Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy-Growth Causality: Asian Countries Revisited

Understanding the impact of energy consumption on economic growth is an important consideration in the formulation of both energy and environmental policies. Motivated by this development, this paper empirically re-examines the direction of causality and the sign (in the panel sense) between energy consumption (EC) and the gross-domestic product (GDP) for seventeen selected Asian countries. Results reveal long-run stable equilibriums in these countries, while the EC brings about a positive impact on GDP. Causality runs from EC to GDP in the short-run, while the long-run causal linkage exists from GDP to EC. This indicates that energy is a force for economic growth in the short-run, but in the long-run, the EC is fundamentally driven by economic growth. Efficient coordination and cooperation towards the implementation of energy conservation policies to support sustainable economic development should be in the regional agenda.
The relationship of psychological and cognitive factors and opioids in the development of the postconcussion syndrome in general trauma patients with mild traumatic brain injury

The relationship of psychological and cognitive factors in the development of the postconcussion syndrome (PCS) following mild uncomplicated traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has received little study. This may be because of the widely held belief that neurological factors are the cause of early PCS symptoms, whereas psychological factors are responsible for enduring symptoms. To further understand these relationships, the association between PCS and neuropsychological and psychological outcome was investigated in 122 general trauma patients, many of whom had orthopedic injuries, around 5 days following mTBI. Apart from verbal fluency, participants with a PCS did not differ in their performances on neuropsychological measures compared to those without a PCS. Individuals with a PCS reported significantly more psychological symptoms. Large effect sizes present on the psychological measures showed that the difference between participants with a PCS and without was greater on psychological than on neuropsychological measures. Analyses also revealed a relationship between opioid analgesia and depression, anxiety and stress, and opioids and reduced learning. The results suggest that psychological factors are present much earlier than has previously been considered in the development of the PCS. (JINS, 2006, 12, 792–801.)
A Generalized Extreme Value Approach to Financial Risk Measurement

This paper develops an unconditional and conditional extreme value approach to calculating value at risk (VaR), and shows that the maximum likely loss of financial institutions can be more accurately estimated using the statistical theory of extremes. The new approach is based on the distribution of extreme returns instead of the distribution of all returns and provides good predictions of catastrophic market risks. Both the in-sample and out-of-sample performance results indicate that the Box-Cox generalized extreme value distribution introduced in the paper performs surprisingly well in capturing both the rate of occurrence and the extent of extreme events in financial markets. The new approach yields more precise VaR estimates than the normal and skewed "t" distributions. Copyright 2007 The Ohio State University.
49 CAN KOREAN PCL-R PREDICT IMPLICIT AGGRESSION AMONG KOREAN INMATES ?

This paper focuses on the relationship between psychopathy scores measured by the Korean Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (Cho & Lee, 2008) and inmates’ implicit aggression (as opposed to verbally/physically explicit aggression) by correctional staff’s evaluations to suggest the utilization of Korean PCL-R. Numerous studies identified the Factor 2 score of the PCL-R as being a more significant predictor of higher levels of disruptive institutional behavior and recidivism than the Factor 1 score (e.g., Walters, 2003). First, we found tha tKorean psychopathy scores, in comparison to other static variables (age, the number of previous crimes, using a weapon, and having an accomplice), predicted implicit aggression among Korean inmates using the hierarchical regression model. Secondly, we found Factor 2 to be a better predictor for implicit aggression than Factor 1. Therefore, our study suggests the utilization of the Korean PCL-R to the criminal justice system in South Korea.
How Corruption Influences Foreign Direct Investment: A Panel Data Study

This article analyzes the sign and development of the effect of corruption on foreign direct investment (FDI). Economic theory distinguishes grabbing hand corruption from helping hand corruption. The former suggests a negative impact of corruption on FDI, the latter one a positive effect. Empirically, we apply a data set of 21 home and 59 developed and less developed host countries covering between 1983 and 1999. To investigate the corruption impact, we employ a panel data model that particularly refers to the knowledge‐capital model of multinational activity. We find a negative relationship between corruption and FDI. This, in turn, suggests that the helping hand effects of corruption are outweighed by the grabbing hand effects. Further, we observe that corruption is an important impediment of FDI in developed economies but not in less developed ones. Finally, we demonstrate that the importance of corruption has decreased over the years.
The Use of Three-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks to Interpret LiDAR for Forest Inventory

As light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology becomes more available, it has become common to use these datasets to generate remotely sensed forest inventories across landscapes. Traditional methods for generating these inventories employ the use of height and proportion metrics to measure LiDAR returns and relate these back to field data using predictive models. Here, we employ a three-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN), a deep learning technique that scans the LiDAR data and automatically generates useful features for predicting forest attributes. We test the accuracy in estimating forest attributes using the three-dimensional implementations of different CNN models commonly used in the field of image recognition. Using the best performing model architecture, we compared CNN performance to models developed using traditional height metrics. The results of this comparison show that CNNs produced 12% less prediction error when estimating biomass, 6% less in estimating tree count, and 2% less when estimating the percentage of needleleaf trees. We conclude that using CNNs can be a more accurate means of interpreting LiDAR data for forest inventories compared to standard approaches.
Mix and Match: Product Compatibility Without Network Externalities

In industries where consumers can assemble their own systems, firms must decide whether to make their components compatible with those of their rivals. We examine a two-stage game in which two fully integrated firms make their compatibility decisions before competing in prices. The symmetric perfect Nash equilibrium of this game is shown to involve full compatibility. Although compatibility leads to higher prices than incompatibility, it also increases the variety of systems available so that some consumers are better off with compatibility, while others are hurt. If standardization is costless, compatibility increases social surplus but may decrease consumer surplus.
Transforming Economic Growth to Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Elite Political Instability

In the light of the increasing attention on human development (HD) as well as the importance of political instability (PI) in economic performance, this paper examines the role of PI in the transformation of economic growth to HD. It finds that élite PI—the frequency of coups d'état in sub-Saharan Africa—adversely affected the transformation of economic growth to HD, measured as the change in an index of life expectancy and literacy, between 1970 and 1985. Coupled with an additional indirect negative effect on GDP growth, élite PI is found to have engendered a significant adverse impact on HD.
The fatigue of rapid repetitive movements

Normal subjects (n = 7) performed rapid voluntary isometric contractions of the adductor pollicis and the tibialis anterior. Within the first minute of this low-intensity exercise, the speed of tension development slowed, accompanied by a prolongation in EMG burst duration. In contrast, electrically evoked contractions either became more rapid (twitch) or did not change (tetanus), suggesting a fatigue of central origin. 31P NMR measurements of high-energy phosphates showed that the relationship between the fall of maximum force and changes of phosphates and pH was similar to that produced by other high-intensity fatiguing exercise protocols. Thus, rapid movements produce fatigue through two major mechanisms. First, there is slowing of the speed of tension development which appears secondary to central fatigue. Second, the decline of muscle force is primarily attributable to changes in muscle pH or inorganic phosphate, which usually occurs only after high-intensity (but non-rapid) exercise.
An Analysis of Virtual Team Characteristics: A Model for Virtual Project Managers

An integrated model, created to guide project managers, is outlined for the implementation and management of virtual teams. This model is developed by means of an exploratory literature review and an empirical investigation of virtual team utilization in a multinational medical device manufacturer, which examines several factors critical to their success. A TOWS matrix is used to structure the results of the analysis and to identify future virtual team strategies for the organization. The study demonstrates that a structured approach is essential to ensure that the benefits resulting from virtual teamwork are maximized.
Can the Production Smoothing Model of Inventory Behavior Be Saved?

The production smoothing model of inventory behavior has a long and venerable history, and theoretical foundations which seem very strong. Yet certain overwhelming facts seem not only to defy explanation within the production smoothing framework, but actually to argue that the basic idea of production smoothing is all wrong. Most prominent wnong these is the fact that the variance of detrended production exceeds the variance of detrended sales.This paper first documents the stylized facts. Then it derives the production smoothing model rigorously and explains how the model can be amended to make it consistent with the facts. Next, estimates of stock adjustment equations derived from the theory are presented and evaluated. Finally, it reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence and tries to drawsome tentative conclusions.
Application of Wavelet Analysis to GPS Deformation Monitoring

In the process of dynamically monitoring bridges using GPS, there are unavoidably errors (noises) in the observation data, for example the effect of multi-path effects. These noises possibly cover up available signals that we need. The paper analyzes field survey data of GPS dynamic monitoring for a bridge. Two GPS double-frequency receivers (Trimble 5700) were used for collecting data about 20 minutes by means of the dynamic observing mode. The baseline for monitoring the bridge deformation is resolved based on the least-square adjustment, in order to get the coordinate series of the monitoring baseline, and then the data series of three dimension coordinates, which are the rover station relative to the reference station, were calculated. The standard deviation is about 10mm in horizontal and 20mm in elevation. After averaged, these series were decomposed to eliminate the high frequency noises using ddencmp function of wavelet packet in the MATLAB6.5 Toolbox, in which a threshold was made. And then the signals were rebuilt through wdencmp function. The results have shown that noises can effectively be removed and the useful signals can be extracted from original signals with wavelet analysis. Further, the bridge self-vibration frequency can be obtained by using the spectral analytic approach with Fourier transformation, which is very identical with theory calculating value that was made by other researchers before, and more precise than the results without using wavelet
Analysis of corporate cash holdings of firms in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the motives behind the levels of cash holdings and the theory that may be able to explain why these firms hold so much cash. Design/methodology/approach – Annual financial data and stock prices of 192 firms from six different sectors on the Bursa Malaysia are collected for the period 2000-2007. Analysis using the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test is carried out to analyze industrial and time differences in cash holdings. The ordinary least square (OLS) regression technique is used to understand the relationships between various attributes with the level of cash holdings. Due to issues of endogeneity, the generalized method of moments method is also applied. Findings – Significant differences are found to exist in the level of cash holdings between firms and across time. It is found that firms adjust to a target level of cash holdings, although this is done relatively slowly. Also, significance of firm characteristics and their relationships with cash h.
Divisional Reverse Leveraged Buyout: Finishing School or Financial Arbitrage?

We examine whether the D-RLBO creates value by enhancing operating performance of units divested from corporations or whether the D-RLBO presents an opportunity for investor-managers to capture value by buying and selling into public markets those divested units that are operationally quite healthy. We do so by building a data set of 39 D-RLBO units and a matching sample of spin-off units. Our findings show that pre-divestment operating performance of our D-RLBO sample was better than industry average and also better than the pre-divestment performance of the matched sample of spin-off units. In addition, we find that D-RLBOs did not exhibit improved operating performance between the year of divestment and the year of the Initial Public Offering (IPO). Collectively, our findings suggest that buyout specialists select better performing assets ex-ante but that they do not necessarily enhance their operating performance before bringing them to the public markets.
Public investment and economic growth in Mexico

Mexico's growth rate began to plummet at roughly the same time that its public investment expenditures declined. That decline also appears to coincide with a slowdown in the growth of infrastructure capital in the electricity, transport, and communications sectors. Because of these parallel developments, many economists have attributed at least part of the blame for the decline in Mexico's growth after 1981 to the decline of public infrastructure investment. The empirical results presented in this report provide only limited support for this argument. They also suggest, in turn, that increases in public investment would not automatically translate into faster output and productivity growth. One reason not to take for granted a positive relationship between more public investment and faster growth is public investment's crowding out effect on private investment. Although the time-series regression results for Mexico all point toward a crowding out coefficient of less than unity, the existence limits the growth impact of public investment by reducing its net effect on capital accumulation. The time-series results also suggest that the economy's total factor productivity growth responds positively to increases in the ratio of public to private investment. In light of that result, increases in public investment should have a positive net impact on economic growth, despite significant crowding out effects. Chow breakpoint tests indicate, however, that the positive productivity effect appears to have weakened significantly in the past decade. A third reason for questioning a stable relationship is that the impact of increased public investment is likely to depend on how it is financed. The cross-country regressions reported here indicate that a general increase in the public capital stock has a positive impact on growth only if financed through savings generated through lower public consumption expenditures, but not if financed through higher public debt, which implies higher current and future taxation levels. The scope for reducing public consumption expenditures in Mexico is very limited, however, since they are already at rock bottom levels. Therefore, the only way to assure that the public investment program makes a significant contribution to growth is by improving its"quality"through careful attention to its rate of return and complementarity with private capital. In Mexico the most important reforms to make public investment more productive came from policymakers'recognition of the need to distinguish more clearly between the roles of the public and private sectors. This led to the privatization of most public enterprises and a reorientation of public investment to a more narrowly focused set of activities. In addition, the government took important steps to strengthen the institutional framework within which the public investment program is determined.
Racing for Investment under Mandatory Access

Abstract We analyze the impact of mandatory access on a race for investments and show that for a low (high) access price, firms wait (preempt each other). An access price increase tends to accelerate investment in general but may delay the first investment. While the first best cannot be achieved with a time-invariant access tariff, simple instruments such as ending access at a preset date or granting access holidays can improve efficiency. The former forces earlier investment when it would happen too late otherwise, while the latter allows for lower access prices later in order to delay a business-stealing second investment.
Genetic improvement of the shoot architecture and yield in soya bean plants via the manipulation of GmmiR156b

Summary The optimization of plant architecture in order to breed high‐yielding soya bean cultivars is a goal of researchers. Tall plants bearing many long branches are desired, but only modest success in reaching these goals has been achieved. MicroRNA156 (miR156)‐SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN‐LIKE (SPL) gene modules play pivotal roles in controlling shoot architecture and other traits in crops like rice and wheat. However, the effects of miR156‐SPL modules on soya bean architecture and yield, and the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects, remain largely unknown. In this study, we achieved substantial improvements in soya bean architecture and yield by overexpressing GmmiR156b. Transgenic plants produced significantly increased numbers of long branches, nodes and pods, and they exhibited an increased 100‐seed weight, resulting in a 46%–63% increase in yield per plant. Intriguingly, GmmiR156b overexpression had no significant impact on plant height in a growth room or under field conditions; however, it increased stem thickness significantly. Our data indicate that GmmiR156b modulates these traits mainly via the direct cleavage of SPL transcripts. Moreover, we found that GmSPL9d is expressed in the shoot apical meristem and axillary meristems (AMs) of soya bean, and that GmSPL9d may regulate axillary bud formation and branching by physically interacting with the homeobox gene WUSCHEL (WUS), a central regulator of AM formation. Together, our results identify GmmiR156b as a promising target for the improvement of soya bean plant architecture and yields, and they reveal a new and conserved regulatory cascade involving miR156‐SPL‐WUS that will help researchers decipher the genetic basis of plant architecture.
Beyond Intensity: Spectral Features Effectively Predict Music-Induced Subjective Arousal

Emotions in music are conveyed by a variety of acoustic cues. Notably, the positive association between sound intensity and arousal has particular biological relevance. However, although amplitude normalization is a common procedure used to control for intensity in music psychology research, direct comparisons between emotional ratings of original and amplitude-normalized musical excerpts are lacking. In this study, 30 nonmusicians retrospectively rated the subjective arousal and pleasantness induced by 84 six-second classical music excerpts, and an additional 30 nonmusicians rated the same excerpts normalized for amplitude. Following the cue-redundancy and Brunswik lens models of acoustic communication, we hypothesized that arousal and pleasantness ratings would be similar for both versions of the excerpts, and that arousal could be predicted effectively by other acoustic cues besides intensity. Although the difference in mean arousal and pleasantness ratings between original and amplitude-normalized excerpts correlated significantly with the amplitude adjustment, ratings for both sets of excerpts were highly correlated and shared a similar range of values, thus validating the use of amplitude normalization in music emotion research. Two acoustic parameters, spectral flux and spectral entropy, accounted for 65% of the variance in arousal ratings for both sets, indicating that spectral features can effectively predict arousal. Additionally, we confirmed that amplitude-normalized excerpts were adequately matched for loudness. Overall, the results corroborate our hypotheses and support the cue-redundancy and Brunswik lens models.
Effect of training on oxygen consumption in negative muscular work.

During negative work, bicycling downhill on a motordriven treadmill, it was found in 3 young, male subjects that the oxygen consumption (Vo2) continued to increase over a 25–50 min exercise period. The increase from the 10th to the last min of exercise was more than 25%. After 3–5 weeks of training with negative work of higher numerical work intensity, a marked decrease in Vo2 was seen and the continuous increase in Vo2 during the exercise period was reduced to a minimum, when the subjects worked at the same work intensity as before the training period. The direct employment of energy received by the muscles during negative work in the contraction process is discussed as a possible explanation for the reduced aerobic metabolism. Strengthening of the connective tissue during training and changes in muscle viscosity due to changes in muscle temperature are suggested as other possible factors involved in the decrease in Vo2.
Netnographic tourist research: the internet as a virtual fieldwork site.

The Internet is emerging as a valuable fieldwork site for researching tourist experiences. This article argues that netnography, a web-based research technique developed by Robert Kozinets, could become more useful in tourism research as the Internet is increasingly normalized as part of everyday lifestyle. However, so far, in the field of tourism research, very few researchers have embraced netnographic techniques as alternatives or complements to traditional fieldwork methods such as faceto- face interviews and surveys. The article also considers the merits, opportunities, and challenges of netnographic tourism research, and provides suggestions for further study.