Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investment Propensities under Carbon Policy Uncertainty

Whether companies invest in new power facilities at a particular point in time, or delay, depends upon the perceived evolution of uncertainties and the investors’ attitudes to risk and return. With additional risks emerging through climate change mitigation mechanisms, the propensity to invest may increasingly depend upon how each technology and company is exposed to carbon price uncertainty. We approach this by estimating the cumulative probabilities of investment over time in various technologies as a function of behavioral, policy, financial and market assumptions. Using a multistage stochastic optimization model with exogenous uncertainty in carbon price, we demonstrate that detailed financial analysis with real options and risk constraints can make substantial difference to the investment propensities compared to conventional economic analysis. Further, we show that the effects of different carbon policies and market instruments on these decision propensities depend on the characteristics of the companies and may induce market structure evolution.
A Population Dynamics Approach for the Dispatch of Distributed Generators

Power distribution networks that include distributed generation need new control strategies based on distributed and hierarchical structures. For these systems, a replicator dynamics strategy for dynamic resource allocation in the dispatch of distributed generators in a microgrid is presented. This approach uses the characteristics of a defined subsystem in order to offer a simple algorithm with optimal and feasible solutions even in cases where other methods do not satisfy the problem's constraints. To compare the performance of the replicator dynamics strategy and to analyze the optimality of the obtained solutions, a market multiagent-based scheme is adapted. The results are implemented in a simulation model for different scenarios to show the applicability of the proposed strategy.
The evaluation of drug regulation - economic approaches into the valuation and evaluation of the drug regulatory framework

The European pharmaceutical market is strictly regulated. Sufficient levels of quality, safety, and efficacy will have to be demonstrated before a pharmaceutical is allowed to enter the market. There is little evidence, however, that the current drug regulatory framework is achieving its goals of protecting and promoting public health in a cost-effective manner. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is commonly used to assess the cost-effectiveness of medical interventions, but any policy aimed at increasing public health can be subjected to a cost-effectiveness analysis, including drug regulation. The aim of this thesis therefore was to assess the cost-effectiveness of several parts of the drug regulatory framework in order to identify whether the aims of safety-related drug regulation are met. Furthermore, several other methodological approaches were used to assess the monetary valuation of safety-related regulatory actions, as well as trade-offs made with regard to benefit-risk assessment of pharmaceuticals. Two regulatory cost-effectiveness analyses are reported in this thesis. First, the cost-effectiveness of thorough QT/QTc (TQT) studies was assessed. These clinical trials evaluate a pharmaceutical’s QT-prolonging potential, which can increase the risk of a drug-induced sudden cardiac death, and have been part of the drug regulatory framework since 2005. Furthermore, the cost-effectiveness of Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs) for biologicals was assessed. Both regulatory cost-effectiveness analyses found incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) that exceed commonly applied willingness to pay thresholds for medical interventions. However, other research reported in this thesis found that the societal valuation of safety-related regulatory actions is high, and there is evidence that health gains resulting from medical interventions are not valued equally to health losses resulting from adverse drug reactions. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that the willingness to pay for safety-related drug regulation (in terms of costs per QALYs gained) is equal to the willingness to pay for medical interventions. Societal developments during the last decade have resulted in an increasingly risk-averse drug regulatory framework. As more stringent regulatory requirements could negatively affect drug prices, more efforts should be made to identify the societal willingness to pay for drug safety. The research performed in this thesis indicates that the regulation of small drug safety risks can yield substantial opportunity costs, but that it is unlikely that these opportunity costs are considered in the development of regulatory measures
Introduction to Financial Management

NOTE to prospective students: This syllabus is intended to provide students who are considering taking this course an idea of what they will be learning. A more detailed syllabus will be available on the course site for enrolled students and may be more current than this sample syllabus. Summer term courses may be accelerated – please check the Ecampus Schedule of Classes for more information.
Confidence intervals for the number needed to treat

Editor—The number needed to treat has become a popular summary statistic for the results of randomised controlled trials because it combines the treatment effect with the background level of risk in the population studied. Patients in a single trial are randomised for both of these factors, and a confidence interval can be calculated which estimates the statistical uncertainty of the number needed to treat in this particular population.1 Problems arise when comparisons are made between numbers needed to treat from different randomised trials, or when the numbers needed to treat from several trials are combined in a meta-analysis. Often the background level of risk varies between trials in a non-random fashion, depending on the entry criteria in each trial. If the relative benefit of the treatment is constant across these background levels of risk then the number needed to treat in each trial will decrease as the severity of the condition of patients included in the trial rises. Pooling numbers needed to treat may not give a reliable answer in these circumstances, as the entry criteria of each trial will confound the treatment effect. The meaning of a confidence interval around a pooled number needed to treat poses difficulties when the background level of risk among trials varies widely. I would therefore support Egger et al’s suggestion that the pooled results of meta-analyses are reported in terms of a summary statistic which describes the relative benefit of a treatment (such as relative risk). 2 If the pooled relative risk is reported with its confidence interval both can be applied to any chosen control group event rate. In figure 3 in Altman’s paper the pooled relative risk is 0.62 (95% confidence interval 0.52 to 0.74). When the background rate of angina in the group given percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is 28% (such as found in the German angioplasty bypass surgery investigation (GABI), which included patients with more severe angina) the number needed to treat for coronary artery bypass grafting would be 8.67 (6.87 to 12.67). If the background rate of angina in the percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty group is lower (such as the 16% found in the coronary angioplasty versus bypass revascularisation investigation (CABRI)) then the number needed to treat would be 16.85 (13.34 to 24.63). Finally, I would suggest that numbers needed to treat are always accompanied by the control group event rate to which they apply and the relative risk and confidence interval from which they are derived.
Inflation Culture, Central Bank Independence and Price Stability

This paper proposes that central bank independence alone is insufficient to explain low inflation. It argues instead that central bank independence may be interconnected with public attitudes towards inflation via a historical feedback process that has led to an anti-inflation culture and public consensus on monetary stability in countries with low inflation rates. Using survey data from European Community members over the period 1976-1993, I find supportive evidence of the existence of a stability culture in low-inflation countries. In their assessment of the importance of price stability, people living in countries with a low inflation record appear to be more sensitive to an increase in the actual inflation rate than people in higher-inflation countries.
Thioredoxin-insensitive plastid ATP synthase that performs moonlighting functions

The chloroplast ATP synthase catalyzes the light-driven synthesis of ATP and acts as a key feedback regulatory component of photosynthesis. Arabidopsis possesses two homologues of the regulatory γ subunit of the ATP synthase, encoded by the ATPC1 and ATPC2 genes. Using a series of mutants, we show that both these subunits can support photosynthetic ATP synthesis in vivo with similar specific activities, but that in wild-type plants, only γ1 is involved in ATP synthesis in photosynthesis. The γ1-containing ATP synthase shows classical light-induced redox regulation, whereas the mutant expressing only γ2-ATP synthase (gamma exchange-revised ATP synthase, gamera) shows equally high ATP synthase activity in the light and dark. In situ redox titrations demonstrate that the regulatory thiol groups on γ2-ATP synthase remain reduced under physiological conditions but can be oxidized by the strong oxidant diamide, implying that the redox potential for the thiol/disulphide transition in γ2 is substantially higher than that for γ1. This regulatory difference may be attributed to alterations in the residues near the redox-active thiols. We propose that γ2-ATP synthase functions to catalyze ATP hydrolysis-driven proton translocation in nonphotosynthetic plastids, maintaining a sufficient transthylakoid proton gradient to drive protein translocation or other processes. Consistent with this interpretation, ATPC2 is predominantly expressed in the root, whereas modifying its expression results in alteration of root hair development. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that γ2 originated from ancient gene duplication, resulting in divergent evolution of functionally distinct ATP synthase complexes in dicots and mosses.
Lymphocyte subpopulations in blood and cerebrospinal fluid from patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

ABSTRACT‐ Lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood (PB) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 26 children affected with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) and from 13 controls with various neurological diseases without any immunological implication were examined for surface markers. SSPE patients were found to have significantly lower %s of E‐rosette forming cells (RFC) (T lymphocytes) and of EA‐RFC (TG lymphocytes, suppressor T cells) in both CSF and PB. No difference was found in EAC‐RFC (B lymphocytes) either in CSF or PB. The low EA‐RFC values can be explained by genetic factors, immune complexes or virus infection, and they could account for the hypersynthesis of oligoclonal immunoglobulins in the central nervous system.
Nocturnal body position in sleeping children with and without obstructive sleep apnea

To assess whether body position during sleep differs among children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) and controls, and to assess the effects of body position, obesity, and tonsillar size on respiratory disturbance. Four hundred and thirty consecutive children with polysomnographically demonstrated OSAS. And 185 age‐, gender‐, and ethnically matched children (Controls) were compared. The effect of sleep body position on respiratory disturbance was examined in OSAS, and also in relation to obesity and tonsillar size. Children with OSAS spent more time in the supine position than Controls (P < 0.01), with less time spent in the side position (P < 0.005). Obstructive apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) was similar in the three sleep‐related positions, but apnea index (AI) was significantly greater (4.6 ± 0.7/hr TST) in the supine position than in the side position (2.7 ± 0.3/hr TST; P < 0.001) or prone position (3.3 ± 0.5/hr TST; P < 0.01). Tonsillar size was not a contributing factor to positional differences in AI or AHI. Obese OSAS children had increased prone position (20.4 ± 2.0%TST vs. non‐obese: 10.9 ± 2.5%TST; P < 0.05), and displayed increased AHI and AI while supine. Non‐obese OSAS increased AHI in prone or side positions compared to supine (P < 0.01), with no significant differences in position‐dependent AI. Children with OSAS spend more time sleeping supine and less time on the side. Obese children with OSAS are more likely to sleep prone, suggesting that this position may promote upper airway patency in the presence of obesity. Although tonsillar size is not associated with positional differences in breathing, the presence or absence of obesity markedly modifies the effect of body position on respiratory disturbance. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2007; 42:374–379. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Decreased thermal sweating of central sudomotor mechanism in African and Korean men

Tropical natives sweat less and preserve more body fluid than temperate natives, tolerating heat stress. However, the mechanisms involved in such sweating reduction have not been fully elucidated. We examined the sudomotor responses of men of African (n = 36) and Korean (n = 41) ancestry during hot water (43 °C) leg immersion (central sudomotor response). Correlations between mean body temperature, basal metabolic rate (BMR), and sweat rate were also examined.
The Relationships Between Foreign Competition, Absorptive Capacity And Pioneering Innovation: An Empirical Investigation in Canada

The relationship between competition and innovation has drawn great attention from economists and strategic management researchers. However, the empirical evidence for this relationship remains inconsistent. On the one hand, the Schumpeterian viewpoint credits that the large firms with substantial monopoly market power have resources and incentives to innovate. On the other hand, it is also possible for a monopolist to have incentives to suppress subsequent innovations. It is suggested by Baldwin and Scott (1987) and Tang (2006) that the relationship between competition and innovation is dependent on the competition context and specific type of innovation activities. In this study, we investigate the relationship between foreign competition and pioneering innovation and consider the moderating role of absorptive capacity for this relationship, using the Canadian Innovation Data. We find a U-shaped relationship between foreign competition and pioneering innovation: when foreign competition increases from a low to a moderate level, the likelihood of pioneering innovation decreases. However, the likelihood of pioneering innovation increases when foreign competition continues to increase from a moderate to a high level. We also found evidence that absorptive capacity may positively moderate the relationship between foreign competition and pioneering innovation.
Unpacking Social Media’s Role in Resource Provision: Variations across Relational and Communicative Properties

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) challenge existing beliefs regarding the exchange of social resources within a network. The present study examines individuals’ perceived access to social, emotional, and instrumental resources by analyzing relational and Facebook-specific characteristics of dyadic relationships. Results suggest that the social and technical affordances of the site—including visibility of content and connections, as well as streamlined processes for interacting with a large audience—may augment existing perceptions of resource access for some ties while providing a major (or sole) outlet to interact and exchange resources with others. Specifically, weaker ties appear to benefit more than strong ties from engagement in directed communication and relationship maintenance strategies, while additional variations were observed across relationship category, dyad composition, and geographic proximity. In summary, these findings provide new evidence for how positive relational gains may be derived from site use.
International Comparisons of Real Product, 1820–1990: An Alternative Data Set☆

Abstract In this paper a new set of current price estimates of per capita income, adjusted for each currency's purchasing power, is presented for a sample of mainly OECD countries during more than one and a half centuries. A short-cut method is used to derive current price comparisons for countries and periods in which aggregate PPPs are not available. Current price estimates of PPP-adjusted GDP appear to be more economically sound than constant price figures, as economic agents react to current, not to constant, prices, and, therefore, would allow more appropriate cross-country comparisons of productivity and welfare. Country rankings in the new data set are different from those provided by earlier cross-country comparisons; among the new findings earlier U.S. leadership and the closer relative position of Britain and France over the 19th century can be highlighted.
Analysis of interlaced video signals and its applications

This paper presents a model of interlaced video. The model uses the assumption that the whole scene, which is captured by a camera, is moving at a constant speed. Within this model, the Fourier transform of the interlaced video signal is analyzed for various modes used in picture coding, such as intrafield, intraframe, interfield (with motion compensation), and interframe (with and without motion compensation) processing. The main spectral components of the signal are identified. The analysis yields new insight into the nature of the components. This insight is useful in the design of video processing systems, which is illustrated by various applications.
Real and Nominal Propagation of Nominal Shocks

The role of real and nominal propagation mechanisms in generating persistent real effects of nominal shocks is analysed analytically in a fully specified intertemporal general equilibrium model. While neither a real propagation mechanism (capital acccumulation) with one-period nominal contracts nor nominal propagation (staggered nominal contracts) in the absence of any real propagation can generate plausible impulse responses with strong persistence, it is shown that the two mechanisms interact so as to strengthen persistence (possibly unit roots) and generate more plausible impulse responses.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Determinants of Service Recovery

This study conceptualizes a framework of service recovery based on equity theory by developing constructs measuring the behavioural intentions of complainants and non-complainants during service failure. Measures of justice, severity of service failure and satisfaction with service recovery are used to design a new scale. Primary data is collected in two separate studies surveying 241 and 752 mobile phone users respectively. The scale is tested for reliability and validity using structural equation modelling. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used to assess its unidimensionality and model fit. The analysis reveals a good model-fit and the new scale reports for convergent and discriminant validity. This reliable and valid service recovery scale helps in comprehending the theory behind service failure and recovery and enables an understanding of perceived justice in a consumer’s mind post service failure.
Why People Obey the Law

People obey the law if they believe it's legitimate, not because they fear punishment--this is the startling conclusion of Tom Tyler's classic study. Tyler suggests that lawmakers and law enforcers would do much better to make legal systems worthy of respect than to try to instill fear of punishment. He finds that people obey law primarily because they believe in respecting legitimate authority. In his fascinating new afterword, Tyler brings his book up to date by reporting on new research into the relative importance of legal legitimacy and deterrence, and reflects on changes in his own thinking since his book was first published.
Becoming mothers. Multiple sclerosis and motherhood: A qualitative study

Purpose. This study aimed to provide a better understanding of the experiences of women with multiple sclerosis (MS) in becoming or being a mother. The research also focused on eliciting their perspectives of strategies that helped them and their families manage mothering young children whilst living with MS. Method. A qualitative, interpretive, descriptive approach using individual interviews to elicit and analyze women's experiences of MS and pregnancy, birth, and mothering young children. Results. Analysis of interviews with nine women produced six key themes: becoming a mother as a public private experience, keeping the baby safe; support; conserving energy; being the ideal mother; and backgrounding of their MS. Having MS required the women to set in place specific strategies for managing pregnancy and motherhood associated with a number of these issues such as gathering information and identifying sources of physical and social support. Conclusion. This study highlights how pregnancy and motherhood are valued, but challenging times, for women with MS. Recommendations about how services might respond to the specific challenges for women with MS considering or becoming mothers are proposed.
Corruption and Related Socioeconomic Factors: A Time Series Study

This study examines corruption in relation to political, legal, and economic factors to see how these factors impact corruption over time and to test the direction of causality between these variables. To assess causality, cointegration analysis using an error correction model on data from over 100 countries spanning over 20 years was performed. Three antecedent variables are analyzed in relation to corruption. Over the long-term, increases in these variables result in decreases in corruption. However, there is no evidence that changes in corruption impact any of these same variables. Interestingly, increases in GDP per capita are found to increase corruption over the short-term while leading to a long-term reduction in corruption.
A model for calculating thickness and surface conductivity of water film on an inclined insulator string

It is well known that the presence of a highly conductive water film over ice-covered insulator is a prerequisite to form local violet arcs across air gaps. This paper develops a model for calculation the thickness and surface conductivity of the water film formed over ice-covered insulators due to Joule heating effect. Different conductivities for water film layers are considered in the model mainly due to the rejection of impurities to the ice surface during the solidification process. The continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equations of motion for the water film flowing down an inclined insulator string due to gravity are used to obtain the velocity distribution. Water film thickness of and ice layer melting time are determined by taking into account the heat flux at the inclined plane due to the viscous dissipation and Joule heating and by assuming a quasi-steady-state model. As well, the influence of angle of inclination on thickness and surface conductivity of water film was studied. The model is integrated with a static arc model for flashover voltage prediction to improve its capability to be used for inclined insulator strings and its accuracy compared to present models.