Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding Consumer Acceptance of Fintech Service : An Extension of the TAM Model to Understand Bitcoin

Bitcoin has emerged as one of the most promising Fintech applications over the last years. Although prior researches have focused on the factors to explain technology adoption in Fintech area, there is limited empirical work. Thus, this research is to increase our understanding of the factors that influence Bitcoin acceptance. In order to achieve the goal, we aim to propose a model on Bitcoin by developing an extended model based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). The model was tested with an online survey sample by using the PLS method. The results indicated that the behavioral intention to use Bitcoin is affected mainly by perceived usefulness and perceived security. However, perceived ease of use is not significant and only indirectly gives influence to the intention. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 26-06-2018 Date of acceptance: 10-07-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGE , CORRELATION , AND TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS OF MORRISON FORMATION PALEOMAGNETIC DATA , INCLUDING ROTATION OF THE COLORADO PLATEAU

The magnetostratigraphy of the Morrison Formation is correlated from cratonic north-central New Mexico and across the Colorado Plateau. The magnetostratigraphic polarity changes correlate with a general lithologic change and correlate with magnetic anomaly М-sequence of Upper Jurassic oceanic crust. That correlation indicates that the Morrison Formation spans a portion of the Oxfordian, all of the Kimmeridgian, and the early Tithonian. The Morrison displays two paleomagnetic poles positions. The lower sandy part of the formation yields a paleopole more distant from the sites, while the upper variegated mudstones yield a higher paleolatitude paleopole. A comparison at one locality between the mudstones of the lower and upper members indicates that the difference is not due to inclination error in the coarser, sandrich part of the formation. This within-formation difference in paleomagnetic poles suggests a hiatus within the Morrison Formation. Upper Morrison paleopoles from the Plateau and craton are identical suggesting that the Colorado Plateau rotated in mid-Morrison time. The Morrison and earlier Mesozoic data all indicate approximately 10 ± 3° of rotation of the Colorado Plateau.
Dynamic Equilibrium with Rare Disasters and Heterogeneous

We consider a general equilibrium Lucas (1978) economy with one consumption good and two heterogeneous Epstein-Zin investors. The output is subject to rare disasters or, more generally, can have non-lognormal distribution with higher cumulants. We demonstrate that the heterogeneity in preferences generates excess stock return volatilities, procyclical price-dividend ratios and interest rates, and countercyclical market prices of risk when the elasticity of intertemporal substitution (EIS) is greater than one. We show that the latter results cannot be jointly replicated in a model where investors have EIS ≤ 1. Our model produces endogenous time-variation in equilibrium processes without assuming time-varying probabilities of disasters, as in the recent literature with homogeneous investors. We propose new approach for finding general equilibrium, and characterize optimal portfolios and consumptions in terms of tractable backward equations. Finally, we extend analysis to the case of heterogeneous beliefs about disaster probabilities. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D53, G11, G12.
University of Tartu Department of Psychology Sheryl Võsu MEASUREMENT OF INHIBITORY CONTROL AND ATTENTIONAL BIAS TO DISORDER SPECIFIC STIMULI IN INDIVIDUALS WITH EATING DISORDERS: THE USE OF EMOTIONAL GO/NO-GO TASK Master’s thesis Supervisor:

Impaired inhibitory control and attentional bias related to disorder specific stimuli, i.e. body and food, could have a potential role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (ED). We aimed to measure inhibitory control and attentional bias to body and food related stimuli by using emotional Go/No-Go task in individuals with ED compared to psychiatrically controlled healthy individuals (HC) and psychiatric controls, and test whether inhibitory control and attentional bias in individuals with ED are related to ED specific stimuli. ED specific emotional Go/No-Go task, clinical interview and self-report questionnaires were administered to 87 women (with mean age±SD of 23.0±6.4), of whom 19 were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa restrictive (AN-R) subtype, 17 with bulimia nervosa binge/purge (BN-BP) subtype, 15 with major depression, 17 with comorbid mood, anxiety and substance use disorders, and 19 were HC. We found that individuals with AN-R and BN-BP were significantly slower in reaction times (RTs) for body related stimuli compared to HC. There were no significant differences in RTs for food related stimuli between the groups. However, duration of illness had a moderating effect on RTs for food stimuli in individuals with ED. Moreover, individuals with BN-BP made significantly more commission and omission errors to body and food related stimuli compared to individuals with AN-R. Our results indicate that emotional Go/No-Go task could be a valid measure to assess inhibitory control and attentional bias to ED related stimuli, however, primarily based on the commission and omission errors rather than RTs.
Would Shareholders in Firms with Japanese Governance Mechanisms Benefit from the Use of Annual Incentive Plans?

This paper studies the economic consequences of choosing two different types of executive compensation contracts. The analysis is based on a two-period agency model in which compensation contracts are subject to renegotiation; compensation is paid based on the agent's earnings report (e.g., a performance-based contract) or a non-verifiable measure within the firm (e.g., a conventional implicit contract). According to the analysis, conventional implicit contracts can dominate performance-based contracts if the nonverifiable measure is sufficiently informative so that the agent's earnings report is not significantly considered during renegotiation. However, if the agent has strong bargaining power, the performance-based contract is optimal. The theoretical findings have implications for empirical compensation research. First, the firms' compensation policy may not serve as a useful lest for identifying profi table finns. Second, the combination of the compensation policy and the ownership structure is l ikely to be associated with the level of executive compensation.
Estimation Biases in Quality-Adjusted Hedonic Price Indices

Log-linear hedonic models are widely used to construct quality-corrected price indices. It is well-known that least-squares estimation of these models yields biased estimates of the model parameters and of the expected value of the dependent price variable; see Goldberger (1968) and Teekens and Koerts (1972). The problem is cited by Diewert (2002), Triplett (2002) and Silver (2002) as an issue in price-index construction with reference to the amount of bias. However, many applied studies ignore the bias, either because it is considered non-substantial or because one is not aware of it. This paper summarizes some of the consequences of the estimation bias associated with the use of log-linear models for the hedonic and matched-model price indices. After reviewing the background of the estimation bias, the impact of the estimation bias on various types of hedonic price indices is explained. Also, attention is paid to biases related with the hedonic imputation of missing prices. The consequences of ignoring the estimation bias are illustrated with an example of car price developments. The matter is of particular interest for modern research on measuring quality-adjusted price developments, which often adopts log-linear hedonic specifications to analyze biases related with substitution, entry and exit of product varieties and aggregation of price information, but which tends to ignore biases related with the very instruments to examine these issues. JEL classification: C23,C43, C51, C81, D12, E31, L15,L62, O47
Socio-technical Affordances for Stigmergic Coordination Implemented in MIDST, a Tool for Data-Science Teams

We present a conceptual framework for socio-technical affordances for stigmergic coordination, that is, coordination supported by a shared work product. Based on research on free/libre open source software development, we theorize that stigmergic coordination depends on three sets of socio-technical affordances: the visibility and combinability of the work, along with defined genres of work contributions. As a demonstration of the utility of the developed framework, we use it as the basis for the design and implementation of a system, MIDST, that supports these affordances and that we thus expect to support stigmergic coordination. We describe an initial assessment of the impact of the tool on the work of project teams of three to six data-science students that suggests that the tool was useful but also in need of further development. We conclude with plans for future research and an assessment of theory-driven system design.
RATE-DISTORTION OPTIMIZATION GUIDED AUTOEN-

In the generative model approach of machine learning, it is essential to acquire an accurate probabilistic model and compress the dimension of data for easy treatment. However, in the conventional deep-autoencoder based generative model such as VAE, the probability of the real space cannot be obtained correctly from that of in the latent space, because the scaling between both spaces is not controlled. This has also been an obstacle to quantifying the impact of the variation of latent variables on data. In this paper, we propose Rate-Distortion Optimization guided autoencoder, in which the Jacobi matrix from real space to latent space has orthonormality. It is proved theoretically and experimentally that (i) the probability distribution of the latent space obtained by this model is proportional to the probability distribution of the real space because Jacobian between two spaces is constant; (ii) our model behaves as non-linear PCA, where energy of acquired latent space is concentrated on several principal components and the influence of each component can be evaluated quantitatively. Furthermore, to verify the usefulness on the practical application, we evaluate its performance in unsupervised anomaly detection and it outperforms current state-of-the-art methods.
Ambient PM 1 air pollution and cardiovascular disease prevalence : Insights from the 33 Communities Chinese Health Study

Backgrounds: Evidence on the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is scarce in developing countries. Moreover, few studies assessed the role of the PM1 (≤1.0 μm) size fraction and CVD. We investigated the associations between PM1 and PM2.5 and CVD prevalence in Chinese adults. Methods: In 2009, we randomly recruited 24,845 adults at the age of 18–74 years from 33 communities in Northeastern China. CVD status was determined by self-report of doctor-diagnosed CVD. Three-year (2006–08) average concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5 were assigned using a satellite-based exposure. We used spatial Generalized Linear Mixed Models to evaluate the associations between air pollutants and CVD prevalence, adjusting for multiple covariates. Stratified and interaction analyses and sensitivity analyses were also performed. Results: A 10 μg/m3 increase in long-term exposure to ambient PM1 levels was associated a 12% higher odds for having CVD (OR=1.12; 95% CI=1.05–1.20). Compared to PM1, association between PM2.5 and CVD was lower (OR=1.06; 95% CI=1.01–1.11). No significant association was observed for PM1–2.5 (1–2.5 μm) size fraction (OR=0.98; 95% CI=0.85–1.13). Stratified analyses showed greater effect estimates in men and the elder. Conclusions: Long-term PM1 exposure was positively related to CVD, especially in men and the elder. In addition, PM1 may play a greater role than PM2.5 in associations with CVD. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm our findings. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint. 2018.12. 012 Received 7 August 2018; Received in revised form 16 November 2018; Accepted 5 December 2018 Abbreviations: AOD, aerosol optical depth; AP, attributable proportion; BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DAG, directed acyclic graph; GAM, generalized additive model; GLMMs, Generalized Linear Mixed Models; MODIS, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer; OR, odds ratio; PM, particulate matter; PM10, PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm; PM2.5, PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm; PM1, PM with an aerodynamic diameter ≤1.0 μm; R2, coefficient of determination; RERI, relative excess risk due to interaction; RMSE, Root Mean Squared Error; S, synergy index; WHO, World Health Organization; 33CCHS, the 33 Communities Chinese Health Study ⁎ Corresponding author at: Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan 2nd Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou 510080, China. E-mail address: donggh5@mail.sysu. edu.cn (G.-H. Dong). 1 The two authors contributed equally to this work. Environment International 123 (2019) 310–317 Available online 14 December 2018 0160-4120/ © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/). T
intf in ost of capital , audit and earnings quality under financial risis : A global empirical investigation

This paper investigates the cost of capital and the changes of audit quality and earnings management influencing on it due to financial crisis of 2008. Using linear regression analysis, 137,091 firm-year observations from 18 advanced countries worldwide which are categorized into three clusters as per level investor protection based on country classification of Leuz (2010) are used in the sample. The results show that the global financial crisis of 2008 has had positive impact on the cost of equity capital for all clusters and the cost of debt for clusters 1 and 2. The cost of equity is negatively associated with firms that are audited by Big Four auditors and have an audit committee in all clusters, and with firms that switch auditors in cluster 2. Firms that are audited by Big Four auditors in cluster 1, firms with a modified audit report in cluster 2 and firms that have an audit committee in cluster 3 have a negative association with the cost of debt. This study also shows that the association between earnings quality attributes and cost of capital is significantly negative before and during the crisis. Overall, our findings offer crucial insights to post crisis management, auditors, regulators and accounting standard setters in stabilizing investors’ confidence and enhancing firm growth after the 2008 financial crisis. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
COMMENT ON EPA OZONE STANDARD : NEW TIME SERIES ANALYSES OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OZONE AND SHORT-TERM MORTALITY DOCKET NUMBER EPA-HQ-OAR-2008 -

This comment presents some new time series analyses of the ozone-mortality association, both based on the well-established NMMAPS dataset, and a new 2000-2012 dataset from California. These results are relevant to the proposed changes in the ozone standard for several reasons: time series analyses are by far the most widely studied and definitive results relating ozone directly to mortality, and have been extensively used in the EPA’s own Regulatory Impact Analysis. Our overall conclusion is that the results are substantially dependent on various subjective choices of data and statistical models, and therefore, their use to support the proposed new standard must still be regarded as tentative.
Combination Therapy of Mouse Leukemia L1210 by 1-β-d-Arabinofuranosylcytosine and 6-[(4-Nitrobenzyl)thio]-9-β-d-ribofuranosylpurine

Summary Nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBMPR), an inhibitor of nucleoside transport, was tested in combination with 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) for therapeutic activity against mouse leukemia L1210. NBMPR alone had no activity, whereas therapy with NBMPR and ara-C in combination was significantly better than with ara-C alone. The therapeutic potentiation resulting from the combination of NBMPR and ara-C appeared to be host mediated since NBMPR alone was not toxic to cultured L1210 cells. NBMPR treatment of normal mice increased the plasma half-time of ara-C and decreased rates of urinary excretion of ara-C and 2′-deoxycytidine; however, these effects were not large enough to explain the therapeutic potentiation. Because the drug combination appeared to be no more effective than ara-C alone in therapy of mouse leukemia L1210/TG (a thiopurine-resistant L1210 subline lacking hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase), the host-mediated therapeutic potentiation was attributed in in vivo breakdown of NBMPR to 6-mercaptopurine.
Planting of jojoba for oil production under salt and water stress in Taif region

This study was conducted at Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Saudi Arabia to investigate the effect of irrigation intervals (15, 21, 30 or 45 days) and different salinity concentrations (0 control tap water), 8.6, 12.9, 17.2, 25.9, 34.5, 51.7, 86.2, 103.4 and 120.7 mM NaCl) on shoot growth, root parameters, leaf measurements and leaf chemical constituents of jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider). A pot experiment was conducted and arranged in a complete randomized block design (split-plot) with three replicates. The results indicated that irrigation treatment every fifteen days, in general, was more effective on increasing plant height, number of both leaves and branches on the stem, as well as, the number of nodes on the stem, followed by irrigation every three weeks compared to other irrigation intervals. Similar trend has been observed for the leaf measurements (length, width, area and stomatal density). The root parameters followed the same trend of shoot growth. Leaf chlorophyll content, carbohydrates, protein and elements measured were increased with frequent irrigation. On the other hand, salinity treatments significantly decreased the most of the previous characteristics. Meanwhile, sodium, chloride and carbohydrates were gradually increased with increasing the concentration of salinity especially, with higher levels. Regarding the interaction between irrigation intervals and salinity concentrations, higher values were recorded with irrigation every two or three weeks interacted without or with lower salinity levels (8.6 or 12.9 or 17.2 mM).
Detecting Controllers' Actions in Past Mode S Data by Autoencoder-Based Anomaly Detection

The preparation and execution of training simulations for Air Traffic Control (ATC) and pilots requires a significant commitment of operational experts. Such a mobilisation could be alleviated by a decision support tool trained to generate a realistic environment based on historical data. Prior to studying methods able to learn from a dataset of traffic patterns and ATC orders observed in the past, we focus here on the constitution of such a database from a history of trajectories: the difficulty lies in the fact that past flown trajectories are properly regulated, that observed situations may depend on a wide range of potentially unknown factors and that ownership rules apply on parts of the data. We present here a method to analyse flight trajectories, detect unusual flight behaviours and infer ATC actions. When an anomaly is detected, we place the trajectory in context, then assess whether such anomaly could correspond to an ATC action. The trajectory outlier detection method is based on autoencoder Machine Learning models. It determines trajectory outliers and quantifies a level of abnormality, therefore giving hints about the nature of the detected situations. Results obtained on three different scenarios, with Mode S flight data collected over one year, show that this method is well suited to efficiently detect anomalous situations, ranging from classic air traffic controllers orders to more significant deviations. Detecting such situations is not only a necessary milestone for the generation of ATC orders in a realistic environment; this methodology could also be useful in safety studies for anomaly detection and estimation of probabilities of rare events; and in complexity and performance analyses for detecting actions in neighbouring sectors or estimating ATC workload.
An Analysis of Wheat Farming: Calculations and Perceptions

National diversification of wheat-based food has been put into practice. Public consumption of flour-based food, such as noodles and bread, is in great demand. This study aims to determine the calculations, perceptions and attitudes of farmers towards wheat farming, considering that Indonesia is a non-wheat developing country. This qualitative descriptive research using in-depth interviews with 7 informants and observation methods was conducted in Klaten and Demak Regencies. In analyzing the data, this study used an interactive analysis model including data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing. The results show that: 1) based on farmers' calculations, wheat farming is financially not profitable to farmers because the products harvested are not worth the expense; 2) farmers' calculations affect farmers' perceptions which shifted to negative perceptions that wheat farming is not as promising as other farming businesses. Despite the negative perceptions, wheat farming has provided a valuable experience for farmers which is shown by their pride and pleasure and 3) the majority of farmers are not interested in wheat farming, which is shown by their attitude of not being able to accept wheat farming, while other farmers behave otherwise, indicated by their willingness to recommence wheat planting testing. Further research may examine: 1) how to change the culture of rice farming into culture of wheat farming; 2) how to change subsistence rice farming into enterprise and 3) how to change rice farming as social activities to rice farming as business activities.
Perceived wealth and borrowing attitudes : The leverage bias hypothesis ∗

We postulate the existence of a cognitive bias that alters individual perceptions of wealth in risk-free and time-invariant contexts with no probabilistic attributes. We call it the leverage bias: for a given positive (negative) net worth, individuals have greater perceived wealth when their leverage ratio is lower (higher). We assume that the leverage bias correlates with debt attitudes and that greater perceived wealth implies a higher likelihood to borrow. By means of a small scale quasi-experimental survey with some incentivized tasks, we (1) provide evidence of the existence of the leverage bias; (2) we disentangle the role of behavioral characteristics that predict its presence; and (3) we evaluate its relation with attitudes towards debt. Subjects with the leverage bias are less cognitively sophisticated, more impatient, less debt averse, more likely to take on debt and to increase spending out of unexpected gains, compared to subjects with no bias. Our findings shed some light on the possible determinants of individual debt overhang and provide the rationale for policies incorporating behavioral insights aimed at improving financial decisions. JEL: C91, D14, D91, G41