Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Drives Sovereign Risk Premiums?: An Analysis of Recent Evidence from the Euro Area

This paper analyses recent large movements in the yield spread for sovereign bonds as between Germany and other euro area countries. While the general increase in risk aversion that has characterised the financial crisis is an important factor on its own, it is found that this has also magnified the importance of fiscal performance, in particular as measured by the ratio of debt service to tax receipts and expected fiscal deficits. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that such effects are non-linear, so that incremental deteriorations in fiscal performance lead to ever larger increases in the spread. These findings imply that financial market reaction could become an increasingly important constraint on fiscal policy for some countries, a feature which was much less apparent in the years prior to the financial crisis when general risk aversion was abnormally low. Quels sont les determinants des primes de risque des Etats ? : Une analyse recente de la zone euro Cet article analyse les recents mouvements importants des ecarts de taux des obligations d’Etat des pays de la zone euro avec l’Allemagne. L’augmentation generalisee de l’aversion au risque qui a accompagne la crise financiere est un facteur important en soi. L’article montre en outre que ce phenomene a amplifie l’impact des performances budgetaires, en particulier quand elles sont mesurees par le ratio du service de la dette aux recettes fiscales et par les deficits budgetaires anticipes. De plus, ces effets se revelent non lineaires, ce qui se traduit par le fait que les deteriorations supplementaires des performances budgetaires amenent a des augmentations toujours plus importantes des ecarts de taux. Ces resultats suggerent que les reactions des marches financiers pourraient devenir une contrainte de plus en plus importante a la politique budgetaire de certains pays, une caracteristique qui etait beaucoup moins visible durant les annees anterieures a la crise ou l’aversion generale au risque etait anormalement basse.
Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole

"Consumed" offers a portrait of how adults are infantilised in a global economy that overproduces goods and targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers. Driven by a frantic imperative to sell, consumer capitalism specialises today in the manufacture not of goods but of needs. This provocative culmination of Benjamin R. Barber's lifelong study of democracy and capitalism shows how the infantilist ethos deprives society of responsible citizens and displaces public goods with private commodities. Traditional liberal democratic society is colonised by an all-pervasive market imperative. Barber confronts the likely consequences for our children, our freedom and our citizenship, and shows how citizens can resist and transcend the civic schizophrenia with which consumerism has infected them.
Real versus Simulated Mobile Phone Exposures in Experimental Studies

We examined whether exposures to mobile phone radiation in biological/clinical experiments should be performed with real-life Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) emitted by commercially available mobile phone handsets, instead of simulated EMFs emitted by generators or test phones. Real mobile phone emissions are constantly and unpredictably varying and thus are very different from simulated emissions which employ fixed parameters and no variability. This variability is an important parameter that makes real emissions more bioactive. Living organisms seem to have decreased defense against environmental stressors of high variability. While experimental studies employing simulated EMF-emissions present a strong inconsistency among their results with less than 50% of them reporting effects, studies employing real mobile phone exposures demonstrate an almost 100% consistency in showing adverse effects. This consistency is in agreement with studies showing association with brain tumors, symptoms of unwellness, and declines in animal populations. Average dosimetry in studies with real emissions can be reliable with increased number of field measurements, and variation in experimental outcomes due to exposure variability becomes less significant with increased number of experimental replications. We conclude that, in order for experimental findings to reflect reality, it is crucially important that exposures be performed by commercially available mobile phone handsets.
New fuels, new rules? : modelling policies for the uptake of low carbon vehicles within an ethical framework

This research recognises a conflict between climate change mitigation and a lock-in of carbon-intense lifestyles. The concern is that, in the short term, policies to aid the transition to Low Carbon Vehicles (LCVs) may bring about unacceptable impacts on those amongst the worst-off. The approach that is taken is interdisciplinary, and suggests a novel approach to policy appraisal through combining ethics with a system dynamic model. An ethical framework is established that claims coercive LCV policies are permitted due to the harms of climate change, but certain groups require protection from impacts on car ownership. This protection could be similar to policy in other sectors, such as tax exemptions for the worst-off. The framework also improves on current practise by offering a new perspective on the limitations of models in policy-making. Two model case studies examine LCV policies, focused on subsidies and market regulation of electric vehicles. The first is relatively simple and develops basic skills and understanding, but still gives policy insight and explores the sensitivity of results. A more complex second model is used to understand the policy impacts in more detail, and in relation to ethical concerns. Combining the findings of both models suggests that subsidies are only successful in reducing emissions under a failing market and although regulation is more successful it raises the cost of all vehicles, disproportionately impacting the poorest in society. Combining these policies will allow a more even distribution of burdens. From this, recommendations are made that suggest the policy-maker needs to ensure affordability, protect the vulnerable and distribute burdens. Finally, a framework for an improved approach to modelling and policy appraisal, which incorporates ethics, is proposed. Although the focus of this work is on LCVs, the fundamental approach is transferable to other areas of transport and energy use.
Cost of equity capital of foreign firms: Did bonding benefits diminish after the SEC's waiver of IFRS to US GAAP reconciliation?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the cost of equity capital for foreign firms listed in the US stock exchanges during 2004-2009, a period that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shifted from requiring foreign issuers to comply with the US GAAP reconciliations to permitting the choice of IFRS in financial reporting. Design/methodology/approach - The cost of equity of foreign firms in the IFRS reporting period was compared to that in the US GAAP reconciliation period. Also, the cost of equity of foreign firms was compared to that of matched US firms during the two periods. Findings - The results show that the cost of equity in foreign firms is higher during the IFRS reporting period (2007-2009) than the US GAAP reconciliation period (2004-2006); foreign firms exhibit a constantly higher cost of equity than that of matched US firms in both periods; and the size of cost of equity difference remains the same with respect to the regulatory change. Further, it is shown that the change in foreign firms' cost of equity is affected by their home country's IFRS use. Originality/value - Bonding theory suggests a reduced cost of capital for foreign firms cross-listed in the USA because US listings require more substantial disclosure. The paper finds evidence that the SEC's waiver of US GAAP reporting does appear to reduce the bonding benefits for cross-listed foreign firms, particularly those from IFRS adoption countries.
Section: Systems Neuroscience Senior Editor: the Subregion Correspondence Model of Binocular Simple Cells Acknowledgements: We Gratefully Acknowledge Useful Conversations with M. Stryker, R

We explore the hypothesis that binocular simple cells in cat areas 17 and 18 show subregion correspondence, de ned as follows: within the region of overlap of the two eye's receptive elds, their ON subregions lie in corresponding locations, as do their OFF subregions. This hypothesis is motivated by a developmental model (Erwin and Miller, 1998) that suggested that simple cells could develop binocularly matched preferred orientations and spatial frequencies by developing subregion correspondence. Binocular organization of simple cell receptive elds is commonly characterized by two quantities: interocular position shift, the distance in visual space between the center positions of the two eye's receptive elds; and interocular phase shift, the di erence in the spatial phases of those receptive elds, each measured relative to its center position. The subregion correspondence hypothesis implies that interocular position and phase shifts are linearly related. We compare this hypothesis with the null hypothesis, assumed by most previous models of binocular organization, that the two types of shift are uncorrelated. We demonstrate that the subregion correspondence and null hypotheses are equally consistent with previous measurements of binocular response properties of individual simple cells in the cat and other species, and with measurements of the distribution of interocular phase shifts vs. preferred orientations or vs. interocular position shifts. However, the observed tendency of binocular simple cells in the cat to have \tuned excitatory" disparity tuning curves with preferred disparities tightly clustered around zero (Fischer and Kr uger, 1979; Ferster, 1981; LeVay and Voigt, 1988) follows naturally from the subregion correspondence hypothesis, but is inconsistent with the null hypothesis. We describe tests that could more conclusively di erentiate between the hypotheses. The most straightforward test requires simultaneous determination of the receptive elds of groups of 3 or more binocular simple cells.
Mitigating the Impact of Bats in Historic Churches: The Response of Natterer’s Bats Myotis nattereri to Artificial Roosts and Deterrence

Bats frequently roost in historic churches, and these colonies are of considerable conservation value. Inside churches, bat droppings and urine can cause damage to the historic fabric of the building and to items of cultural significance. In extreme cases, large quantities of droppings can restrict the use of a church for worship and/or other community functions. In the United Kingdom, bats and their roosts are protected by law, and striking a balance between conserving the natural and cultural heritage can be a significant challenge. We investigated mitigation strategies that could be employed in churches and other historic buildings to alleviate problems caused by bats without adversely affecting their welfare or conservation status. We used a combination of artificial roost provision and deterrence at churches in Norfolk, England, where significant maternity colonies of Natterer’s bats Myotis nattereri damage church features. Radio-tracking data and population modelling showed that excluding M. nattereri from churches is likely to have a negative impact on their welfare and conservation status, but that judicious use of deterrents, especially high intensity ultrasound, can mitigate problems caused by bats. We show that deterrence can be used to move bats humanely from specific roosting sites within a church and limit the spread of droppings and urine so that problems to congregations and damage to cultural heritage can be much reduced. In addition, construction of bespoke roost spaces within churches can allow bats to continue to roost within the fabric of the building without flying in the church interior. We highlight that deterrence has the potential to cause serious harm to M. nattereri populations if not used judiciously, and so the effects of deterrents will need careful monitoring, and their use needs strict regulation.
On Capacity Under Received-Signal Constraints

In a world where different systems have to share the same spectrum, the received (interfering) power may be a more relevant constraint than the maximum transmit power. Motivated by such a spectrum-sharing approach, this paper investigates the behavior of capacity under received-power constraints, modeling for example the maximum interference that one system may inflict on another. The insight of the paper is that while in the point-to-point case, transmit and received-power constraints are largely equivalent, they can lead to quite different conclusions in network cases, including relay networks, multiple access channels with dependent sources and feedback, and collaborative communication scenarios.
The Impact of Agricultural Market Liberalisation from a Gender Perspective: Evidence from Uganda

Focusing on intra-household allocation, we investigate the effects of coffee market liberalisation in Uganda. As coffee has traditionally been a male domain, higher income from this activity might increase gender disparities. In addition, gender-related inefficiency in household production might undermine the positive impact of improved incentives. Using data from three household surveys conducted between 1992 and 2006, we estimate Engel curves, coffee yield and labour input equations incorporating bargaining proxies. We find that income from coffee is increasingly pooled and therefore shared more equally among household members. Yet, we can only detect partial improvements in production efficiency: bargaining still appears to constraint output efficiency and the distribution of household resources continues to follow gendered lines.
Changes in Monoamine Release in the Ventral Horn and Hypoglossal Nucleus Linked to Pontine Inhibition of Muscle Tone: An In Vivo Microdialysis Study

A complete suppression of muscle tone in the postural muscles and a reduction of muscle tone in the respiratory related musculature occur in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Previous studies have emphasized the role of glycine in generating these changes. Because the activity of norepinephrine- and serotonin-containing neurons is known to decrease in REM sleep, we hypothesized that a decrease in release in one or both of these transmitters might be detected at the motoneuronal level during muscle tone suppression elicited by brainstem stimulation in the decerebrate animal. We compared release in the ventral horn with that in the hypoglossal nucleus to determine whether the mechanism of muscle tone suppression differs in these nuclei as has been hypothesized. Electrical stimulation and cholinergic agonist injection into the mesopontine reticular formation produced a suppression of tone in the postural and respiratory muscles and simultaneously caused a significant reduction of norepinephrine and serotonin release of similar magnitude in both hypoglossal nucleus and spinal cord. Norepinephrine and serotonin release in the motoneuron pools was unchanged when the stimulation was applied to brainstem areas that did not generate bilateral suppression. No change in dopamine release in the motoneuron pools was seen during mesopontine stimulation-induced atonia. We hypothesize that the reduction of monoamine release that we observe exerts a disfacilitatory effect on both ventral horn and hypoglossal motoneurons and that this disfacilitatory mechanism contributes to the muscle atonia elicited in the decerebrate animal and in the intact animal during REM sleep.
The PPP Puzzle: What the Data Tell when Allowed to Speak Freely

The persistent movements away from long-run benchmark values in real exchange rates, dubbed the PPP puzzle, observed in many real exchange rates during periods of currency float have been subject to much empirical research without resolving the puzzle. The paper demonstrates how the cointegrated VAR approach by grouping together components of similar persistence can be used to uncover structures in the data that ultimately may help to explain theoretically the forces underlying such puzzling movements. The charaterization of the data into components which are empirically I(0), I(1), and I(2) is shown to be a powerful organizing principle allowing us to structure the data in long-run, medium-run, and short-run behavior. Its main advantage is the ability to associate persistent movements away from fundamental benchmark values in one variable/relation with similar persistent movements somewhere else in the economy.
06 THE REAL IMPACT OF PASSIVE INVESTING IN

We study the real economic impact of passive investing in financial markets. In 2004, there was a dramatic increase in commodity index investing, an event referred to as the financialization of commodity futures. We quantify the impact of financialization by examining the economic link between commodity futures markets and firms which use commodities as an intermediate good. Using a difference-in-difference analysis, we find that firms which use commodities experience increases in their cost of goods sold and cost of capital, decreases in their cash flows and return on assets, and increased volatility in their stock returns. Consistent with theoretical models in which market participants learn from market prices, our results suggest that passive investing in financial markets distorts the price signal thereby generating significant negative externalities for the real economy.
The Theory Behind the Age-Related Positivity Effect

The “positivity effect” refers to an age-related trend that favors positive over negative stimuli in cognitive processing. Relative to their younger counterparts, older people attend to and remember more positive than negative information. Since the effect was initially identified and the conceptual basis articulated (Mather and Carstensen, 2005) scores of independent replications and related findings have appeared in the literature. Over the same period, a number of investigations have failed to observe age differences in the cognitive processing of emotional material. When findings are considered in theoretical context, a reliable pattern of evidence emerges that helps to refine conceptual tenets. In this article we articulate the operational definition and theoretical foundations of the positivity effect and review the empirical evidence based on studies of visual attention, memory, decision making, and neural activation. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions with emphasis on the conditions where a focus on positive information may benefit and/or impair cognitive performance in older people.
The population of the Galactic plane as seen by MSX

The combination of mid-infrared data from the MSX satellite mission and ground-based near-infrared photometry is used to characterize the properties of the mid-infrared population of the Galactic plane. The colours of the youngest sources still heavily embedded within their natal molecular clouds are in general different from those of evolved stars shrouded within their own dust shells. Our main motivation is to use MSX for an unbiased search for a large (∼1000) sample of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs). A simple analysis shows that the MSX point-source catalogue should contain most of the MYSOs within our Galaxy. We develop colour-selection criteria using combined near- and mid-infrared data for MYSOs, which produces a list of 3071 objects, excluding the Galactic Centre region. The programme of follow-up observations already under way to separate the MYSOs from compact H ii regions and other remaining objects is briefly described. We also show that these data can be used, just as IRAS data have been previously, to provide a separation between evolved stars with carbon-rich and oxygen-rich dust. These data may also be used to search for evidence of dust around normal main-sequence stars, such as low-mass pre-main-sequence stars or the Vega-excess class of objects where debris discs are presumed to remain from the planet formation process. We discuss the accuracy and completeness of the MSX point-source catalogue, and show that the errors present tend to be of a kind that is not significant for the main stellar populations we discuss in this paper.
Functional optimization of online algorithms in multilayer neural networks

We study the online dynamics of learning in fully connected soft committee machines in the student - teacher scenario. The locally optimal modulation function, which determines the learning algorithm, is obtained from a variational argument in such a manner as to maximize the average generalization error decay per example. Simulations results for the resulting algorithm are presented for a few cases. The symmetric phase plateaux are found to be vastly reduced in comparison to those found when online backpropagation algorithms are used. A discussion of the implementation of these ideas as practical algorithms is given.
Verification of the Cross Immunoreactivity of A60, a Mouse Monoclonal Antibody against Neuronal Nuclear Protein

A60, the mouse monoclonal antibody against the neuronal nuclear protein (NeuN), is the most widely used neuronal marker in neuroscience research and neuropathological assays. Previous studies identified fragments of A60-immunoprecipitated protein as Synapsin I (Syn I), suggesting the antibody will demonstrate cross immunoreactivity. However, the likelihood of cross reactivity has never been verified by immunohistochemical techniques. Using our established tissue processing and immunofluorescent staining protocols, we found that A60 consistently labeled mossy fiber terminals in hippocampal area CA3. These A60-positive mossy fiber terminals could also be labeled by Syn I antibody. After treating brain slices with saponin in order to better preserve various membrane and/or vesicular proteins for immunostaining, we observed that A60 could also label additional synapses in various brain areas. Therefore, we used A60 together with a rabbit monoclonal NeuN antibody to confirm the existence of this cross reactivity. We showed that the putative band positive for A60 and Syn I could not be detected by the rabbit anti-NeuN in Western blotting. As efficient as Millipore A60 to recognize neuronal nuclei, the rabbit NeuN antibody demonstrated no labeling of synaptic structures in immunofluorescent staining. The present study successfully verified the cross reactivity present in immunohistochemistry, cautioning that A60 may not be the ideal biomarker to verify neuronal identity due to its cross immunoreactivity. In contrast, the rabbit monoclonal NeuN antibody used in this study may be a better candidate to substitute for A60.