Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Performance of Small Cap Mutual Funds: Evidence for the UK

This paper investigates the performance of mutual funds that specialize in investing in UK smaller companies. In contrast to mutual funds investing in large company stock, research on the small cap fund segment of the market is scant and suffers from methodological shortcomings. In this paper we address these issues by applying conditional multi-factor models tailored to smaller companies during 1992-2011. Our main results are fourfold. First, UK small caps funds deliver a statistically significant unconditional multi-factor alpha of 4.08% per annum, net of fees. This clearly deviates from previous work on large cap mutual funds which deliver significant underperformance in most developed markets. Second, we document a severe survivorship bias of 3.9% per annum. This raises doubt on previous small cap studies that did not include dead funds. Third, introducing time variation in betas consumes most of the statistical significance of alphas which indicates that small cap managers are successfully timing the market. Fourth, in contrast to the large cap literature, strong persistence (hot hands) exists for past winners. The top performing funds deliver a statistically significant alpha of 4.99% per year even after taking into account time variation in betas. We believe these results are relevant for both academics and practitioners when constructing efficient portfolios. In line with Otten & Bams (2002) we believe that the smaller market importance of small cap mutual funds compared to their small cap universe (< 5%) positively attributes to the observed outperformance of small cap mutual funds.
Massive Galaxies in Cosmological Simulations: Ultraviolet-selected Sample at Redshift z = 2

We study the properties of galaxies at redshift z = 2 in a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) universe, using two different types of hydrodynamic simulation methods—Eulerian total variation diminishing (TVD) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH)—and a spectrophotometric analysis in the Un, G, R filter set. The simulated galaxies at z = 2 satisfy the color-selection criteria proposed by Adelberger et al. and Steidel et al. when we assume Calzetti extinction with E(B - V) = 0.15. We find that the number density of simulated galaxies brighter than R < 25.5 at z = 2 is about 2 × 10-2 h3 Mpc-3 for E(B - V) = 0.15 in our most representative run, roughly 1 order of magnitude larger than that of Lyman break galaxies at z = 3. The most massive galaxies at z = 2 have stellar masses of ≳1011 M☉, and their observed-frame G-R colors lie in the range 0.0 < G - R < 1.0. They typically have been continuously forming stars at a rate exceeding 30 M☉ yr-1 over a few gigayears from z = 10 to z = 2, although the TVD simulation indicates a more sporadic star formation history than the SPH simulations. On the order of half of their stellar mass was already assembled by z ~ 4. The bluest galaxies with colors -0.2 < G - R < 0.0 at z = 2 are somewhat less massive, with Mstar < 1011 h-1 M☉, and lack a prominent old stellar population. On the other hand, the reddest massive galaxies at z = 2 with G - R ≥ 1.0 and Mstar > 1010 h-1 M☉ completed the build-up of their stellar mass by z ~ 3. Interestingly, our study indicates that the majority of the most massive galaxies at z = 2 should be detectable at rest-frame ultraviolet wavelengths, contrary to some recent claims made on the basis of near-infrared studies of galaxies at the same epoch, provided the median extinction is less than E(B - V) < 0.3 as indicated by surveys of Lyman break galaxies at z = 3. However, our results also suggest that the fraction of stellar mass contained in galaxies that pass the color-selection criteria used by Steidel et al. (2004) could be as low as 50% of the total stellar mass in the universe at z = 2. Our simulations imply that the missing stellar mass is contained in fainter (R > 25.5) and intrinsically redder galaxies. The bright end of the rest-frame V-band luminosity function of z = 2 galaxies can be characterized by a Schechter function with parameters (Φ*, M, α) = (1.8 × 10-3, - 23.4, - 1.85), while the TVD simulation suggests a flatter faint-end slope of α ~ -1.2. A comparison with z = 3 shows that the rest-frame V-band luminosity function has brightened by about 0.5 mag from z = 3 to z = 2, without a significant change in the shape. Our results do not imply that hierarchical galaxy formation fails to account for the massive galaxies at z ≳ 1.
The Periconceptional Environment and Cardiovascular Disease: Does In Vitro Embryo Culture and Transfer Influence Cardiovascular Development and Health?

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) have revolutionised reproductive medicine; however, reports assessing the effects of ARTs have raised concerns about the immediate and long-term health outcomes of the children conceived through ARTs. ARTs include manipulations during the periconceptional period, which coincides with an environmentally sensitive period of gamete/embryo development and as such may alter cardiovascular development and health of the offspring in postnatal life. In order to identify the association between ARTs and cardiovascular health outcomes, it is important to understand the events that occur during the periconceptional period and how they are affected by procedures involved in ARTs. This review will highlight the emerging evidence implicating adverse cardiovascular outcomes before and after birth in offspring conceived through ARTs in both human and animal studies. In addition, it will identify the potential underlying causes and molecular mechanisms responsible for the congenital and adult cardiovascular dysfunctions in offspring whom were conceived through ARTs.
Identification of MicroRNAs and Their Target Genes Related to the Accumulation of Anthocyanins in Litchi chinensis by High-Throughput Sequencing and Degradome Analysis

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is an important subtropical fruit in southern China and the fruit pericarp has attractive red skin at maturity, which is provided by anthocyanins accumulation. To understand the anthocyanin biosynthesis at post-transcriptional level, we investigated the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) during fruit coloring. In the present study, four small RNA libraries and a mixed degradome library from pericarps of ‘Feizixiao’ litchi at different developmental phases were constructed and sequenced by Solexa technology. A total of 78 conserved miRNAs belonging to 35 miRNA families and 41 novel miRNAs were identified via high-throughput sequencing, and 129 genes were identified as their targets by the recently developed degradome sequencing. miR156a and a novel microRNA (NEW41) were found to be differentially expressed during fruit coloring, indicating they might affect anthocyanin biosynthesis through their target genes in litchi. qRT-PCR analysis confirmed the expression changes of miR156a and the novel microRNA (NEW41) were inversely correlated with the expression profiles of their target genes LcSPL1/2 and LcCHI, respectively, suggesting regulatory roles of these miRNAs during anthocyanin biosynthesis. The target genes of miR156a, LcSPL1/2, encode transcription factors, as evidenced by a localization in the nucleus, that might play roles in the regulation of transcription. To further explore the relationship of LcSPL1/2 with the anthocyanin regulatory genes, yeast two-hybrid and BiFC analyses showed that LcSPL1 proteins could interact with LcMYB1, which is the key regulatory gene in anthocyanin biosynthesis in litchi. This study represents a comprehensive expression profiling of miRNAs in anthocyanin biosynthesis during litchi fruit maturity and confirmed that the miR156- SPLs module was conserved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in litchi.
The effects of topic complexity and familiarity on cognitive and physical moves in a thesaurus-enhanced search environment

This paper presents an evaluation of the effects of search topic characteristics on cognitive and physical search moves within the interface of a thesaurus-enhanced information retrieval environment. Topic characteristics examined here are topic complexity, topic familiarity, search type and prior topic search experience. The data gathering techniques adopted in this investigation included pre- and post-search questionnaires, transaction logs and post-session interviews. Thirty academic staff and postgraduate researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow participated in this study. Each participant conducted three searches based on their research information needs. The results show that complex topics are associated with significantly more cognitive and physical moves. However, it is perhaps equally important to note that the results indicate that variation in the other topic characteristics did not demonstrate any significant difference in the number of cognitive or physical moves.
Potential of “Lure and Kill” in Long-Term Pest Management and Eradication of Invasive Species

ABSTRACT “Lure and kill” technology has been used for several decades in pest management and eradication of invasive species. In lure and kill, the insect pest attracted by a semiochemical lure is not “entrapped” at the source of the attractant as in mass trapping, but instead the insect is subjected to a killing agent, which eliminates affected individuals from the population after a short period. In past decades, a growing scientific literature has been published on this concept. This article provides the first review on the potential of lure and kill in long-term pest management and eradication of invasive species. We present a summary of lure and kill, either when used as a stand-alone control method or in combination with other methods. We discuss its efficacy in comparison with other control methods. Several case studies in which lure and kill has been used with the aims of long-term pest management (e.g., pink bollworm, Egyptian cotton leafworm, codling moth, apple maggot, biting flies, and bark beetles) or the eradication of invasive species (e.g., tephritid fruit flies and boll weevils) are provided. Subsequently, we identify essential knowledge required for successful lure and kill programs that include lure competitiveness with natural odor source; lure density; lure formulation and release rate; pest population density and risk of immigration; and biology and ecology of the target species. The risks associated with lure and kill, especially when used in the eradication programs, are highlighted. We comment on the cost-effectiveness of this technology and its strengths and weaknesses, and list key reasons for success and failure. We conclude that lure and kill can be highly effective in controlling small, low-density, isolated populations, and thus it has the potential to add value to long-term pest management. In the eradication of invasive species, lure and kill offers a major advantage in effectiveness by its being inverse density dependent and it provides some improvements in efficacy over related control methods. However, the inclusion of insecticides or sterilants in lure and kill formulations presents a major obstacle to public acceptance.
On walls of marginal stability in N=2 string theories

We study the properties of walls of marginal stability for BPS decays in a class of N = 2 theories. These theories arise in N = 2 string compactifications obtained as freely acting orbifolds of N = 4 theories, such theories include the STU model and the FHSV model. The cross sections of these walls for a generic decay in the axion-dilaton plane reduce to lines or circles. From the continuity properties of walls of marginal stability we show that central charges of BPS states do not vanish in the interior of the moduli space. Given a charge vector of a BPS state corresponding to a large black hole in these theories, we show that all walls of marginal stability intersect at the same point in the lower half of the axion-dilaton plane. We isolate a class of decays whose walls of marginal stability always lie in a region bounded by walls formed by decays to small black holes. This enables us to isolate a region in moduli space for which no decays occur within this class. We then study entropy enigma decays for such models and show that for generic values of the moduli, that is when moduli are of order one compared to the charges, entropy enigma decays do not occur in these models.
Self-Regulated Study and the Testing Effect: A Combined Investigation Regarding Material Retention

The potential effects of self-regulated study and memory retrieval on learning were investigated in a 2 x 2 within-subjects design. Participants studied and later were asked to recall Swahili-English word pairs in a cued-recall paradigm. The independent variables were Self-Regulation (whether participants could drop a word pair from the study list) and Memory Recall (whether participants were asked to generate the second member of a word pair during study). There was a main effect of Self-Regulation (learning increased when participants were unable to discard word pairs), no main effect for Memory Recall, and no significant interaction. The lack of a statistically significant result in the Memory Recall condition perhaps was due to inadvertent recall during the recognition task. Implications and future directions will be discussed. The ability to navigate the world effectively is crucial to the survival of human beings. A key component of this navigation is the ability to learn about the environment, and subsequently apply this learned knowledge in the future. Further, humans most efficient at this task are better equipped to face challenges and steer their worlds successfully. Thus, it is crucial to know as much as possible regarding how human beings learn most effectively and efficiently. The current research provides insight into how human beings learn, errors they make in their learning, and potential methods to combat these errors. More specifically, in an academic setting, the current research has both pedagogical implications as well as suggestions for self-regulatory methods. From an educational perspective, insight regarding the most effective means of information presentation could aid in course design, presentation of material to be learned, testing frequency as well as testing design itself. From a learner perspective, a considerable component of an education occurs when one is selfregulating their own study away from the learning environment. Findings that provide insight into how learners regulate their study, mistakes they may make, and factors that aid self-regulation could prove to be extremely important in the educational realm. In order to investigate this vital issue, the current study was designed to further explore phenomena associated with selfregulated study and a finding known as the testing effect.
Treated Hypertension has No Influence on the Efficacy of Alendronate in the Therapy of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: A Non-Randomized, Non-Blind, Controlled Prospective Study

Changes in hormone metabolism during menopause are involved in the development of osteoporosis and arterial hypertension. A mutual influence of these two clinical pictures is evident on the basis of pathophysiological factors. In this study, we investigated whether a drug therapy of hypertension influences the efficacy of a bisphosphonate (alendronate) in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. For this purpose, 60 female patients were enrolled in the study, 30 of them on drug treatment for hypertension in addition to requiring treatment for osteoporosis, while the control group was only suffering from osteoporosis. Bone density was measured at the start of the study and 6 months after therapy (QCT). A significant increase in bone density was demonstrated in both groups, while a difference between the groups could not be seen. Treated arterial hypertension does not have a negative influence on the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with alendronate. Rather, the concomitant treatment of these two clinical pictures would appear to make sense, in order to reduce morbidity and mortality.
The mQp Tree: A Multi-Dimensional Access Method based on a Non-Binary Tree

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for forming a colored shade band on an elongated area of a flexible sheet of interlayer material comprising applying a dye composition by electrostatic spraying against an elongated area of a surface of a flexible sheet of non-conductive interlayer material such as polyurethane or plasticized polyvinyl butyral. A flexible sheet to be coated is mounted on a support carriage at a loading and unloading chamber in a substantially horizontal support plane, is transferred to a coating chamber, is tilted into an oblique plane at said coating chamber where it is aligned with a platen mask, electrostatic spray means disposed to one side of said platen mask supplies an electrostatic spray of a dye composition through said platen mask to the elongated area of said flexible sheet. The coated sheet pivots back to a substantially horizontal support plane and is returned to the loading and unloading station, where the coated flexible sheet is removed and another sheet mounted for treatment. The flexible sheet so coated is useful as an interlayer in shaded, bent laminated safety glass windshields.
Pick and Place of Hard Disk Media using Electrostatic Levitation

This paper focuses on a practical application of handling contact sensitive objects such as silicon wafers or hard disk media without any contact using electrostatic levitation. Stable electrostatic levitation can be realized by controlling an electrostatic force on the basis of measured suspension air gaps. Two control approaches, namely centralized and decentralized control and the influence of an integrator in the controller, are discussed with regard to the specific tasks of Pick Up and Place. The final goal is to realize a handling tool that allows human operators to perform these object handling tasks. In this paper a linear motor is used to perform the pick up and place task to allow a controllable and reproducible motion. The experimental results show a stable pick up and place motion, where placing is realized without any external control commands.
Dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism in hypoalbuminemia 1 Effects of gender on hepatic HMG-CoA reductase , cholesterol 7 α-hydroxylase and LDL-receptor in hereditary analbuminemia

Hypoalbuminemia is accompanied by hypercholesterolemia in both nephrotic syndrome and hereditary analbuminemia. Hypercholesterolemia is more severe in the female than in the male Nagase analbuminemic rats (NAR). The gender difference in plasma cholesterol diminishes ovariectomy (OVX) and reappears by estrogen replacement in the NAR. The molecular mechanism responsible for the gender difference in severity of hypercholesterolemia in NAR is not known and was investigated here. To this end, hepatic HMG-CoA reductase (the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis), cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol catabolism to bile acids) and LDL receptor expressions were determined in male, female and OVX female NAR and Sprague-Dawley (SD) control rats. Plasma cholesterol (total and lipoprotein fractions), triglycerides and hepatic HMG-CoA reductase activity were significantly greater in both female and male NAR than in the corresponding SD rats. This was coupled with a compensatory upregulation of hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase in both male and female NAR compared to the corresponding SD controls. Hepatic LDL receptor abundance in the male NAR was similar to that found in the male SD rats but significantly reduced in the female NAR. OVX resulted in significant reductions of plasma cholesterol to values intermediate between female and male NAR. Similarly plasma triglyceride was markedly lowered by OVX in the NAR. This was coupled with a significant rise in hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase and a modest increase in hepatic LDL receptor. In contrast, OVX resulted in mild elevation of plasma cholesterol and no significant changes in total hepatic HMG-CoA reductase, cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase or LDL receptor abundance in the female SD rats. Thus, Dysregulation of cholesterol metabolism in hypoalbuminemia 3 hypercholesterolemia in hereditary analbuminemia is associated with and primarily due to increased cholesterol biosynthetic capacity. This is compounded by a mild LDL receptor deficiency in the female NAR. The greater severity of hypercholesterolemia in the female than in the male NAR appears to be, in part, due to the constrained compensatory upregulation of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase and LDL receptor deficiency.
Performance of Quality Assurance Procedures for an Applied Climate Information System

Abstract Valid data are required to make climate assessments and to make climate-related decisions. The objective of this paper is threefold: to introduce an explicit treatment of Type I and Type II errors in evaluating the performance of quality assurance procedures, to illustrate a quality control approach that allows tailoring to regions and subregions, and to introduce a new spatial regression test. Threshold testing, step change, persistence, and spatial regression were included in a test of three decades of temperature and precipitation data at six weather stations representing different climate regimes. The magnitude of thresholds was addressed in terms of the climatic variability, and multiple thresholds were tested to determine the number of Type I errors generated. In a separate test, random errors were seeded into the data and the performance of the tests was such that most Type II errors were made in the range of ±1°C for temperature, not too different from the sensor field accuracy. The study.
teamwork and Communication in Healthcare a Literature review

non-commercial purposes providing that the content is not altered and that the Canadian Patient Safety Institute is appropriately credited for the work, and that it be made clear that the Canadian Patient Safety Institute does not endorse the redistribution. Written permission from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute is required for all other uses, including commercial use of illustrations. The Canadian Patient Safety Institute would like to acknowledge funding support from Health Canada. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.
Sockpuppet Detection in Online Discussion Forums

One common trick to cheat people to believe fake products or a high-return low-risk investment scheme in the online discussion groups is t0 make use of sock puppets (i.e., use different fake identities pretending to be different persons to praise or create the illusion of support for the product). A fundamental problem is how to identify these sock puppets. In this paper, we propose two approaches to identify these puppet pairs that occur in the same forum as well as cross forum. The evaluation based on millions of real posts in two popular discussion forums in Hong Kong shows that the methods are effective.