Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two Birds With One Stone: Wireless Access Point Deployment for Both Coverage and Localization

Wireless access points (APs) divide a plane into small areas where their coverage ranges overlap. A mobile device can be located within a particular small overlapped area based on the unique set of APs covering the device. We formally define an Optimal Loc-deployment problem for both coverage and area localization. Our objective is to deploy a minimum number of APs that provide full communication coverage while achieving the ability to locate a mobile device within a certain area no larger than a given accuracy parameter. We obtain a formula that precisely determines the optimal solution for more than half of the accuracy values. For the rest of the accuracy values, we propose an algorithm that will return an approximation whose difference to the optimal solution is less than ε for any ε >; 0. Finally, we conduct extensive numerical evaluation and real experiments to validate our proposed solutions.
Evaluation of branding strategies for global versus local brand: the role of concept consistency

This paper aims to examine the moderating role of concept consistency in consumer evaluation of new product branding strategies for global versus local brands in the context of emerging economy India. A series of pretests were conducted prior to main experiment. The paper adopted multivariate analysis of variance approach to test the hypotheses. The results support the role of concept consistency in affecting the relationship between perceived brand globalness and branding strategy. It was evident from results that consumers favour global and local brand with extended brand name in high concept consistency cases and new brand name in low concept consistency situation. The findings imply that brand managers need to identify and measure the relevant types of concept consistency that will affect evaluation of branding strategies for global and local brands before introducing a new product to the market. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Place attachment as a driver of adaptation in coastal communities in Northern Norway†

Changes in a range of interlinked factors, in social, economic, environmental and climatic conditions, require adaptation in many communities. This paper explores how place attachment affects adaptive responses to a changing social context through analysing adaptation in two coastal municipalities in Northern Norway. The main challenge in these municipalities is declining populations and the consequences accompanying this trend, including livelihood uncertainties and decreased provision of public services. This paper discusses the role of place attachment in motivating adaptation to these changes to contribute to a growing body of literature within climate change adaptation on “subjective” (values, culture and place) dimensions. The findings suggest that people are motivated to act based on their emotional connection with place, and the paper argues that place attachment may offer a better starting point for climate change adaptation than an emphasis on climate change impacts.
Passing the Baton: Does CEO Relay Succession Work Best?

The article presents a brief of ongoing research in the field of management practice. The article discusses Chief Executive Officer (CEO) succession. The article asks critical questions relevant to both internal and external CEO replacement candidates. The article refers to a study from Zhang and Rajagopalan that explored the relay succession—where the current CEO works in conjunction with his/her successor to facilitate a smooth transition. The study looks at internal and external factors that influence relay succession, the outcomes of this method, and is the success of the relay succession contingent upon these internal and external factors.
Crossing the river: a comparative perspective on Italian employment dynamics

Crossing the river A comparative perspective on Italian employment dynamics This paper studies the unprecedented job destruction which occurred throughout Europe during the recession of the early 1990s. It raises the question whether changes in the institutional structure of various countries' labour markets may have deepened the normal effects of the recession. Institutional, legal and sociopolitical safety nets were used to protect many European employees from technological and demand shocks throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Important steps have since been taken to deregulate industrial relations. European labour markets may currently be ‘in the middle of the river’: they already experience the negative employment aspects of an ‘American’ labour market without yet enjoying its benefits. Based on a study of several countries, the article concludes that the social costs of deregulation will be smallest if the intended destination of the transition is reached credibly, and without hesitation. Policy-makers must point decisively towards a well-defined riverbank rather than leaving the labour market in the middle of the stream. — Giuseppe Bertola and Andrea Ichino
Corporate and Personal Bankruptcy Law

Bankruptcy is the legal process by which the debts of firms, individuals, and occasionally governments in financial distress are resolved. Bankruptcy law always includes three components. First, it provides a collective framework for simultaneously resolving all debts of the bankrupt entity, regardless of when they are due. Second, it provides rules for determining how the assets and earnings used to repay are divided among creditors. Third, bankruptcy law specifies punishments intended to discourage debtors from defaulting on their debts and filing for bankruptcy. This review discusses and evaluates bankruptcy law by examining whether and when the law encourages debtors and creditors to behave in economically efficient ways. It also considers how bankruptcy law might be changed to improve economic efficiency. The review shows that there are multiple economic objectives of bankruptcy law, because the law affects has very diverse effects. Some of these objectives differ for individuals versus corporations in bankruptcy.
What Do Chinese Macro Announcements Tell Us About the World Economy?

We examine the effect of scheduled macroeconomic announcements made by China on world financial and commodity futures markets. All announcements related to Chinese manufacturing and industrial output move stock markets, energy and industrial commodities as well as commodity currencies. News about Chinese domestic consumption leaves most markets unaffected, suggesting that market participants view the announcements primarily as a signal of the state of the global economy rather than merely of China’s domestic economy. The market response to unexpectedly strong output announcements is not consistent with investors being concerned about tightening of Chinese macroeconomic policy; instead, the world markets view strong Chinese output as a rising tide that lifts all boats.
Fiscal consolidation and financial reforms

We use a rare events logistic regression model as well as traditional probit and logit models to investigate the impact of fiscal consolidation on the likelihood of financial reforms for a panel of 17 countries over the period 1980–2005. We show that large austerity plans, mainly implemented through spending cuts rather than tax hikes, promote financial reforms. By considering reforms affecting specific areas of the financial sector, we find that the banking sector reforms and domestic finance reforms are more likely to occur when fiscal adjustments are put in place. Interestingly, while banking sector reforms are mainly prompted during periods of tax-driven consolidations, spending cuts driven consolidation packages seem to propel the implementation of domestic finance reforms. Finally, we show that higher inflation, lower degree of trade openness, a deterioration of financial conditions and, to some extent, a fall in the degree of competitiveness enhance the probability of financial reforms.
Measuring Changes in Local House Prices: An Empirical Investigation of Alternative Methodologies

Abstract This paper investigates whether reliable house price indices can be constructed using a limited set of descriptive variables on a large number of observations. Four primary index methods are compared: (1) median sale price, (2) restricted hedonic, (3) repeat sales, and (4) the assessed-value technique. The paper examines the precision and accuracy of each of the alternative indices.
Knowledge management processes in SMES and large firms: A comparative evaluation

The competitiveness of a firm depends on the quality of knowledge they apply to their business processes. Knowledge management (KM) processes are part of the firm business processes. These processes require turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge that can be widely shared throughout a firm and appropriately applied. This study examines how SMEs and large firms apply KM processes in their daily business activities and analyse the influence of KM processes on their financial and non-financial performance. KM processes comprise knowledge acquisition, conversion and application while firm performance is measured from financial and non-financial perspectives that consist of profit, growth, innovativeness, customer satisfaction, quality and flexibility. Survey questionnaires were distributed to managers at SMEs and large firms. Results showed that the effects of KM processes on financial and non-financial performance differ between SMEs and large firms. Findings from the survey could help these firms to enhance their financial and non-financial performance via appropriate KM processes.
Qualitative and Mixed‐Methods Research in Economics: Surprising Growth, Promising Future

Qualitative research in economics has traditionally been unimportant compared to quantitative work. Yet there has been a small explosion in use of quantitative approaches in the past 10–15 years, including ‘mixed-methods’ projects which use qualitative and quantitative methods in combination. This paper surveys the growing use of qualitative methods in economics and closely related fields, aiming to provide economists with a useful roadmap through major sets of qualitative methods and how and why they are used. We review the growing body of economic research using qualitative approaches, emphasizing the gains from using qualitative- or mixed-methods over traditional ‘closed-ended’ approaches. It is argued that, although qualitative methods are often portrayed as less reliable, less accurate, less powerful and/or less credible than quantitative methods, in fact, the two sets of methods have their own strengths, and how much can be learned from one type of method or the other depends on specific issues that arise in studying the topic of interest. The central message of the paper is that well-done qualitative work can provide scientifically valuable and intellectually helpful ways of adding to the stock of economic knowledge, especially when applied to research questions for which they are well suited.
Contested terrains: Politics, stories and discourses of sustainability

‘Sustainable development’ has become a dominant discourse for anything remotely environmental in the 1990s. While the term originated in a specific historical context, its apparent universality is an important reason for its mobilising power. However, is this likely to lead to ‘ecologically meaningful’ policies? This paper explores competing discourses of sustainability and then looks at what the author considers to be ecologically necessary, rather than what may be immediately politically achievable, in order to address sustainability effectively.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 in Hemodialysis Patients: Effects of Phosphate Binder, Calcitriol and Calcium Concentration in the Dialysate

Background: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) concentrations increase early in chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the influence of current CKD-mineral and bone disorder (MBD) therapies on serum FGF23 levels is still under investigation. Methods: In this post-hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial, phosphate binders and calcitriol were washed out of 72 hemodialysis patients who were then submitted to bone biopsy, coronary tomography and biochemical measures, including FGF23. They were randomized to receive sevelamer or calcium acetate for 1 year and the prescription of calcitriol and the calcium concentration in the dialysate were adjusted according to serum calcium, phosphate and PTH and bone biopsy diagnosis. Results: At baseline, bone biopsy showed that 58.3% had low-turnover bone disease, whereas 38.9% had high-turnover bone disease, with no significant differences between them with regard to FGF23. Median baseline FGF23 serum levels were elevated and correlated positively with serum phosphate. After 1 year, serum FGF23 decreased significantly. Repeated measures ANOVA analysis showed that the use of a 3.5-mEq/l calcium concentration in the dialysate, as well as the administration of calcitriol and a calcium-based phosphate binder were associated with higher final serum FGF23 levels.Conclusions: Taken together, our results confirm that the current CKD-MBD therapies have an effect on serum levels of FGF23. Since FGF23 is emerging as a potential treatment target, our findings should be taken into account in the decision on how to manage CKD-MBD therapy.
Enforceable Accounting Rules and Income Measurement by Early 20th Century Railroads

We investigate the extent to which income measurement by major early 20th-century U.S. railroads shows evidence of lower income smoothness and increased conservatism following new fixed asset accounting rules issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1907 and 1908 and concurrent rate regulation regime shifts. Accounting rules promulgated by the ICC after the Hepburn Act of 1906 are the first accounting rules in U.S. history in which regulators could enforce such rules under federal law to increase compliance. Our samplewide results are more consistent with increased conservatism than with income smoothing. Additional tests indicate these effects are more pronounced for firms subject to more intense rate regulation by the ICC, which suggests that the tie-in between accounting regulation and product/service market regulation influences how managers respond to new accounting rules. Copyright University of Chicago on behalf of the Institute of Professional Accounting, 2003.
Some serum protein polymorphisms in Kalahari bushmen and Bantu: gamma globulins, haptoglobins, and transferrins.

THE BUSHMEN OF THE KALAHARI are considered to be part of a distinct race, the Khoisanoid, which at one time inhabited much of east, central and southern Africa. As a result of the great southern migrations of the Bantu five or six hundred years ago and the advent of the Dutch in the seventeenth century, the Khoisanoid peoples have been greatly reduced in number. Today they are represented by, perhaps, sixty thousand individuals, who have managed to survive only by retreating into the inhospitable terrain of the Kalahari Desert where their enemies of former years have not pursued them. The Hottentots, because of certain morphological similarities and on linguistic grounds, are considered to be closely related to the Bushmen and are grouped with them in the Khoisanoid race. are Asiatic the view apparent represent The Js the Mongoloid group Bushmen
The “Aging Males’ Symptoms” Scale (AMS): predictive value for lowered circulating androgens

Background: Symptoms of the “male climacteric” are often at least in part referred to an age-dependent decline of serum androgen levels. Therefore, we evaluated the relationship of climacteric symptoms as assessed by the “Aging Males’ Symptoms” (AMS) Questionnaire with circulating androgen levels. Methods: 146 ambulatory men (age, 27–85 years) were surveyed with the AMS Questionnaire and sampled for serum values of total testosterone (tT) and sexual hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Free testosterone (fT) was calculated from tT and SHBG. A total AMS score ≥37 was considered pathological; the lower limits for tT and fT were set to 8 nmol/l and 180 pmol/l, respectively. Results: A significant deficit in tT and fT was shown in 25 (17.1%) and 34 (24.5%) men, respectively; the AMS Questionnaire showed pathological results for 66 (45.2%) men. In predicting a tT deficit, the AMS Questionnaire rendered a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 61.6%, only. However, multiple regression analysis revealed a significant correlation of lowered tT with a pathological somatovegetative and psychological AMS subscore (p = 0.042 and p = 0.01) and a correlation of lowered fT with a pathological sexual subscore (p = 0.039). Conclusion: In predicting hypogonadism the AMS Questionnaire in total did not render a sufficient diagnostic efficiency.
Charting the Evolution of Russian Firms from Soviet “Producer Orientation” to Contemporary “Market Orientation”

Abstract Customers in business-to-business transactions in the Soviet Union were dominated by suppliers who were in such superior positions that the situation facing customers might have been described as “supplier orientation,” with customers absorbing almost all risk as well as tolerating poor quality and irregular delivery. Economic changes in the last decade of the twentieth century introduced an outlook in Russian business which might be viewed as a form of “market orientation,” particularly among new types of firms represented by private ownership and privatized state-owned enterprises. However, political and economic turmoil characterized the Russian economy for most of that decade. This paper examines characteristics of Russian marketing management during this period including marketing orientation, innovation and aspects of organizational culture closely related to marketing management. Based on interviews with one hundred large Moscow firms in the late 1990s, the new kinds of organizational forms (privatized or private) hadmore entrepreneurial and less bureaucratic corporate cultures, but this difference did not carry over to improved performance. Firms that perform well were more market oriented, more competitive and less consensual in terms of corporate cultures, and more open and participative in terms of organizational climate.
EUROPEAN FISCAL DISCIPLINE BEFORE AND AFTER EMU: CRASH DIET OR PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS?

This paper studies the evolution of European fiscal policies in three periods: the pre-Maastricht phase (to 1991); the runup to monetary union (1992–1997), and the stability pact phase (1998 onward). Using three separate indicators, we search for structural breaks that could signify a change in the average level of discipline in these periods. We find increased fiscal discipline only up to 1997. We conclude the new fiscal discipline was a temporary phenomenon, a product of the sanction of being denied entry to the Euro. After EMU, fiscal policy gradually loosened. A single structural break test will miss these dynamic effects, and could easily generate the false conclusion that fiscal discipline had tightened since the start of phase two of EMU.
Bilingualism is not a categorical variable: Interaction between language proficiency and usage

Bilingual experience is dynamic and poses a challenge for researchers to develop instruments that capture its relevant dimensions. The present study examined responses from a questionnaire administered to 110 heterogeneous bilingual young adults. These questions concern participants' language use, acquisition history, and self-reported proficiency. The questionnaire responses and performances on standardised English proficiency measures were analysed using factor analysis. In order to retain a realistic representation of bilingual experience, the factors were allowed to correlate with each other in the analysis. Two correlating factors were extracted, representing daily bilingual usage and English proficiency. These two factors were also related to self-rated proficiency in English and non-English language. Results were interpreted as supporting the notion that bilingual experience is composed of multiple related dimensions that will need to be considered in assessments of the consequences of bilingualism.
Psychosocial Factors and the Onset of Type 1 Diabetes

Stress has been proposed as a possible precipitating factor for the development of Type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible individuals. A validated in‐depth psychometric instrument (The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule) was used to investigate the role of psychosocial factors in the onset of Type 1 diabetes in islet cell antibody (ICA)‐positive family members. Families with ICA‐positive members had higher scores for subject focused severe life events in the 5‐year period prior to the diagnosis of diabetes in a second family member compared with matched control families (1.50 ± 0.68 (± SD) vs 0.32 ± 0.37; p < 0.03). In the same time period, these families also experienced a higher mean number of severe long‐term difficulties compared with control families (1.34 ± 0.52 vs 0.14 ± 0.17; p < 0.01). Scores for current total visual social contacts were greater for control families compared with case family members (12.10 ± 1.90 vs 9.64 ± 2.70; p < 0.05). These results suggest that global family stress possibly in conjunction with a reduced number of social contacts may act as a trigger for the development of diabetes in a second family member and that social support may act as a buffer to stress and disease onset.
Non-parametric estimation of historical volatility

Evolving volatility is a dominant feature observed in most financial time series and a key parameter used in option pricing and many other financial risk analyses. A number of methods for non-parametric scale estimation are reviewed and assessed with regard to the stylized features of financial time series. A new non-parametric procedure for estimating historical volatility is proposed based on local maximum likelihood estimation for the t-distribution. The performance of this procedure is assessed using simulated and real price data and is found to be the best among estimators we consider. We propose that it replaces the moving variance historical volatility estimator.
Organization of corticospinal neurons in the monkey

The retrograde axonal transport method has been employed to identify the cell bodies of cortical neurons projecting directly to the spinal cord in the monkey. The investigation has focused on aspects of the laminar, columnar, and somatotopic organization of corticospinal neurons within each of the cytoarchitectural and functional subdivisions of the sensorimotor cortex.