Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Human Capital Investment in the Developing World: An Analysis of Praxis

Document Type Seminar Paper Date of Original Version 2011 Abstract Human capital has been identified as a key stimulus of economic development. This paper evaluates the efficacy of human capital development (HCD) practices in the developing world. Drawing predominantly from classical human capital theory, I developed a tentative framework to evaluate national skills development efforts. It determines the efficacy of HCD practices, by matching workforce skills to the level of technological development and national training objectives. A look at national training policies in Singapore, South Africa and India, suggests that developing countries need to adopt a nuanced approach to HCD to be competitive in the global market. This study questions the long term viability of current practices in some developing countries, and draws attention to the need to modify current HCD practice. Emphasizing the strategic role, basic education, collaboration, coordination and targeting, play in the emergence of country-specific HCD practices, which develops workforce from lower skills to higher skills equilibrium (HSE). The paper shows that when these strategic approaches are adopted in developing countries, they can efficiently harness human capital to create competitive advantages and surplus value, which could be used to upgrade technology and diversify economic activity, facilitating economic growth.  Download
Hemispatial neglect, electroencephalographic correlates and the effect of short wavelength light on spatial inattention

65 PERCEPTUAL DECISION-MAKING . 66 MODELING PERCEPTUAL DECISION-MAKING AND HEALTHY AGING . 67 UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTUAL DECISION-MAKING USING HUMAN ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY 68 METHOD . 70 PARTICIPANTS. 71 MATERIALS & PROCEDURE. 71 ANALYSIS . 73 EEG ACQUISITION AND PREPROCESSING . 73 DATA EXCLUSION . 74 EEG DATA EXTRACTION . 74 INFERENTIAL ANALYSIS . 75 RESULTS . 75 BEHAVIOURAL RESULTS . 75 DISCUSSION. 79 REFERENCES . 83 CHAPTER THREE: ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY REVEALS EVIDENCE FOR IPSILESIONAL ADAPTATION IN RIGHT HEMISPHERE SPATIAL NEGLECT . 90
Dissociation of Frontal and Medial Temporal Lobe Activity in Maintenance and Binding of Sequentially Presented Paired Associates

Substructures of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the medial-temporal lobe are critical for associating objects presented over time. Previous studies showing frontal and medial-temporal involvement in associative encoding have not addressed the response specificity of these regions to different aspects of the task, which include instructions to associate and binding of stimuli. This study used a novel paradigm to temporally separate these two components of the task by sequential presentation of individual images with or without associative instruction; fMRI was used to investigate the temporal involvement of the PFC and the parahippocampal cortex in encoding each component. Although both regions showed an enhanced response to the second stimulus of a pair, only the PFC had increased activation during the delay preceding a stimulus when associative instruction was given. These findings present new evidence that prefrontal and medial-temporal regions provide distinct temporal contributions during associative memory formation.
Stock return prediction based on Bagging-decision tree

There is a vast amount of financial information on companies' financial performance. This information is of great interest for different stakeholders, i.e., stockholders, creditors, auditors, financial analysts, and managers. For stakeholders it is important to extract relevant performance information of the companies they are interested in. As a common method for classification and prediction, decision tree has merits, such as intelligible, rapid, and simple. In this paper, we design a financial statement analysis using decision tree. Fifty financial ratios are selected to predict the direction of one-year-ahead earnings changes. A Bagging technique is introduced to improve the classification accuracy of decision tree. Other methods are also examined in order to make comparison. The results show that, compared with the standard-decision tree model and Boosting-decision tree model, the Bagging-decision tree model works better in stock return prediction.
Distributed and Antagonistic Contributions of Ongoing Activity Fluctuations to Auditory Stimulus Detection

Recent studies have shown that ongoing activity fluctuations influence trial-by-trial perception of identical stimuli. Some brain systems seem to bias toward better perceptual performance and others toward worse. We tested whether these observations generalize to another as of yet unassessed sensory modality, audition, and a nonspatial but memory-dependent paradigm. In a sparse event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging design, we investigated detection of auditory near-threshold stimuli as a function of prestimulus baseline activity in early auditory cortex as well as several distributed networks that were defined on the basis of resting state functional connectivity. In accord with previous studies, hits were associated with higher prestimulus activity in related early sensory cortex as well as in a system comprising anterior insula, anterior cingulate, and thalamus, which other studies have related to processing salience and maintaining task set. In contrast to previous studies, however, higher prestimulus activity in the so-called dorsal attention system of frontal and parietal cortex biased toward misses, whereas higher activity in the so-called default mode network that includes posterior cingulate and precuneus biased toward hits. These results contradict a simple dichotomic view on the function of these two latter brain systems where higher ongoing activity in the dorsal attention network would facilitate perceptual performance, and higher activity in the default mode network would deteriorate perceptual performance. Instead, we show that the way in which ongoing activity fluctuations impact on perception depends on the specific sensory (i.e., nonspatial) and cognitive (i.e., mnemonic) context that is relevant.
Cooperative-competitive genetic evolution of radial basis function centers and widths for time series prediction

In a radial basis function (RBF) network, the RBF centers and widths can be evolved by a cooperative-competitive genetic algorithm. The set of genetic strings in one generation of the algorithm represents one REP network, not a population of competing networks. This leads to moderate computation times for the algorithm as a whole. Selection operates on individual RBFs rather than on whole networks. Selection therefore requires a genetic fitness function that promotes competition among RBFs which are doing nearly the same job while at the same time promoting cooperation among RBFs which cover different parts of the domain of the function to be approximated. Niche creation resulting from a fitness function of the form |w(i)|(beta)/E(|w(i')|(beta)), 1<beta<2 can facilitate the desired cooperative-competitive behavior. The feasibility of the resulting algorithm to evolve networks of Gaussian, inverse multiquadric, and thin-plate spline RBFs is demonstrated by predicting the Mackey-Glass time series. For each type of RBF, and for networks of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, and 150 RBF units, prediction errors for the evolved Gaussian RBF networks are 50-70% lower than RBF networks obtained by k-means clustering.
Regularized HPE-Type Methods for Solving Monotone Inclusions with Improved Pointwise Iteration-Complexity Bounds

This paper studies the iteration-complexity of new regularized hybrid proximal extragradient (HPE)-type methods for solving monotone inclusion problems (MIPs). The new (regularized HPE-type) methods essentially consist of instances of the standard HPE method applied to regularizations of the original MIP. It is shown that its pointwise iteration-complexity considerably improves the one of the HPE method while approaches (up to a logarithmic factor) the ergodic iteration-complexity of the latter method.
Fuzzy Logic for Enhancing the Sensitivity of COCOMO Cost Model

The accuracy of algorithmic models for software cost prediction is limited due to their inability to handle imprecision and uncertainties associated with the software project attributes like size, programmer experience, etc. This paper enhances the accuracy and sensitivity of one of a widely used models COCOMO81 intermediate by incorporating a fuzzy component into the model. The fuzzy component deals with the vagueness and imprecision of the model’s cost drivers. MATLAB fuzzy toolbox was used in implementing the proposed fuzzy model. Artificial datasets was derived from COCOMONASA2 dataset to evaluate the proposed fuzzy model. The results showed that the sensitivity of the proposed fuzzy model is superior to COCOMO81 intermediate. It’s worth mentioning that the idea of the paper isn’t restricted to COCOMO81 intermediate; it could be applied to other algorithmic models.
Altered Immune Responses in Mice with ConcomitantSchistosoma mansoni and Plasmodium chabaudiInfections

ABSTRACT Mixed parasitic infections are common in many parts of the world. However, little is known about how concurrent infections affect the immunity to and/or pathogenesis of each other. Protection and elimination of blood-stage Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudiAS in resistant mice are characterized by a sequential activation of CD4+ Th1 and Th2 cells. The patent egg-laying stage of the murine model of Schistosoma mansoni is associated with a strong Th2 response to both Schistosoma and unrelated antigens. In this study, we investigated how infection of mice withS. mansoni would affect the immune response to and pathogenesis of a P. chabaudi infection. C57BL/6 mice infected with S. mansoni for 8 weeks were infected with blood-stage P. chabaudi. Malaria parasitemias were significantly higher in these mice than in mice infected with P. chabaudi only. In doubly infected mice, both spleen cell proliferative and Th2 responses to S. mansoni soluble egg antigen (SEA) or anti-CD3 were suppressed up to 1 month after the malaria infection. Findings for SEA-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG serum antibody levels were similar. No significant effects were seen on P. chabaudi-induced gamma interferon responses. However, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) production was significantly lower in double-infected mice. Thus, a defect in TNF-α production might contribute to the increased malaria parasitemias seen in S. mansoni-P. chabaudi-infected mice. Taken together, our data show that schistosoma and malaria infections profoundly affect each other, findings which might have implications for the development of vaccines.
Comparison of zonal variability in total ozone derived from ERS-2 GOME and a coupled chemistry-climate model

8 years of ERS-2/GOME total ozone observations are used to evaluate first results of a multi-year model simulation representing "year 2000" conditions with an updated version of the coupled-chemistry climate model ECHAM4.L39(DLR)/CHEM (hereafter: E39/C). The analysis focuses on zonal large scale variations of corresponding ozone fields. We present a comparison of total ozone and wave amplitudes, their zonal and hemispheric means, to address the differences of the total ozone variability. Spectral-statistical parameters were derived by applying a Harmonic Analysis technique to GOME total ozone data (GDP 3.0) from 1995 to 2003 and 16 years of the E39/C year 2000 time slice experiment. Emphasis is on monthly and inter-annual variability of the zonal wave numbers one and two. These results are also used to derive two hemispheric Ozone Variability Indices, which can be regarded as a simple diagnostic tool.
Categorizing Mandarin Tones into Japanese Pitch-accent Categories : The Role of Phonetic Properties

This study examined how native Japanese speakers, who were naïve to Mandarin, categorized Mandarin tones (in citation form) into their native pitch–accent categories. Results showed that Japanese listeners categorized the nonnative Mandarin tones into their native pitch accent categories, in ways that were consistent with the phonetic features of listeners’ native language. The findings support the new assumption of PAM for suprasegmentals [14] that non-native prosodic categories (e.g., lexical tones) will be assimilated to the categories of listeners’ native prosodic system.
Targeting Membrane-Bound Viral RNA Synthesis Reveals Potent Inhibition of Diverse Coronaviruses Including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Virus

Coronaviruses raise serious concerns as emerging zoonotic viruses without specific antiviral drugs available. Here we screened a collection of 16671 diverse compounds for anti-human coronavirus 229E activity and identified an inhibitor, designated K22, that specifically targets membrane-bound coronaviral RNA synthesis. K22 exerts most potent antiviral activity after virus entry during an early step of the viral life cycle. Specifically, the formation of double membrane vesicles (DMVs), a hallmark of coronavirus replication, was greatly impaired upon K22 treatment accompanied by near-complete inhibition of viral RNA synthesis. K22-resistant viruses contained substitutions in non-structural protein 6 (nsp6), a membrane-spanning integral component of the viral replication complex implicated in DMV formation, corroborating that K22 targets membrane bound viral RNA synthesis. Besides K22 resistance, the nsp6 mutants induced a reduced number of DMVs, displayed decreased specific infectivity, while RNA synthesis was not affected. Importantly, K22 inhibits a broad range of coronaviruses, including Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS–CoV), and efficient inhibition was achieved in primary human epithelia cultures representing the entry port of human coronavirus infection. Collectively, this study proposes an evolutionary conserved step in the life cycle of positive-stranded RNA viruses, the recruitment of cellular membranes for viral replication, as vulnerable and, most importantly, druggable target for antiviral intervention. We expect this mode of action to serve as a paradigm for the development of potent antiviral drugs to combat many animal and human virus infections.
Hatching the Cleidoic Egg: The Role of Thyroid Hormones

A major life stage transition in birds and other oviparous sauropsids is the hatching of the cleidoic egg. Not unlike amphibian metamorphosis, hatching in these species can be regarded as a transition from a relatively well-protected “aqueous” environment to a more hazardous and terrestrial life outside the egg, a transition in which thyroid hormones (THs) (often in concert with glucocorticoids) play an important role. In precocial birds such as the chicken, the perihatch period is characterized by peak values of THs. THs are implicated in the control of muscle development, lung maturation and the switch from chorioallantoic to pulmonary respiration, yolk sac retraction, gut development and induction of hepatic genes to accommodate the change in dietary energy source, initiation of thermoregulation, and the final stages of brain maturation as well as early post-hatch imprinting behavior. There is evidence that, at least for some of these processes, THs may have similar roles in non-avian sauropsids. In altricial birds such as passerines on the other hand, THs do not rise significantly until well after hatching and peak values coincide with the development of endothermy. It is not known how hatching-associated processes are regulated by hormones in these animals or how this developmental mode evolved from TH-dependent precocial hatching.
BOARD EMPOWERMENT IN SMALL FIRMS : EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM SWEDEN

Corporate governance literature generally suggests that a company’s boards of directors may influence company performance. When the balance of power over strategic decisions and organisational outcomes favour the CEO the board may however have few possibilities to monitor managerial or company performance or influence strategic choices. This paper investigates how boards become activated and empowered by analysing how contingent factors are related to board empowerment in small corporations. It is argued that pressures from various internal and external stakeholders may become reflected in board composition and board leadership structure (CEO/chairperson roles held jointly or separately). The results of a logistic regression analysis of 135 small corporations indicate that these boards are empowered mainly to satisfy the desires of external owners, but also to some extent for the service and resource benefits that a board can provide. The assumption that the composition of a board is a conscious response to the critical contingencies of an organisation is hence supported.
Effects of Ionomycin on Egg Activation and Early Development in Starfish

Ionomycin is a Ca2+-selective ionophore that is widely used to increase intracellular Ca2+ levels in cell biology laboratories. It is also occasionally used to activate eggs in the clinics practicing in vitro fertilization. However, neither the precise molecular action of ionomycin nor its secondary effects on the eggs' structure and function is well known. In this communication we have studied the effects of ionomycin on starfish oocytes and zygotes. By use of confocal microscopy, calcium imaging, as well as light and transmission electron microscopy, we have demonstrated that immature oocytes exposed to ionomycin instantly increase intracellular Ca2+ levels and undergo structural changes in the cortex. Surprisingly, when microinjected into the cells, ionomycin produced no Ca2+ increase. The ionomycin-induced Ca2+ rise was followed by fast alteration of the actin cytoskeleton displaying conspicuous depolymerization at the oocyte surface and in microvilli with concomitant polymerization in the cytoplasm. In addition, cortical granules were disrupted or fused with white vesicles few minutes after the addition of ionomycin. These structural changes prevented cortical maturation of the eggs despite the normal progression of nuclear envelope breakdown. At fertilization, the ionomycin-pretreated eggs displayed reduced Ca2+ response, no elevation of the fertilization envelope, and the lack of orderly centripetal translocation of actin fibers. These alterations led to difficulties in cell cleavage in the monospermic zygotes and eventually to a higher rate of abnormal development. In conclusion, ionomycin has various deleterious impacts on egg activation and the subsequent embryonic development in starfish. Although direct comparison is difficult to make between our findings and the use of the ionophore in the in vitro fertilization clinics, our results call for more defining investigations on the issue of a potential risk in artificial egg activation.
Optimal Taxation in Life Cycle Models

Whether to tax capital is a central question in both macroeconomics and public finance. Previous research demonstrates that in a life cycle model the optimal tax on capital is typically non-zero for a variety of reasons. My research analytically and quantitatively measures the strength of the different motives for a non-zero tax on capital in a life cycle model. The first chapter considers the impact on the optimal tax policy of including human capital accumulation endogenously. The second chapter measures the relative strength of each motive generally understood to produce a large optimal tax on capital in a standard life cycle model with exogenous age-specific human capital accumulation. The first two chapters demonstrate that the level of the Frisch labor supply elasticity, as well as the profile over the lifetime, have a dramatic impact on the optimal tax policy. The third chapter uses a pseudo panel to estimate the Frisch labor supply elasticity
Working Memory Capacity and Visual–Verbal Cognitive Load Modulate Auditory–Sensory Gating in the Brainstem: Toward a Unified View of Attention

Two fundamental research questions have driven attention research in the past: One concerns whether selection of relevant information among competing, irrelevant, information takes place at an early or at a late processing stage; the other concerns whether the capacity of attention is limited by a central, domain-general pool of resources or by independent, modality-specific pools. In this article, we contribute to these debates by showing that the auditory-evoked brainstem response (an early stage of auditory processing) to task-irrelevant sound decreases as a function of central working memory load (manipulated with a visual–verbal version of the n-back task). Furthermore, individual differences in central/domain-general working memory capacity modulated the magnitude of the auditory-evoked brainstem response, but only in the high working memory load condition. The results support a unified view of attention whereby the capacity of a late/central mechanism (working memory) modulates early precortical sensory processing.
Second-generation long-acting injectable antipsychotics in schizophrenia: patient functioning and quality of life

Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) were developed to make treatment easier, improve adherence, and/or signal the clinician when nonadherence occurs. Second-generation antipsychotic LAIs (SGA-LAIs) combine the advantages of SGA with a long-acting formulation. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the available literature concerning the impact of SGA-LAIs on patient functioning and quality of life (QOL). Although several studies regarding schizophrenia patients’ functioning and QOL have been performed, the quantity of available data still varies greatly depending on the SGA-LAI under investigation. After reviewing the literature, it seems that SGA-LAIs are effective in ameliorating patient functioning and/or QOL of patients with schizophrenia, as compared with placebo. However, while methodological design controversy exists regarding the superiority of risperidone LAI versus oral antipsychotics, the significant amount of evidence in recently published research demonstrates the beneficial influence of risperidone LAI on patient functioning and QOL in stable patients and no benefit over oral treatment in unstable patients. However, the status of the research on SGA-LAIs is lacking in several aspects that may help physicians in choosing the correct drug therapy. Meaningful differences have been observed between SGA-LAIs in the onset of their clinical efficacy and in the relationships between symptoms and functioning scores. Moreover, head-to-head studies comparing the effects of SGA-LAIs on classical measures of psychopathology and functioning are available mainly on risperidone LAI, while those comparing olanzapine LAI with other SGA-LAIs are still lacking. Lastly, some data on their use, especially in first-episode or recent-onset schizophrenia and in refractory or treatment-resistant schizophrenia, is available.