Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Monetary Policy Shocks on a Panel of Stock Market Volatilities : A Factor-Augmented Bayesian VAR Approach

This paper investigates the response of stock market volatility to a monetary policy shock using a structural factor-augmented Bayesian vector autoregressive (FAVAR) model. We construct a monthly dataset of realized volatilities of the constituents of the S&P500 index and extract volatility factors from this dataset using a suitable dynamic factor model (DFM). The volatility factors are included in a structural FAVAR model where the dynamic response of stock market volatility to a monetary policy shock is analyzed. This approach does not only allow us to study the response of the aggregate market volatility but also the responses of all the volatilities of the single stocks and the different sectors included in the dataset. In general, the results show that the stock market returns decrease and the stock market volatility increases following a monetary policy tightening. Although the magnitude of the volatility response to monetary policy shocks varies between the different stocks and sectors, the dynamics of the response does not differ widely. Both the magnitude and dynamics of the volatility response depend on the sample period examined.
Spatial Big Data : Case Studies on Volume , Velocity , and Variety

Increasingly, the size, variety, and update rate of spatial datasets exceed the capacity of commonly used spatial computing and spatial database technologies to learn, manage, and process data with reasonable effort. We believe that this data, which we call Spatial Big Data (SBD), represents the next frontier in spatial computing. Examples of emerging SBD include temporally detailed roadmaps that provide traffic speed values every minute for every road in a city, GPS trajectory data from cell-phones, and engine measurements of fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, etc. A 2011 McKinsey Global Institute report defines traditional big data as data featuring one or more of the 3 “V’s”: Volume, Velocity, and Variety. This chapter discusses Spatial Big Data through case-studies on real-world datasets that feature one or more of the 3 “V’s”: a study on change detection in climate data illustrates volume, a study on finding anomalies in real-time highway traffic sensors shows Velocity, and two studies on Variety demonstrate both variety in input and output. Spatial data has traditionally challenged traditional data querying and mining algorithms, requiring new and interesting algorithms to be developed. Spatial Big Data highlights these challenges and provides for a rich area of research.
Dorsal Medial Prefrontal Cortex Plays a Necessary Role in Rapid Error Prediction in Humans

Activity in human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is correlated with errors, near-misses, and response conflict. Based on these observations, this region has been cast as playing a central role in models of error processing, conflict monitoring, and cognitive control. However, clear evidence that this region of the brain is necessary for these processes has been elusive. We studied the effects of damage to this region on four different error-related measures in five patients, and 19 healthy participants. Most error-related indices were not affected by such damage: patients had intact post-error slowing, and were able to report and to correct errors after they were made with accuracies comparable with the control group. However, all five patients were notably slow to correct errors, suggesting a deficit in on-line error prediction. This slowing was associated with impairment in the conscious prediction of error likelihood before a response. This finding constitutes important converging evidence for a critical role for human dACC in error monitoring, and sheds light on the selectivity and timing of the error-related process affected by dACC damage.
The Porn Gap: Differences in Men's and Women's Pornography Patterns in Couple Relationships

ABSTRACT Perhaps the most notable finding of pornography research to date is the sizeable gender gap that exists between men and women when it comes to their personal use and acceptance of pornography. This disparity raises a number of questions about couple formation patterns and the relationship dynamics that arise between men and women related to pornography use. In this study, the authors used both a nationally representative weighted data set of individuals who are in committed heterosexual couple relationships (n = 21,555) and a subset of matched heterosexual couples (n = 2,972 individuals; 1,486 couples) to examine romantic partners' pornography use rates, patterns of viewing pornography alone or together, relationship boundaries related to pornography acceptance, and pornography-related conflict. The authors found that there is indeed a notable “pornography gap” between many partners and that for some opposite-sex couples there is significant conflict related to pornography. These findings highlight the importance of studying pornography as a couple issue that is contextualized by partners' relationship scripts and negotiated boundaries related to sexuality, compatibility, and fidelity.
Organizational Media Affordances: Operationalization and Associations with Media Use

The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in organizational contexts. However, almost no research operationalizes affordances, limiting comparisons and programmatic research. This article briefly reviews conceptualizations and possibilities of affordances in general and for media, then introduces the concept of organizational media affordances as organizational resources. Analysis of survey data from a large Nordic media organization identified six reliable and valid organizational media affordances: pervasiveness, editability, self-presentation, searchability, visibility, and awareness. Eight media scales based on frequency of use of 10 media within each of three organization levels were differentially associated with these affordances. The conceptualization, measurement approach, and results from this study provide the foundation for considerable future organizational communication and ICT research.
High correlations between temperature and nitric oxide in the thermosphere

Obtaining accurate predictions of the neutral density in the thermosphere has been a long‐standing problem. During geomagnetic storms the auroral heating in the polar ionospheres quickly raises the temperature of the thermosphere, resulting in higher neutral densities that exert a greater drag force on objects in low Earth orbit. Rapid increases and decreases in the temperature and density may occur within a couple days. A key parameter in the thermosphere is the total amount of nitric oxide (NO). The production of NO is accelerated by the auroral heating, and since NO is an efficient radiator of thermal energy, higher concentrations of this molecule accelerate the rate at which the thermosphere cools. This paper describes an improved technique that calculates changes in the global temperature of the thermosphere. Starting from an empirical model of the Poynting flux into the ionosphere, a set of differential equations derives the minimum, global value of the exospheric temperature, which can be used in a neutral density model to calculate the global values. The relative variations in NO content are used to obtain more accurate cooling rates. Comparisons with the global rate of NO emissions that are measured with the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry instrument show that there is very good agreement with the predicted values. The NO emissions correlate highly with the total auroral heating that has been integrated over time. We also show that the NO emissions are highly correlated with thermospheric temperature, as well as indices of solar extreme ultraviolet radiation.
Immunogenicity and safety of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine when administered to healthy Japanese adults aged ≥50 years

This open-label study was designed to assess immunogenicity and safety of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) when administered to Japanese adults aged ≥50 years not previously vaccinated with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and to compare this Japanese study population with similar study populations in the United States (US; 50–64 years age group) and European Union (EU; ≥65 years age group). Functional antibody immune responses were measured by opsonophagocytic activity assays. Immune responses in both Japanese age groups showed significant pre/postvaccination fold rises for each serotype. In the Japanese 50–64 years age group, immune responses for the majority of serotypes were significantly lower than in the ≥65 years Japanese age group and generally lower than in the 50–64 years age group in the US study. Immune responses in the Japanese ≥65 years age group were significantly higher for the majority of serotypes compared with the ≥65 years age group in the EU study. The safety profiles across age groups and studies were generally similar. In conclusion, PCV13 elicited robust immune responses in the Japanese study population. The unanticipated higher immune responses observed in the older age group in the Japanese study are of interest and of potential benefit given the higher incidence of pneumococcal disease in older adults. PCV13 was well tolerated and safe.
Mental Health of the Industrial Worker

This book is a study of car workers. It sets out indices of mental health, which can be assessed by a questionnaire and interview, and traces their relation to occupational levels, job satisfactions, characteristics ? f the job, personal characteristics and various aspects ? f the worker's orientation. There are, of course, already many opinions on this, based on impressions a.nd inferences; the author's aim is to provide statisucally valid evidence. The indices chosen were Anxiety, self-esteem, hostility, sociability, overall satisfaction with life, and personal morale. No doubt, each ? ne may be questioned, but the evidence of their 'nter-relatedness carried some conviction. The findings will surprise few observers, e.g. that mental health is poorer at lower occupational levels, that this is not due to previous background or personality, but depends on job satisfaction? in particular, on the job's opportunity for using ability to the full. Indeed, it may be objected that it has taken a tremendous amount of work and talk to tell us
Diagnosing essential fatty acid deficiency.

To the Editor: Dr Gould and colleagues reported the effects of an intensive cholesterol-lowering program using mostly low-fat diets.1 To monitor essential fatty acid (EFA) status, they measured the ratio 20:3ω9/20:4ω6 (triene/tetraene or T/T ratio). The authors stated that a ratio >0.4 in serum phospholipids indicates EFA deficiency (p 1532). In 1987, Siguel et al2 3 showed that measures of T/T currently in use were in error by a factor ≥10. The use of old technology, which had inadequate peak separation and erroneous peak integration, led to huge errors in measuring 20:3ω9. When 20:3ω9 was properly measured, T/T ratios >0.02 (in whole plasma) indicated EFA deficiency. For healthy people, T/T ratios in red blood cells (RBCs), RBC phospholipids, and serum phospholipids, which reflect the subject’s plasma levels, give reference values that are >10 times below the values reported by Dr Gould (Siguel, unpublished data, 1997). The T/T reference values used by Gould et al appear to be too high and would account for the statement that “no patient showed evidence of EFA deficiency. ” If we seek to detect abnormal cholesterol using a method that can only measure cholesterol >1000 mg/dL, most patients would be found to have normal cholesterol, and saturated fat and obesity would be found not to increase cholesterol. Patients are unlikely to develop the severe EFA deficiencies that would have dramatic symptoms, such as substantial hair loss, overt clinical dermatitis, and T/T ratios >0.4; this would require severe depletion of EFAs over a period of many years. However, biochemical evidence of EFA deficiency can be detected in patients after several months on a low-fat diet when appropriate technology is used. Insufficient levels of EFAs, a condition I characterized as EFA insufficiency (EFAI),4 and imbalance of the ω3/ω6 ratios is associated with abnormal lipid levels, …
Chemogenetic Activation of ipRGCs Drives Changes in Dark-Adapted (Scotopic) Electroretinogram

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of activating melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) on dark-adapted (scotopic) electroretinograms (ERG). Methods We used mice (Opn4Cre/+) expressing cre recombinase in melanopsin-expressing cells for a targeted gene delivery of a chemogenetic Gq-coupled receptor, hM3Dq, to ipRGCs. Intraperitoneal injection of clozapine N-oxide (CNO) at 5 mg/kg was used for acute activation of hM3Dq and thus excitation of ipRGCs in darkness. Dark-adapted flash ERGs were recorded across a 9-fold range of irradiances from hM3Dq Opn4Cre/+ and control Opn4Cre/+ mice before and after intraperitoneal injection of CNO. A- and b-wave amplitudes and implicit times and oscillatory potentials (OPs) were analyzed. Paired-flash stimuli were used to isolate cone-driven responses. Results Clozapine N-oxide application suppressed a- and b-wave amplitudes of the dark-adapted ERG across the flash intensity range in hM3Dq Opn4Cre/+ mice compared to control mice. Examination of the normalized irradiance-response functions revealed a shift in b-wave but not a-wave sensitivity. No changes in a- and b-wave implicit times were detected. Total OP amplitudes were also reduced in hM3Dq Opn4Cre/+ mice compared to controls following CNO administration. The paired-flash method revealed reduction in both the first (rods and cones) and second (cones only) flash response. Conclusions Acute and selective activation of ipRGCs modulates the amplitude of both a- and b-waves of the scotopic ERG, indicating that the influence of this ganglion cell class on the retinal physiology extends to the photoreceptors as well as their downstream pathways.
Aβ Mediated Diminution of MTT Reduction—An Artefact of Single Cell Culture?

The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) reduction assay is a frequently used and easily reproducible method to measure beta-amyloid (Aβ) toxicity in different types of single cell culture. To our knowledge, the influence of Aβ on MTT reduction has never been tested in more complex tissue. Initially, we reproduced the disturbed MTT reduction in neuron and astroglia primary cell cultures from rats as well as in the BV2 microglia cell line, utilizing four different Aβ species, namely freshly dissolved Aβ (25-35), fibrillar Aβ (1-40), oligomeric Aβ (1-42) and oligomeric Aβ (1-40). In contrast to the findings in single cell cultures, none of these Aβ species altered MTT reduction in rat organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHC). Moreover, application of Aβ to acutely isolated hippocampal slices from adult rats and in vivo intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ also did not influence the MTT reduction in the respective tissue. Failure of Aβ penetration into the tissue cannot explain the differences between single cells and the more complex brain tissue. Thus electrophysiological investigations disclosed an impairment of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices from rat by application of oligomeric Aβ (1-40), but not by freshly dissolved Aβ (25-35) or fibrillar Aβ (1-40). In conclusion, the experiments revealed a glaring discrepancy between single cell cultures and complex brain tissue regarding the effect of different Aβ species on MTT reduction. Particularly, the differential effect of oligomeric versus other Aβ forms on LTP was not reflected in the MTT reduction assay. This may indicate that the Aβ oligomer effect on synaptic function reflected by LTP impairment precedes changes in formazane formation rate or that cells embedded in a more natural environment in the tissue are less susceptible to damage by Aβ, raising cautions against the consideration of single cell MTT reduction activity as a reliable assay in Alzheimer's drug discovery studies.
Polymeric Biodegradable Stent Insertion in the Esophagus

Esophageal stent insertion has been used as a well-accepted and effective alternative to manage and improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with esophageal diseases and disorders. Current stents are either permanent or temporary and are fabricated from either metal or plastic. The partially covered self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) has a firm anchoring effect and prevent stent migration, however, the hyperplastic tissue reaction cause stent restenosis and make it difficult to remove. A fully covered SEMS and self-expanding plastic stent (SEPS) reduced reactive hyperplasia but has a high migration rate. The main advantage that polymeric biodegradable stents (BDSs) have over metal or plastic stents is that removal is not require and reduce the need for repeated stent insertion. But the slightly lower radial force of BDS may be its main shortcoming and a post-implant problem. Thus, strengthening support of BDS is a content of the research in the future. BDSs are often temporarily effective in esophageal stricture to relieve dysphagia. In the future, it can be expect that biodegradable drug-eluting stents (DES) will be available to treat benign esophageal stricture, perforations or leaks with additional use as palliative modalities for treating malignant esophageal stricture, as the bridge to surgery or to maintain luminal patency during neoadjuvant chemoradiation.
Romové očima pedagogů základních a středních škol

The current views on the Roma expressed by Czechprimary and secondary school teachers In this article, we deal with the topic ofattitudes towards the Roma minority expressed byprimary and secondary school teachers. We presentthe findings of our research carried out in 2014–2015.First, we introduce the basic theoretical concepts behind the term “multiculturalism” as well as the broadterm “Roma identity”. We then describe our methodology and research techniques. In the central part ofour paper, we focus our interpretation on the specificways teachers perceive the Roma minority, such as theascription of characteristics or traits. Their perceptionis usually influenced by personal experience with Romastudents. We presume that the teachers’ attitudes caninfluence the attitudes of their students. We will alsoshow that their negative approach towards the Romacan be transferred onto the students in the form ofmisrepresentations and stereotyping.
Joint Phrase Alignment and Extraction for Statistical Machine Translation

The phrase table, a scored list of bilingual phrases, lies at the center of phrase-based machine translation systems. We present a method to directly learn this phrase table from a parallel corpus of sentences that are not aligned at the word level. The key contribution of this work is that while previous methods have generally only modeled phrases at one level of granularity, in the proposed method phrases of many granularities are included directly in the model. This allows for the direct learning of a phrase table that achieves competitive accuracy without the complicated multi-step process of word alignment and phrase extraction that is used in previous research. The model is achieved through the use of non-parametric Bayesian methods and inversion transduction grammars (ITGs), a variety of synchronous context-free grammars (SCFGs). Experiments on several language pairs demonstrate that the proposed model matches the accuracy of the more traditional two-step word alignment/phrase extraction approach while reducing its phrase table to a fraction of its original size.
Evidence of heterarchical planning within higher education institutions: learning garden planning and development at Rowan University

Sheri K. Barnes EVIDENCE OF HETERARCHIAL PLANNING WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: LEARNING GARDEN PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AT ROWAN UNIVERSITY 2006/07 Dr. Burton Sisco Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes during the early stages of planning for an educational garden at Rowan University. This study also attempted to fill the gap in the literature that exists between garden planning and development and planning at higher education institutions. The investigator surveyed 20 committee members involved in this large-scale project, in addition to interviewing six committee members who were considered key stakeholders and have displayed high levels of involvement during the initial stages of the project. Participants were administered a Likert-scale survey that looked for the emergence of heterarchial practices during the development of the Rowan University Learning Garden. The interviews were conducted to develop a deeper understanding the elements of heterarchy. Survey data suggested that while committee members support interdisciplinary projects that are relevant to the institution's culture, such projects might lack clear communication and direction. The interview data indicate this project has emerging elements of heterarchy, though some of the participants expressed financial concerns, unclear direction, and lack of project development. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following individuals for their contribution to this research: Rowan University Learning Garden Committee Members-the research would not have been possible without their enthusiasm about the Learning Garden and their valuable input. Peggy Schoen, Director of Government Grants-for allowing me to work as an intern in her department and her wonderful guidance during my research. Dr. Burton Sisco-for taking the time to provide scholarly feedback and encouragement during the research process and my entire graduate school experience. My fiance, Shawn-your support, love, and understanding have been unwavering during my research. This would not have been written without you.
Advancing ecological understandings through technological transformations in noninvasive genetics

Noninvasive genetic approaches continue to improve studies in molecular ecology, conservation genetics and related disciplines such as forensics and epidemiology. Noninvasive sampling allows genetic studies without disturbing or even seeing the target individuals. Although noninvasive genetic sampling has been used for wildlife studies since the 1990s, technological advances continue to make noninvasive approaches among the most used and rapidly advancing areas in genetics. Here, we review recent advances in noninvasive genetics and how they allow us to address important research and management questions thanks to improved techniques for DNA extraction, preservation, amplification and data analysis. We show that many advances come from the fields of forensics, human health and domestic animal health science, and suggest that molecular ecologists explore literature from these fields. Finally, we discuss how the combination of advances in each step of a noninvasive genetics study, along with fruitful areas for future research, will continually increase the power and role of noninvasive genetics in molecular ecology and conservation genetics.