Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do fluctuations in wine stocks affect wine prices

Globalization and the expansion of world wine trade have caused a wine boom that together with agricultural subsidies have made fluctuations in wine inventories a more critical issue. In the case of domestic and international wine markets, little is known about intertemporal inventory adjustments and how they relate to prices. We investigate possible dynamic relations between these variables in a time series context, so as to better understand how wine producers and traders can face growing price and financial volatility. Countries for whom meaningful data series could be constructed include: Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States. The study begins by examining the empirical evidence on inventories in these markets and their relation to prices. Stationarity tests are first performed to assess likely trends in the wine inventory and price variables. Cointegration analysis follows to analyze the stationary relationships between these variables. To explain the dynamics of this relationship, vector autoregressions have been estimated and impulse functions are computed to measure possible delays between variable reactions.
The mediating roles of organizational justice on the relationships between HR practices and workplace outcomes: an investigation in China

This study examines the mediating effects of organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional) in predicting organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and turnover intention from HR practices (empowerment, psychological contract fulfillment, and communication). Using a sample of 242 supervisor–subordinate dyads from Chinese organizations, the results provide empirical evidence of the impact of (a) empowerment on distributive justice perceptions; (b) psychological contract breach on distributive and procedural justice; and (c) communication on procedural justice and interactional justice. The results also demonstrate that perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice positively predict OCB and perceptions of distributive and interactional justice contribute to turnover intention. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
Diversity by Default

Why doesn't survival of the fittest seem to apply when many plants coexist? A report in this issue of Science ([ Hubbell et al .][1]) on tropical forests together with work from other habitats is converging on one explanation of this phenomenon--the recruitment limitation hypothesis. Simply put, this explanation states that stable heterogeneous populations of various types of plants coexist because--often by chance--the more successful competitors of the region do not happen to be locally present. [1]: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/short/283/5401/554
Species differences in the expression of Ahi1, a protein implicated in the neurodevelopmental disorder Joubert syndrome, with preferential accumulation to stigmoid bodies

Joubert syndrome (JBTS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by cerebellum and brainstem malformations. Individuals with JBTS have abnormal breathing and eye movements, ataxia, hypotonia, and cognitive difficulty, and they display mirror movements. Mutations in the Abelson‐helper integration site‐1 gene (AHI1) cause JBTS in humans, suggesting that AHI1 is required for hindbrain development; however AHI1 may also be required for neuronal function. Support for this idea comes from studies demonstrating that the AHI1 locus is associated with schizophrenia. To gain further insight into the function of AHI1 in both the developing and mature central nervous system, we determined the spatial and temporal expression patterns of the gene products of AHI1 orthologs throughout development, in human, mouse, and zebrafish. Murine Ahi1 was distributed throughout the cytoplasm, dendrites, and axons of neurons, but was absent in glial cells. Ahi1 expression in the mouse brain was observed as early as embryonic day 10.5 and persisted into adulthood, with peak expression during the first postnatal week. Murine Ahi1 was observed in neurons of the hindbrain, midbrain, and ventral forebrain. Generally, the AHI1/Ahi1/ahi1 orthologs had a conserved distribution pattern in human, mouse, and zebrafish, but mouse Ahi1 was not present in the developing and mature cerebellum. Ahi1 was also observed consistently in the stigmoid body, a poorly characterized cytoplasmic organelle found in neurons. Overall, these results suggest roles for AHI1 in neurodevelopmental processes that underlie most of the neuroanatomical defects in JBTS, and perhaps in neuronal functions that contribute to schizophrenia. J. Comp. Neurol. 511:238–256, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
New information reported under HMDA and its application in fair lending enforcement

In 2002 the Federal Reserve Board amended its Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, to expand the types of information that lenders covered by the law must disclose to the public about their home-lending activities. The amendments are intended to improve the quality, consistency, and utility of the reported data and to keep the regulation in step with recent developments in home-loan markets. Data reported for 2004 are the first to reflect the changes in the reporting rules. ; This article presents a first look at these greatly expanded data and considers some of their implications for the continuing concerns about fair lending. The analysis highlights some key relationships revealed in an initial review of the types of data that are new for 2004. Some parts of the analysis focus on nationwide statistics, and others examine patterns across groups of lenders, loan products, and various groupings of applicants, borrowers, and neighborhoods. The authors explore, in particular and in some depth, the strengths and limitations of the information on loan pricing. They also describe how the new data are being used to enhance fair lending enforcement activities.
Japanese and United States Firms as Foreign Investors: Do they march to the same tune?

During the 1980s, U.S. and Japanese multinationals were attracted by some similar country characteristics: low wage inflation, low country risk, good infrastructure, and an educated work force. Both groups of investors displayed a persistence, being strongly attracted to locations with significant past investment. Japanese firms started the decade as somewhat more fluid, but as their investment levels surged, they became much more persistent. Overall, U.S. firms were more influenced by domestic market conditions and moved contrary to changes in host country trade intensity. Japanese investment had a somewhat greater affinity for trade, reflecting their long-standing interest in East Asia. Some limited evidence suggests that factors driving the two groups of investors converged in the second half of the 1980s.
Throughput maximisation by optimising detection thresholds in full-duplex cognitive radio networks

Herein the authors consider throughput maximisation for a secondary user (SU) in a full-duplex cognitive radio network (FD-CRN) when the SU has two separate antennas and a self-interference suppression capability. In the FD-CRN, the SU can simultaneously sense the spectrum throughout the whole time slot and transmit data. They propose algorithms based on brute-force search and particle swarm optimisation methods to help the SU achieve optimal detection thresholds for spectrum sensing in two different FD-CRN scenarios. In the first scenario, the SU individually performs spectrum sensing, whereas in the second scenario the SU's sensing results are improved by means of cooperative spectrum sensing. Theoretical and simulation results herein show that, for certain values of the system parameters in the above two scenarios, the system under consideration provides much higher throughput than previously proposed systems in conditions of high-transmission power or low signal-to-noise ratio of the primary signal.
Macroeconomic Implications of the Beliefs and Behavior of Foreign Exchange Traders

We report findings from a survey of United States foreign exchange traders. Our results indicate that (i) technical trading best characterizes about 30% of traders, with this proportion rising from five years ago; (ii) news about macroeconomic variables is rapidly incorporated into exchange rates; (iii) the importance of individual macroeconomic variables shifts over time, although interest rates always appear to be important, and; (iv) economic fundamentals are perceived to be more important at longer horizons. The short run deviations of exchange rates from their fundamentals are attributed to excess speculation and institutional customer/hedge fund manipulation. Speculation is generally viewed positively, as enhancing market efficiency and liquidity, even though it exacerbates volatility. Central bank intervention does not appear to have a substantial effect, although there is general agreement that it increases volatility. Finally, traders do not view purchasing power parity as a useful concept, even though a significant proportion (40%) believe that it affects exchange rates at horizons of over six months.
Towards modeling the learning process of aviators using deep reinforcement learning

In this paper we report on our study of the performance of Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) agents in performing tasks that are illustrative for human Sensor Operators (SOs) in Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs). Our hypothesis is that the descriptive and predictive qualities of the agent's learning process potentially allow us to identify human task requirements, training needs, selection criteria and cut-off benchmarks. We present DRL results on tasks that cover different cognitive abilities required for an SO, using games as a method for learning.
Angiotensinogen Polymorphisms and Elevated Blood Pressure in the General Population: The Copenhagen City Heart Study

In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the Met235Thr and Thr174Met mutations were associated or not with elevated blood pressure. We genotyped 9100 women and men from the Danish general population, of whom 54% had elevated blood pressure. Of the 9100, 41% and 12% carried the Thr235 and Met174 mutations, respectively; the Met174 mutation always occurred on the same allele as the Thr235 mutation. On multifactorial logistic regression analysis, women homozygous for Thr235 versus noncarriers had an odds ratio for elevated blood pressure of 1.29 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.58), which increased to 1.50 (1.15 to 1.96) if they also were homozygous for Thr174 (noncarrier of Met174). Women homozygous for Thr235 also had an increased risk of isolated elevated systolic blood pressure (1.37; 1.02 to 1.84) and of mild blood pressure elevation (1.40; 1.10 to 1.77). We found no statistically significant association between elevated blood pressure and genotype in men or among genotype and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, or pulse pressure in either gender. Homozygosity for both Thr235 and Thr174 was associated with a 10% increase in plasma angiotensinogen levels in both genders compared with homozygosity for Met235 and Thr174; however, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were positively correlated to plasma angiotensinogen levels in women only. In conclusion, in this large-scale study of the general population, double homozygosity for Thr235 and Thr174 in the angiotensinogen gene is associated with a 10% increase in angiotensinogen levels and is a risk factor for elevated blood pressure in women but not in men.
Party Divides: Expertise in and Attitude Towards Climate Change among Australian Members of Parliament

This study investigates Australian federal politicians’ expertise in and attitudes towards climate change. Telephone interviews were conducted with a sample of 26 Members of Parliament (MPs). Results of the survey, undertaken in late 2009, suggest that climate change expertise is low to moderate among MPs, and that there is no correlation between expertise in and concern about climate change. The survey reveals important differences in attitudes to climate change by party. About 40 per cent of Coalition (Liberal and National) MPs are climate change ‘deniers’, but no Labor Party (ALP) MPs are. ALP MPs rate climate change as the most important (with water management) out of four long-term challenges, but Coalition MPs rate it as the least important (after not only water, but also aging and defence). All ALP MPs think climate change demands urgent action, and that Australia should play a leadership role globally, but only about one-fifth of Coalition MPs does. Even those Coalition MPs who are climate change ‘believers’ tend to give lower importance to climate change than ALP MPs.
Investigation of prolactin-related vasoinhibin in sera from patients with diabetic retinopathy.

OBJECTIVE In vitro experiments and in vivo studies on rodents demonstrate that N-terminal 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 kDa fragments prolactin-related vasoinhibin (PRL-V) of human PRL are natural inhibitors of neovascularization in the retina and elsewhere. These N-terminal PRL fragments belong to a family of peptides named vasoinhibins, which act as endogenous regulators of angiogenesis and vascular function. These observations led to the hypothesis that PRL-V could play a role in the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy in humans. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether patients with diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy have aberrant concentrations of PRL-V in the circulating blood. RESEARCH DESIGN We performed a case-control study and developed a new technique to semi-quantitatively determine PRL-V in serum samples from 48 male subjects. The case group consisted of 21 patients with diabetes mellitus and proliferative or non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The control group consisted of 27 healthy subjects with no history of diabetes mellitus. METHODS For the detection of PRL-V, we developed a new analytical method, consisting of immunologic and laser-induced fluorescence techniques. Results The case group had significantly lower PRL-V serum concentrations than the control group (P=0.041). There was no significant difference between patients with proliferative and those with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. CONCLUSION We conclude that given the antiangiogenic and antivasopermeability actions of PRL-V, the decreased serum levels of PRL-V in patients with diabetes mellitus could contribute to the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy.
Cerebellar deficit and respiratory impairment: a strong associationin multiple sclerosis?

The aim of the study was to analyse pulmonary function and to identify reliable prognostic factors associated with respiratory abnormalities in a consecutive series of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Pulmonary function was evaluated by means of a battery of measures, including maximal voluntary ventilation, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume, in 71 consecutive patients with primary and secondary progressive MS. Respiratory impairment was common in MS patients, occurring in 63.4% of all patients, ranging from 82.9% in non‐ambulatory patients (with EDSS score >6.5) to 35.7% in ambulatory patients (with EDSS score <6). Severity of illness and cerebellar and mental impairment were significantly negatively associated with basal pulmonary function. Coordination plays an important role in determining respiratory abnormalities: respiratory abnormalities were found in 27 out of 32 patients (84.4%) with severe cerebellar impairment. The presence of severe cerebellar signs was associated with a very high risk of occurrence of respiratory impairment (O.R.=6.24; 95% C.I. 1.71–22.82). Other significant variables were severity of illness (EDSS score >6.5) (O.R.=4.71; 95% C.I. 1.42–15.66) and long disease duration (>15 years) (O.R.=3.39; 95% C.I. 1.01–11.42).
Testing the Fire-Sale FDI Hypothesis for the European Financial Crisis

Using a panel of corporate transactions in 27 EU countries from 1999 to 2012, we investigate the impact of the financial crisis on the market for corporate assets. In particular, we test the ‘fire-sale FDI’ hypothesis by analyzing the number of cross-border transactions, the price of corporate assets and the impact of credit and macroeconomic conditions. According to the fire-sale FDI hypothesis, countries affected by a crisis attract foreign buyers selling assets at a discount. We find a dampening effect of the crisis on cross-border transactions in all EU countries. Although countries with higher sovereign default risk and lower economic demand attracted more foreign buyers in the crisis, lower domestic credit is associated with less cross-border transactions. Corporate assets in crisis countries are cheaper, particularly if domestic credit is low; however, these findings are not limited to the crisis period. This pattern is strikingly different from the East Asian and Latin American financial crises. Overall, we find little evidence for ‘fire-sale FDI’ suggesting an integrated European market without significant frictions.
Project management concepts, methods and application

This paper reports the findings of an empirical study of project management (PM) practice and of attitudes and opinions of people involved in projects in UK organisations, to determine the extent to which PM has evolved into being broader in its concepts, methods and application than “traditional” PM. Based on previous research and survey data, characteristics of an “emergent” PM approach are described. This leads to the establishment of a number of possible normative theories relating to the management of projects, but empirical evidence shows situations in which there are problems in applying the theories in practice. It is concluded that there is an opportunity for the PM community to provide leadership through the development of valid and useful theories, but in order to do this there is a need for further research.
From socialism to capitalism: 1989-2007

The transition of former socialist countries to capitalist economic system is modelled for the period between 1989 and 2007. The transition is entirely defined by three empirical parameters and the model describes only the evolution of real GDP per capita since the start of the disintegration of socialism. It is found that the transition has practically finished in many Central and Eastern European countries and their economic evolution is driven by forces associated with capitalist system. In the long run, the future evolution of the former socialist countries has to follow the same path as observed in other developed countries in the past. Even in the case of perfect economic performance, the studied countries will never catch up the most advanced countries. In Russia and some countries of the Former Soviet Union, the transition process has not been completed.
Fostering Inter-Cultural Communication Skills among Learners through Teaching English as an International Language

Inter-Cultural Competence (ICC) is a topic of hot debate in the educational circles since 1960s. The traditional models of Communicative Competence which focus on native speaker models fall short of making learners adjustable in the international settings. Fostering ICC through English Language Teaching (ELT) is a norm in the current scenario of globalization rather than exception, which the teachers and researchers in Applied Linguistics are trying to establish since quite some decades. This case study is the part of an empirical research taken with the objectives to explore the implications of developing ICC in the learners through teaching EIL. This paper draws on the need of EIL for the Saudi learners for which interviews with the selected teachers from English Language Centre of Jazan University (KSA) provided data. The results show a wide array of concerns for the learners and teachers, and the policy makers. Teachers are the most important factor in developing modalities of ICC in the learners. A locally modified curriculum is needed to implement EIL in the class room.
Low prevalence of antibody to human parvovirus B19 in Singapore

SUMMARY A seroepidemiological survey was conducted in Singapore to assess the prevalence of antibody to human parvovirus B19. Sera were collected from 600 healthy individuals between 6 months and over 50 years of age and tested for IgG antibody against B19 virus by antigen capture indirect immunosorbent assay. The overall seropositivity rate was 16·2%. All the children under 5 years of age were seronegative. Antibody prevalence increased gradually from 3·5% in school children (5–14 years of age) to 7·7% in age group 15–19 years and then to 10·3% in young adults (20–24 years of age). In the age group 25–34 years the prevalence was 28% and in the age group over 35 years 65% had parvovirus B19 antibody. The results of the survey indicate that there has been very low incidence of B19 virus infection in Singapore during the last two decades.
Scrutinizing Public Expenditures Assessing the Performance of Public Accounts Committees

In 2002, David McGee wrote a comprehensive report on two important elements in the system of public financial accountability, namely the office of the Auditor General and the parliamentary oversight committee commonly referred to as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The purpose of the present paper is to deepen McGee's analysis of PACs. In particular, the authors define PAC success and identify those factors that affect PAC peformance. They use data that were collected by the World Bank Institute in 2002, when a survey questionnaire was sent to 51 national and state/provincial parliaments in Commonwealth countries in Asia and Australasia, and Canada and the United Kingdom. The authors find that the institutional factors which most account for the success of the PACs are the focus on government's financial activity rather than its policies, the power to investigate all past and present government expenses, the power to follow up on government action in response to its recommendations, and its relationship with the Auditors General.
Protection by clofibrate against acetaminophen hepatotoxicity in male CD-1 mice is associated with an early increase in biliary concentration of acetaminophen-glutathione adducts.

Repeated treatment with clofibrate (CFB) significantly increased hepatic glutathione (GSH) content and also diminished acetaminophen's (APAP) selective protein arylation, GSH depletion, and severity of hepatocellular necrosis. The present work was conducted to evaluate the role of elevated GSH and APAP detoxifying pathways in the amelioration of APAP's toxicity by CFB. Male CD-1 mice received 500 mg CFB/kg, i.p., daily for 10 days. Controls were given corn oil vehicle. They were challenged with 700 mg APAP/kg in 50% propylene glycol/water after an overnight fast. Results indicate that CFB pretreatment had no effect on 24-hr urinary excretion of APAP-glucuronide, sulfate, or GSH-derived conjugates; however, there was 50% less unchanged APAP excreted in urine of CFB-pretreated mice. CFB also did not alter microsomal UDP-glucuronyl transferase activity toward APAP in vitro. However, elimination of APAP from plasma and liver was much greater in CFB-pretreated mice. This was accompanied by elevated biliary APAP-GSH content in CFB-pretreated mice at 2 hr after APAP dosing with diminished levels in bile at 12 hr. The CFB-induced increase in biliary excretion of APAP-GSH may mediate the protection against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity.