Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Mutual Funds Have Decreasing Returns to Scale? Evidence from Fund Mergers

Using mergers as shocks to fund size, I analyze the return-to-scale property of mutual funds. I find that acquiring funds’ performance deteriorates after experiencing a positive shock in size resulting from mergers, and liquidity plays an important role in the negative relationship between size and performance. I also find that the decline in performance is not due to higher performance prior to the merger, nor driven by higher integration costs after the event. These findings are consistent with mutual funds having decreasing returns to scale and thus provide empirical evidence that supports the theoretical model of Berk and Green (2004).
Short Run Import Dynamics in Turkey

We study the short-run dynamics of Turkish imports between 2003 and 2011 by applying Kalman filter to obtain time-varying parameters for income and exchange rate. In addition to total imports excluding energy, we use data based on broad economic activities in order to allow sectoral heterogeneity in income and exchange rate elasticities. Our results indicate that income is more important (compared to the exchange rate) in determining import growth in most of the sectors, though there is heterogeneity among sectoral responses. Moreover, we find that elasticities (especially for income) change over time, and the change is more prominent after the 2008 financial crisis. Finally, we find evidence of aggregation bias in income elasticity estimates, which increase in recent years.
Association of Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction With Risk of Hematoma Expansion in Patients With Deep Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Importance Hypertension is the strongest risk factor for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) involving deep brain regions, but it appears to be unknown if intensive blood pressure reduction in the acute care setting decreases hematoma expansion or improves outcomes in patients with deep ICH. Objective To determine whether intensive blood pressure reduction is associated with decreased risk of hematoma expansion and changes in 90-day modified Rankin Scale scores and if these associations are modified by the specific deep-brain nuclei involved. Design, Setting, and Participants This study is an exploratory analysis of the Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage-2 international, multicenter randomized clinical trial, which was conducted from May 2011 to September 2015, enrolled eligible patients with primary ICH, and followed up with them for 90 days. Patients who had ICH and complete neuroimaging data were included in the analysis. Data analysis was completed from July 2018 to December 2018. Exposures Participants were randomized to either intensive treatment (with a systolic blood pressure target of 110-139 mm Hg) or standard treatment (with a systolic blood pressure target of 140-179 mm Hg). Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was hematoma expansion, defined as an increase greater than 33% in hematoma volume between baseline and 24 hours. Functional outcome was evaluated 90 days after the ICH via the modified Rankin Scale. Results Of 1000 trial participants, 870 (87.0%) had deep ICH, of whom 780 (89.7%) had complete neuroimaging data (of 336 thalamic and 444 basal ganglia hemorrhages). The baseline characteristics of the intensive and standard treatment groups remained balanced in this subgroup of the original study. Intensive treatment was associated with a decreased risk of hematoma expansion in univariable analysis (odds ratio [OR], 0.62 [95% CI, 0.43-0.87]; P = .006) and multivariable analysis (OR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.42-0.88]; P = .009). This association was modified by the specific deep location of the ICH (OR, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.22-0.96]; interaction P = .02), with stratified analyses showing a reduction in risk of hematoma expansion with intensive vs standard treatment among basal ganglia ICH (OR, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.27-0.72]; P = .001) but not thalamic ICH (OR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.51-0.64]; P = .76). Intensive treatment was not associated with an improvement in the modified Rankin Scale score distribution. Conclusions and Relevance Compared with standard treatment, intensive blood pressure treatment was associated with reduced hematoma expansion in deep ICH, specifically among basal ganglia hemorrhages.
Household Net Wealth: An International Comparison

Household saving can be measured as either the difference between the flows of current income and expenditure, or through households’ balance sheets as changes in the stocks of accumulated net wealth. This paper examines household saving in New Zealand and other OECD countries, with particular focus on the stock of net wealth. The ratio of real assets to disposable income in New Zealand is close to OECD levels. However, household financial net wealth as a proportion of disposable income has been falling in New Zealand since the late 1980s, whereas it has been rising in other OECD countries. As a result, housing assets in New Zealand have become an increasing share of households' wealth portfolios. The implied savings rate from households’ balance sheets is significantly higher than the flow measure. Moreover, it follows the business cycle more closely, consistent with consumption smoothing behaviour by households.
Exchange Rate Changes and Inflation in Post-Crisis Asian Economies: VAR Analysis of the Exchange Rate Pass-Through

The pass-through effects of exchange rate changes on the domestic prices in the East Asian countries are examined using a VAR analysis including several price indices and domestic macroeconomic variables as well as the exchange rate. Results from the VAR analysis show that (1) the degree of exchange rate pass-through to import prices was quite high in the crisis-hit countries; (2) the pass-through to CPI was generally low, with a notable exception of Indonesia: and (3) in Indonesia, both the impulse response of monetary policy variables to exchange rate shocks and that of CPI to monetary policy shocks are positive, large and statistically significant. Thus, Indonesia's accommodative monetary policy as well as the high degree of the CPI responsiveness to exchange rate changes was important factors that resulted in the spiraling effects of domestic price inflation and sharp nominal exchange rate depreciation in the post-crisis period.
Spatial Downscaling of Gross Primary Productivity Using Topographic and Vegetation Heterogeneity Information: A Case Study in the Gongga Mountain Region of China

Due to the spatial heterogeneity of land surfaces, downscaling is an important issue in the development of carbon cycle models when evaluating the role of ecosystems in the global carbon cycle. In this study, a downscaling algorithm was developed to model gross primary productivity (GPP) at 500 m in a time series over rugged terrain, which considered the effects of spatial heterogeneity on carbon flux simulations. This work was carried out for a mountainous area with an altitude ranging from 2606 to 4744 m over the Gongga Mountain (Sichuan Province, China). In addition, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) GPP product at 1 km served as the primary dataset for the downscaling algorithm, and the 500 m MODIS GPP product was used as the reference dataset to evaluate the downscaled GPP results. Moreover, in order to illustrate the advantages and benefits of the proposed downscaling method, the downscaled results in this work, along with ordinary kriging downscaled results, spline downscaled results and inverse distance weighted (IDW) downscaled results, were compared to the MODIS GPP at 500 m. The results showed that (1) the GPP difference between the 500 m MODIS GPP and the proposed downscaled GPP results was primarily in the range of [−1, 1], showing that both vegetation heterogeneity factors (i.e., LAI) and topographic factors (i.e., altitude, slope and aspect) were useful for GPP downscaling; (2) the proposed downscaled results (R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 1.03) had a stronger consistency with the 500 m MODIS GPP than those of the ordinary kriging downscaled results (R2 = 0.43, RMSE = 1.36), the spline downscaled results (R2 = 0.40, RMSE = 1.50) and the IDW downscaled results (R2 = 0.42, RMSE = 1.10) for all Julian days; and (3) the inconsistency between MODIS GPP at 500 m and 1 km increased with the increase in altitude and slope. The proposed downscaling algorithm could provide a reference when considering the effects of spatial heterogeneity on carbon flux simulations and retrieving other fine resolution ecological-physiology parameters (e.g., net primary productivity and evaporation) over topographically complex terrains.
Cytokine-mediated cellular immune activation in electroconvulsive therapy: A CSF study in patients with treatment-resistant depression

Abstract Objectives: Evidence points towards an important relationship between the antidepressant effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and the modulation of the immune system. To further elucidate this interplay, we performed a study on the effects of the antidepressant treatment by ECT on 25 cytokines in patients with depression. Methods: We measured 25 different cytokines (interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1RA, Il-2, IL-2R, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 (p40/p70), IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon (IFN)-α, IFN-γ, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-1β, IFN-γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10), monokine induced by IFN-γ, Eotaxin, Rantes and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of 12 patients with a severe and treatment-resistant depressive episode before and after a course of ECT. Results: CSF levels of IP-10, IL-5 and IL-8 were elevated after ECT and more ECT sessions were associated with the differences of CSF levels before and after ECT of IFN-γ, IL-2RA, Rantes, IL-6 and IL-1β. Responders and/or remitters had a decrease of CSF levels of IL-17, MIP-1α, Rantes and IL-2R during ECT. CSF IP-10 levels increased less during ECT in patients who had a remission. Conclusions: Although the sample size was small, we found different effects of the ECT treatment per se and of the antidepressant action induced by ECT in CSF and blood.
The Impact of Top-Down Prediction on Emotional Face Processing in Social Anxiety

There is evidence that people with social anxiety show abnormal processing of emotional faces. To investigate the impact of top-down prediction on emotional face processing in social anxiety, brain responses of participants with high and low social anxiety (LSA) were recorded, while they performed a variation of the emotional task, using high temporal resolution event-related potential techniques. Behaviorally, we reported an effect of prediction with higher accuracy for predictable than unpredictable faces. Furthermore, we found that participants with high social anxiety (HSA), but not with LSA, recognized angry faces more accurately than happy faces. For the P100 and P200 components, HSA participants showed enhanced brain activity for angry faces compared to happy faces, suggesting a hypervigilance to angry faces. Importantly, HSA participants exhibited larger N170 amplitudes in the right hemisphere electrodes than LSA participants when they observed unpredictable angry faces, but not when the angry faces were predictable. This probably reflects the top-down prediction improving the deficiency at building a holistic face representation in HSA participants.
L1 retrotransposition is activated by Ten-eleven-translocation protein 1 and repressed by methyl-CpG binding proteins

ABSTRACT One of the major functions of DNA methylation is the repression of transposable elements, such as the long-interspersed nuclear element 1 (L1). The underlying mechanism(s), however, are unclear. Here, we addressed how retrotransposon activation and mobilization are regulated by methyl-cytosine modifying ten-eleven-translocation (Tet) proteins and how this is modulated by methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) proteins. We show that Tet1 activates both, endogenous and engineered L1 retrotransposons. Furthermore, we found that Mecp2 and Mbd2 repress Tet1-mediated activation of L1 by preventing 5hmC formation at the L1 promoter. Finally, we demonstrate that the methyl-CpG binding domain, as well as the adjacent non-sequence specific DNA binding domain of Mecp2 are each sufficient to mediate repression of Tet1-induced L1 mobilization. Our study reveals a mechanism how L1 elements get activated in the absence of Mecp2 and suggests that Tet1 may contribute to Mecp2/Mbd2-deficiency phenotypes, such as the Rett syndrome. We propose that the balance between methylation “reader” and “eraser/writer” controls L1 retrotransposition.
TRADE CREATION AND DIVERSION EFFECTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT OF U.S. SUGAR IMPORTS FROM MEXICO

A world sugar model consisting of 21 countries was developed to determine the effects of NAFTA of U.S. and Mexican sugar markets and to quantify the trade creation and diversion effects on U.S. imports from Mexico. Mexican sugar production increases under NAFTA, causing Mexico to become a net exporter. NAFTA induces sugar imports from Mexico to displace U.S. production, to meet demand expansion, and also to divert U.S. imports from other foreign suppliers to Mexico. Effects of NAFTA on the U.S. sugar market are small because of the side agreements which limit Mexican exports and which include corn sweetener consumption when computing Mexico's production surplus.
Design Principles for Communication Quality in Public E-forms : A Theoretical Synthesis

This paper adopts a communication perspective on public electronic forms (e-forms). By doing so we identify that forms are instruments for communication and, thus, also instruments through which citizens perform different communicative actions towards government agencies. As such instruments, the forms might be more or less easy to use. The purpose of this paper is to explore what features of an e-form that increase the communication quality. In the paper we conduct a theoretical synthesis of three existing approaches for analysing information systems. The result of this synthesis is a combined theory on key features of an eform that make the establishment of communication quality more likely. The result consists of four key concepts (relationship quality, action space, action comprehension, and assistance in performing actions), each of which give rise to one set of design principles for communication from the issuer of the form to the user (citizen), and one set of design principles for communication from the user (citizen) to the recipient of the form.
Parkinson’s Disease Subtypes Show Distinct Tradeoffs Between Response Initiation and Inhibition Latencies

Abstract Objectives: In unpredictable situations, individuals often show tradeoffs between response initiation and inhibition speeds. We tested the hypothesis that Parkinson’s disease (PD) motor subtypes differentially impact tradeoffs between these two action-oriented processes. We predicted that, compared to tremor dominant (TD) patients, predominant postural instability and gait dysfunction (PIGD) patients would show exacerbated tradeoffs between response initiation and inhibition in situations requiring the sudden potential need to interrupt an action. Methods: Fifty-one PD patients (subdivided into PIGD [n=27] and TD [n=24]) and 21 healthy controls (HCs) completed a choice reaction task to establish baseline response initiation speed between groups. Subsequently, participants completed a stop-signal task which introduced an occasional, unpredictable stop stimulus. We measured changes in initiation speed in preparation of an unpredictable stop (i.e., proactive slowing) and inhibition latency (i.e., stop-signal reaction time). Results: Compared to HCs, PD patients showed slower response initiation speeds in the choice reaction task. All groups showed proactive slowing in the stop-signal task but the magnitude was considerably larger in PIGD patients, almost twice as large as TD patients. PD patients, irrespective of motor subtype, showed longer inhibition latencies than HCs. Conclusions: PIGD and TD subtypes both showed exacerbated response inhibition deficits. However, PIGD patients showed much more pronounced proactive slowing in situations with an expected yet unpredictable need to stop action abruptly. This suggests that PIGD is accompanied by exaggerated tradeoffs between response initiation and inhibition processes to meet situational action demands. We discuss putative neural mechanisms and clinical implications of these findings. (JINS, 2017, 23, 665–674)
NESB and ESB students' attitudes and perceptions of plagiarism

Concern about plagiarism by students from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) has grown apace with the increased numbers of international students attending western institutions. We present an exploration of student attitudes, perceptions and understandings of intellectual property, particularly plagiarism and copyright, and explore potential differences between NESB and ESB (English speaking background) students. The results indicate that while NESB students are more likely have engaged in plagiarism than ESB students, plagiarism overall is very common and reflects a combination of disrespect for material from the Internet and significant confusion about what actually constitutes plagiarism.
A Stepwise Model of the Development of Lymphatic Vasculature

Abstract: Although lymphedema was first described more than a century ago, little progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms that cause it. Investigation of the normal development of the lymphatic system has been hindered by the lack of known lymphatic‐specific markers. In 1902, F. Sabin proposed the most widely accepted theory about the origin of the lymphatic vasculature. This model proposed that isolated primitive lymph sacs bud from the endothelium of veins during early development; from these primary lymph sacs, the peripheral lymphatic system spreads by endothelial sprouting into tissues where local capillaries form. In 1999, we identified the homeobox gene Prox1 as the first specific marker of lymphatic endothelial cells. Functional inactivation of Prox1 in mice demonstrated that lymphangiogenesis requires the activity of this gene in a subpopulation of endothelial cells in embryonic veins. Prox1 promotes the development of the lymphatic vasculature by determining the final lymphatic fate of budding venous endothelial cells. On the basis of our findings, we propose a stepwise model of lymphangiogenesis in which lymphatic vasculature development is initiated by the specific expression of Prox1 in a subpopulation of vascular endothelial cells that subsequently adopt a lymphatic vasculature phenotype.
How the Bundesbank Really Conducted Monetary Policy: An Analysis Based on Real-Time Data

Papers estimating the reaction function of the Bundesbank generally find that its monetary policy from the 1970s to 1998 can well be captured by a standard Taylor rule according to which the central bank responds to the output gap and to deviations of inflation from target, but not to monetary growth. This result is at odds with the Bundesbank´s claim that it followed a strategy of monetary targeting. This paper analyses whether this apparent contradiction is due to (a) the use of ex post data which do not necessarily match policy makers? real-time information sets and (b) the omission of important explanatory variables. Accordingly, we compile a real-time data set for Germany including the Bundesbank? s own estimates of potential output and use it to reestimate the Bundesbank? s reaction function. We find that the use of real-time data considerably changes the results. Moreover, when adding the change in the output gap as well as deviations of money growth from target to the set of explanatory variables, we find that both variables are highly significant. This suggests that the Bundesbank took its monetary targets seriously, but also responded to deviations of expected inflation and output growth from target.
Otoacoustic Emissions in Rural Nicaragua: Cost Analysis and Implications for Newborn Hearing Screening

Objective (1) Determine the incidence and risk factors for congenital hearing loss. (2) Perform cost analysis of screening programs. Study Design Proportionally distributed cross-sectional survey. Setting Jinotega, Nicaragua. Subjects and Methods Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) were used to screen 640 infants <6 months of age from neonatal intensive care unit, institutional, and home birth settings. Data on 15 risk factors were analyzed. Cost of 4 implementation strategies was studied: universal screening, screening at the regional health center (RHC), targeted screening, and screening at the RHC plus targeted screening. Cost-effectiveness analysis over 10 years was based on disability-adjusted life year estimates, with the World Health Organization standard of cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) / gross domestic product (GDP) <3, with GDP set at $4884.15. Results Thirty-eight infants failed the initial OAE (5.94%). In terms of births, 325 (50.8%) were in the RHC, 69 (10.8%) in the neonatal intensive care unit, and 29 (4.5%) at home. Family history and birth defect were significant in univariate analysis; birth defect was significant in multivariate analysis. Cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated that OAE screening is cost-effective without treatment (CER/GDP = 0.06-2.00) and with treatment (CER/GDP = 0.58-2.52). Conclusions Our rate of OAE failures was comparable to those of developed countries and lower than hearing loss rates noted among Nicaraguan schoolchildren, suggesting acquired or progressive etiology in the latter. Birth defects and familial hearing loss correlated with OAE failure. OAE screening of infants is feasible and cost-effective in rural Nicaragua, although highly influenced by estimated hearing loss severity in identified infants and the high travel costs incurred in a targeted screening strategy.
Calculation of the gluon damping rate in hot QCD.

We present a complete calculation of the gluon damping rate at zero momentum to leading order in the QCD coupling constant {ital g}. All terms of leading order in {ital g} are included by the resummation of an infinite subset of higher-loop diagrams. At zero momentum, the damping rates for transverse gluons and plasmons are equal: the result is {gamma}{congruent}+0.264 013{ital g}{sup 2}{ital T}, where {ital T} is the temperature. The sign is positive, which implies that the quark-gluon plasma is perturbatively stable.
Study on Fuzzy Self-Adaptive PID Control System of Biomass Boiler Drum Water

The paper discusses the features of the Biomass Boiler drum water level. Conventional PID Control System can not reach a satisfaction result in nonlinearity and time different from Biomass Boiler Drum Water Control System. In this study, a kind of fuzzy self-adaptive PID controller is described and this controller is used in biomass boiler’s drum water level control system. Using the simulink tool of MATLAB simulation software to simulate the fuzzy adaptive PID and conventional PID control system, the result of the comparison shows that the fuzzy self-adaptive PID has the strong anti-jamming, flexibility and adaptability as well as the higher control precision in Biomass Boiler Drum Water.