Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Earnings Announcement Disclosures and Changes in Analysts' Information

This study examines how financial disclosures made with earnings announcements affect analysts’ information about future earnings, focusing on disclosures of financial statements and management earnings forecasts. We find that disclosures of balance sheets and segment data are associated with an increase in the degree to which analysts' forecasts of upcoming quarterly earnings are based on private information. Further analyses show that balance sheet disclosures are associated with an increase in the precision of both analysts' common and private information, segment disclosures are associated with an increase in analysts' private information, and management earnings forecast disclosures are associated with an increase in analysts’ common information. These results are consistent with analysts processing balance sheet and segment disclosures into new private information regarding near-term earnings. Additional analysis of conference calls shows that balance sheet, segment, and management earnings forecast disclosures are all associated with more discussion related to these items in the questions-and-answers section of conference calls, consistent with analysts playing an information interpretation role with respect to these disclosures.
The predictive value of ovarian reserve tests for miscarriage in a population of subfertile ovulatory women.

BACKGROUND The increase in miscarriage rate with female age is attributed to a decline in oocyte quality. This age-related decrease of oocyte quality is accompanied by a decrease in oocyte quantity. Assessment of the number of oocytes by ovarian reserve tests (ORTs) may therefore also represent their quality. The objective of our study was to assess the predictive value of ORTs for miscarriage in subfertile women. METHODS This study was a subanalysis within a prospective cohort study of 474 subfertile ovulatory couples in two hospitals in Groningen, The Netherlands. The ORTs performed were: antral follicle count (AFC), basal and stimulated levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and inhibin B, and the clomiphene citrate challenge test (CCCT). Women who achieved an ongoing pregnancy (n = 233) were compared with women experiencing miscarriage (n = 72) on the results of their ORTs and patient characteristics. RESULTS In univariate analysis, the outcome of the ORTs did not differ between the groups. Logistic regression analysis including patient characteristics such as female age did not reveal an association between the ORT results and miscarriage either. CONCLUSIONS Neither AFC, basal and stimulated levels of FSH and inhibin B, nor the CCCT have a statistically significant predictive value for miscarriage in subfertile ovulatory women.
The spatial tuning of "motion streak" mechanisms revealed by masking and adaptation.

We previously reported that fast-moving dot arrays cause orientation-tuned masking of static gratings (D. Apthorp, J. Cass, & D. Alais, 2010), which we attribute to "motion streaks. " Using similar "streaky" dot motion, we describe spatial frequency tuning of grating threshold elevations caused by masking (Experiment 1) and adaptation (Experiment 2) to motion. To compare the streaks with psychophysical tunings, we Fourier analyzed time-averaged translating dots, which were bandpass (peaking at ∼2.3 c/deg). Masking, however, was strongest at lower test frequencies (≤1 c/deg) and largely isotropic over orientation, although a small orientation-tuned effect occurred at ∼1.2 c/deg. Results were broadly similar across monoptic and dichoptic conditions. Adaptation to fast motion produced spatially bandpass threshold elevations for parallel test gratings, peaking slightly lower than the peak Fourier frequency, with little elevation below 1 c/deg (unlike the low-pass elevation resulting from masking). Slow adaptation produced little elevation for parallel gratings. For orthogonal test gratings, fast motion adaptation produced low-pass threshold elevations and slow motion produced bandpass elevations, suggesting that separable mechanisms process fast (streaky) and slow motion. The different threshold elevation patterns over spatial frequency for masking and adaptation suggest that the adaptation effects are mainly within-channel suppression, whereas the masking effects may be mainly due to between-channel suppression.
Secular evolution of galactic discs: constraints on phase-space density

It was argued in the past that bulges of galaxies cannot be formed through collisionless secular evolution because that would violate constraints on the phase-space density: the phase-space density in bulges is several times larger than in the inner parts of discs. We show that these arguments against secular evolution are not correct. Ob- servations give estimates of the coarsely grained phase-space densities of galaxies, f ' = �s/�R���z, wheres is stellar density andR,��,�z are the radial, tangential, and vertical rms velocities of stars. Using high-resolution N-body simulations, we study the evolution of fin stellar discs of Galaxy-size models. During the secular evolution, the discs, which are embedded in live Cold Dark Matter haloes, form a bar and then a thick, dynamically hot, central mass concentration. In the course of evolution fde- clines at all radii. However, the decline is different in different parts of the disc. In the inner disc, f ' (R) develops a valley with a minimum around the end of the central mass concentration. The final result is that the values of fin the central regions are significantly larger than those in the inner disc. The minimum, which gets deeper with time, seems to be due to a large phase mixing produced by the outer bar. We find that the shape and the amplitude of f ' (R) for different simulations agree qualitatively with the observed f ' (R) in our Galaxy. Curiously enough, the fact that the coarsely grained phase-space density of the bulge is significantly larger than the one of the inner disc turns out to be an argument in favor of secular formation of bulges, not against it.
Youths in the South African labour market since the transition: A study of changes between 1995 and 2011

The persistently high unemployment rate has always been one of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South African economy. There is a general consensus that unemployment is structural, as there is a mismatch between the skills demanded by employers for the available jobs and the skills supplied by the labour force seeking work. As there is an increase of demand for highly-skilled workers with the adoption of capital-intensive and technologically more advanced production processes, most of the unemployed are unskilled and not well educated. The unemployment rate is much higher amongst youths than in amongst the older workforce. Also, youths are less likely to find employment and employed youths are relatively more likely to be retrenched during recessions due to their lack of experience. The announcement by the Finance Minister in the February 2011 Budget Speech that a youth wage subsidy will be implemented in 2012 was based on the hope that the subsidy program would boost the labour demand for youths, and decrease youth unemployment. Hence, this paper first analyses the demographic and education characteristics of the youth labour force, employed and unemployed, using the 1995-2011 labour survey data released by Statistics South Africa. The paper then investigates the main causes of youth unemployment, such as skills mismatch, quality of education, lack of experience, expectations of the youths, and the impact of wage rigidities. The paper then discusses how the wage subsidy program works, as well as its potential merits and drawbacks. It is concluded that while a wage subsidy might be effective in facilitating the entry of young workers into the job market, it is not sufficient to increase and maintain youth employment. Various other issues need to be addressed, such as reducing and preventing early drop out from schools; improving the quality of education in former Black schools; more attention to critical subjects like Mathematics and Science to prevent skills mismatch; more emphasis on practical, skills-oriented, vocational training at higher education levels; curtailing restrictive labour legislation that results in wage rigidity, productivity stagnation or decline, and increase in indirect costs, which eventually discourage employers to employ youth workers; and more rapid economic growth that is employment elastic.
Entropy, Function and Evolution: Naturalizing Peircian Semiosis

In the biosemiotic literature there is a tension between the naturalistic reference to biological processes and the category of ‘meaning’ which is central in the concept of semiosis. A crucial term bridging the two dimensions is ‘information. ’ I argue that the tension can be resolved if we reconsider the relation between information and entropy and downgrade the conceptual centrality of Shannon information in the standard approach to entropy and information. Entropy comes into full play if semiosis is seen as a physical process involving causal interactions between physical systems with functions. Functions emerge from evolutionary processes, as conceived in recent philosophical contributions to teleosemantics. In this context, causal interactions can be interpreted in a dual mode, namely as standard causation and as an observation. Thus, a function appears to be the interpretant in the Peircian triadic notion of the sign. Recognizing this duality, the Gibbs/Jaynes notion of entropy is added to the picture, which shares an essential conceptual feature with the notion of function: Both concepts are part of a physicalist ontology, but are observer relative at the same time. Thus, it is possible to give an account of semiosis within the entropy framework without limiting the notion of entropy to the Shannon measure, but taking full account of the thermodynamic definition. A central feature of this approach is the conceptual linkage between the evolution of functions and maximum entropy production. I show how we can conceive of the semiosphere as a fundamental physical phenomenon. Following an early contribution by Hayek, in conclusion I argue that the category of ‘meaning’ supervenes on nested functions in semiosis, and has a function itself, namely to enable functional self-reference, which otherwise mainfests functional break-down because of standard set-theoretic paradoxes.
Statistical Metamorphic Testing Testing Programs with Random Output by Means of Statistical Hypothesis Tests and Metamorphic Testing

Testing software with random output is a challenging task as the output corresponding to a given input differs from execution to execution. Therefore, the usual approaches to software testing are not applicable to randomized software. Instead, statistical hypothesis tests have been proposed for testing those applications. To apply these statistical hypothesis tests, either knowledge about the theoretical values of statistical characteristics of the program output (e. g. the mean) or a reference implementation (e. g. a legacy system) are required to apply statistical hypothesis tests. But often, both are not available. In the present paper, it is discussed how a testing method called Metamorphic Testing can be used to construct statistical hypothesis tests without knowing exact theoretical characteristics or having a reference implementation. For that purpose, two or more independent output sequences are generated by the implementation under test (IUT). Then, these sequences are compared according to the metamorphic relation using statistical hypothesis tests.
Consequences of More Extreme Precipitation Regimes for Terrestrial Ecosystems

ABSTRACT Amplification of the hydrological cycle as a consequence of global warming is forecast to lead to more extreme intra-annual precipitation regimes characterized by larger rainfall events and longer intervals between events. We present a conceptual framework, based on past investigations and ecological theory, for predicting the consequences of this underappreciated aspect of climate change. We consider a broad range of terrestrial ecosystems that vary in their overall water balance. More extreme rainfall regimes are expected to increase the duration and severity of soil water stress in mesic ecosystems as intervals between rainfall events increase. In contrast, xeric ecosystems may exhibit the opposite response to extreme events. Larger but less frequent rainfall events may result in proportional reductions in evaporative losses in xeric systems, and thus may lead to greater soil water availability. Hydric (wetland) ecosystems are predicted to experience reduced periods of anoxia in response to prolonged intervals between rainfall events. Understanding these contingent effects of ecosystem water balance is necessary for predicting how more extreme precipitation regimes will modify ecosystem processes and alter interactions with related global change drivers.
IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol enhanced by busy tones

Two novel MAC schemes are proposed to solve the hidden terminal problem and the exposed problem in ad hoc networks with large interference range. With the aid of dual busy tones, one scheme is a simple enhancement to IEEE 802.11, and the other is to exactly signify the interference range by adjusting the transmission power of busy tones. Both of the two schemes are able to prevent the collisions of data/ACK packets. The numerical results show that the two proposed schemes are able to enhance the saturation throughput of IEEE 802.11 significantly. The proposed VPDBT MAC can balance the trade off between spatial reuse and collision avoidance.
Shape Guided Object Segmentation

We construct a Bayesian model that integrates topdown with bottom-up criteria, capitalizing on their relative merits to obtain figure-ground segmentation that is shape-specific and texture invariant. A hierarchy of bottom-up segments in multiple scales is used to construct a prior on all possible figure-ground segmentations of the image. This prior is used by our top-down part to query and detect object parts in the image using stored shape templates. The detected parts are integrated to produce a global approximation for the object’s shape, which is then used by an inference algorithm to produce the final segmentation. Experiments with a large sample of horse and runner images demonstrate strong figure-ground segmentation despite high object and background variability. The segmentations are robust to changes in appearance since the matching component depends on shape criteria alone. The model may be useful for additional visual tasks requiring labeling, such as the segmentation of multiple scene objects.
Source and Channel Coding for Quasi-Static Fading Channels

We consider transmission of a continuous amplitude source over a quasi-static Rayleigh fading channel. We analyze three different source and channel coding strategies in terms of overall expected distortion (ED). Our goal is to maximize the distortion exponent (Delta), which is the exponential decay rate of ED with increasing SNR. In each case, by adjusting the system parameters we find the best Delta as a function of the bandwidth expansion. We also find an upper bound for Delta and illustrate how this upper bound can be achieved for all bandwidth expansions even with reasonably simple strategies. Although we focus on a Gaussian source for brevity, we demonstrate that our results can be extended to more general source distributions
Waste lipids to energy: how to optimize methane production from long‐chain fatty acids (LCFA)

The position of high‐rate anaerobic technology (HR‐AnWT) in the wastewater treatment and bioenergy market can be enhanced if the range of suitable substrates is expanded. Analyzing existing technologies, applications and problems, it is clear that, until now, wastewaters with high lipids content are not effectively treated by HR‐AnWT. Nevertheless, waste lipids are ideal potential substrates for biogas production, since theoretically more methane can be produced, when compared with proteins or carbohydrates. In this minireview, the classical problems of lipids methanization in anaerobic processes are discussed and new concepts to enhance lipids degradation are presented. Reactors operation, feeding strategies and prospects of technological developments for wastewater treatment are discussed. Long‐chain fatty acids (LCFA) degradation is accomplished by syntrophic communities of anaerobic bacteria and methanogenic archaea. For optimal performance these syntrophic communities need to be clustered in compact aggregates, which is often difficult to achieve with wastewaters that contain fats and lipids. Driving the methane production from lipids/LCFA at industrial scale without risk of overloading and inhibition is still a challenge that has the potential for filling a gap in the existing processes and technologies for biological methane production associated to waste and wastewater treatment.
The Decline of the U.S. Rust Belt: A Macroeconomic Analysis

Some regions of the United States fared much worse than others since the end of WWII. In this paper we document that those regions faring worst in terms of wage and employment growth from 1950-2000 tended to be those in which workers earned the largest wage premiums in 1950. We use this evidence to develop a theory of the decline of the ``Rust Belt'' region, which was highly unionized and paid workers substantially more than other workers of similar skill levels. We develop our theory in a two-region, open-economy version of the Neoclassical Growth model, which we parameterize to match key features of regional and aggregate data. We then use the model to ask how much differently the Rust Belt would have fared if its labor market had not been as distorted.
Web opinions analysis with scalable distance-based clustering

Due to the advance of Web 2.0 technologies, a large volume of web opinions are available in computer-mediated communication sites such as forums and blogs. Many of these web opinions involve terrorism and crime related issues. For instances, some terrorist groups may use web forums to propagandize their ideology, some may post threaten messages, and some criminals may recruit members or identify victims through web social networks. Analyzing and clustering Web opinions are extremely challenging. Unlike regular documents, web opinions usually appear as short and sparse text messages. Using typical document clustering techniques on web opinions produce unsatisfying result. In this work, we propose the scalable distance-based clustering technique for web opinions clustering. We have conducted experiments and benchmarked with the density-based algorithm. It shows that it obtains higher micro and macro accuracy. This web opinions clustering technique is useful in identifying the themes of discussions in web social networks and studying their development as well as the interactions of active participants.
THE LOPSIDEDNESS OF PRESENT-DAY GALAXIES: CONNECTIONS TO THE FORMATION OF STARS, THE CHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES, AND THE GROWTH OF BLACK HOLES

A global lopsidedness in the distribution of the stars and gas is common in galaxies. It is believed to trace a nonequilibrium dynamical state caused by mergers, tidal interactions, asymmetric accretion of gas, or asymmetries related to the dark matter halo. We have used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to undertake an investigation of lopsidedness in a sample of ∼25, 000 nearby galaxies (z< 0.06). We use the m = 1 azimuthal Fourier mode between the 50% and 90% light radii as our measure of lopsidedness. The SDSS spectra are used to measure the properties of the stars, gas, and black hole in the central-most few-kpc-scale region. We show that there is a strong link between lopsidedness in the outer parts of the galactic disk and the youth of the stellar population in the central region. This link is independent of the other structural properties of the galaxy. These results provide a robust statistical characterization of the connections between accretion/interactions/mergers and the resulting star formation. We also show that residuals in the galaxy mass–metallicity relation correlate with lopsidedness (at fixed mass, the more metal-poor galaxies are more lopsided). This suggests that the events causing lopsidedness and enhanced star formation deliver lower metallicity gas into the galaxy's central region. Finally, we find that there is a trend for the more powerful active galactic nuclei (the more rapidly growing black holes) to be hosted by more lopsided galaxies (at fixed galaxy mass, density, or concentration). However, if we compare samples matched to have both the same structures and central stellar populations, we then find no difference in lopsidedness between active and non-active galaxies. Indeed, the correlation between the youth of the stellar population and the rate of black hole growth is stronger than the correlation between lopsidedness and either of these other two properties. This leads to the following picture. The presence of cold gas in the central region of a galaxy (irrespective of its origin) is essential for both star formation and black hole growth. The delivery of cold gas is aided by the processes that produce lopsidedness. Other processes on scales smaller than we can probe with our data are required to transport the gas to the black hole.
Vector processor customization for FFT

Processors and memory systems suffer from a growing performance gap between them. Each technology generation increases the on-chip performance capabilities however, memory bandwidth increases at a much slower pace. Therefore, overall performance improvements are constrained by the available memory bandwidth. In this paper, we address the memory bandwidth problem of vector processors by introducing hardware customizations which drastically reduce the memory transfers required by the FFT computation. We show that an FFT transform of length equal to the machine size Z can be performed using only O(Z) memory accesses, hence we reduce the memory bandwidth requirement by an order of O(log(Z)) compared to a conventional vector machine. We achieve bandwidth reduction by extending a classic IBM S/370 vector architecture for better register re-use. Our hardware extension completely eliminates the input bit reversal phase of the Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm. Synthesis results suggest that our extension does not impact the machine cycle time and has a small hardware area overhead of the vector register file of under 4.5% while potentially improving vector performance by a factor of 7.5 for Z = 256.