Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Market orientation in a developing economy public institution: Revisiting the Kohli and Jaworski's framework

Purpose – The aim of this study is to generate insights into whether market orientation – as defined by Kohli and Jaworski – is being practiced in the Ghanaian public sector.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a case‐study of a local government, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (the Assembly), semi‐structured interviews were conducted with departmental heads and their assistants to collect data. A total of 14 key informants participated in the interviews, and this sample size compared favourably with prior qualitative studies.Findings – The assembly collects intelligence on citizens' present needs, their earning potential and the political and technological environment, ignoring citizens' satisfaction with development projects. Meetings are regularly held by the various units in the Assembly to share and discuss the generated intelligence, yet one can see little consideration of citizens' needs and their satisfaction with projects in these discussions.Research limitations/implications – Further research.
Shocks, frictions, and business cycles in a developing Sub-Saharan African economy

This thesis examines the sources of business cycle fluctuations in a developing Sub-Saharan African economy. We develop an open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model (DSGE), which is log-linearized, calibrated, and estimated with Bayesian techniques using South Africa macroeconomic data. The model incorporates various features such as external habit formation, internal investment adjustment cost, variable capacity utilization, domestically produced goods prices and wages stickiness, incomplete exchange rate pass-through, and financial accelerator. The DSGE model also integrates seven orthogonal structural shocks: a financial market shock that affects both the premium on the assets held by households and the foreign interest rate, a cost-push shock, a productivity shock in the domestically produced goods sector, an export demand shock, a terms of trade shock, a government spending shock, and a monetary policy shock. The introduction of those structural shocks allows for an empirical investigation of their effects and contributions to business cycle fluctuations in the South African economy. Simulating the DSGE model and decomposing the forecast error variances of the observable macroeconomic variables, it emerges that the main driving forces of the growth rates of real GDP, consumption, and investment, as well as the trade balance to GDP ratio, are the export demand shock, the government spending shock, the terms of trade shock, and the productivity shock. The productivity, the price mark-up, and the terms of trade shocks drive the aggregate inflation. The financial market shock predominantly impels the domestic interest rate, while the monetary policy shock largely causes the exchange rate fluctuations. Real, nominal, and financial frictions are necessary to capture the dynamic of the South Africa macroeconomic data and critical to explain their volatility and persistence.
Zero Attracting PNLMS Algorithm and Its Convergence in Mean

The proportionate normalized least mean square (PNLMS) algorithm and its variants are by far the most popular adaptive fi lters that are used to identify sparse systems. The convergence speed of the PNLMS algorithm, though very high initially, however, slows down at a later stage, even becoming worse than sparsity agnostic adaptive filters like the NLMS. In this paper, we ad dress this problem by introducing a carefully constructed l1 norm (of the coefficients) penalty in the PNLMS cost function which favors sparsity. This results in certain zero attractor terms in th e PNLMS weight update equation which help in the shrinkage of the coefficients, especially the inactive taps, thereby arrest ing the slowing down of convergence and also producing lesser steady state excess mean square error (EMSE). We also carry out the convergence analysis (in mean) of the proposed algorithm.
Reward-Dependent Modulation of Neuronal Activity in the Primate Dorsal Raphe Nucleus

The dopamine system has been thought to play a central role in guiding behavior based on rewards. Recent pharmacological studies suggest that another monoamine neurotransmitter, serotonin, is also involved in reward processing. To elucidate the functional relationship between serotonin neurons and dopamine neurons, we performed single-unit recording in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), a major source of serotonin, and the substantia nigra pars compacta, a major source of dopamine, while monkeys performed saccade tasks in which the position of the target indicated the size of an upcoming reward. After target onset, but before reward delivery, the activity of many DRN neurons was modulated tonically by the expected reward size with either large- or small-reward preference, whereas putative dopamine neurons had phasic responses and only preferred large rewards. After reward delivery, the activity of DRN neurons was modulated tonically by the received reward size with either large- or small-reward preference, whereas the activity of dopamine neurons was not modulated except after the unexpected reversal of the position–reward contingency. Thus, DRN neurons encode the expected and received rewards, whereas dopamine neurons encode the difference between the expected and received rewards. These results suggest that the DRN, probably including serotonin neurons, signals the reward value associated with the current behavior.
Age-Dependent Targeting of Protein Phosphatase 1 to Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II by Spinophilin in Mouse Striatum

Mechanisms underlying age-dependent changes of dendritic spines on striatal medium spiny neurons are poorly understood. Spinophilin is an F-actin- and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1)-binding protein that targets PP1 to multiple downstream effectors to modulate dendritic spine morphology and function. We found that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) directly and indirectly associates with N- and C-terminal domains of spinophilin, but F-actin can displace CaMKII from the N-terminal domain. Spinophilin co-localizes PP1 with CaMKII on the F-actin cytoskeleton in heterologous cells, and spinophilin co-localizes with synaptic CaMKII in neuronal cultures. Thr286 autophosphorylation enhances the binding of CaMKII to spinophilin in vitro and in vivo. Although there is no change in total levels of Thr286 autophosphorylation, maturation from postnatal day 21 into adulthood robustly enhances the levels of CaMKII that co-immunoprecipitate with spinophilin from mouse striatal extracts. Moreover, N- and C-terminal domain fragments of spinophilin bind more CaMKII from adult vs. postnatal day 21 striatal lysates. Total levels of other proteins that interact with C-terminal domains of spinophilin decrease during maturation, perhaps reducing competition for CaMKII binding to the C-terminal domain. In contrast, total levels of α-internexin and binding of α-internexin to the spinophilin N-terminal domain increases with maturation, perhaps bridging an indirect interaction with CaMKII. Moreover, there is an increase in the levels of myosin Va, α-internexin, spinophilin, and PP1 in striatal CaMKII immune complexes isolated from adult and aged mice compared to those from postnatal day 21. These changes in spinophilin/CaMKII interactomes may contribute to changes in striatal dendritic spine density, morphology, and function during normal postnatal maturation and aging.
The connection between radio-quiet active galactic nuclei and the high/soft state of X-ray binaries

A large sample of active galactic nuclei (AGN) studied here shows a 'quenching' of the radio emission that occurs when the luminosity is from a few per cent to about 10 per cent of the Eddington rate, just as is seen in the high/soft state of X-ray binaries. The result holds even when the sample of AGN includes no narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxies (the systems most commonly suggested to be the analogue of the high/soft state). This adds substantially to the body of evidence that AGN show the same spectral state phenomenology and related disc-jet coupling as the stellar mass accreting black holes. That the power-law correlation between X-ray and radio luminosity is the same in both AGN and X-ray binaries and extends below 10 -7 LEDD strengthens the argument that there is no fundamental difference between the low/hard state and the so-called quiescent state in X-ray binaries. We also discuss possible reasons for the scatter in the radio to X-ray luminosity correlation in the AGN.
Leptin into the rostral ventral lateral medulla (RVLM) augments renal sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure

Leptin is a hormone released from adipose tissue. While this hormone normally acts to reduce feeding behavior and increase energy expenditure, in obesity, resistance to these effects occurs even though the hormone is released in large amounts. Although leptin no longer works to suppress feeding in the obese, leptin retains its potent effects on other autonomic functions such as blood pressure regulation. Leptin has been associated with hypertension and increased sympathetic autonomic activity. Therefore, leptin is emerging as a major contributor to the hypertensive state observed in obesity. Sympathetic control of blood pressure is maintained principally by autonomic reflex control circuits in the caudal brainstem. The rostral ventral-lateral medulla (RVLM) is the primary regulator of the sympathetic nervous system, sending excitatory fibers to sympathetic preganglionic neurons to regulate sympathetic control over resistance vessels and blood pressure. Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that neurons in the ventral lateral medulla express leptin receptors (ObRb). Our present study using pseudo-rabies multi-synaptic retrograde tract tracing and immunohistochemical methods revealed that neurons within the RVLM that send sympathetic projections to the kidney express leptin receptors. Acute microinjection of leptin (1 and 3 μg; 40 nL) into the RVLM evoked a significant increase in Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA). When the 3 μg dose of leptin was preceded with a leptin antagonist, (SLAN-4; 1 ng), it attenuated the cardiovascular response of leptin. Taken together, these data suggest that leptin's actions within the RVLM may influence blood pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity.
Chief Financial Officer Influence on Audit Planning

Prior research suggests that the character of the relationship between client management and audit partners will influence the audit and that current audit methodologies rely more extensively on auditor–client interaction. The current paper contributes to the literature by investigating how chief financial officers (CFOs) seek to influence audit planning in connection with planning meetings with auditors. The data consist of semi-structured interviews with the CFOs of 52 Swedish listed companies. The results suggest that CFOs seek to influence audit planning, particularly with regard to internal controls and the selection and scope of entities subject to audit. Furthermore, the CFOs often tended to assume the role of those charged with governance rather than the role of management during the audit planning phase, which may have implications for ISA 300 (Planning an audit of financial statements).
Semi-parametric estimation of shifts

We observe a large number of functions differing from each other only by a translation parameter. While the main pattern is unknown, we propose to estimate the shift parameters using $M$-estimators. Fourier transform enables to transform this statistical problem into a semi-parametric framework. We study the convergence of the estimator and provide its asymptotic behavior. Moreover, we use the method in the applied case of velocity curve forecasting.
Rising regional inequality in China: Policy regimes and structural changes*

Regional inequality is severe in China since regional development is uneven due to various initial conditions and government policies. We employ unit root tests allowing for structural breaks to alternative inequality measures from 1952 to 2000. Empirical results indicate that (1) the regional inequality is trend stationary with structural breaks rather than follow a random walk. Thus, ignoring structural changes might induce incorrect inference and misleading policy implications; (2) the break points are associated with episodic events in Chinese economic history such as the Cultural Revolution and market reforms. It implies that the policies had a long-lasting and fundamental effect on the inequality.
Differentiating smartphone users by app usage

Tracking users across websites and apps is as desirable to the marketing industry as it is unalluring to users. The central challenge lies in identifying users from the perspective of different apps/sites. While there are methods to identify users via technical settings of their phones, these are prone to countermeasures. Yet, in this paper, we show that it is possible to differentiate users via their set of used apps, their app signature. To this end, we investigate the app usage of 46726 participants from the Menthal project. Even limiting our observation to the 500 globally most frequent apps results in unique signatures for 99.67% of users. Furthermore, even under this restriction, the average minimum Hamming distance to the closest other user is 25.93. Avoiding identification would thus require a massive change in the behavior of a user. Indeed, 99.4% of all users have unique usage patterns among the top 60 globally used apps. In contrast to previous work, this paper differentiates between users based on behavior instead of technical parameters. It thus opens an entirely new discussion regarding privacy.
Growth and Inequality in Public Good Games

In a novel experimental design we study dynamic public good games in which wealth is allowed to accumulate. More precisely each agent's income at the end of a period serves as her endowment in the following period. In this setting growth and inequality arise endogenously allowing us to address new questions regarding their interplay and effect on cooperation levels. We find that average cooperation levels in this setting are high (between 20-60% of endowments) and that amounts contributed do not decline over time. Introducing the possibility of punishment leads to lower group income, but less inequality within groups. In both treatments (with and w/o punishment) inequality and group income are positively correlated for poor groups (with below median income), but negatively correlated for rich groups (with above median income). There is very strong path dependence: inequality in early periods is strongly negatively correlated with group income in later periods. These results give new insights into why people cooperate and should make us rethink previous results from the literature on repeated public good games regarding the decay of cooperation in the absence of punishment.
Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication PrinciplesSystematically Identifying Genes and Pathways in Multiple Cancer Types Using HGD & PSO-SVM

Identification of genes and pathways which are risk factors for multiple cancers could help us prevent or treat cancer more effectively. Machine learning techniques have been extensively used to analyze microarray data but, most methods are based on the identification of significant associations of gene ontology terms with groups of genes. This does not directly reflect metabolic networks. In this paper, a more systematic approach is considered. As a first step, we did pathway analysis using Hyper Geometric Distribution (HGD) and significantly overrepresented sets of reactions (pathways or sub-pathways) were identified. As a second step, feature selection based Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) methods were used. We also used the Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) as an evaluator of PSO and One-Versus-Rest (OVR) method as a component classifier. Experimental results show that our method simplifies features effectively and obtains higher classification accuracy than the other classification methods from the literature.
Improvement in the care of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 through a regional multidisciplinary clinic.

BACKGROUND Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Timely detection of MEN1 kindred, together with treatment of associated tumours, results in an improved outcome. We describe how the development of a dedicated multidisciplinary MEN clinic has improved the diagnosis and treatment of MEN1-associated endocrinopathies. DESIGN AND PATIENTS A dedicated MEN clinic was developed at Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool in 2002 for patients living in Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. The multidisciplinary approach adopted, aimed to improve communication and continuity of care. Patients see all clinicians involved in their care (Consultant Endocrinologist, Paediatrician, Clinical Geneticist and Endocrine Surgeon) simultaneously, allowing for a unified, clear approach and a reduction in unnecessary attendances. The clinicians adopt a proactive approach to tracing the relatives of patients, with the aim of identifying kindred with previously asymptomatic disease. RESULTS In 2002, 16 patients from 5 families were diagnosed clinically with MEN1. Twenty MEN1-associated endocrinopathies had been diagnosed and 21 surgical procedures had been performed. By the end of 2008, 45 patients from 15 families had been identified, with 83 endocrinopathies diagnosed and 50 surgical procedures performed. Ninety-four known relatives are awaiting screening for MEN1. CONCLUSION The successful identification of patients with MEN1 has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of patients attending the clinic. As relatives undergo screening, the diagnosis of MEN is likely to increase. The ever increasing numbers of patients requiring screening, surveillance and treatment has implications in the planning of future service provision.
Pass-Through of Exchange Rate Changes and Macroeconomic Shocks to Domestic Inflation in East Asian Countries

We examine the pass-through effects of exchange rate changes on the domestic prices among the East Asian countries using the conventional pass-through equation and a VAR analysis. First, dynamics of pass-through from the exchange rate to import prices and consumer prices is analyzed using the conventional model of pass-through based on the micro-foundations of the exporter's pricing behavior. Both the short-run and long-run elasticities of the exchange rate pass-through are estimated. Second, a vector autoregression (VAR) technique is applied to the pass-through analysis. A Choleski decomposition is used to identify structural shocks and to examine the pass-through of each shock to domestic price inflation by the impulse response function and variance decomposition analyses. Both the conventional analysis and VAR analysis show that while the degree of exchange rate pass-through to import prices is quite high in the crisis-hit countries, the pass-through to CPI is generally low, with a notable exception of Indonesia. The VAR analysis shows that the size of the pass-through of monetary shocks is even larger in Indonesia. Thus, it was Indonesia's accommodative monetary policy as well as the high degree of the CPI responsiveness to exchange rates that contributed to high domestic price inflation, resulting in the loss of its export competitiveness, even when the currency depreciated sharply in nominal terms in 1997-98.
Kanter random variable and positive free stable distributions

According to a representation due to M. Kanter, the density of some power of a positive stable distribution is a completely monotone function. In this paper, we first derive its representative Bernstein measure which also describes the law of some function of a uniform random variable, referred to below as the Kanter random variable. Then, the distribution function of the latter variable is written down and gives a more explicit description of the non commutative analogue of positive stable distributions in the setting of Voiculescu's free probability theory. Analytic evidences of the occurrence of the Kanter random variable in both the classical and the free settings conclude the exposition.
A potential field method-based extension of the dynamic movement primitive algorithm for imitation learning with obstacle avoidance

This paper proposes an extension of the original Dynamic Movement Primitive (DMP) algorithm proposed by S. Schaal to imitation learning for object avoidance in a dynamic environment. A potential field was incorporated into the original DMP algorithm by using a virtual goal position which is calculated using a potential field. A humanoid robot ISAC was trained in simulation to learn how to generate movements similar to the demonstrated movements when an obstacle is placed in the environment. This proposed extension provides robots more robust and flexible movement generation when an obstacle exists. Simulations were performed to verify the effectiveness of the method.
Molecular and epidemiological characterization of HIV-1 infection networks involving transmitted drug resistance mutations in Northern Greece.

OBJECTIVES To determine the contribution of transmission clusters to transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in newly diagnosed antiretroviral-naive HIV-1-infected patients in Northern Greece during 2000-07. METHODS The prevalence of TDR was estimated in 369 individuals who were diagnosed with HIV-1 infection in the period 2000-07 at the National AIDS Reference Laboratory of Northern Greece. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using a maximum likelihood method on partial pol sequences. TDR was defined in accordance with the surveillance drug resistance mutation list (2009 update). RESULTS The overall prevalence of TDR in our population was 12.5% [46/369, 95% confidence interval (CI) 9.1%-15.8%], comprising 7.6% (28/369) resistant to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, 5.4% (20/369) resistant to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and 3.3% (12/369) resistant to protease inhibitors. Dual class resistance was identified in 3.8% (14/369). Infection with subtype A was the sole predictor associated with TDR in multivariate analysis (odds ratio 2.15, 95% CI 1.10-4.19, P = 0.025). Phylogenetic analyses revealed three statistically robust transmission clusters involving drug-resistant strains, including one cluster of 12 patients, 10 of whom were infected with a strain carrying both T215 revertants and Y181C mutations. CONCLUSIONS Our findings underline the substantial impact of transmission networks on TDR in our population.
Universal Basis of Bank Failure – The Nigeria Case

Many nations have experienced bank failures with very high costs which can lead to systemic risks. The causes of bank failure are numerous, in theory, and include regulation of banking activities such as forbearance; asymmetric information leading to a moral hazard problem and connected lending. The history of banking system in Nigerian has been occasioned with a lot of problem which resulted to distress. The recent consolidation and recapitalisation exercise in the sector was in a bid to resolve this dilemma. In this paper we appraised the causes and outcomes of bank failures. In this article, we looked at the theoretical level and other root causes, consequences of bank failure and lessons within the Nigeria perspective. Finally, the options and measures to prevent further systemic hazards were recommended. Keyword : bank failure, Nigeria, mismanagement, corruption.