Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fundamentals of Stock Returns in Nepal

This study deals with fundamentals of stock returns in Nepal. It examines if dividend yield, capital gain yield and total yield are related to earnings yield, size, book to market ratio and cash flow yield. The study is based on pooled cross sectional data of 40 enterprises whose stocks are listed in Nepal Stock Exchange Limited and traded in the stock market. The study reveals that earnings yield and cash flow yield have significant positive impact on dividend yield, and an insignificant impact on book to market value. However, the size has a negative impact on dividend yield. In the case of earnings yield and cash flow yield, cash flow yield has been found to be more informative than earnings yield. Likewise, it is observed that capital gain yield is positively influenced by earnings yield and size, whereas, the same is negatively influenced by book to market value and cash flow yield. Book to market value has been found to be statistically strong in predicting capital gain yield. Similarly, it is noticed that total yield is positively determined by earnings yield and size, whereas, the same is negatively determined by book to market value and cash flow yield. Book to market value has been found to be more informative than other variables. The study also revealed the positive relationship among earnings yield, book to market value and cash flow yield. However, the size is negatively related to these three variables.
Taste discrimination in conditioned taste aversion of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis

SUMMARY Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis has been widely used as a model for gaining an understanding of the molecular and behavioral mechanisms underlying learning and memory. At the behavioral level, however, it is still unclear how taste discrimination and CTA interact. We thus examined how CTA to one taste affected the feeding response induced by another appetitive food stimulus. We first demonstrated that snails have the capacity to recognize sucrose and carrot juice as distinct appetitive stimuli. We then found that snails can become conditioned (i.e. CTA) to avoid one of the stimuli and not the other. These results show that snails can distinguish between appetitive stimuli during CTA, suggesting that taste discrimination is processed upstream of the site where memory consolidation in the snail brain occurs. Moreover, we examined second-order conditioning with two appetitive stimuli and one aversive stimulus. Snails acquired second-order conditioning and were still able to distinguish between the different stimuli. Finally, we repeatedly presented the conditional stimulus alone to the conditioned snails, but this procedure did not extinguish the long-term memory of CTA in the snails. Taken together, our data suggest that CTA causes specific, irreversible and rigid changes from appetitive stimuli to aversive ones in the conditioning procedure.
An Analysis of Extreme Price Shocks and Illiquidity among Trend Followers

We construct an agent-based model to study the interplay between extreme price shocks and illiquidity in the presence of systematic traders known as trend followers. The agent-based approach is particularly attractive in modeling commodity markets because the approach allows for the explicit modeling of production, capacities, and storage constraints. Our study begins by using the price stream from a market simulation involving human participants and studies the behavior of various trend-following strategies, assuming initially that their participation will not impact the market. We notice an incremental deterioration in strategy performance as and when strategies deviate further and further from the theoretical strategy of lookback straddles (Fung and Hsieh [3]), due to the negative impacts of transaction costs and imperfect execution. Next, the trend followers are allowed to participate in the market, trading against zero intelligence computer traders making randomized bids and offers. We notice that market prices begin to break down as the percentage of trend followers in the market reaches 80%. In addition, in a market dominated by smart traders, it becomes increasingly difficult for any of them to generate profits using what is supposed to be a “long gamma” strategy. After all, trading is a zero-sum game: It is not feasible for any “long gamma” trader to generate a consistent profit unless someone else is willing to be on the other side of his/her trades. In any such market dominated by smart traders with low liquidity and extreme price instability, one proposed solution (as proposed earlier by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission) is to control position size limits, by either decreasing them (in the original proposal) or increasing them (for completeness in our analysis). Based on our simulation results, we have found no evidence supporting that such a solution will be effective; in fact, doing so will only lead to erratic price behavior as well as a variety of practical issues when imposing such changes to position size limits. An alternative proposal is to intervene in the market direct/indirectly, such as by using a market maker to inject/reduce liquidity. Our simulation results show evidence that injecting and reducing liquidity by the market maker can both be effective. However, a market maker can accumulate a large negative P&L by buying in a one-sided, falling market in which it is the only bidder, or vice versa. Therefore, in practice, no market maker may volunteer to participate in any such market rescue efforts unless governments are willing to underwrite some of its large potential losses. In short, direct/indirect intervention by controlling liquidity is not a panacea, and there are practical limits to its effectiveness.
Sapovirus in Water, Japan

Sapoviruses are etiologic agents of human gastroenteritis. We detected sapovirus in untreated wastewater, treated wastewater, and a river in Japan. A total of 7 of 69 water samples were positive by reverse transcription–PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the viral capsid gene grouped these strains into 4 genetic clusters.
The Study of Naphthoquinones and Their Complexes with DNA by Using Raman Spectroscopy and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy: New Insight into Interactions of DNA with Plant Secondary Metabolites

Naphthoquinones represent the group of plant secondary metabolites with cytotoxic properties based on their ability to generate reactive oxygen species and interfere with the processes of cell respiration. Due to this fact, the possible cytotoxic mechanisms on cellular and subcellular levels are investigated intensively. There are many targets of cytotoxic action on the cellular level; however, DNA is a critical target of many cytotoxic compounds. Due to the cytotoxic properties of naphthoquinones, it is necessary to study the processes of naphthoquinones, DNA interactions (1,4-naphthoquinone, binapthoquinone, juglone, lawsone, plumbagin), especially by using modern analytical techniques. In our work, the Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the possible binding sites of the naphthoquinones on the DNA and to characterize the bond of naphthoquinone to DNA. Experimental data reveals the relationships between the perturbations of structure-sensitive Raman bands and the types of the naphthoquinones involved. The modification of DNA by the studied naphthoquinones leads to the nonspecific interaction, which causes the transition of B-DNA into A-DNA conformation. The change of the B-conformation of DNA for all measured DNA modified by naphthoquinones except plumbagin is obvious.
Dynamic response of oceanic hydrates to sea level drop

During sea‐level drop, water and gas pressures within oceanic hydrate systems can exceed the total vertical stress and this can drive slope failure and gas venting. We investigate this behavior with a multi‐phase fluid and heat flow model. During sea‐level drop, fluid pressures drop much less than the total stress due to both the high gas compressibility and hydrate dissociation. In permeable sediments, hydrate dissociation, water expulsion and gas mobility combine to induce underpressure and downward water flow from the seafloor. This study provides a causal mechanism for slope failure and fluid exchange that occur in hydrate systems during sea‐level fall.
Granular modeling of web documents: impact on information retrieval systems

One of the most important tasks in Information Retrieval (IR) is related to web page information extraction and processing. It is a common approach to consider a web page as an atomic unit and to model its textual content as a "bag-of-words". However, this kind of representation does not reflect how people perceive a web page. A granular document representation, in terms of semantic objects, can help in identifying semantic areas of a web page and using them for different IR goals. In this paper we use a granular representation to define a new metric for evaluating semantic object importance and to enhance the performance of IR systems. In particular we show that this new metric can be used not only for classification goals, in which instances are assumed as independent and identically distributed, but also to gauge the strength of relationship between hypertextual documents and exploit this information for improving page ranking performance.
Italian annual intellectual capital disclosure: An empirical analysis

In recent years a world‐wide debate has emerged on the future of business reporting. There is growing agreement that traditional financial reporting is inadequate in meeting with the information needs of stakeholders, particularly in a knowledge economy characterised by a rapidly emerging emphasis on intellectual capital (IC). This study examines voluntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) provided by listed Italian companies in annual reports from the year 2001. The study aims to answer two research questions namely: what is the amount and content of ICD; and what are the factors that influence different voluntary reporting behaviours. In relation to amount and content of information disclosed, the results are consistent with previous ICD studies showing extensive disclosure of external capital (in particular about “customers”). Regarding the factors that can explain different voluntary reporting practices, findings suggest that industry and size are not important in determining the content of information disclosed, however, as found in social and environmental disclosure (SED) studies, these factors are relevant in explaining the amount of information disclosed. In summary, this paper highlights the ICD practices of Italian listed companies by examining their annual reports, and compares these results with a number of previous national studies.
Spatially Distributed Investment Prioritization for Sediment Control over the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

Based on a spatially-distributed sediment budget across the Murray Darling Basin, costs of achieving a range of sediment reduction targets were estimated for a number of locations. Four investment prioritization scenarios were tested to identify the most cost-effective strategy to control suspended sediment loads. The impacts of spatial heterogeneity of sediment transport and varying the spatial scale of target locations on cost effectiveness were examined. The results show that: 1) an optimum solution of costeffective sediment control can be determined through the spatial sediment budget; 2) appropriate investment prioritization can offer potential large cost savings as the magnitude of the costs can vary by several times depending on what type of erosion source or sediment delivery is targeted; 3) target settings which only consider the erosion source rates can potentially result in spending more money than random management intervention; and 4) prioritization becomes a more cost effective strategy as the area considered increases because of the spatial heterogeneity of contributing sediment. An interpretation of the non-linear cost to increasing sediment reduction relationship is also provided.
A programmable CMOS bandgap voltage reference circuit using current conveyor

This paper presents a new structure of a bandgap circuit which can be programmed to get any desired output voltage. Unlike conventional bandgap circuits, the proposed bandgap circuit uses MOS transistors operating in the subthreshold region instead of bipolar transistors to generate PTAT and IPTAT currents. Use of the current conveyor makes the circuit capable of being operated at lower supply voltage. The circuit is capable of generating variable as well as multi voltage references with low dependency on process, voltage and temperature. The proposed architecture was designed in 0.13 /spl mu/m CMOS technology with 1.5 V power supply and simulations were carried out using SPICE. The total variation in the output voltage is 0.67% over the temperature range of -40-125 deg C.
Measuring the Impact of Primary Commodity Fluctuations on Economic Development: Coffee and Brazil

That fluctuations in primary commodity export markets have significant impacts on the economies of the producing countries is intuitively clear and widely accepted. But there is little consensus on the direction and significance of these impacts on economic development. Fluctuations in the value of primary commodity production and exports have the potential for affecting the growth path through a number of channels. This paper is concerned with delineating these channels of influence and with establishing quantitative dimensions for their effects. As an illustration we focus on coffee in relation to the economy of Brazil. The relationships between the coffee producing sector and the national economy are established econometrically and integrated into a macro model of the Brazilian economy. Alternative scenarios for coffee production and exports illustrate the nature of the impacts throughout the economy and the potential effects on Brazilian growth.
Cold Tolerance of Four Species of Bark Beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in North America

Abstract We investigated the overwintering biology of four temperate-latitude bark beetles: Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, Ips pini (Say), I. grandicollis (Eichhoff), and I. perroti Swaine. All four species were freeze-susceptible. However, there was variation within and among species in overwintering biology that related to their geographic distribution. D. frontalis and southern populations of I. grandicollis continued to reproduce and develop under the bark of their host plants throughout the winter and did not show any seasonal adjustments in their lower lethal temperatures: mean supercooling point ± SD = −12.15 ± 4.02 and −12.25 ± 2.50°C. In contrast, northern populations of I. grandicollis and I. pini employ a behavioral strategy in which adults migrate to the forest soil, where they are insulated from temperature extremes by litter and snow. Furthermore, adult supercooling points of both northern populations declined from about −13°C in summer to about −17°C in early winter. A concomitant decline in lipid content suggests that lipid metabolism may be involved in seasonal adjustments of cold tolerance in I. pini. An assortment of temperature manipulations failed to provide any evidence of cold tolerance acclimation. Immatures, which remain in the inner bark of their host trees, have lower lethal temperatures of −5 to −12°C, and are especially vulnerable to mortality from freezing. I. perroti, a northerly distributed species, had similar cold tolerance and overwinter behavior as northern populations of the other two Ips species. Winter mortality from freezing could be an important determinant of population dynamics in all four species. Understanding variations in cold tolerance and overwinter behavior among insects species may help predict population dynamics and distribution of potential pests.
Entry, exit and diffusion with learning by doing

Early entry has the advantage of higher revenues per unit of output early on. Late entry has the benefit of learning from the experience of earlier entrants, and hence lower production costs. The advantages are balanced off in a continuous-time, perfect-foresight equilibrium. Competition generates S-shaped diffusion, and staggered entry and exit. A monopolist will innovate less than a competitive industry, but the innovation that he does do, he will do sooner. Copyright 1989 by American Economic Association.
PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, TECHNICAL PROGRESS AND EFFICIENCY CHANGE IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES: COMMENT

In their comment, Subhash C. Ray and Evangelia Desli (1997) (hereafter RD) point out that the specification of the decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index used by Fare et al. (1994) (hereafter FGNZ) is not unique, and propose and compute an alternative specification of that decomposition. We will discuss additional decompositions at the end of this note, but proceed here by comparing the RD decomposition with FGNZ based on both conceptual and computational grounds. RD provide a discussion of the overall Malmquist productivity index, including the important issue of when this index is equivalent to the traditional notion of total factor productivity (TFP) -namely under the condition that the reference technology be consistent with constant returns to scale (CRS). As they point out, this will yield a measure of TFP even if the "true" underlying technology is not CRS, for example. Both RD and FGNZ use the CRS reference technology to compute overall Malmquist productivity. One of the key issues raised is the role of the underlying scale properties of the benchmark technologies used to define and compute both productivity and its components. In particular, two "reference" technologies are employed in both RD and FGNZ: what we refer to as CRS and variable returns to scale (VRS) technologies. ' By construction, these technologies are nested: the CRS technology "contains" the VRS technology, as in Figure 1 in RD. This nestedness provides the logical basis for our decomposition. At a very intuitive level, we would argue that these two benchmarks can be used to provide bounds on the underlying true-but unknown-technology.2 Intuitively we see the VRS technology providing a type of convex "inner approximation," whereas the CRS technology provides a type of convex "outer approximation. " Thus these two technologies provide alternative benchmarks; they do not require that the data satisfy either CRS or VRS. Another possible intuitive interpretation is that the CRS captures a (perhaps hypothetical) "long run" and the VRS approximates the short run. As a reference technology, the CRS technology has some very useful features; for example, it captures the notion of maximal
Fiscal Equalisation in OECD Countries

Fiscal equalisation is a transfer of fiscal resources across jurisdictions with the aim of offsetting differences in revenue raising capacity or public service cost. Its principal objective is to allow sub-central governments to provide their citizens with similar sets of public services at a similar tax burden. Fiscal equalisation can be seen as the natural companion to fiscal decentralisation as it aims at correcting potential imbalances resulting from sub-central autonomy. If sub-central governments had no fiscal power, no fiscal equalisation would be needed. Distinct fiscal equalisation arrangements first emerged during the 1940s and 1950s in a number of federal countries, and today most OECD Member countries have introduced some explicit or implicit fiscal arrangement that reduces fiscal disparities across jurisdictions. The significance of fiscal equalisation is highlighted not only by its extensive use in both federal and unitary countries, but also by the fact that its objectives and principles are often laid down in the constitution and hence form a central pillar of national fiscal policy.
Impacts of the Quinazoline-Based Alpha1-Antagonist, Terazosin, and of the Sulfonamide Derivative, Tamsulosin, on Serum Prostate-Specific Antigen and Prostate Volume

The aim of this study was to compare the impacts of terazosin and tamsulosin, on prostate activity, i.e., serum prostate-specific antigen, total prostate volume (TPV), and transition zone volume (TZV). A total of 90 patients who presented with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), ranging in age from 52 to 83 yr (median 65 yr), were included in the study. Patients were given 0.2 mg tamsulosin, 2 mg terazosin, or 4 mg terazosin once daily for an average of 14 months (range, 6-56 months). Subjective (International Prostate Symptom Scores, I-PSS) and objective (maximal flow rate and post-void residual) parameters were assessed both at baseline and at treatment cessation. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were found to be unaffected by treatment (1.2 and 1.3 ng/mL). In total patients, multivariate analysis showed that baseline TPV was the only independent predictor of treatment-related TPV reduction. Moreover, baseline TPV ≥30 g was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of TPV reduction (odds ratio [OR], 3.939; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.506-10.304; p=0.005), and a baseline TZV of ≥10 g was associated with a 7.1-times greater chance of TZV reduction (OR, 7.100; 95% CI, 2.428-20.763; p<0.001). The same model showed that patients on 2 mg terazosin had a 10.8-fold greater likelihood (OR, 10.770; 95% CI, 1.409-82.323; p=0.022) and that those on 4 mg terazosin had a 9.0-fold greater likelihood (OR, 9.001; 95% CI, 1.724-46.995; p=0.009) of a TZV reduction than those on 0.2 mg tamsulosin. In addition, symptoms improved regardless of prostate activity after taking alpha1-blockers. Our findings suggest that terazosin reduces TZV and demonstrate that the relief of symptoms associated with BPH may not be due to a prostate activity reduction induced by apoptosis in the prostate gland.
Subcellular Heterogeneity of Ryanodine Receptor Properties in Ventricular Myocytes with Low T-Tubule Density

Rationale In ventricular myocytes of large mammals, not all ryanodine receptor (RyR) clusters are associated with T-tubules (TTs); this fraction increases with cellular remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). Objective To characterize RyR functional properties in relation to TT proximity, at baseline and after MI. Methods Myocytes were isolated from left ventricle of healthy pigs (CTRL) or from the area adjacent to a myocardial infarction (MI). Ca2+ transients were measured under whole-cell voltage clamp during confocal linescan imaging (fluo-3) and segmented according to proximity of TTs (sites of early Ca2+ release, F>F50 within 20 ms) or their absence (delayed areas). Spontaneous Ca2+ release events during diastole, Ca2+ sparks, reflecting RyR activity and properties, were subsequently assigned to either category. Results In CTRL, spark frequency was higher in proximity of TTs, but spark duration was significantly shorter. Block of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) prolonged spark duration selectively near TTs, while block of Ca2+ influx via Ca2+ channels did not affect sparks properties. In MI, total spark mass was increased in line with higher SR Ca2+ content. Extremely long sparks (>47.6 ms) occurred more frequently. The fraction of near-TT sparks was reduced; frequency increased mainly in delayed sites. Increased duration was seen in near-TT sparks only; Ca2+ removal by NCX at the membrane was significantly lower in MI. Conclusion TT proximity modulates RyR cluster properties resulting in intracellular heterogeneity of diastolic spark activity. Remodeling in the area adjacent to MI differentially affects these RyR subpopulations. Reduction of the number of sparks near TTs and reduced local NCX removal limit cellular Ca2+ loss and raise SR Ca2+ content, but may promote Ca2+ waves.