Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary Draft: September 27, 2001 EVENT-STUDY EVIDENCE OF THE VALUE OF RELAXING LONGSTANDING REGULATORY RESTRAINTS ON BANKS, 1970-2000

In a partial-equilibrium model, removing a binding constraint creates value. However, in general equilibrium, the stakes of other parties in maintaining the constraint must be examined. In financial deregulation, the fear is that expanding the scope and geographic reach of very large institutions might unblock opportunities to build market power from informational advantages and size-related safety-net subsidies. This paper reviews and extends event-study evidence about the distribution of the benefits and costs of relaxing longstanding geographic and product-line restrictions on U.S. financial institutions. The evidence indicates that the new financial freedoms may have redistributed rather than created value. Event returns are positive for some sectors of the financial industry and negative for others. Perhaps surprisingly, where customer event returns have been investigated, they prove negative. Thirty years ago, opportunities for U.S. banks to expand their geographic reach and product line were tightly constrained by charter limitations and by state and federal laws governing branch banking and holding-company affiliation. The idea that, within a single generation, large U.S. banks could become nation-spanning, superpowered financial conglomerates seemed an academic pipe dream. In 1970, commercial banks could be distinguished from other kinds of financial institutions by two unique capacities: their right to offer demand deposits and their ability to make commercial loans. Restrictions on thrifts, securities, insurance, and sales-finance companies made it hard for these and other kinds of nonbank institutions to offer close substitutes for banking's signature products. * The authors are respectively Assistant Professor of Finance at Indiana University, Kelley School of Business Indianapolis and James F. Cleary Professor in Finance at Boston College. They wish to thank David Ely and Philip Strahan for helpful comments on an earlier draft.
Measuring the Agency Costs of Dispersed Ownership: The Case of Repurchase Initiations

Empirical investigations of the agency costs of dispersed ownership yield mixed results. A possible explanation for the lack of conclusive evidence is inaccurate measurement of the extent of the problem. We suggest that the extent of the problem be measured as theory suggests: by the wealth managers commit to their firms. We examine the relative performance of the different measures of the agency problem of dispersed ownership in the context of changes in payout policy affected by repurchase initiations. We find that the suggested measure - managerial equity wealth - performs better than the other measures: the proposed measure of the problem explains better than any other measure the market reaction to repurchase initiations. Our results are robust to several modifications of the main test.
Simultaneous calibration of hydrological models in geographical space

Abstract. Hydrological models are usually calibrated for selected catchments individually using specific performance criteria. This procedure assumes that the catchments show individual behavior. As a consequence, the transfer of model parameters to other ungauged catchments is problematic. In this paper, the possibility of transferring part of the model parameters was investigated. Three different conceptual hydrological models were considered. The models were restructured by introducing a new parameter η which exclusively controls water balances. This parameter was considered as individual to each catchment. All other parameters, which mainly control the dynamics of the discharge (dynamical parameters), were considered for spatial transfer. Three hydrological models combined with three different performance measures were used in three different numerical experiments to investigate this transferability. The first numerical experiment, involving individual calibration of the models for 15 selected MOPEX catchments, showed that it is difficult to identify which catchments share common dynamical parameters. Parameters of one catchment might be good for another catchment but not the opposite. In the second numerical experiment, a common spatial calibration strategy was used. It was explicitly assumed that the catchments share common dynamical parameters. This strategy leads to parameters which perform well on all catchments. A leave-one-out common calibration showed that in this case a good parameter transfer to ungauged catchments can be achieved. In the third numerical experiment, the common calibration methodology was applied for 96 catchments. Another set of 96 catchments was used to test the transfer of common dynamical parameters. The results show that even a large number of catchments share similar dynamical parameters. The performance is worse than those obtained by individual calibration, but the transfer to ungauged catchments remains possible. The performance of the common parameters in the second experiment was better than in the third, indicating that the selection of the catchments for common calibration is important.
Where is the energy spent inside my app?: fine grained energy accounting on smartphones with Eprof

Where is the energy spent inside my app? Despite the immense popularity of smartphones and the fact that energy is the most crucial aspect in smartphone programming, the answer to the above question remains elusive. This paper first presents eprof, the first fine-grained energy profiler for smartphone apps. Compared to profiling the runtime of applications running on conventional computers, profiling energy consumption of applications running on smartphones faces a unique challenge, asynchronous power behavior, where the effect on a component's power state due to a program entity lasts beyond the end of that program entity. We present the design, implementation and evaluation of eprof on two mobile OSes, Android and Windows Mobile. We then present an in-depth case study, the first of its kind, of six popular smartphones apps (including Angry-Birds, Facebook and Browser). Eprof sheds lights on internal energy dissipation of these apps and exposes surprising findings like 65%-75% of energy in free apps is spent in third-party advertisement modules. Eprof also reveals several "wakelock bugs", a family of "energy bugs" in smartphone apps, and effectively pinpoints their location in the source code. The case study highlights the fact that most of the energy in smartphone apps is spent in I/O, and I/O events are clustered, often due to a few routines. Thismotivates us to propose bundles, a new accounting presentation of app I/O energy, which helps the developer to quickly understand and optimize the energy drain of her app. Using the bundle presentation, we reduced the energy consumption of four apps by 20% to 65%.
Coronary Artery Calcium Score and Bone Metabolism: A Pilot Study in Postmenopausal Women

Background Since 1991 many studies evaluated the link between cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis, two age-related conditions, but the main common pathologic pathway has not been determined yet. The histological similarity between arterial calcified plaque and bone matrix and involvement of similar cells and mediators provide a special field of research. Therefore in the present study, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between coronary artery calcium score (CACS) as a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis and bone mediators and parameters in postmenopausal women. Methods Eleven postmenopausal women who had CACS higher than 80 were enrolled into the study and underwent bone densitometry. In addition, their serum and urine samples were taken for measuring osteoprotegerin, osteocalcin, and β cross laps. Patients' 10-year probability of fracture was calculated by the World Health Organization fracture-risk assessment tool (FRAX). Results The regression analysis of our results showed the association between CACS and OC (std β=0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.47-72.27, P=0.027), femoral bone density (std β=−0.6, 95% CI -6864.34-14.27, P=0.05) and T-score (std β=−0.6, 95% CI −773.08-1.28, P=0.05) which remained significant after adjustment for age, weight, years since menopause and body mass index. No association was found between CACS and osteoprotegerin, spinal bone density and FRAX score. Conclusions In conclusion, this pilot study with small sample size showed the potential association between CACS and osteocalcin, femoral bone density and T-score. However, the relationship between CACS and osteoprotegerin, receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand, FRAX score and other bone parameters remain to be clarified in larger sample size studies.
The effect of supervised work experience on the acquisition of employability skills among Malaysian students

The vocational education and training (VET) system needs a future change in order to be more accountable to employers (and their associations) for training outcomes that match employer expectations. As part of this, an important focus is employability skills that go beyond work-related technical and interpersonal skills to include employer-preferred values, attitudes and personality dimensions. The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of supervised work experiences (SWEs), among other factors, on undergraduate vocational trainees’ acquisition of employability skills. ,A total of 138 respondents ranging in age from 17 to 24 years who successfully completed their two years program awarded with Malaysian Skill Certificate were included. They were divided into two sub-populations, trainees participating and trainees not participating in the SWE. Descriptive analysis, Correlation and ANCOVA were applied for data analysis. ,The results showed that participating students achieved a moderately higher level of employability skills compared to students not participating in the SWE. The findings also revealed other factors contributing to the acquisition of employability skills, including gender, age, work experience, self-concept and achievement motivation. However, achievement motivation was found to be significantly related to the acquisition of employability skills. Therefore, participation of vocational trainees in the SWE influences the acquisition of employability skills which are identified as career success skills and could facilitate youth in transition from school to work. ,Although the research has reached the aims, there were a few limitations which may effect on generalization of the findings. Because of the limit access to students from all majors in vocational training, this study focused on six types of skills. In addition, the number of participants from different courses was not equal. ,The research findings also imply several practical implications. First, based on the finding, it can be suggested that industries provide students’ vocational training under supervision of expert in their course area in order to enrich the level of trainees’ acquisition of employability skills. Second, referring to the finding, focusing on the key aspects of employability skills, industries can improve the trainees learning process and producing workers with abilities to allow them to interact with job duties in the organization of workplace. ,This study can serve as a model for evaluation when implementing school to work programs.
KnightCap : A chess program that learns by combining TD ( � ) with game-tree search

In this paper we presentTDLeaf( ), a variation on the TD( ) algorithm that enablesit to be usedin conjunctionwith game-treesearch. We present some experiments in which our chess program “KnightCap” used TDLeaf( ) to learn its evaluation function while playing on the Free Internet ChessServer (FICS, fics.onenet.net). Themainsuccesswereport is thatKnightCapimprovedfrom a1650rating to a2150ratingin just308gamesand3 days of play. As a reference,a rating of 1650correspondsto aboutlevel B humanplay (on a scale from E (1000)to A (1800)),while 2150is human masterlevel. We discusssomeof thereasonsfor thissuccess, principleamongthembeingtheuse of on-line,ratherthanself-play.
Performance of Error Estimators for Classification

Classification in bioinformatics often suffers from small samples in conjunction with large numbers of features, which makes error estimation problematic. When a sample is small, there is insufficient data to split the sample and the same data are used for both classifier design and error estimation. Error estimation can suffer from high variance, bias, or both. The problem of choosing a suitable error estimator is exacerbated by the fact that estimation performance depends on the rule used to design the classifier, the feature-label distribution to which the classifier is to be applied, and the sam- ple size. This paper reviews the performance of training-sample error estimators with respect to several criteria: estimation accuracy, variance, bias, correlation with the true error, regression on the true error, and accuracy in ranking feature sets. A number of error estimators are considered: resubstitution, leave-one-out cross-validation, 10-fold cross-validation, bol- stered resubstitution, semi-bolstered resubstitution, . 632 bootstrap, . 632+ bootstrap, and optimal bootstrap. It illustrates these performance criteria for certain models and for two real data sets, referring to the literature for more extensive appli- cations of these criteria. The results given in the present paper are consistent with those in the literature and lead to two conclusions: (1) much greater effort needs to be focused on error estimation, and (2) owing to the generally poor perform- ance of error estimators on small samples, for a conclusion based on a small-sample error estimator to be considered valid, it should be supported by evidence that the estimator in question can be expected to perform sufficiently well under the circumstances to justify the conclusion.
An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of the Credit Default Swap Index Market on Large Complex Financial Institutions

This paper contributes to the primarily empirical literature by conducting the first extensive empirical analysis of the impact of the degree of co-movement in the main standardized credit default swap (CDS) indices on the group of large complex financial institutions (LCFIs). We attempt to account for the dynamics between banks' equity returns and most liquid CDS market indices, the investment grade 5-year CDX North America and the investment grade 5-year iTraxx Europe, through conditioning our analysis on the historical correlation between the variables. Our most important findings are threefold. First, we find that equity returns for all the LCFIs are negatively correlated to both the CDX and the iTraxx indices. Second, the CDX index is the dominant factor driving shocks across all the LCFIs and this effect is stronger for European than US banks. Third, the impact of CDS market volatility on the equity return volatility of LCFIs appears very pronounced, suggesting a transmission mechanism which results in the destabilisation of banks and a subsequent increase in their default risk.
Endometrial fluid visualized through ultrasonography during ovarian stimulation in IVF cycles impairs the outcome in tubal factor, but not PCOS, patients.

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of the presence of endometrial fluid (seen through ultrasound) on the outcome of IVF cycles and its association with the aetiology of infertility, in tubal and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cases specifically. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated the charts of all PCOS and tubal factor infertility patients that underwent IVF between June 1, 2001 and May 31, 2002. Twenty-four PCOS and 14 tubal factor infertility patients in whom endometrial fluid was detected were compared with 94 PCOS and 160 tubal factor patients whose stimulation cycles did not show any fluid collection. The main outcome measures were implantation and pregnancy rates. RESULTS Implantation rates were lower in the tubal factor patients in the presence of endometrial fluid (6.12% and 21.4%, respectively) in comparison with all other tubal factor infertile patients in whom no fluid accumulation inside the cavity was detected. In PCOS cycles there was no significance in patients with presence of endometrial fluid in comparison with the all other PCOS cycles without any fluid accumulation. CONCLUSIONS When fluid collection inside the endometrial cavity is first seen during ovarian stimulation of PCOS patients undergoing IVF, embryo transfer can be performed safely if the fluid has disappeared and not returned by the day of embryo transfer. However, in tubal factor cycles one should think of either cancellation of the cycle or cryopreservation of all embryos.
Do CEOs Slow Down When Getting 'Passed the Baton'? Agency Costs of CEO Succession-Securing Behavior

In the ‘passing the baton’ succession process, the incumbent CEO/Chairman relinquishes the CEO title, but retains the Chairman title to facilitate monitoring the new CEO during a probationary period. The new CEO eventually wins the Chairman title if he is successful during the probationary period. We argue that this type of succession process can lead to managerial conformism and conservatism because reputation concerns give the retiring CEO incentives to pressure the new CEO to continue existing policies and to avoid making major changes that could substantially improve performance or increase firm value. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find no changes in operating performance, abnormal stock returns, or the number of policy decisions the new CEO makes during his probationary period, but significant increases in all of these measures after the probationary period ends. Managerial entrenchment exacerbates successionsecuring behavior during the probationary period, while effective monitoring and control mitigate it.
Effect of substrate temperature on physical properties of In 2 O 3 :Sn films deposited by e-beam technique

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were prepared by electron beam evaporation at different substrate temperatures. The structural studies were carried out by X-ray diffraction. Optical properties of the films were studied in the ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) region (200 to 2500 nm). Electrical studies were carried out at room temperature of ITO films. The results showed that with increase in substrate temperature, the optical transmittance gradually increased up to 93% in the visible region, the transmittance edge gradually shifted to short wavelength and the corresponding refractive index and thermal emissivity decreased. The structure of ITO films was polycrystalline and the crystallinity was improved with increasing substrate temperature. The electrical resistivity decreased and attained its minimum value of 5.2 × 10 -4  cm at 300°C.
Reflective writing on English news video: Using Edmodo in an EFL college-level writing course

In order to reinforce EFL and college students’ critical thinking skill in their English writing, an after-class activity of reflective essay writing on English news videos may be a method to facilitate improved writing performance. In addition, since small group learning is an effective way to enhance students’ critical thinking skill, teachers and students can use Edmodo, a private social communication platform, to connect with each other and conduct collaborative learning. The purposes of this study are first, to examine whether college-level EFL college students will show improvement in their writing (that is, the writing ability and critical thinking shown in the contents) after they watch English news videos; second, to investigate students’ perceptions about reflective writing on English news videos; and third, to find out their perceptions on the use of Edmodo for peer discussions. The participants in this study were 16 EFL English-major junior students in a private university in the northern Taiwan. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed through descriptive statistics, non-parametric test analysis, Kaplan-Meier method, document analysis, and content analysis. The scores revealed that students made significant progress in English writing and critical thinking between the essays. The majority of the students showed positive attitude toward this activity and commented that Edmodo was easy for them to discuss and upload assignments. The study is helpful for language teachers who are interested in reinforcing critical thinking in English writing and exploring the use of Edmodo in the EFL/ESL college-level composition courses.
Aging Affects the Transcriptional Regulation of Human Skeletal Muscle Disuse Atrophy

Important insights concerning the molecular basis of skeletal muscle disuse-atrophy and aging related muscle loss have been obtained in cell culture and animal models, but these regulatory signaling pathways have not previously been studied in aging human muscle. In the present study, muscle atrophy was induced by immobilization in healthy old and young individuals to study the time-course and transcriptional factors underlying human skeletal muscle atrophy. The results reveal that irrespectively of age, mRNA expression levels of MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1 increased in the very initial phase (2–4 days) of human disuse-muscle atrophy along with a marked reduction in PGC-1α and PGC-1β (1–4 days) and a ∼10% decrease in myofiber size (4 days). Further, an age-specific decrease in Akt and S6 phosphorylation was observed in young muscle within the first days (1–4 days) of immobilization. In contrast, Akt phosphorylation was unchanged in old muscle after 2 days and increased after 4 days of immobilization. Further, an age-specific down-regulation of MuRF-1 and Atrogin-1 expression levels was observed following 2 weeks of immobilization, along with a slowing atrophy response in aged skeletal muscle. Neither the immediate loss of muscle mass, nor the subsequent age-differentiated signaling responses could be explained by changes in inflammatory mediators, apoptosis markers or autophagy indicators. Collectively, these findings indicate that the time-course and regulation of human skeletal muscle atrophy is age dependent, leading to an attenuated loss in aging skeletal muscle when exposed to longer periods of immobility-induced disuse.