Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SHORT TERM INTEREST RATES IMPACT ON GHANA STOCK MARKET

The study examines the joint impact of interest rate and Treasury bill rate on stock market returns on Ghana Stock Exchange over the period between January 1995 and December 2011. Using Johansen’s Multivariate Cointegration Model and Vector Error Correction Model the study establish that there is cointegration between Interest rate, Treasury bill rate and stock market returns indicating long run relationship. On the basis of the Multiple Regression Analysis (OLS) carried out by Eviews 7 program, the results shows that Treasury bill rate and interest rate both have a negative relationship with stock market returns but are not significant. These results show that interest rate and Treasury bill rate have both negative relationship but weak predictive power on stock market returns independently. The study conclude that interest rate and Treasury bill rate jointly impact on stock market returns in the long run.
Evaluating the long-term metacommunity dynamics of tree hole mosquitoes.

Four different conceptual models of metacommunities have been proposed, termed "patch dynamics," "species sorting", "mass effect", and "neutral". These models simplify thinking about metacommunities and improve our understanding of the role of spatial dynamics both in structuring communities and in determining local and regional diversity. We tested whether mosquito communities inhabiting water-filled tree holes in southeastern Florida, U.S.A. , displayed any of the characteristics and dynamics predicted by the four models. The densities of the five most common species in 3-8 tree holes were monitored every two weeks during 1978-2003. We tested relationships between habitat variables and species densities, spatial synchrony, the presence of life history trade-offs, and species turnover. Dynamics showed strong elements of species sorting, but with considerable turnover, as predicted by the patch dynamics model. Consistent with patch dynamics, there was substantial asynchrony in dynamics for different tree holes, substantial species turnover in space and time, and an occupancy/colonization trade-off. Substantial correlations of density and occupancy with tree hole volume were consistent with the species-sorting model, but unlike this model, species did not have permanent refuges. No evidence of mass effects was found, and correlations between habitat variables and dynamics were inconsistent with neutral models. Our results did not match a single model and therefore caution against overly simplifying metacommunity dynamics by using one dynamical characteristic to select a particular metacommunity perspective.
Spectral-luminosity relation within individual Fermi gamma rays bursts

We study the spectra of all long gamma ray bursts (GRBs) of known redshift detected by the Fermi satellite untill the end of July 2009. Their fluxes and fluences are large enough to allow a time dependent study of their spectral characteristics in the 8 keV–1 MeV energy range. We find that the peak energy Epeak of their EL(E) spectrum correlates with the luminosity in a remarkably tight way within individual bursts. This time-resolved Epeak − Liso correlation is very similar for all the considered bursts and has a slope and normalisation similar to the analogous Epeak − Liso correlation defined by the time-integrated spectra of different bursts detected by several different satellites. For a few of the considered GRBs, we could also study the behaviour of the Epeak − Liso correlation during the rising and decaying phases of individual pulses within each burst, finding no differences. Our results indicate the presence of a similar physical mechanism, operating for the duration of different GRBs, tightly linking the burst luminosity with the peak energy of the spectrum emitted at different times. Such a physical mechanism is the same during the rise and decay phase of individual pulses composing a GRB. While calling for a robust physical interpretation, these results strongly indicate that the Epeak −Liso spectral energy correlation found considering the time-integrated spectra of different bursts is real and not the result of instrumental selection effects.
Can a retail environment be simulated by photographs?

ABSTRACT Photographs are commonly used in store atmospherics research, although their ecological validity lacks conclusive support. To this end, we examine the effect of different representation media of a retail environment (i.e. one photograph, three photographs, or a real store visit) on customer experience, satisfaction, and behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. Two studies examine the robustness of our findings across low- and high-experience stores. The results show that only in the high-experience store environment, a real store visit results in a significantly higher average perceived customer experience. Moreover, the chosen representation medium affects satisfaction and behavioural loyalty in both store types. Again, a real store visit results in higher scores. Upon studying low-experience stores and/or focusing on attitudinal loyalty as the outcome variable, pictures, however, do seem to be ecologically valid. To conclude, whether it is safe to simulate a retail environment with photographs depends on the particular retail context and the outcome variables under study.
A Comparison of Structural Correspondence Learning and Self-training for Discriminative Parse Selection

This paper evaluates two semi-supervised techniques for the adaptation of a parse selection model to Wikipedia domains. The techniques examined are Structural Correspondence Learning (SCL) (Blitzer et al., 2006) and Self-training (Abney, 2007; McClosky et al., 2006). A preliminary evaluation favors the use of SCL over the simpler self-training techniques.
A Comparative Study of Variables Influencing Ischemic Injury in the Longa and Koizumi Methods of Intraluminal Filament Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion in Mice

The intraluminal filament model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice and rats has been plagued by inconsistency, owing in part to the multitude of variables requiring control. In this study we investigated the impact of several major variables on survival rate, lesion volume, neurological scores, cerebral blood flow (CBF) and body weight including filament width, time after reperfusion, occlusion time and the choice of surgical method. Using the Koizumi method, we found ischemic injury can be detected as early as 30 min after reperfusion, to a degree that is not statistically different from 24 h post-perfusion, using 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. We also found a distinct increase in total lesion volume with increasing occlusion time, with 30–45 min a critical time for the development of large, reproducible lesions. Furthermore, although we found no significant difference in total lesion volume generated by the Koizumi and Longa methods of MCAO, nor were survival rates appreciably different between the two at 4 h after reperfusion, the Longa method produces significantly greater reperfusion. Finally, we found no statistical evidence to support the exclusion of data from animals experiencing a CBF reduction of <70% in the MCA territory following MCAO, using laser-Doppler flowmetry. Instead we suggest the main usefulness of laser-Doppler flowmetry is for guiding filament placement and the identification of subarachnoid haemorrhages and premature reperfusion. In summary, this study provides detailed evaluation of the Koizumi method of intraluminal filament MCAO in mice and a direct comparison to the Longa method.
Impacts of 21st century sea-level rise on a Danish major city – an assessment based on fine-resolution digital topography and a new flooding algorithm

This study examines the potential impact of 21st century sea-level rise on Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, emphasizing the economic risk to the city's real estate. Furthermore, it assesses which possible adaptation measures that can be taken to prevent flooding in areas particularly at risk from flooding. We combine a new national Digital Elevation Model in very fine resolution (~2 meter), a new highly computationally efficient flooding algorithm that accurately models the influence of barriers, and geospatial data on real-estate values to assess the economic real-estate risk posed by future sea-level rise to Aarhus. Under the A2 and A1FI (IPCC) climate scenarios we show that relatively large residential areas in the northern part of the city as well as areas around the river running through the city are likely to become flooded in the event of extreme, but realistic weather events. In addition, most of the large Aarhus harbour would also risk flooding. As much of the area at risk represent high-value real estate, it seems clear that proactive measures other than simple abandonment should be taken in order to avoid heavy economic losses. Among the different possibilities for dealing with an increased sea level, the strategic placement of flood-gates at key potential water-inflow routes and the construction or elevation of existing dikes seems to be the most convenient, most socially acceptable, and maybe also the cheapest solution. Finally, we suggest that high-detail flooding models similar to those produced in this study will become an important tool for a climate-change-integrated planning of future city development as well as for the development of evacuation plans.
Corpus-based Acquisition of Collocational Prepositional Phrases

Collocational prepositional phrases like ten koste van (at the expense of), met het oog op (with an eye on), and onder het mom van (under the pretext of) are patterns of the form P-NP-P, which have a non-compositional semantics and which are syntactically rigid or idiosyncratic. We present a number of linguistic tests which set such items apart from regularly built prepositional phrases. To find candidate strings which should be included in a computational lexicon as collocational prepositional phrases, we extract all instances of the relevant pattern from a corpus annotated with POS tags, Next, we introduce a number of statistical tests (mutual information, log-likelihood, and chi(2)) to find those instances which behave like strong collocations. The strongest collocations according to the statistical tests are compared with lists of such items presented elsewhere, and were evaluated by human judges.
Challenging students with high abilities in inclusive math and science classrooms

ABSTRACT The overall purpose of this study was to better understand how US math and science teachers perceived and supported the learning of high-ability students in inclusive, urban general education classrooms. Specifically, drawing on the literature on self-regulated learning (SRL), this study explored to what extent teachers (N = 58): (1) perceived high-ability learners as self-regulated learners, and (2) encouraged these students to engage in strategies aligned with the research on SRL. Both quantitative and qualitative data confirmed that teachers’ perceptions of high-ability students were mixed. For example, high-ability learners were largely described as mastery-oriented and self-regulated, but teachers also noted that these students do not always: (1) set goals; (2) have accurate self-perceptions; or (3) monitor their understanding. Findings also suggest that teachers struggled to meet the needs of high-ability students in inclusive classrooms, often leaving high-ability students to work independently so that they could attend to their less-abled peers. Overall, these findings point to the need for further professional development opportunities focused on differentiating instruction for high-ability learners.
Dealing with wireless links in the ERA of bandwidth demanding wireless home entertainment

Wireless home entertainment is strongly emerging in the consumer market. This is happening thanks to various number of home appliances that can connect wireless to the Internet, as witnessed by the recent launch of Sony Bravia. For this reason there is an interest, in the research community, to design and develop the protocol architecture of Home Entertainment Centers (HECs). HECs are entertainment hubs capable to handle heterogeneous media, thus behaving as gateways, and to support the main multimedia services (e.g., TVs, game consoles, etc.) at home. As the interactivity of these services is crucial to guarantee a satisfactory quality of service to the end user, it is important to understand which protocols HECs have to use to exchange data and how these perform on a home wireless link. Following recent findings that confirm that TCP still occupies the lion share of Internet residential traffic, the scope of this paper is to show that among the most used and popular candidates, TCP Westwood is capable to best adapt to a home scenario that entails an increase of the bandwidth requirements and a widespread use of wireless connections.
Cortical connections of inferior temporal area TEO in macaque monkeys

In macaque monkeys, lesions involving the posterior portion of the inferior temporal cortex, cytoarchitectonic area TEO, produce a severe impairment in visual pattern discrimination. Recently, this area has been shown to contain a complete, though coarse, representation of the contralateral visual field (Boussaoud, Desimone, and Ungerleider: J. Comp. Neurol. 306:554–575, '91). Because the inputs and outputs of area TEO have not yet been fully described, we injected a variety of retrograde and anterograde tracers into 11 physiologically identified sites within TEO of seven rhesus monkeys and analyzed the areal and laminar distribution of its cortical connections.
Scalable CMOS power devices with 70% PAE and 1, 2 and 3.4 Watt output power at 2GHz

This paper reports RF power devices achieving 70% power-added efficiency (PAE) with 1, 2 and 3.4W output power at 2GHz. The power devices operate as sub-optimum class-E power amplifiers, having the advantage of 1.6 times higher output power with a slightly lower PAE than conventional class-E. The power devices use high voltage extended-drain NMOS (ED-NMOS) transistors in standard 65nm CMOS. A scalable layout design that we used preserves the high PAE for the various output power levels.
Discussion of 'What Works Among Active Labour Market Policies: Evidence from OECD Countries' Experiences'

John Martin has written an excellent overview paper on the nature, role and consequences of active labour market policies. He considers the (strong) rationale for active versus passive labour market expenditure, describes the main results from an extensive evaluation literature, and offers practical suggestions concerning successful program design. I am confident that the paper will become a widely cited reference for this important policy area; it is a major contribution to the conference. The paper is accurate and balanced, which can be a dilemma for a discussant. This is resolved in what follows by offering some complementary observations and some suggestions for an alternative research approach. I do this with respect to the critical policy question: do labour market programs work?
Visual Recognition of American Sign Language Using Hidden Markov Models.

Abstract : Using hidden Markov models (HMM's), an unobstrusive single view camera system is developed that can recognize hand gestures, namely, a subset of American Sign Language (ASL). Previous systems have concentrated on finger spelling or isolated word recognition, often using tethered electronic gloves for input. We achieve high recognition rates for full sentence ASL using only visual cues. A forty word lexicon consisting of personal pronouns, verbs, nouns, and adjectives is used to create 494 randomly constructed five word sentences that are signed by the subject to the computer. The data is separated into a 395 sentence training set and an independent 99 sentence test set. While signing, the 2D position, orientation, and eccentricity of bounding ellipses of the hands are tracked in real time with the assistance of solidly colored gloves. Simultaneous recognition and segmentation of the resultant stream of feature vectors occurs five times faster than real time on an HP 735. With a strong grammar, the system achieves an accuracy of 97%; with no grammar, an accuracy of 91% is reached (95% correct).
The Effects of Grit and Academic Self-Efficacy on Major Satisfaction among Students in Health-Related College Majors

Background/Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of grit and academic self-efficacy on major satisfaction for students in health-related majors. Method/Statistical Analysis: Self-report questionnaire were consisted grit, self-efficacy, major satisfaction scale and completed by 290 university students in health-related majors. The collected data were analyzed with the SPSS 22 software program using ANOVA,Scheffe post-hoc test, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression. Findings: The grit score was higher in the male students (M=3.03) than in the female students (M=2.89). Academic self-efficacy was higher among the male students (M=3.24) than among the female students (M=2.97) and higher in the seniors (M=3.11) than in the juniors (M=2.95). Grit and academic self-efficacy were not significantly dependent on the major. The results of a multiple regression analysis were found that academic self-efficacy had a positive (+) effect on major satisfaction (β=.349,p<.001). Among the subfactors, perseverance of effort and self-control efficacywas found to have a significant positive (+) effect on major satisfaction. Improvements/Applications: Educational and counseling programs may need to be developed to help the students establish long-term goals and develop their capabilities in regard to making continuous efforts to accomplish the goals.
The Dangers of Academic Bubble Economy from a Young Researcher’s Perspective

In recent years, it is becoming common to apply the metaphor of „economic bubble” to the description of certain phenomena in the academic field. The metaphor is generally used to refer to the difference between the expectable market value of the degree and the investments needed to receive it (see Deresiewicz 2011, Williams 2011, Wood 2011, Reynolds 2012). The analogy is with the economic phenomenon, in particular, the market value of a particular asset, which does not reflect the intrinsic value of that asset. The starting point of the current study is the hypothesis that the situation above gives us the opportunity to reconsider the analogy and to make it specific from the viewpoint of a conversion strategy, where the focus is shifted from economic to cultural capital. Accordingly, we will try to present a possible (Bourdieuian) application of the „bubble” concept, where the postulated sphere of validity is the academic field, in which we will examine how cultural capital is objectified and how objectified cultural capital can be converted into its institutionalised form. The primary focus of this examination will be the presentation of the simulacra of objectivised cultural capital, using different perspectives, touching upon its construction, functioning, and pointing out ways to expose it. We will also deal briefly with a difference in valuation, where the scientific value of objectified cultural capital is disparate with the field value of the institutionalised capital which can be gained through it. Finally, we would also like to address a few pragmatic viewpoints of the creation of cultural capital especially important for a young researcher. In this study—taking the relevant parts of the Bourdieuian capital theory (1986: 244–248.) as a basis—we will work with three types of cultural capital: 1. Embodied: non-objectified skills and scientific competence, 2. Objectified variants of the above: here, mainly, published texts of scientific value
Analysis of contagion from the dynamic conditional correlation model with Markov Regime switching

ABSTRACT Over the last decades, the transmissions of international financial events have been the subject of many academic studies focused on multivariate volatility models. This study evaluates the financial contagion between stock market returns. The econometric model employed, regime switching dynamic correlation (RSDC). A modification was made in the original RSDC model, the introduction of the GJR-GARCH-N and also GJR-GARCH-t models, on the equation of conditional univariate variances, thus allowing us to capture the asymmetric effects in volatility and also heavy tails. A database was built using series of indices in the United States (S&P500), the United Kingdom (FTSE100), Brazil (IBOVESPA) and South Korea (KOSPI) from 1 February 2003 to 20 September 2012. Throughout this study the methodology is compared with those frequently found in literature, and the model RSDC with two regimes was defined as the most appropriate for the selected sample with t-Student distribution in the disturbances. The adapted RSDC model used in this article can be used to detect contagion – considering the definition of financial contagion from the World Bank called very restrictive – with the help of the empirical exercise.
Class-based continuous query scheduling for data streams

Wireless sensor networks link the physical and digital worlds enabling both surveillance as well as scientific exploration. In both cases, on-line detection of interesting events can be accomplished with continuous queries (CQs) in a Data Stream Management System (DSMS). However, the quality-of-service requirements of detecting these events are different for different monitoring applications. The CQs for detecting anomalous events (e.g., fire, flood) have stricter response time requirements over CQs which are for logging and keeping statistical information of physical phenomena. In this work, we are proposing the Continuous Query Class (CQC) scheduler, a new scheduling policy which employs two-level scheduling that is able to handle different ranks of CQ classes. It provides the lowest response times for classes of critical CQs, while at the same time keeping reasonable response times for the other classes down the rank. We have implemented CQC in the AQSIOS prototype DSMS and evaluated it against existing scheduling policies under different workloads.
Early Reflection Thresholds for Anechoic and Reverberant Stimuli within a 3-D Sound Display

Data on auditory thresholds for virtual acoustic reflections were obtained from 9 participants as a function of spatial position, time delay and stimulus type in a simulated 5.1 surround sound listening room environment. First-order reflections (3, 15 and 30 ms) were determined from a ray-tracing model of the listening room; their level was manipulated to simulate the overall effects of absorptive treatment. The direction of the reflection varied from 0 – 164 degrees offset from the direction of the simulated direct sound (corresponding to either the center or the right surround channel). Absolute thresholds (perception of any type of change) were measured at the 70.7% level using a one up-two down staircase algorithm, for anechoic and reverberant speech stimuli, and for tone burst stimuli (125, 250, 500, 1k, 2k and 4k Hz). For anechoic speech and tone stimuli, the threshold was 12 – 31 dB below the level of the direct sound; the addition of a reverberant decay (mid-band T30 = .6 s) raised thresholds by 7 dB. The results were in good agreement with previous threshold studies using real sound sources. The information is useful for determining engineering parameters for the real-time simulation of virtual acoustic environments, such as head-mounted displays that include head tracking.