Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CORRIGENDUM TO : ” INVESTIGATING GENERALIZATIONS OF EXPECTED UTILITY THEORY USING EXPERIMENTAL DATA ”

Hey, J. D. and Orme, C. (1994) proposed a new utility functional for Gul, F. (1991) disappointment aversion theory. Hey, J. D. and Orme, C. (1994) proved that this utility functional is identical to that in Gul, F. (1991) for the case when lotteries have at most three outcomes. We show that there is an algebraic mistake in this proof and the utility functional proposed in Hey, J. D. and Orme, C. (1994) is not the same as in Gul, F. (1991) disappointment aversion theory.
First Approach to Learning a Best Basis for Gravity Field Modelling

Gravitational field modelling is an important tool for inferring past and present dynamic processes of the Earth. Functions on the sphere such as the gravitational potential are usually expanded in terms of either spherical harmonics or radial basis functions (RBFs). The (Regularized) Functional Matching Pursuit ((R)FMP) and its variants use an overcomplete dictionary of diverse trial functions to build a best basis as a sparse subset of the dictionary and compute a model, for instance, of the gravity field, in this best basis. Thus, one advantage is that the dictionary may contain spherical harmonics and RBFs. Moreover, these methods represent a possibility to obtain an approximative and stable solution of an ill-posed inverse problem, such as the downward continuation of gravitational data from the satellite orbit to the Earth’s surface, but also other inverse problems in geomathematics and medical imaging. A remaining drawback is that in practice, the dictionary has to be finite and, so far, could only be chosen by rule of thumb or trial-and-error. In this paper, we develop a strategy for automatically choosing a dictionary by a novel learning approach. We utilize a nonlinear constrained optimization problem to determine best-fitting RBFs (Abel–Poisson kernels). For this, we use the Ipopt software package with an HSL subroutine. Details of the algorithm are explained and first numerical results are shown.
About solving hybrid optimal control problems

The main objective of this paper is to discuss numerical difficulties in solving hybrid optimal control problems and to propose a multiple phase-multiple shooting formulation for hybrid optimal control design. Such a formulation allows to solve directly the problem using nonlinear programming techniques. In the case of switched systems, it is shown that the switching rule can be obtained in a direct way avoiding combinatory explosion. Keywords— Hybrid systems, Optimal Control, Algorithms, NLP.
Cost of healthcare services in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis from the public hospital perspective: a retrospective prevalence-based costing approach

Context: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a high-incidence health concern and therefore cause a high economic burden. Aim: To evaluate the direct medical cost in CRS treatment. The findings of this research promised as a real evidence on decision-making. Methods: This study was designed as a cost analysis study based on prevalent rate. The electronic database of a public hospital was used to find out the demographic characteristics and costs associated with CRS from healthcare provider (hospital), patient and third-party (health insurance) perspective. Data on 4,894 individuals with CRS treated at the Ear-Nose-Throat Hospital collected from 2015 to 2017 were analyzed. Results: The age of majority was between 33 and 55 years, and the number of patients with insurance increased annually. About 35% of participants came from Ho Chi Minh City, and the median length of stay was 6 days. The direct medical costs per year per episode were 700.13 USD with health insurance and 1066.26 USD without health insurance. Treatment costs were found to be significantly different among years. The factors that directly influenced medical costs were gender, health insurance, and type of CRS. Conclusions: This analysis states for the first time the specific costs for CRS, which would provide public health professionals with estimated the economic burden of CRS. The study provides a baseline treatment cost of CRS that can be used by future studies for comparison.
Campaign Finance , Extreme Weather Events , and the Politics of Climate Change

In this paper we study how extreme weather and natural disasters a↵ect political outcomes such as campaign contributions and elections. We suggest that weather events associated with climate change may influence these outcomes by (1) leading individuals to update their beliefs about climate change and act on these beliefs politically; and (2) increasing the salience of climate change for individuals who are already politically active. In a short-run analysis, we find that the number of contributions to the Democratic Party increases in response to weekly average temperature increases, and that the e↵ect is stronger among constituents with a more anti-environment incumbent congressperson. In a medium-run analysis we find that after a natural disaster, total fundraising and the number of donors in an election cycle is higher if the incumbent has a more anti-environment stance, with the e↵ect being stronger for donations to challengers than for incumbents. Further, we find that after a disaster, the more anti-environment the incumbent is the higher the chance of a challenger entering in the race, leading to a slightly lower re-election probability for the incumbent. Finally, we address alternative mechanisms and explanations for our results. JEL Classification: D72, D91, Q54.
What is the Optimal Immigration Policy? Migration, Jobs and Welfare

We study the immigration policy that maximizes the welfare of the native population in an economy where the government designs an optimal redistributive welfare system and supplies public goods. We show that when the government can design different tax systems for immigrants and natives, free immigration is optimal. It is also optimal to use the tax system to encourage the immigration of high-skill workers and discourage that of low-skill workers. When immigrants and natives must be treated alike, banning low-skill immigration and allowing free immigration for high-skill workers is optimal. However, there might be no high-skill immigration when heavy taxes are levied on all high-skill workers, both natives and immigrants.
The Impact of CAMEL Indexes on Profit Management in Banks Listed on Tehran Stock Exchange

Net profit is one of the most important factors that affect the investment decisions, and has a significant effect on company’s share price and management awards and reselection of them. For this reason, managers have a high incentive to increase the company’s share through discretionary accruals. In a recent research conducted in the field of assessment of financial performance of banks, CAMEL indexes were presented as the most important factors affecting banks’ profit management, which include five indexes of capital adequacy, asset quality, management quality, earnings quality and liquidity. Therefore, this research aims to investigate CAMEL indexes effects on banks’ profit management. For this purpose, the research statistical population include banks that have been listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the years of 2010 to 2015, which is consisted of 14 banks. For conducting this research, the multivariable regression technique and panel data were adapted. This research has one main hypothesis and 5 side hypotheses. Research hypotheses analysis results indicated that capital adequacy, management quality and earnings quality has a negative and meaningful effect on banks’ profit management, and liquidity has a positive and meaningful effect on banks’ profit management. Moreover, assets quality didn’t have a meaningful effect on banks’ profit management.
EVALUATION OF THE SUBSOILER TINE DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED LOCALLY AND ITS EFFECT ON SOME POWER INDICATORS AND CORN YIELD

This research study was conducted at Gerdarasha field, College of Agriculture, University of Salahaddin in Erbil during summer, 2018 on a silty clay loam soil texture. The experiment used completely randomized block design with split plot and three replications. Tillage depth was the first factor that three deepness of (20 – 25), (30 – 35) and (40 – 45) cm were studied. The second factor included type of tine (conventional which was manufactured in Massey Ferguson Corporation and modified one with wings and angels). Since the corn is very sensitive to soil compaction, it was selected to be grown. For comparing, the machinery indicators and crop yield were measured and evaluated. The summarized considerable points were: Tillage depth was more influence on corn yield indicator which totally showed their highest values at the deepest tillage depth (40-45) cm and the lowest values at the shallowest depth (20 – 25) cm. The greater results were observed for this indicator and disturbed area by applying modified tine rather than conventional one (22.40% and 26.13% respectively),and, it increased by increasing the depth. Drawbar power was considerably affected when subsoiler increasing values were recorded by depth increasing. The highest value of that was recorded at the deepest depth when plow equipped with modified tine. Besides that, subsoiler showed better vertical stability at the shallower depths.
CONTAGION BETWEEN BANK AND SOVEREIGN RISK SINCE THE ADOPTION OF THE SINGLE SUPERVISION MECHANISM

The objective of this article is to analyze how the adoption of the Single Supervision Mechanism (SSM) affects contagion between bank and sovereign risk in the Eurozone. Additionally, we test whether the effects of a variation in sovereign and bank risk on this contagion differ before and after SSM. The analysis is performed through banks’ stock returns and CDS spreads. On the one hand, using quarterly data from 80 banks and 13 Eurozone countries over the period 2009-2016 (2,441 observations), we find that the adoption of the SSM on November 2014 reduces contagion from sovereign risk to banks’ stock returns. On the other hand, the analysis of CDS spreads comprises quarterly data from 25 banks and 10 Eurozone countries between 2009 and 2016 (771 observations). We find that the announcement of the SSM on March 2013 reduces contagion between bank and sovereign CDS spreads. Additionally, before the announcement of the SSM, an increase in sovereign risk does not alter contagion. However, after this announcement, an increase in sovereign risk leads to lower contagion. Therefore, the announcement of the SSM has an immediate effect on CDS spreads, while banks’ stock returns respond with a lag, and only react when the SSM officially enters into force in 2014.
A Generalised CIR Process with Externally-Exciting and Self-Exciting Jumps and Its Applications in Insurance and Finance

In this paper, we study a generalised CIR process with externally-exciting and self-exciting jumps, and focus on the distributional properties and applications of this process and its aggregated process. The aim of the paper is to introduce a more general process that includes many models in the literature with self-exciting and external-exciting jumps. The first and second moments of this jump-diffusion process are used to calculate the insurance premium based on mean-variance principle. The Laplace transform of aggregated process is derived, and this leads to an application for pricing default-free bonds which could capture the impacts of both exogenous and endogenous shocks. Illustrative numerical examples and comparisons with other models are also provided.
ON GEOMETRIC MEASURE THEORY ON RECTIFIABLE METRIC SPACES

It is well-known that a mapping φ : Rn → Rk is said to be differentiable at a point x if there exists a linear mapping L : Rn → Rk such that φ(y)− φ(x) = L(y − x) + o(y − x). Set L = Dφ(x). In the case when n ≤ k and φ is a homeomorphism of the class C1 and rankDφ(x) = n, in some neighborhood of each point x we have (1− o(1))|Dφ(x)(y − z)| ≤ |φ(y)− φ(z)| ≤ (1 + o(1))|Dφ(x)(y − z)| as y, z → x. The Jacobian J (x, φ) def = lim r→0 Hn(φ(Q(x, r))) |Q(x, r)| = √ det(Dφ∗(x)Dφ(x)) characterizes the local distortion of Hn-measure (here Dφ∗(x) is the adjoint operator of the differential Dφ(x)), and for injective mappings the area and change-of-variable formulas below hold:
SPIROMETRIC ASSESSMENT IN A LOT OF PATIENTS WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS , FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROGRAM FOR INCREASING OUTPATIENT USUAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL

Objectives. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive genetic disease of the caucasian race, with progressive and potentially fatal evolution. The objective of this study was to present the evolution of spirometry index in a group of patients with CF, a year after the implementation of a sustained program of outpatient physical activity. Material and method. The study design was prospective and included a group of 52 children, adolescents and young adults diagnosed with CF, found in the records of the 2nd Pediatric Clinic of Emergency Hospital from Craiova, Children's Emergency Hospital “Maria Sklodowska Curie” and the Institute for Maternal and Child, “Alfred Rusescu” (IOMC), both from Bucharest. Spirometry records (VC, FEV1, FEF25-75 and FEV1/VC) were performed at two different times: before and after implementation of sustained physical activity at home for one year. By age, patients were divided into two groups: 612 years and more than 13 years. For statistical processing we used the Student test. Results. Although all spirometric values increased after implementation of the physical activity program in both age groups, the difference was statistically significant only for FEV1, in the age group 6-12 years (p = 0.016). Also, the lower age group, we observed a decrease in the number of patients with altered lung volumes and flows. Conclusions. Increased level of the usual physical activity in patients with CF has led to slow decline in lung function and spirometry indices showed a slight improvement or remained stable throughout the study. Increase in mucociliary clearance, with significant decreases bronchial obstruction (assessed by the value of FEV1) in patients lower age suggest the need to implement such a program as early as possible to prevent or at least slow the progression of lung disease, for longer period of time, and reduce complications.
Is Universal Grammar ready for retirement ?

In this paper I consider recent studies that deny the existence of Universal Grammar (UG), and I show how the concept of UG that is attacked in these works is quite different from Chomsky’s, and thus that such criticisms are not valid. My principal focus is on the notions of ‘linguistic specificity’ and of ‘innateness’, and I conclude that, since the controversy about UG is based on misinterpretations, it is rendered sterile and thus does unnecessary harm to linguistic science. I also address the underlying reasons for these misunderstandings and suggest that, once they have been clarified, there is much scope for complementary approaches that embrace different research traditions within current theoretical linguistics.
Gain / loss Asymmetry and the Leverage Effect

In this paper we establish empirical relations between gain/loss asymmetry and the leverage effect, both at the individual stock and at the index level. Both are stronger in indices than in individual stocks and they both display a rebound effect: a positive correlation between past volatility and present returns. The leverage effect decays faster in indices than in individual stocks and the maximum occurs one day earlier, at τ = 0 for the individual stocks. By building an artificial equity index, we show that both of these stylized facts are amplified compared to their average value in the constituents. This leads to the central hypothesis of this work: ‘asset cross-correlation is sufficient for the amplification of gain/loss asymmetry and the leverage effect in indices compared to individual stocks’. With a model based on EGARCH processes, we show how gain/loss asymmetry and the leverage effect are increased in an index in function of the asset cross-correlation and underline the dynamics of the amplification. Finally, using the same model specification, we show what mechanism is responsible for the offset in the leverage effect for stocks and how a slower decay of the leverage effect function leads to stronger gain/loss asymmetry.
/ Meta-analysis Cardiovascular Risk Factor Management Performance in Canada and the United States : A Systematic Review

Background: Comparative cardiovascular risk factor care across North America is unknown. We aimed to determine current performance in Canada and the United States (US). Methods: A systematic review was conducted of Medline and EMBASE (to June 1, 2014). Eligible studies reported on screening, awareness, treatment, or control rates for hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and smoking. Categorical performance ‘ratings’ on the basis of the most successful US health plans were used to classify rates as suboptimal (< 50%), below target (50%-70%), above target (70%-90%), or optimal (> 90%). Results: A total of 127 studies reporting on 10,510,324 individuals across North America were included. Hypertension awareness (84.3%) and treatment (82.0%) rates in Canada and the US (82.7% and 75.6%, Hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and smoking are established Received for publication January 19, 2016. Accepted July 6, 2016. Corresponding author: Dr Jacob A. Udell, Cardiovascular Division, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital and Women’s College Hospital, University of Toronto, 76 Grenville Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B1, Canada. Tel.: þ1-416-351-3732 2459; fax: þ1-416-351-3746. E-mail: jay.udell@utoronto.ca See page 400 for disclosure information. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2016.07.005 0828-282X/ 2016 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. A R ESUM E Introduction : La prise en charge des facteurs de risque cardiovasculaire en Am erique du Nord n’a pas fait l’objet d’ etudes comparatives. Nous avions pour objectif de d eterminer la performance actuelle au Canada et aux États-Unis (É.-U.). M ethodes : Nous avons proc ed e à un examen syst ematique de Medline et d’EMBASE (jusqu’au 1 juin 2014). Les etudes admissibles faisaient etat des taux de d epistage, de sensibilisation, de traitement ou de maîtrise de l’hypertension, de la dyslipid emie, du diabète et du tabagisme. Nous avons utilis e les « cotes » de performance cat egoriques s’appuyant sur les r egimes de sant e les plus prospères des É. -U. pour classifier les taux comme etant sous-optimaux (< 50 %), sous les cibles (50 %-70 %), au-dessus des cibles (70 %-90 %), ou
RAPID IN VITRO DIFFERENTIATION AND REGENERATION OF MOMORDICA DIOICA ROXB .

High frequency in vitro regeneration and multiplication of shoots of female Momordica dioica Roxb. has been established from callus derived from nodal explants culture. Callus was established on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) agar gelled medium supplemented with 2mg/l 2, 4-D and 0.5mg/l BAP/ Coconut milk (15% v/v). Multiple shoot buds were developed from the callus when they were cultured on MS medium containing 4mg/l 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and CM (15% v/v). Further shoot multiplication (86 ± 3.44) was achieved by sub culturing of regenerated shoot clump on the same fresh medium. The shoots multiplication could be repeated for more than five cycles with normal morphogenesis without returning to the original explants source. For rooting, micro-propagated shoots were subsequently transferred to half strength MS medium containing 0.5mg/l Indole-3 butyric acid (IBA) with 100% success. Plants regenerated by organogenesis through callus are similar with the natural cytotypes. The present study highlights the rapid in vitro multiplication of M. dioica. Roxb.
Standardizing electrocardiographic and arterial pressure parameters in creole horses of the Bogotá Savannah

Background : Cardiovascular parameters may vary between breeds and physiological stages, hindering the cardiovascular evaluation in horses. Objective: Standardize electrocardiographic (ECG) and arterial pressure (AP) parameters in creole horses from the Bogota Savannah. Methods: 100 horses between males and females were evaluated, divided into 4 groups according to the age (n=25): Group 1 (G1), between 6 months and 1 year old; group 2 (G2), between 1 and 4 years old; group 3 (G3), between 4 and 10 years old and group 4 (G4), over 10 years old. Bipolar, unipolar and precordial leads in ECG, as well as systolic AP (SAP), mean AP (MAP), and diastolic AP (DAP) were evaluated in all groups. Results: 99 animals showed sinus rhythm, from which it was observed one female from G2 and G4 that exhibited left fascicles anterior block; a female from G3 had sinus arrhythmia and one female from G2 evidenced 3 premature ventricular complexes. The presence of the unique and positive P wave, the QRS complex QR type and the biphasic T wave, were the most common in all groups. A significant decrease in the cardiac axis was observed in the G1, in comparison with the other groups. The G1 presented a significant increase in heart rate, SAP, MAP and DAP values. Conclusions: Taking into account the environmental conditions and how the investigation was developed, it is possible to admit that, creole horses from the Bogota savannah differ in their cardiovascular parameters in relation to age.
APPLICATION OF DNA MICROARRAYS TO MICROBIAL ECOLOGY RESEARCH : HISTORY , CHALLENGES , AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

During the last three decades, molecular methods have dramatically expanded our view of microbial diversity in natural and engineered systems. A variety of molecular approaches, including both PCR-based and hybridization-based techniques, have been applied extensively to the analysis of complex microbial communities and have yielded new insights. However, the majority of molecular methods that are widely used in microbial ecology are limited in their ability to encompass the incredible diversity of microbial communities. DNA microarrays, which were first introduced in the early 1990s, are one of the fastest growing technologies in biology, and they offer tremendous potential for microbial ecologists. DNA microarrays consist of nucleic acids spotted within a very small area on some solid support, and they enable the immobilization and simultaneous hybridization of hundreds of thousands of nucleic acids. This represents a dramatically higher degree of multiplexing than is possible with other widely used technologies. In addition, microarrays offer the advantages of increased speed of detection, low cost, and the potential for automation. Microarray technology has been used extensively for measuring gene expression in a wide variety of organisms, including human cells, plants, yeast, and bacteria, but its application to microbial ecology has been more limited. There are significant challenges to the use of microarrays in microbial ecology studies, including optimization of specificity and sensitivity and quantification of targets. However, in recent years several research groups have made significant progress in overcoming these challenges, and microarrays are beginning to be applied more frequently to microbial ecology studies in a variety of systems including terrestrial soils, wetland sediments, and freshwater and marine ecosystems. This article will provide a brief history of the use of molecular methods in microbial ecology, and will then review the development of microarray technology, the challenges that exist for application of microarrays to microbial ecology, the available strategies for overcoming these challenges, and some recent applications of microarrays to studies in microbial ecology. ∗ Phone: 773.508. 7097 ; Fax: 773.508. 3646 ; E-mail: jkelly7@luc.edu