Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strengthening or Weakening ? The Impact of Universal Health Insurance on Intergenerational Co-residence

In this paper, we exploit a unique natural experiment— the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan in 1995—to examine how the introduction of universal health insurance increases or decreases the likelihood of intergenerational co-residence. Five waves of surveys from the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan between 1989 and 2003 are employed, and models with various specifications are estimated. Our results indicate a mixed relationship between the likelihood of co-residence and the enactment of NHI. While NHI on average reduces the probability for elderly parents to live with their adult children by approximately 6.6%, the likelihood of co-residence increases among families benefiting most from NHI, such as those with unhealthy elderly mothers and fewer children. JEL Codes I10, I18, J14
Underwriting Relationships and Analyst Independence in Europe

This paper examines the accuracy of security analysts’ earnings forecasts and stock recommendations for firms in 13 European countries. We document at least three key findings. First, we find strong evidence that lead and co-lead underwriter analysts’ earnings estimates and stock recommendations are significantly more optimistic than those provided by unaffiliated analysts. Second, we find that lead and co-lead underwriter analysts’ earnings forecast and stock recommendations are significantly more optimistic for underwriter stocks than for those they provide for other stocks. Third, we also find evidence that these biases found within earnings forecasts and stock recommendations are not driven by one particular country. In short, these findings suggest that affiliated analysts are more optimistic perhaps to maintain investment banking relations.
EVOLUTION OF POROSITY AND TEXTURE IN THERMAL BARRIER COATINGS GROWN BY EB-PVD

A b s t r a c t The pattern and distribution of porosity in the columnar microstructure of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) grown by electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) are key factors in determining the coating compliance, and consequently its resistance to spallation, as well as its thermal conductivity, and hence the requisite thickness for a given degree of insulation. The present study aims to advance the understanding of the evolution of porosity during EB-PVD growth, as well as its relationship with the concurrent evolution of crystallographic texture. TBCs with the conventional 7 wt. % yttria partially-stabilized zirconia composition were deposited on stationary substrates at temperatures of 900°C (~0.40T M) and 1100°C (~0.46TM). The substrates were shaped to explore deposition under normal and oblique (45°) vapor incidence in order to provide insight on the shadowing mechanisms responsible for the formation of porosity. It was shown that the characteristics of the porosity can change dramatically with both vapor incidence angle (VIA) and deposition temperature. The column growth direction was found to be 〈101〉 for both normal and oblique incidences at 1100°C, but changed from 〈111〉 to predominantly 〈101〉 for deposition at 900°C. The role of substrate manipulation during deposition is discussed in the context of these findings.
From centennial to millennial oscillation of the thermohaline circulation

The freshwater flux intensity is used as the main control parameter to destabilize the ThermoHaline Circulation (THC): as it increases, the classical bifurcation scenario, thermal stable steady state, millennial oscillation and haline stable steady state are reproduced in a 2D zonally-averaged ocean model under mixed boundary conditions. Both bifurcations arise through global bifurcations leading to an infinite period of the limit cycle. Here we highlight a centennial oscillation important for the instability of the thermal phase of the millennial oscillation and which could be considered as a precursor to the collapse of the THC. It is suggested that the existence or the absence of this centennial oscillation leads to dramatic changes in the collapse time scale of the THC going from several thousand years to only a few decades. This bifurcation scenario is shown to be sensitive to the value of the dissipation.
Does debt ceiling and government shutdown help in forecasting the us equity risk premium

This article evaluates the predictability of the equity risk premium in the United States by comparing the individual and complementary predictive power of macroeconomic variables which are popular in academia and technical indicators which are widely used by practitioners in the market using a comprehensive set of 16 economic and 14 technical predictors over a monthly out-of-sample period of 1995:1 to 2012:12 and an in-sample period of 1986:1-1994:12. In order to do so we consider, in addition to the set of variables used in Neely et al. (2013), the forecasting ability of two other important variables namely government shutdown and debt ceiling. Using a more recent dataset compared to that of Neely et al. (2013), our results tend to support the better out-of-sample predictive ability of technical indicators when compared to economic variable but to a lesser extent. Our results also show that one of the newly added variables namely government shutdown provides statistically significant out-of-sample predictive power over the equity risk premium relative to the historical average based on the MSFE-adjusted statistics. An important finding however is that, during recessions, the majority of our indicators including the newly added government shutdown variable can provide better out-of-sample predictive power when compared to the historical benchmark. Most of the variables, including government shutdown but not debt ceiling, also show significant economic gains for a risk averse investor especially during recessions which can be interpreted as a willingness to pay a portfolio management fee.
MULTIPLE-SATELLITE STUDIES OF MAGNETOSPHERIC SUBSTORMS: PLASMA SHEET RECOVERY AND THE POLEWARD LEAP

Particle observations from pairs of satellites (Ogo 5 and Vela 4A and 5A) during 28 plasma sheet thickening events are examined. These data indicate that thickening of the night- time plasma sheet during substorms occurs in two main stages, one early stage of single or mul- tiple expansions of the near-earth (geocentric distances r < 15 R E ) plasma sheet at the onset of substorm expansions (Pi 2 bursts) on the ground and another later stage of plasma sheet recovery that starts near the time of maximum auroral zone bay activity and is characterized by a large- scale thickening toward higher latitudes that oc- curs over a broad azimuthal scale and from iono- spheric heights to beyond the Vela orbit (r  18 RE). A detailed analysis of two-satel- lite observations during eight plasma sheet re- coveries is presented, showing events that oc- curred within 5 min in widely separated locations at small (<4 ) distances from the tail's mid- plane and evenns that occurred concurrently in the Vela orbit and at high latitudes in the near-
Bilingualism and Communicative Benefits

We examine patterns of acquiring non-native languages in a model with two languages and two populations with heterogeneous learning skills, where every individual faces a binary choice of learning the foreign language or refraining from doing so. We show that both interior and corner linguistic equilibria can emerge in our framework, and that the fraction of learners of the foreign language is higher in the country with a higher gross cost adjusted communicative benefit. It turns out that this observation is consistent with the data on language proficiency in bilingual countries such as Belgium and Canada. We also point out that linguistic equilibria can exhibit insufficient learning which opens the door for government policies that are beneficial for both populations.
Foreign Language Listening Anxiety: Its Dimensionality and Group Differences

This paper investigates foreign language listening anxiety (FLLA) in line with social and interpersonal anxiety studies. Language-learning anxiety has been conceptualized as a unique, situation-specific entity, and recent research in second language acquisition (SLA) has examined anxiety with respect to such skill domains as reading and writing as well as in terms of spoken interaction. Too much emphasis on specificity, however, might have led researchers and practitioners to miss common features of anxiety as affective processes under tension. A Japanese translation of the Foreign Language Listening Anxiety Scale (FLLAS), which was created for Korean learners of English by Kim (2000), was administered to 452 Japanese learners. Data reduction through factor analysis indicated that this construct, as measured by the FLLAS, has three factors which were labeled Emotionality, Worry, and Anticipatory Fear. University major and gender were chosen as independent variables, and only the levels of the former were found to be significantly different in terms of one of the factors, Emotionality. Math students experienced more arousal of fear than social science students in this dimension of the FLLAS.
Lower Cretaceous Volcanic Rocks on Continental Margins and Their Relationship to the Kerguelen Plateau

Widespread Lower Cretaceous magmatism occurred along the Indian-Australian/Antarctic margins, and in the juvenile Indian Ocean, during the rifting of eastern Gondwana. The formation of this magmatic province probably began around 120-130 Ma with the eruption of basalts on the Naturaliste Plateau and at Bunbury, western Australia. On the northeast margin of India, activity began around 117 Ma with the Rajmahal continental basalts and associated lamprophyre intrusions. The formation of the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean began no later than 114 Ma. Ultramafic lamprophyres (alnoites) were emplaced in the Prince Charles Mountains near the Antarctic continental margin at ~ 110 Ma. These events are considered to be related to a major mantle plume, the remnant of which is situated beneath the region of Kerguelen and Heard islands at the present day. Geochemical data are presented for each of these volcanic suites and are indicative of complex interactions between asthenosphere-derived magmas and the continental lithosphere. Kerguelen Plateau basalts have Sr and Nd isotopic compositions lying outside the field for Indian Ocean mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) but, with the exception of Site 738 at the southern end of the plateau, within the range of more recent hotspot basalts from Kerguelen and Heard Islands. However, a number of the plateau tholeiites are characterized by lower Pb/Pb ratios than are basalts from Kerguelen Island, and many also have anomalously high La/Nb ratios. These features suggest that the source of the Kerguelen Plateau basalts suffered contamination by components derived from the Gondwana continental lithosphere. An extreme expression of this lithospheric signature is shown by a tholeiite from Site 738, suggesting that the southernmost part of the Kerguelen Plateau may be underlain by continental crust. The Rajmahal tholeiites mostly fall into two distinct geochemical groups. Some Group I tholeiites have Sr and Nd isotopic compositions and incompatible element abundances, similar to Kerguelen Plateau tholeiites from Sites 749 and 750, indicating that the Kerguelen-Heard mantle plume may have directly furnished Rajmahal volcanism. However, their elevated Pb/Pb ratios indicate that these magmas did not totally escape contamination by continental lithosphere. In contrast to the Group I tholeiites, significant contamination is suggested for Group II Rajmahal tholeiites, on the basis of incompatible element abundances and isotopic compositions. The Naturaliste Plateau and the Bunbury Basalt samples show varying degrees of enrichment in incompatible elements over normal MORB. The Naturaliste Plateau samples (and Bunbury Basalt) have high La/Nb ratios, a feature not inconsistent with the notion that the plateau may consist of stretched continental lithosphere, near the ocean-continent divide.
People and pixels in the Sahel: a study linking coarse-resolution remote sensing observations to land users’ perceptions of their changing environment in Senegal

Mounting evidence from satellite observations of a re-greening across much of the Sahel and Sudan zones over the past three decades has raised questions about the extent and reversibility of desertification. Historical ground data that could help in interpreting the re-greening are scarce. To fill that void, we tapped into the collective memories of local land users from central and western Senegal in 39 focus groups and assessed the spatial association between their perceptions of vegetation changes over time and remote sensing-derived trends. To provide context to the vegetation changes, we also explored the land users' perspective on the evolution of other environmental and human variables that are potentially related to the greening, using participatory research methods. While increases in vegetation were confirmed by the study participants for certain areas, which spatially corresponded to satellite-observed re-greening, vegetation degradation dominated their perceptions of change. This degradation, although spatially extensive according to land users, flies under the radar of coarse-resolution remote sensing data because it is not necessarily associated with a decrease in biomass but rather with undesired changes in species composition. Few significant differences were found in the perceived trends of population pressure, environmental, and livelihood variables between communities that have greened up according to satellite data and those that have not. Our findings challenge the prevailing chain of assumptions of the satellite-observed greening trend indicating an improvement of environmental conditions in the sense of a rehabilitation of the vegetation cover after the great droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, and the improvement of environmental conditions possibly translating into more stable livelihoods and greater well-being of the populations. For monitoring desertification and rehabilitation, there is a need to develop remote sensing-based indicators that better reflect the changes in the biophysical environment that matter most to the land users.
Scale-by-scale energy budget in fractal element grid-generated turbulence

Measurements were conducted downstream of a square-fractal-element grid at , where L0 is the size of the largest element in the grid. The scale-by-scale energy budget for grid turbulence is used to investigate the phenomenological change in the turbulence between the inhomogeneous and homogeneous regions downstream of the grid, providing greater insight into the evolution of the turbulence in these two regions. It is shown that in the far field, x/L0 ≥ 20, where the flow is approximately homogeneous and isotropic, the scale-by-scale energy budget for grid turbulence is well balanced. In the near field, x/L0 < 20, the same energy budget is not satisfied, with the imbalance of the budget occurring at scales in the range λ ≲ r ≲ L0. It is proposed that the imbalance is caused by non-zero transverse transport of turbulent kinetic energy and production due to transverse mean velocity gradients. Approach of the spectra to k−5/3 behaviour with a decade long scaling range in the inhomogeneous region is attributed.
Household Asset Holding Diversification in Australia

We explore asset holding diversification by Australian households, in particular, the household asset diversification participation decision (whether or not to diversify at all) is jointly estimated with the decision of how much to diversify. In so doing, recent literature on the modelling of proportions is combined with the growing body of research concerning household financial decision making. Our findings are consistent with the participation of households operating in diverse financial markets being constrained by ineffective information conduits, influencing the decision of whether or not to diversify. We further find that short term concerns over job security or health are associated with less participation in, as well as a lower extent of, asset holding diversification.
The Collective Bargaining Effects of NBA Player Productivity Dynamics

We apply quintile regression methodology to player pay and performance data from the 1985-86 to 2005-06 seasons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In addition to confirming a finding from Hakes and Turner (2007) of systematic bias in pooled OLS regressions of career paths for salary and productivity, the quintile analysis presents two important results regarding NBA salary structure. Unlike Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest ability veteran NBA players suffer salary suppression relative to the lesser-talented players in their debut-year cohort, indicating rents have been transferred from the most able players to players of lesser abilities. Also, while young NBA players in general suffer from salary suppression relative to free agents, as is well-reported in baseball, our regression results show that the highest-ability young players suffer the most salary suppression, and that the effects of the rookie salary cap in the 1995 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement depressed salaries for young players of all ability levels.
Raw grain characteristics and endoglucanase activity of sorghum ( S . bicolor ) and millet ( Pennisetum typhoides and Digitaria exilis ) malts

Endoglucanase activity has been a major concern in malting process due to the need to depolymerize the high molecular weight cellulosic material. Sorghum and millet varieties were screened for their physicochemical properties and endoglucanase activity. Effect of plant hormone (gibberellic acid) on the production of endoglucanase during germination was also investigated. All the varieties screened apart from fonio-zegla, showed negligible water sensitivity, high germination energy and desirable germination capacity. Endoglucanase activity increased with the malting time and this was associated with malt modification during germination. The endoglucanase activity was optimal on the 3 rd day for sorghum and on the 4 th day for millet. Application of gibberelic acid enhanced endoglucanase activity. Composite malt from sorghum and millet is recommended for brewing, weaning foods, animal feeds and other industrial purposes.
From Rhetoric to Reality: Opportunity-to-Learn Standards and the Integrity of American Public School Reform.

Recalling Equity Standards in an Era of Educational "Excellence" Many politically-minded educators remember the contentious, partisan de bate surrounding the now defunct Goals 2000: Educate America Act, President Clinton's major public school reform initiative passed by Congress in March of 1994. While the basic idea of helping states develop common performance standards and assessment tools enjoyed widespread ■■■■■■■■■■■■ support, there was sharp disagreement about the Gregory J. Fritzberg is inclusion and delineation of opportunity-to-learn an assistant professor in (OTL) standards. OTL standards were promoted the School of Education mainly by liberal Democrats who argued that it at Whitworth College, lacked integrity to hold students and schools ac Spokane, Washington countable to new high stakes assessments without and author of In the ensuring that all students had an authentic "opportu Shadow of "Excellence nity to learn" the relevant material. In their view, Recovering a Vision of equity standards addressing the "resources, prac Educational Opportunity tices, and conditions" available to America's school for All (Caddo Gap children needed to be as specific and measurable as Press, 1999). the curricular standards they would support (Pub. L.
Large-scale distribution patterns of carnivores in northern South Africa: implications for conservation and monitoring

Abstract Accurate assessment of carnivore population status is frequently hindered by insufficient distribution data. For northern South Africa we address this deficit by mapping new records from landscape-scale sign surveys, questionnaire interviews, problem animal records and camera trapping. The black-backed jackal Canis mesomelas and caracal Caracal caracal remain common and widespread. Ranges of the serval Leptailurus serval and brown hyaena Hyaena brunnea were much larger than previous estimates, reducing the risk of simultaneous extirpation across all occupied locations. The proportion of range area occupied was larger for several species, notably the leopard Panthera pardus, cheetah Acinonyx jubatus and serval. We conclude that the serval continues to recover from historical threats and is expanding into new areas. A larger brown hyaena range and less fragmented pattern of occurrence probably confers greater resilience to threats than was suggested by previous data. Reduced extinction risk arising from the increased area occupied by the cheetah and leopard is tempered by probable local range contraction. Our maps provide baseline information for monitoring the distribution of these six species, which is essential in managing ecological issues that have a spatial component such as responses to changing land use. Our results also demonstrate the utility of detection/non-detection surveys in rapid assessment of carnivore populations at large spatial scales.
Arsenite Sensitizes Human Melanomas to Apoptosis via Tumor Necrosis Factor α-mediated Pathway*

Arsenic is a well established human carcinogen and is associated with a variety of cancers including those of the skin. Paradoxically, arsenic has also been used, amid at low doses, in the treatment of leukemia for over a century. Here we demonstrate that low to moderate concentrations of arsenite (2-10 μm) that has little or no effect on normal melanocytes may induce apoptosis of human melanomas including highly metastatic ones despite their low surface Fas levels. The two prerequisites that dictate apoptotic response of melanomas upon arsenite treatment are low nuclear NF-κB activity and an endogenous expression of tumor necrosis factor α. Under these conditions, melanoma cells acquired sensitivity to tumor necrosis factor α-mediated killing. On the other hand, signaling pathways including those of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT, MEK-ERK, and JNK play a protective role against arsenite-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in melanoma cells. Suppression of these pathways dramatically accelerates arsenite-induced apoptosis. Taken together, these data could provide potential approaches to sensitize melanomas to the cytotoxic effects of arsenite through modulating the signaling pathways.
BABYAI: FIRST STEPS TOWARDS GROUNDED LAN-

Allowing humans to interactively train artificial agents to understand language instructions is desirable for both practical and scientific reasons, but given the poor data efficiency of the current learning methods, this goal may require substantial research efforts. Here, we introduce the BabyAI research platform to support investigations towards including humans in the loop for grounded language learning. The BabyAI platform comprises an extensible suite of 19 levels of increasing difficulty. The levels gradually lead the agent towards acquiring a combinatorially rich synthetic language which is a proper subset of English. The platform also provides a heuristic expert agent for the purpose of simulating a human teacher. We report baseline results and estimate the amount of human involvement that would be required to train a neural network-based agent on some of the BabyAI levels. We put forward strong evidence that current deep learning methods are not yet sufficiently sample efficient when it comes to learning a language with compositional properties.