel 1971). That is, the justices may have privately disagreed over the outcomes of cases but they masked their disagreements from the public by producing consensual
Blast overpressure induced axonal injury changes in rat brainstem and spinal cord

Introduction: Blast induced neurotrauma has been the signature wound in returning soldiers from the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of importance is understanding the pathomechansim(s) of blast overpressure (OP) induced axonal injury. Although several recent animal models of blast injury indicate the neuronal and axonal injury in various brain regions, animal studies related to axonal injury in the white matter (WM) tracts of cervical spinal cord are limited. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the extent of axonal injury in WM tracts of cervical spinal cord in male Sprague Dawley rats subjected to a single insult of blast OP. Materials and Methods: Sagittal brainstem sections and horizontal cervical spinal cord sections from blast and sham animals were stained by neurofilament light (NF-L) chain and beta amyloid precursor protein immunocytochemistry and observed for axonal injury changes. Results: Observations from this preliminary study demonstrate axonal injury changes in the form of prominent swellings, retraction bulbs, and putative signs of membrane disruptions in the brainstem and cervical spinal cord WM tracts of rats subjected to blast OP. Conclusions: Prominent axonal injury changes following the blast OP exposure in brainstem and cervical spinal WM tracts underscores the need for careful evaluation of blast induced injury changes and associated symptoms. NF-L immunocytochemistry can be considered as an additional tool to assess the blast OP induced axonal injury.
Market discounts and shareholder benefits : Evidence from Australian REIT private placements

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of private placement announcements by Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs) on existing shareholders. The study examines 96 A-REIT private placements from January 2000 to December 2012. Design/methodology/approach – Utilising event study methodology the authors examine the impact on existing shareholders wealth by measuring the abnormal returns (AR) around the placement announcement. The authors extend the analysis to model the A-REITs ARs against a number of explanatory variables to investigate the possible drivers for the observed event study results. Findings – The results support the information signalling hypothesis, in that existing investors in A-REITs earn negative and significant cumulative ARs of −1.3 per cent over the three-day event window [−1, +1]. This result is in contrast to prior studies conducted on industrial firms, for example; Hertzel and Smith (1993), Krishnamurthy et al. (2005) and Wruck and Wu (2009). Practi.
Studies on UVC Treatment of Polyamide Fibers for Improved Adhesion on TPU and TPA

We report about current work which is aimed to improve the adhesion of melt processable elastomers onto relevant reinforcement materials by means of short wave UVC (ultraviolet C) light. Results of laboratory tests regarding UVC surface activation of polyamide fiber materials in air using low-pressure mercury lamps with 185 nm and 254 nm emissions are shown. The effect of irradiation on fiber strength was studied to find out suitable process parameters for providing the UVC treatment efficient but as gentle as possible to avoid negative effects on reinforcement properties. Application of a laboratory process for UVC pretreatment leads to significantly increased adhesion strength between the fibers and the melt processable elastomers on the base of TPA (polyamide) respectively TPU (polyurethane).
Purchasing Policy of New Containers Considering the Random Returns of Previously Issued Containers

A number of organizations sell products in containers that can be reused. The time from issue to return of an individual container is usually not known with certainty and there is a chance that the container is never returned (because of loss or irrepairable damage). Consequently, even under a level demand pattern new containers must be acquired from time to time. In this paper a purchasing policy of these new containers is determined for a finite time horizon so as to minimize the total purchasing and expected carrying costs under a prescribed service level. The associated stochastic model is reduced to a deterministic, dynamic lot-sizing problem with possible occurrence of negative net demand (demand minus return). A transformation into the usual nonnegative demand case allows us to apply well-known deterministic lot-sizing procedures to obtain the solution.
Differences in phenotype and function between spontaneously occurring melan‐A‐, tyrosinase‐ and influenza matrix peptide‐specific CTL in HLA‐A*0201 melanoma patients

Melanoma‐specific T cells can occur spontaneously or in response to vaccination or other therapies, but the frequency is much lower than observed in viral infections. The presence of tumor‐specific T cells does not necessarily translate into clinical regressions for a variety of reasons such as an insufficient frequency, activation state or homing capacity of the T cells or escape strategies of the tumor. Having screened melanoma patients prior to inclusion in vaccination trials for spontaneous tumor‐specific T cells either by Elispot or tetramer‐staining, we have identified 3 patients with sufficient numbers of tumor‐reactive T cells to more than 1 TAA and at least 1 virus‐antigen to perform phenotypic and functional analysis directly ex vivo. These stage IV melanoma patients showed specific CTL against melan‐A.A2, tyrosinase.A2 and influenza matrix peptide (IMP). A2 readily detectable in peripheral blood. T‐cell receptor (TCR) staining using the tetramer technology was combined with phenotypic characterization and functional assays. In contrast to IMP‐specific CTL, melanoma‐specific CTL were predominantly terminally differentiated effector cells. However, analysis of melan‐A‐ and tyrosinase‐specific T‐cell lines showed that only a part of the melanoma‐specific CTL were able to lyse peptide‐loaded target cells. Interestingly, the described phenotypic and functional differences of melan‐A‐ and tyrosinase‐specific CTL appeared not only between patients but were also evident within patients, suggesting that the immune response against various tumor antigens is regulated independently. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Quality of Retrospective Data An Examination of Long-Term Recall in a Developing Country

The literature on reporting error provides insights into the quality of retrospective reports, particularly as it pertains to short-term recall. Less is understood about the generalizability of these findings to longer-term retrospective reports. We review studies analyzing the quality of retrospective reports in the Malaysian Family Life Surveys (MFLS), fielded in Peninsular Malaysia in 1976 and 1988, and conclude that many of the data quality problems found previously are present in the MFLS. We summarize this literature, place studies based on the MFLS within the context of the reporting error literature, and discuss implications for the design of future surveys.