Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability in negotiation games and the emergence of cooperation†

Consider a two–player game in which each player contributes a costly resource to the common good of the pair. For such contests, the Nash equilibrium contribution, x⊃*, is one for which neither player can increase its pay–off by unilaterally altering its contribution from x⊃*. We study an elaboration of this game, which allows the players to exchange x–offers back and forth in a negotiation phase until they converge to a final pair of contributions, x◯⊂1 and x◯⊂2. A significant feature of such negotiation games, hitherto unrecognized, is the existence of a set of neutrally stable equilibrium points in negotiation phase space. To explore the long–term evolutionary outcome of such games, we simulate populations containing various mixtures of negotiation strategies and, contrary to previous results, we often find convergence to a contribution that is more cooperative than the Nash equilibrium. Mathematical analysis suggests why this might be happening, and provides a novel and robust explanation for cooperation, that negotiation can facilitate the evolution of cooperative behaviour.
Cancer mortality trends in Spain: 1980-2007.

INTRODUCTION Since the 1990s, there has been a downturn in mortality for specific types of tumour in Spain and other European countries. This article reports on the current situation of cancer mortality in Spain, as well as mortality trends over the period 1980-2007, and provides an overview of cancer mortality trends in Europe in recent years. METHODS Data were sourced from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística - INE) and the World Health Organization mortality database. Mortality trends were studied using change-point Poisson regression models. RESULTS All-cancer mortality decreased in both sexes from 1980 to 2007, owing to the fact that the tumours responsible for the highest number of deaths registered declining trends from the mid-1990s onwards. In men, mortality due to stomach and prostate cancer fell by >3% per annum in the last 10 years of the study period. In women, the largest contributions to the fall in cancer mortality were due to breast and colorectal cancers. In contrast, female mortality due to smoking-related cancers rose significantly. Within the European context, Spain's estimated 2005 mortality rates were intermediate for men and low for women. CONCLUSION Cancer control is progressing in the right direction in Spain. Further interventions directed to reduce tobacco-related cancer mortality remain a priority, particularly for women.
Structures of globalization: Evidence from the worldwide network of bilateral investment treaties (1959–2009)

Existing sociological theories of international relations yield contrasting predictions for their structure that range from an increasingly dense and universally tied network to networks in which ties tend to concentrate within or between certain types of economically, politically or culturally defined blocs. We contribute to this growing body of empirical research by analyzing original data on the complete worldwide network of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as it has evolved over the course of 50 years since its inception in 1959. We find that the number of BITs increases almost exponentially over time to include nearly all of the world’s countries. However, the density of ties between advanced capitalist and others is stronger than for any other dyadic types. We also find patterns of regional homophily, but only in Asia, East Asia, Postsocialist Europe and Eurasia, and North Africa/Middle East. These findings suggest that existing explanations of globalization are more complementary than contending. Theorizing about any particular global outcome thus requires attention to the simultaneity of material and cultural forces and the interplay of transnational and local socio-historical developments. Our analysis of the structure of the BIT network also helps explain the weak link between foreign direct investment and BITs discovered in previous research.
Short-Horizon Return Predictability in International Equity Markets

This study measures the degree of short-horizon return predictability of 50 international equity markets and examines how its variation is related to the indicators of equity market development. Two multiple-horizon variance ratio tests are employed to measure the degree of return predictability. We find evidence that return predictability is negatively correlated with publicly available indicators of equity market development. Our cross-sectional regression analysis shows that the per capita GDP, market turnover, investor protection, and absence of short selling restrictions are correlated with cross-market variations in return predictability.
A study of the relationship between using Instagram and purchase intention

This study has two main aims. The first is to investigate the relationship between people's purchase intentions and how they use Instagram. The second is to use the results as a guide to applying Instagram as an effective marketing tool. This is a quantitative study based on data collected via questionnaire from 400 Instagram users. These Instagram users are all between the ages of 18 and 34 and live in Bangkok, Thailand. The data were statistically analysed using methods such as descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling. The results showed that the factors influencing people's purchase intentions are: 1) the recreational message; 2) the involvement in the recreational message; 3) commercial advertising; 4) the group to which people aspire to belong; 5) perceived ease of use.
The HMG box‐containing nucleolar transcription factor UBF interacts with a specific subunit of RNA polymerase I.

The mammalian transcription activator protein UBF contains five tandemly repeated HMG homology domains which are required for DNA binding. We have used highly purified RNA polymerase I (Pol I) and upstream binding factor (UBF) and investigated whether these two proteins interact in solution. We show by a variety of different experimental approaches, such as immunoprecipitation, glycerol gradient sedimentation, affinity chromatography and protein blotting, that UBF physically associates with Pol I. Mutational analysis reveals that the HMG boxes play an important role in this specific interaction. UBF binds to mouse and yeast Pol I, demonstrating that the interaction of UBF with Pol I has been conserved during evolution. Interestingly, in both species one Pol I‐specific subunit (34.5 kDa in yeast and 62 kDa in mouse) was recognized by UBF. No specific interaction was observed with Pol II. Unexpectedly, UBF was found to associate also with a unique subunit of yeast Pol III. This apparent specific interaction of UBF with the two classes of RNA polymerases may reflect functionally important interactions of HMG box‐containing transcription factors with the transcriptional apparatus.
Visualization of search results from the World Wide Web

English) This thesis explores special forms of presentations of search results from the World Wide Web. The usage of Information Visualization methodologies is discussed as an alternative to the usual arrangement in form of a static HTML-list. The thesis is structured into four main parts. The first part deals with information seeking. It presents ideas from the literature on how to structure the information seeking process and some results from studies of how people search the Web. For the second part visualization ideas, metaphors, techniques, components and systems have been collected. The overview focuses on the visualization of queries or query attributes, document attributes, and interdocument similarities. The reference model for visualization from [Card, Mackinlay, Shneiderman 1999] is used to discuss differences between certain techniques. Visualization components from a number of areas, usage scenarios, and authors are presented using a consistent search example wherever possible. The part about Information Visualization also includes a discussion of multiple coordinated views and some results from empirical evaluations of visualizations by other authors. The third, empirical part of the thesis presents the results of an evaluation of five different user interface conditions of a local meta search engine called INSYDER. An overview covering the INSYDER project in general, the system architecture, and the development of the implemented visualization ideas is included. In a test with 40 users effectiveness, efficiency, expected value, and user satisfaction were measured for twelve tasks. Evaluated user interface conditions were HTML-List, ResultTable, ScatterPlot plus ResultTable, BarGraph plus ResultTable, and SegmentView plus ResultTable. The SegmentView included TileBars and StackedColumns variants. The traditional presentation in the form of an HTML-List performed best in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. In contrast to this, the users preferred the ResultTable and the SegmentView. The last section of the thesis consists of a summary and an outlook.
Analysis of diversification benefits of investing in the emerging gulf equity markets

Refers to previous research on the advantages of international portfolio diversification, gives an overview of the stock markets in Bahrein, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; and assesses their sutiability for the purpose, especially as a hedge against oil price risk. Compares their 1993‐1998 monthly index returns and standard deviations with the USA, shows low or negative correlations between them and illustrates the potential this offers for risk reduction. Uses the Markowitz mean‐variance paradigm to estimate the effecient frontiers. Finds the results consistent with evidence from other emerging markets and points out that the stability of Gulf exchange rates against the US dollar also removes currency risk.
Health and Economic Development: Reframing the Pathway

The papers included in this symposium provide a compelling rationale for the role of health as an engine of economic growth, and thus for investing in health improvement as an important step in improving economic growth in the Mississippi Delta. This newer model of the relation between health and wealth, positioning health as an investment and as an important determinant of economic growth, has substantial implications for health-related public policy and for the business sector. Societal support of health promoting initiatives through public policy, especially for children and for the poor, are important efforts for improving health and for realizing the economic benefits of health improvement.
In the Shadow of the Garrison State

War--or the threat of war--usually strengthens states as governments tax, draft soldiers, exert control over industrial production, and dampen internal dissent in order to build military might. The United States, however, was founded on the suspicion of state power, a suspicion that continued to gird its institutional architecture and inform the sentiments of many of its politicians and citizens through the twentieth century. In this comprehensive rethinking of postwar political history, Aaron Friedberg convincingly argues that such anti-statist inclinations prevented Cold War anxieties from transforming the United States into the garrison state it might have become in their absence. Drawing on an array of primary and secondary sources, including newly available archival materials, Friedberg concludes that the "weakness" of the American state served as a profound source of national strength that allowed the United States to outperform and outlast its supremely centralized and statist rival: the Soviet Union.Friedberg's analysis of the U. S. government's approach to taxation, conscription, industrial planning, scientific research and development, and armaments manufacturing reveals that the American state did expand during the early Cold War period. But domestic constraints on its expansion--including those stemming from mean self-interest as well as those guided by a principled belief in the virtues of limiting federal power--protected economic vitality, technological superiority, and public support for Cold War activities. The strategic synthesis that emerged by the early 1960s was functional as well as stable, enabling the United States to deter, contain, and ultimately outlive the Soviet Union precisely because the American state did not limit unduly the political, personal, and economic freedom of its citizens.Political scientists, historians, and general readers interested in Cold War history will value this thoroughly researched volume. Friedberg's insightful scholarship will also inspire future policy by contributing to our understanding of how liberal democracy's inherent qualities nurture its survival and spread.
Macroeconomic Effects of Credit Deepening in Latin America

This paper augments a relatively standard dynamic general equilibrium model with financial frictions in order to quantify the macroeconomic effects of the credit deepening process observed in many Latin American (LA) countries in the last decade, most notably in Brazil. In the model, a stylized banking sector intermediates credit from patient households to impatient households and firms. The key novelty of the paper, motivated by the Brazilian experience, is to model the credit constraint faced by (impatient) households as a function of future labor income. In the calibrated model, credit deepening generates only modest abovetrend growth in consumption, investment, and GDP. Since Brazil has experienced one of the most intense credit deepening processes in Latin America, it is argued that the quantitative effects for other LA economies are unlikely to be sizeable.
Reflections—In Praise of Consilience

Consilience refers to the linking together of principles from different disciplines to form new constructs. How important has consilience been in bringing new ideas to the management of natural resources and the environment? To what extent has it influenced modes of analysis and policy? These are the questions I examine in this “Reflections” column. Ultimately, I find that the cross-fertilization of ideas has been quite important in creating a number of innovative new methodologies, new perspectives, and even new policy instruments. Using a host of specific examples, I show not only how economics has been enriched by ideas that originated in other disciplines but also how economics has enriched other disciplines concerned with the management of natural resources and the environment. I close by sharing some thoughts on the conditions under which consilience can prosper as well as some thoughts on the future.
Firm Fundamentals and Sensitivity to Aggregate Earnings

I examine whether accounting fundamentals are informative about the sensitivity of firm-level expected earnings growth to economy-wide expected earnings growth (i.e., earnings growth beta) and whether this sensitivity is a source of priced risk in the cross-section of returns. I find that smaller, less profitable firms, with higher leverage, and more volatile sales and earnings tend to have higher earnings growth beta. Cross-sectional and time-series pricing tests over 1981–2012 show that earnings growth beta has strong explanatory power for firm-level and portfolio-level returns. Overall, the results suggest that (1) systematic risk manifests itself in firm fundamentals; (2) beta estimates using earnings growth explain returns better than beta estimates using noisy returns; and (3) size, book-to-price, and earnings-to-price partially capture earnings growth risk.
Limb Alignment and Kinematics Inside a Lokomat Robotic Orthosis

The use of robotic gait training systems has become commonplace world-wide. In particular, the Lokomat robotic orthosis (Hocoma AG, Volketswil, Switzerland) is in use at nearly 75 facilities treating patients with spinal cord injury, stroke, and other neurological impairments. Despite the extensive use of the device, no studies have reported the leg kinematic trajectories while walking in the device. Furthermore, because the subject's legs are not rigidly coupled to the device, there is the potential for significant leg movement inside the device which also has not been reported. Here we report differences in kinematic trajectories between walking in the Lokomat and walking on a treadmill, as well as the relative limb motion within the Lokomat for a single representative subject. Using high-speed motion analysis, it was found that while similar knee and hip angle patterns were produced when walking on the treadmill and while walking in the Lokomat, there were significant differences (p<.0.01) in percent time spent in swing phase, maximum hip and knee flexion, and maximum hip extension. There was also a larger amount of misalignment at the hip (18.2 mm) than at the knees (12 mm) when the joint positions in space were compared
Prognostic Value of 18F-FLT PET in Patients with Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A Prospective Head-to-Head Comparison with 18F-FDG PET and Ki-67 in 100 Patients

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) constitute a heterogeneous group of tumors arising in various organs and with a large span of aggressiveness and survival rates. The Ki-67 proliferation index is presently used as the key marker of prognosis, and treatment guidelines are largely based on this index. 3′-deoxy-3′-18F-fluorothymidine (18F-FLT) is a proliferation tracer for PET imaging valuable in the monitoring of disease progression and treatment response in various types of cancer. However, until now only data from 10 patients with NEN were available in the literature. The aim of the present study was to investigate 18F-FLT PET as a prognostic marker for NENs in comparison with 18F-FDG PET and Ki-67 index. Methods: One hundred patients were PET-scanned with both 18F-FLT and 18F-FDG within the same week, and the prognostic value of a positive scan was examined in terms of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The correlation between the Ki-67 index and 18F-FLT uptake was also investigated. Results: Thirty-seven percent of patients had a positive 18F-FLT PET scan, and 49% had 18F-FDG PET–positive foci. Patients with a high 18F-FLT uptake had a significantly shorter OS and PFS than patients with low or no 18F-FLT uptake. No correlation was found between Ki-67 index and 18F-FLT uptake. In a multivariate analysis 18F-FLT, 18F-FDG, and Ki-67 all were significant prognostic markers of PFS. For OS, only 18F-FDG and Ki-67 remained significant. Conclusion: 18F-FLT PET has prognostic value in NEN patients but when 18F-FDG PET and Ki-67 index are also available, a multivariate model revealed that 18F-FLT PET only adds information regarding PFS but not OS, whereas 18F-FDG PET remains predictive of both PFS and OS. However, a clinically robust algorithm including 18F-FLT in addition to 18F-FDG and Ki-67 could not be found. Accordingly, the exact role, if any, of 18F-FLT PET in NENs remains to be established.
Group testing strategies for recovery of sparse signals in noise

We consider the recovery of sparse signals, f ∈ ℝN, containing at most k ≪ N nonzero entries using linear measurements contaminated with i.i. d. Gaussian background noise. Given this measurement model, we present and analyze a computationally efficient group testing strategy for recovering the support of f and approximating its nonzero entries. In particular, we demonstrate that group testing measurement matrix constructions may be combined with statistical binary detection and estimation methods to produce efficient adaptive sequential algorithms for sparse signal support recovery. Furthermore, when f exhibits sufficient sparsity, we show that these adaptive group testing methods allow the recovery of sparse signals using fewer noisy linear measurements than possible with non-adaptive methods based on Gaussian measurement ensembles. As a result we improve on previous sufficient conditions for sparsity pattern recovery in the noisy sublinear-sparsity regime.
Capitalisation of Fiscal Variables and Land Scarcity

Fiscal packages usually capitalise into house prices. Yet if enough land for construction is available, housing developers could supply new houses and capitalisation may disappear. This paper provides a theoretical model in which income taxes and public services capitalise at lower rates when housing supply elasticity increases. Using an empirical linear interaction model, we estimate the impact of available land for construction on capitalisation rates with a panel of Swiss communities. Results indicate that fiscal variables do not capitalise differently in communities where housing supply is constrained by land availability. Thus, land availability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for capitalisation to disappear.
Managing Pro Forma Stock Option Expense under SFAS No. 123

We investigate whether footnote disclosures under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123 are managed in 1996, the first year that the disclosure was required. The 1996 phase‐in of SFAS No. 123 provided firms with a unique opportunity to manipulate the pro forma disclosure in the initial years. SFAS No. 123 allows firms discretion in estimating the value of their stock option grants and in allocating that value across accounting periods. Although we find little evidence that firms manage the estimated value of their option grants, we find that firm‐specific incentives affect how that value is allocated. Specifically, firms that provide high levels of either CEO compensation or stock option compensation relative to performance allocate a smaller proportion of the options' value to the 1996 pro forma expense, apparently to reduce criticism of that compensation. Small firms and firms that recently went public also allocate a smaller proportion of option value to the 1996 pro forma expense,.
Sensing herpes: more than toll

To launch an effective antiviral immune response, cells must recognize the virus, activate a cytokine response, and initiate inflammatory processes. Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV‐1) and HSV‐2 are nuclear‐replicating viruses composed of a double‐stranded DNA genome plus glycoproteins that are incorporated into a lipid bilayer envelope that surrounds an icosahedral capsid. Several novel receptors that mediate innate recognition of HSV and that activate the innate immune response have been identified in recent years. The host‐virus interactions that lead to type I interferon (IFN), type III IFN, and cytokine production include cellular recognition of viral envelope and structural proteins, recognition of viral genomic DNA and recognition of virus‐derived double‐stranded RNAs. Such RNAs can interact with cellular pattern‐recognition receptors, including Toll‐like receptors and a number of cytoplasmic and nuclear receptors for virus DNA and virus‐derived RNAs. In this review, I present a systematic overview of innate cellular recognition of HSV infection that leads to immune activation, and I discuss the implications of the known cell‐host interactions. In addition, I discuss the use of innate stimulation to improve anti‐HSV treatment and vaccine response and I discuss future research aims. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Breaking the Silence Culture: Stimulation of Participation and Employee Opinion Withholding Cross-nationally

We investigated the relationship between the national cultural value of power distance and collective silence as well as the role of voice-inducing mechanisms in breaking the organizational silence. Using data from 421 organizational units of a multinational company in 24 countries, we found that both formalized employee involvement and a participative climate encouraged employees to voice their opinions in countries with a small power distance culture. In large power distance cultures, formalized employee involvement is related to employee voices only under a strong perceived participative climate.