Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Market Liberalization and the Impact on Uncovered Interest Rate Parity

In this paper we make use of the uncovered interest rate parity (UIRP) relationship to examine the extent that the liberalization of emerging financial markets has resulted in the integration of developing countries’ currency markets into the international capital market. Previous tests of the impact of liberalization on the integration of emerging markets capital markets into world financial markets are confined to equity markets, ignoring currency markets that arguably are more important in determining the success of financial liberalization. We find that, in general, deviation from UIRP in the emerging markets is systematic in nature and that a significant part of emerging market currency excess returns is attributable to time-varying risk premium. Importantly we also find that these countries’ currency deposits provide U.S. (equity) investors the benefits of international diversification. Our results also show that for some markets, liberalization improved (worsened) investors’ perception of growth opportunity while reducing (increasing) investors' perception of the probability of financial distress. Finally, while several countries benefited from liberalization and have become more integrated into the world capital market, the experience is country specific.
Digital Radiography in Dentistry: Moving from Film-based to Digital Imaging

This continuing education course is intended for general dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants. The following course will provide a foundation for understanding digital imaging technology, necessary equipment, digital imaging receptors, technique, acquisition, enhancement, transfer and storage. Comparisons with film-based imaging as well as the diagnostic utility of digital images will be discussed.
Innovating the Innovation: Applying Mobile Research Methods to Experience Sampling

Ashley Youngs is now a graduate student at Department of Psychology, Radford University. These data were collected in partial fulfillment of the PhD requirements in life-span developmental psychology at West Virginia University, under the direction of Julie Hicks Patrick, PhD. This research was supported in part by grants from the Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, West Virginia University, awarded to Allyson S. Graf. This manuscript was completed in partial fulfillment of undergraduate independent study credit at Elmira College, under the direction of Allyson S. Graf, PhD.
The Stability Property of Cognitive Radio Systems with Imperfect Sensing

In this paper, we study the stability property of a cognitive radio system comprised of a set of source-destination pairs having different priorities. In particular, we focus attention on the effect of imperfect sensing on the stability region of the system, which has been overlooked in most of related previous work. The adopted cognitive access protocol allows the secondary user not only to exploit the idle slots of the primary user but also to transmit along with the primary user with some probability. This is aimed at achieving the full utilization of the shared channel with capture, i.e., a transmission can be correctly decoded at the destination, even in the presence of other transmissions, if the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) exceeds a certain threshold for successful decoding. The abolition of strong primacy, however, requires the secondary user to properly regulate its multi-access probability in order not to impede the primary user's stability guarantee. To this end, the maximum stability region of the system is characterized which describes the theoretical limit on rates that can be pushed into the system while maintaining the queues stable. Interestingly, we found that even with non-zero sensing error rates, there exists a condition for which we can achieve the identical stability region that is achieved with perfect sensing. This is when the destinations enjoy fairly strong capture, and if then sensing errors do not affect the stability region for the queueing system. For the case when the specified condition does not hold, we precisely quantify the loss due to the imperfect sensing in terms of the size of the stability region. Finally, we study the problem of controlling the operating point of the sensing device over its receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and summarize some key aspects observed in the control.
Nondirective meditation used in stress management

Abstract Aims: The present field study investigated the difference between practicing a nondirective relaxation technique – Acem Meditation – for stress relief and merely learning about stress and stress management in a population of active, working professionals. Methods: A six-months follow-up of an intervention group (N = 73) and a control group (N = 47) recruited from six large Norwegian companies. Results: The findings revealed significant improvements in the intervention group on all outcome variables – comprising mental distress (GHQ-12), worries and nervousness (EPQ-N), sleep problems (BIS) and musculoskeletal pain. In the control group, there were no changes. The differences between the intervention group and control group were significant, regarding EPQ-N, GHQ-12 and musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: A nondirective meditation technique promoted specific bodily and psychological benefits for active working professionals: less pain and sleep problems, and a personal style less characterized by worries and nervousness. Acem Meditation used as a stress management technique may be a positive supplement to other measures a company puts forward, both to reduce negative health impacts of stress and to improve the capacity to cope with the stressors at work and in daily life. Replications of this study with an RCT design are warranted.
Outcomes of a universal social and emotional learning (SEL) group for facilitating first-grade students’ school adjustment

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effectiveness of a social and emotional learning (SEL) group to enhance first-grade students’ school adjustment. A seven-session intervention program was conducted by two group leaders and included training in social and emotional skills. Pre- and post- and follow-up assessment data were collected from a total of 114 first-grade Greek students and their teachers. Children attending the intervention group (n = 56) were found to exhibit better social skills and prosocial behavior, as well as less aggressive and disruptive behavior, according to teacher reports, than children in the (non-intervention) control group (n = 58). However, no group differences on children’s self-reported school liking and avoidance, as well as on feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction, were found. Theoretical and practical implications of the finding are briefly discussed.
Family routines within the ecological niche: an analysis of the psychological well-being of U.S. caregivers of children with disabilities

Using mixed methods, this study examined the relationship of caregivers of children with disabilities’ psychological well-being (PWB) and their orchestration of daily routines within their ecological niche. Thirty-nine U.S. caregivers completed in-depth interviews, PWB Scales, and Family Time and Routines Index (FTRI). We used a multi-step analysis. Interview data was coded and vignettes created without knowledge of PWB and FTRI ratings. Next, the relationship of quantitative measures was analyzed. Four groups were created using FTRI-extent and PWB means: (1) low routine-low PWB, (2) low routine-high PWB, (3) high routine-low PWB, and (4) high routine-high PWB. We examined qualitative differences in key features between groups. Findings: Total PWB and FTRI scores were not significantly correlated, PWB Purpose in Life and FTRI-extent scores were moderately positively correlated, and PWB Environmental Mastery and FTRI-extent correlation approached significance. Qualitative findings describe caregivers’ structuring of routines, intensity of oversight, support in routines, management of dinner, paid work, and needs for respite. The four groups differed in paid work, household support, degree the child could self-occupy, Environmental Mastery, and opportunities to recuperate. Caregivers with higher levels of well-being and more regular routines did paid work, had supportive spouses, had children who more often could follow routines, had higher Environmental Mastery, could orchestrate a family meal, and had breaks from care in either work or leisure. All Native American caregivers and Mexican American caregivers with spouses were in the high routine-high PWB group. Insight into this complex negotiation between family members within daily routines may provide practitioners a better understanding of how to work within family circles to foster therapeutic alliances, identify focused intervention targets, and promote positive family wide outcomes.
Potential Confounding of Particulate Matter on the Short-Term Association between Ozone and Mortality in Multisite Time-Series Studies

Background A critical question regarding the association between short-term exposure to ozone and mortality is the extent to which this relationship is confounded by ambient exposure to particles. Objectives We investigated whether particulate matter < 10 and < 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10 and PM2.5) is a confounder of the ozone and mortality association using data for 98 U.S. urban communities from 1987 to 2000. Methods We a) estimated correlations between daily ozone and daily PM concentrations stratified by ozone or PM levels; b) included PM as a covariate in time-series models; and c) included PM as a covariate as in d), but within a subset approach considering only days with ozone below a specified value. Results Analysis was hindered by data availability. In the 93 communities with PM10 data, only 25.0% of study days had data on both ozone and PM10. In the 91 communities with PM2.5 data, only 9.2% of days in the study period had data on ozone and PM2.5. Neither PM measure was highly correlated with ozone at any level of ozone or PM. National and community-specific effect estimates of the short-term effects of ozone on mortality were robust to inclusion of PM10 or PM2.5 in time-series models. The robustness remains even at low ozone levels (< 10 ppb) using a subset approach. Conclusions Results provide evidence that neither PM10 nor PM2.5 is a likely confounder of observed ozone and mortality relationships. Further investigation is needed to investigate potential confounding of the short-term effects of ozone on mortality by PM chemical composition.
Design, implementation and evaluation of adaptive recompilation with on-stack replacement

Modern virtual machines often maintain multiple compiled versions of a method. An on-stack replacement (OSR) mechanism enables a virtual machine to transfer execution between compiled versions, even while a method runs. Relying on this mechanism, the system can exploit powerful techniques to reduce compile time and code space, dynamically de-optimize code, and invalidate speculative optimizations. The paper presents a new, simple, mostly compiler-independent mechanism to transfer execution into compiled code. Additionally, we present enhancements to an analytic model for recompilation to exploit OSR for more aggressive optimization. We have implemented these techniques in Jikes RVM and present a comprehensive evaluation, including a study of fully automatic, online, profile-driven deferred compilation.
Multi-Channel Interference Measurement and Modeling in Low-Power Wireless Networks

Multi-channel design has received significant attention for low-power wireless networks (LWNs), such as 802.15. 4-based wireless sensor networks, due to its potential of mitigating interference and improving network capacity. However, recent studies reveal that the number of orthogonal channels available on commodity wireless platforms is small, which significantly hinders the performance of existing multi-channel protocols. A promising solution is to explore the use of partially overlapping channels for communications. However, this approach faces several key challenges such as increased inter-channel interference and significantly higher overhead of channel measurement. In this paper, we systematically study the inter-channel interference and its impact on link capacity and the performance of multi-channel protocols in LWNs. First, we develop empirical models for characterizing inter-channel signal attenuation based on experiments on TelosB motes. We then propose a novel measurement algorithm which can significantly reduce the overhead of multi-channel interference measurement by exploiting the spectral power density (SPD) of the transmitter. Finally, we apply our interference models to both link capacity analysis and channel assignment protocols. Our extensive experiments on a testbed of 30 TelosB motes show that our interference measurement algorithm has an average error of 2.95%. Our results also demonstrate that multi-channel protocols for LWNs can significantly benefit from using overlapping channels.
Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in human endometrium and uterine secretion: an evaluation by immunohistochemistry, ELISA and semiquantitative RT–PCR

Tumour necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) is a pleiotropic cytokine synthesized throughout the female reproductive tract. Even though evidence has accumulated that supports its role in autocrine and paracrine processes, its expression and function in the human endometrium are still not completely understood. To gain a better understanding of the synthesis and release of TNF-a in the endometrium and how this relates to concentrations in uterine secretion, its expression throughout the menstrual cycle was investigated by three different techniques. Samples of endometrial tissue and uterine secretions were collected from patients undergoing abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy for benign reasons. The mRNA expression of TNF-a was investigated in homogenized endometrial tissue by semiquantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐ PCR) (n J 18). An assessment of the cellular TNF-a protein localization in the endometrial glands was performed immunohistochemically (n J 39). The concentrations of the secreted TNF-a protein in endometrial secretion were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent analysis (n J 30). All three methods gave similar results on the temporal expression of TNF-a mRNA and TNF-a protein during the cycle. Concentrations of endometrial TNF-a mRNA in tissue samples and TNF-a protein in uterine secretion were quite low at the beginning of the cycle, rose sharply in the mid- to late proliferative phase and decreased towards the end of the cycle. The concentrations of TNF-a protein in the endometrial glands, as shown by immunohistochemical investigation, stayed high throughout the secretory phase at values slightly below those of the late proliferative phase.
NLS1 galaxies and estimation of their central black hole masses from the X-ray excess variance method

Black hole mass determination in active galaxies is a key issue in understanding various luminosity states. In the present paper we try to generalise the m ass determination method based on the X-ray excess variance, successfully used for typical br oad line Seyfert 1 galaxies (BLS1) to Narrow Line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies. NLS1 galaxies differ from BLS1 with respect to several properties. They are generally more variable in 2-10 keV energy band so the natural expectation is the need to use a different scaling coefficien t between the mass and the variance in these two types of sources. However, we find that such a simp le approach is not enough. Although for majority of the 21 NLS1 galaxies in our sample a single scaling coefficient (larger by a factor 20) provided us with a satisfactory method of mass determination, in a small subset of NLS1 galaxies this approach failed. Variability of th ose objects appeared to be at the intermediate level between NLS1 and BLS1 galaxies. These exceptional NLS1 galaxies have much harder soft X-ray spectra than majority of NLS1 galaxies. We thus postulate that the
Self evolution algorithm for common due date scheduling problem

Inventory cost and delay penalty are two kinds of annoying spendings in manufactory industry. Accordingly, earliness and tardiness penalties are proposed to simulate such scheduling problems where the popular just-in-time (JIT) concept is considered to be of significant importance. In this paper, a self evolution algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of single machine total earliness and tardiness penalties with a common due date. Up to now, such problem has been solved without specific consideration of straddling V-shaped schedules, which may be better than pure V-shaped schedules for early due date problems; without specific discussions on g improving, where g refers to the idle time before the start of the first job; and the many individuals in all so far proposed GA-like algorithms become the bottleneck of execution time reduction. Therefore, in this research, efforts have been made on digging out the straddling V-shaped schedules, improving the efficiency of g improving, and reducing the execution time. In addition, a new RHRM approach is proposed to create the initial solution for evolution, which helps achieve the fast contingency of the algorithm. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been tested on 280 benchmark instances ranging from 10 to 1000 jobs from the OR Library, the results showing that the proposed self evolution algorithm delivers much higher efficiency in finding optimal or near-optimal solutions with both better results in total penalties and significant execution time reduction.
The Case for Double-Blind Lineup Administration

Many have recommended that lineups be conducted by administrators who do not know which lineup member is the suspect (i.e., a double-blind administration). Single-blind lineup administration, in which the administrator knows which lineup member is the suspect, increases the rate at which witnesses identify suspects, increasing the likelihood that both innocent and guilty suspects are identified. Although the increase in correct identifications of the guilty may appear desirable, in fact, this increase in correct identifications is the result of impermissible suggestion on the part of the administrator. In addition to these effects on witness choices, single-blind administration influences witness confidence through an administrator’s feedback to witnesses about their choices, reducing the correlation between witness confidence and accuracy. Finally, single-blind administration influences police reports of the witness’s identification behavior, with the same witness behavior resulting in different outcomes for suspects depending upon whether the administrator knew which lineup member was the suspect. Administrators who know which lineup member is the suspect in an identification procedure emit behaviors that increase the likelihood that witnesses will choose the suspect, primarily by causing witnesses who would have chosen a filler (known innocent member of the lineup who is not the suspect) to choose the suspect. To avoid impermissible suggestion, photo arrays and lineups should be administered using double-blind procedures.
Comparative Genomics to Delineate Pathogenic Potential in Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from Patients with and without Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) in Norway

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause infections in humans ranging from asymptomatic carriage to bloody diarrhoea and haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Here we present whole genome comparison of Norwegian non-O157 STEC strains with the aim to distinguish between strains with the potential to cause HUS and less virulent strains. Whole genome sequencing and comparisons were performed across 95 non-O157 STEC strains. Twenty-three of these were classified as HUS-associated, including strains from patients with HUS (n = 19) and persons with an epidemiological link to a HUS-case (n = 4). Genomic comparison revealed considerable heterogeneity in gene content across the 95 STEC strains. A clear difference in gene profile was observed between strains with and without the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island. Phylogenetic analysis of the core genome showed high degree of diversity among the STEC strains, but all HUS-associated STEC strains were distributed in two distinct clusters within phylogroup B1. However, non-HUS strains were also found in these clusters. A number of accessory genes were found to be significantly overrepresented among HUS-associated STEC, but none of them were unique to this group of strains, suggesting that different sets of genes may contribute to the pathogenic potential in different phylogenetic STEC lineages. In this study we were not able to clearly distinguish between HUS-associated and non-HUS non-O157 STEC by extensive genome comparisons. Our results indicate that STECs from different phylogenetic backgrounds have independently acquired virulence genes that determine pathogenic potential, and that the content of such genes is overlapping between HUS-associated and non-HUS strains.
Cell Surface Targeting and Clustering Interactions between Heterologously Expressed PSD-95 and the Shal Voltage-gated Potassium Channel, Kv4.2*

Kv4.2 is a voltage-gated potassium channel that is critical in controlling the excitability of myocytes and neurons. Processes that influence trafficking and surface distribution patterns of Kv4.2 will affect its ability to contribute to cellular functions. The scaffolding/clustering protein PSD-95 regulates trafficking and distribution of several receptors and Shaker family Kv channels. We therefore investigated whether the C-terminal valine-serine-alanine-leucine (VSAL) of Kv4.2 is a novel binding motif for PSD-95. By using co-immunoprecipitation assays, we determined that full-length Kv4.2 and PSD-95 interact when co-expressed in mammalian cell lines. Mutation analysis in this heterologous expression system showed that the VSAL motif of Kv4.2 is necessary for PSD-95 binding. PSD-95 increased the surface expression of Kv4.2 protein and caused it to cluster, as shown by deconvolution microscopy and biotinylation assays. Deleting the C-terminal VSAL motif of Kv4.2 eliminated these effects, as did substituting a palmitoylation-deficient PSD-95 mutant. In addition to these effects of PSD-95 on Kv4.2 distribution, the channel itself promoted redistribution of PSD-95 to the cell surface in the heterologous expression system. This work represents the first evidence that a member of the Shal subfamily of Kv channels can bind to PSD-95, with functional consequences.