Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling longitudinal changes in older adults' memory for spoken discourse: Findings from the ACTIVE cohort

Episodic memory shows substantial declines with advancing age, but research on longitudinal trajectories of spoken discourse memory (SDM) in older adulthood is limited. Using parallel process latent growth curve models, we examined 10 years of longitudinal data from the no-contact control group (N = 698) of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) randomised controlled trial in order to test (1) the degree to which SDM declines with advancing age, (2) the predictors of these age-related declines and (3) the within-person relationship between longitudinal changes in SDM and longitudinal changes in fluid reasoning and verbal ability over 10 years, independent of age. Individuals who were younger, were White, had more years of formal education, were male and had better global cognitive function and episodic memory performance at baseline demonstrated greater levels of SDM on average. However, only age at baseline uniquely predicted longitudinal changes in SDM, such that declines accelerated with greater age. Independent of age, within-person decline in reasoning ability over the 10-year study period was substantially correlated with decline in SDM (r = .87). An analogous association with SDM did not hold for verbal ability. The findings suggest that longitudinal declines in fluid cognition are associated with reduced spoken language comprehension. Unlike findings from memory for written prose, preserved verbal ability may not protect against developmental declines in memory for speech.
Emotional expressions in voice and music: Same code, same effect?

Scholars have documented similarities in the way voice and music convey emotions. By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) we explored whether these similarities imply overlapping processing substrates. We asked participants to trace changes in either the emotion or pitch of vocalizations and music using a joystick. Compared to music, vocalizations more strongly activated superior and middle temporal cortex, cuneus, and precuneus. However, despite these differences, overlapping rather than differing regions emerged when comparing emotion with pitch tracing for music and vocalizations, respectively. Relative to pitch tracing, emotion tracing activated medial superior frontal and anterior cingulate cortex regardless of stimulus type. Additionally, we observed emotion specific effects in primary and secondary auditory cortex as well as in medial frontal cortex that were comparable for voice and music. Together these results indicate that similar mechanisms support emotional inferences from vocalizations and music and that these mechanisms tap on a general system involved in social cognition. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Subjective intervention in formal models

Success in forecasting using mathematical/statistical models requires that the models be open to intervention by the user. In practice, a model is only one component of a forecasting system, which also includes the users/forecasters as integral components. Interaction between the user and the model is necessary to adequately cater for events and changes that go beyond the existing form of the model. In this paper we consider Bayesian forecasting models open to interventions, of essentially any form, to incorporate subjective information made available to the user. We discuss principles of intervention and derive theoretical results that provide the means to formally incorporate feedforward interventions into Bayesian models. Two example time series are considered to illustrate why and when such interventions may be necessary to sustain predictive performance.
Stock returns and earnings announcements in Finland

The stock market's reaction to the earnings announcements of Finnish firms is investigated. A risk estimation approach based on accounting information is applied along with a market model. Accounting information is utilized for risk estimation purposes by using the information incorporated in the accounting variables measuring the real determinants of systematic risk. The empirical results indicate that the delay in the market's reaction to negative unexpected earnings differs from that of the positive unexpected earnings. The results of comparing different risk adjusting methods indicate that the drift in stock returns around the earnings announcements is weaker in the case of long return windows when the risk estimation method based on the pure accounting information is applied. This indicates that the previous results concerning the drift in returns may be due to incorrectly measured abnormal returns.
Entry Deterrence In The Commons

The authors analyze a common property resource model with a single incumbent firm that faces future potential entry of a rival. The cost of harvest from the resource is a function of the stock size. By drawing down current stock sufficiently, which lowers future stock, the incumbent can make entry unprofitable. The authors analyze the conditions under which the incumbent firm would deter entry and when entry would be allowed. Further, they analyze the effect that potential entry has on the harvest rate both before and after the date of potential entry and whether or not potential entry is welfare improving. Copyright 1994 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
The Implicit Carbon Price of Renewable Energy Incentives in Germany

Abstract This research analyzes the German experience in promoting Renewable Energy (RE) as an instrument to reduce GHG emissions. It identifies the cost of reducing CO2 emissions in the power sector through the promotion of wind and solar energy for the years 2006-2010. A RE carbon surcharge and an implicit carbon price due to the RE incentives are calculated. The RE carbon surcharge is the ratio of the net cost of the RE over the CO2 emission reductions resulting from actual RE injections into the electric power system. The implicit carbon price is the sum of the RE carbon surcharge and the EUA price. Results show that for the period analyzed both the RE carbon surcharge and the implicit carbon price of wind are on the order of tens of euro per tonne of CO2, while for solar are on the order of hundreds of euro per tonne of CO2.
Organizational Form and Accounting Choice: Are Nonprofit or For-Profit Managers More Aggressive?

ABSTRACT: Although recent academic studies on nonprofits have documented aggressive accounting behavior, these studies have primarily examined the sector in isolation and have not reached definitive conclusions regarding the relative aggressiveness of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Using actuarial assumptions for defined benefit (DB) pension plans as a proxy for discretionary accounting choices, we examine whether nonprofit managers respond through their actuarial choices to incentives to manage DB pension assumptions, and whether differences exist in the aggressiveness of these assumptions for nonprofits and for-profits. We find evidence consistent with nonprofits managing pension assumptions when incentives and less monitoring exist. Comparing our nonprofits to a sample of for-profits, we find evidence consistent with nonprofits utilizing more aggressive pension assumptions and making stronger responses to incentives to manage these assumptions. Our findings are consistent with the premise that n.
The Information Content of Abnormal Trading Volume

This paper investigates the way in which abnormal trading volume reveals new information to market participants. It is generally thought that trading volume is an efficient proxy for information flow and enhances the information set of investors. However, no research has related the presence of abnormal trading volume to firm characteristics, such as ownership and governance structure, which also have a theoretical link to information quality. I find strong excess returns around extreme trading levels, which are only moderately attributable to information disclosure. Moreover, these returns are not caused by liquidity fluctuations since prices do not reverse over the following period. In contrast, there is evidence of price momentum, suggesting that traders can implement successful portfolio strategies based on observation of current volumes. Copyright (c) 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
INTERACTIVE-AGENT ECONOMIES: AN ELUCIDATIVE FRAMEWORK AND SURVEY OF RESULTS

This paper is helpful for understanding interactive-agent economies. It presents a user-friendly framework for exploring the implications of economic interaction, and demonstrates its wide applicability. Agents repeatedly face binary choices and receive i.i. d. shocks; payoffs depend upon one's own action and shocks, as well as upon the actions of a subset of other agents. Simulations explore how properties change as the number of agents, the number of neighbors, and the degree of interaction change. Key results in this framework include the following: The law of large numbers can readily be postponed or defeated, stationarity and ergodicity are trivial to deduce, any equilibrium distribution may be attained in “globally interactive” economies, continuous- and discrete-time analogues generally behave very similarly, dynamics can be sensitive to details of the interaction structure (implying that popular mean-field approximations are not always appropriate), and substantial persistence is typical.
Impact of economic data surprises on exchange rates in the inter-dealer market

Interest in the market impact of economic data shocks has progressively expanded in the last two decades in synchrony with better availability of consensus expectations and high-frequency price data. While the bulk of the early academic studies focussed on the sensitivities of stock and bond markets to data announcements (e.g. Pearce and Roley 1985, Smirlock 1986, Jain 1988, etc.), a number of papers have recently expanded the empirical research to foreign exchange. Most studies into the correlation between exchange rates and economic shocks have concluded that there is a significant relationship between intraday currency direction and data surprises. For example, Andersen et al. (2003) and Chaboud et al. (2004) found that many US economic indicators produce consistent moves in USD cross exchange rates, characterized by immediate jumps following the announcement and little movement thereafter. Faust et al. (2005) confirmed these results and, using a long sample of 14 years, additionally found little evidence that exchange rate sensitivities to US economic releases change over time. This paper continues to expand the literature on modelling the conditional mean of exchange rates on economic data shocks by introducing two innovations. First, the Citi database of intraday G10 currency rates has allowed us to study the market impact with 1-minute data. This has enabled us to pay greater attention to the speed of market reaction than, for example, Almeida et al. (1997), Andersen et al. (2003), and Faust et al. (2005), who have used data with 5-minute frequency, or Edison (1996) and Kim et al. (2004), who have used daily data. Second, we have used Bloomberg consensus surveys of economic data releases, which are available for a larger number of countries than the International Money Market Services dataset, used in most academic studies to date. In addition to enabling us to focus on a wider range of economic indicators, we believe the Bloomberg consensus expectations are more widely followed in the market nowadays and are therefore a better reflection of ‘true’ market expectations. Section 2 of our paper outlines the main principles of the theoretical context of the study. Section 3 describes the data set and the methodology. Sections 4 to 6 discuss the empirical results and the final section gives the conclusions. Appendix A contains the detailed empirical results for the economic indicators studied.
Case-control study of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia acquisition in cystic fibrosis patients

The aims of this case-control study were to describe the characteristics of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who isolated Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in sputum, to determine risk factors for acquisition, to assess persistence of the organism and clinical outcomes postacquisition. Data were collected from 1991–1999. CF patients and controls (who had never isolated S. maltophilia) were matched for age (±1 yr), sex and forced expiratory volume in one second (±10%). Data were collected from the year prior and for 2 yrs postacquisition of S. maltophilia. The prevalence of S. maltophilia increased from 3.3% to 15%. Factors associated with S. maltophilia acquisition were more than two courses of intravenous antibiotics, isolation of Aspergillus fumigatus in sputum and oral steroid use. The effect of A. fumigatus was independent of steroid use. Clinical status did not change postacquisition. The majority of patients cleared the organism from the sputum. Long-term infection or an accelerated deterioration in lung function or nutrition is not likely post-Stenotrophomonas maltophilia acquisition in cystic fibrosis. This is the first documentation of an association between Aspergillus fumigatus isolation and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia acquisition in cystic fibrosis, independently of steroid therapy.
Analysis of Hospital Production: An Output Index Approach *

In this study, we develop and implement an output index approach to the estimation of hospital cost functions that reflects the differentiated nature of hospital care. The approach combines the estimation of an output index within a flexible functional form. We find, in an application to California hospitals, evidence of scope economies across specialties within primary care, and diseconomies of scope within secondary and tertiary care. Minimum efficient scale is reached at larger levels of output than would be estimated by conventional techniques. These results indicate the importance of accounting for firm output heterogeneity when estimating cost functions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Age Effects, Leverage and Firm Growth

Recent theories of firm dynamics emphasize the role of financial variables as determinants of firm growth. Empirically examining these relationships has been difficult, since there is a lack of financial data on the small, young, and private firms. Using a unique administrative data set, this paper considers the growth of new firms in Canadian manufacturing from a financial perspective. We find that financial factors, such as leverage and initial financial size, impact growth rates for new firms. Further, the inclusion of leverage has little impact on the economic significance of the conditional age and size relationships with firm growth.
"School Readiness": The Struggle for Complexity

This article highlights the challenge of engaging critically with dominant discourses of "readiness" in early childhood education. Drawing on the current context of early childhood education in England, this paper argues that dominant discourses of "readiness" are reliant on an underlying logic of mechanistic causality that acts to reduce complexity and marginalize difference and diversity. Calling for a radical reconceptualization of "readiness," experiences from practice are weaved throughout this critical discussion, highlighting the impact of dominant discourses of "readiness" in situated practice and the challenges that can be faced by engaging critically with this discourse.
Once Upon a Time: The Day-of-the-Week Effect in German and US Stock Market Returns

This paper studies the development of the day-of-the-week effect in German and US stock market returns over the past decades. Using an OLS regression approach, we analyse four major German stock market indices for abnormal returns on each trading day of the week, with the longest observation period ranging from 2007 back to the mid-1960s. Moreover, as prior studies indicate the existence of a relationship between the magnitude of the day-of-the-week anomaly and the time of the month at which it occurs, we also analyse the indices' return behaviour categorised by week of the month. The results are compared to those of prior studies, as well as to our own findings for a sample covering the US stock market. We find that for both markets, the leading equity indices, DAX and SP500, exhibit a strong Monday effect during the older sample periods, which is fading over time, reversing during the 1990s, and vanishing after the year 2000. However, regarding smaller stock market indices, our results for the German and for the US data differ substantially, indicating that there is no general parallel market behaviour with respect to this specific return anomaly. Finally, with respect to the more recent sample periods, none of the daily return anomalies observable between the 1960s and the 1980s seem to have persisted, suggesting an increase in informational efficiency of the respective markets over time.
Learning from wind energy policy in the EU: lessons from Denmark, Sweden and Spain

Energy policy has recently become an important point on the political agenda of the EU, mainly due to the approaching ‘peak oil’ and climate change. This is increasing the focus on renewable energy sources, especially wind power, as an alternative to fossil fuels. In order to deduce the most efficient policies for promoting wind power, this paper compares the different national energy policies adopted by Denmark, Sweden and Spain, and relates them to wind energy outcomes. The successful promotion of Danish wind power in the last two decades of the 20th century is related to a number of factors including individual entrepreneurs, early official certification of wind turbines, systematic government support including favourable economic tariff schemes, and cooperative private ownership of wind turbines, which fostered broad public support. The analysis demonstrates the importance of long-range national energy policies in creating and stabilizing the conditions required for the development of more sustainable energy systems. The lack or delayed development of such a supportive, stable environment explains the different patterns of wind development seen in Sweden and Spain, and points to the problems created by liberalized and short-sighted commercial energy market, even for wind energy pioneers like Denmark. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Diversification of rural incomes and non-farm rural employment: Survey evidence from Russia

The results of a rural survey in two Russian regions demonstrate that agriculture is no longer the main source of income for rural families. Rural families are diversifiers, earning non-agricultural income through both non-agricultural wage employment and non-farm self-employment. The rural population is risk-averse, preferring the relative security of wage employment to individual entrepreneurship. Although all respondents would like to earn more, they are reluctant to consider the option of changing their place of work and are afraid of losing their current job. It may be difficult for new profit-oriented employers to offer equitable solutions to all segments of the rural population without properly designed government support programmes, which furthermore should be targeted to the labour force of the future, i.e., the Russian youth.
The Soviet enterprise director: an important resource before and after the coup

Executive Overview Privatization, eliminating monopolies and the vestiges of central planning, deregulating prices, introducing currency convertibility, establishing a modern financial infrastructure, and recovering from a failed three-day coup attempt are all intimidating tasks for policy-makers in the Soviet Union. However, in the long-run perhaps the most troubling circumstance facing the Soviet Union is preparing managers for a Soviet-style market-driven economy that can eventually compete in word markets. This article discusses some facts about Soviet managers, the historical fabric of Soviet and Russian cultures in which they must operate, as well as some of the attitudes and concerns of Soviet enterprise directors. Overthrowing Marxist-Leninist doctrine and overcoming a bungled attempt to take over the government may be the easiest parts of the new social experiment originally called perestroika. After seven decades of indoctrination to a centrally controlled system, it's not hard to understand shy.
Comparative Study of Core Needle Biopsy and Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Palpable Breast Lumps: Scenario in Developing Nations

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of core needle biopsy as a diagnostic tool for palpable breast lumps in developing countries as compared to fine needle aspiration cytology. Material and Method: All patients attending the surgery outpatient department with palpable breast lumps were subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology and core needle biopsy by the same operator in a single session. Fine needle aspiration cytology was performed by the standard technique. Core needle biopsy was done freehand using a 14G manual core biopsy needle. Reporting categories of the two techniques were taken from the standard National Health Service Breast Screening Programme criteria and were compared with the final histopathology results. Results: A total of 107 patients underwent fine needle aspiration cytology and core needle biopsy simultaneously. Histopathology was available for 85 cases. Statistical analysis of fine needle aspiration cytology and core needle biopsy showed no significant difference between the diagnoses offered by core needle biopsy and histopathology while there was a significant difference between fine needle aspiration cytology and histopathology diagnoses. Conclusion: Core needle biopsy detected more breast carcinomas as compared to fine needle aspiration cytology with a sensitivity 95.83% as opposed to 64.58%. Though both the techniques were equally specific (100%), Core needle biopsy was able to correctly categorize borderline / inadequate lesions into definitely benign and malignant categories. We suggest that core needle biopsy should be preferred over fine needle aspiration cytology for the diagnosis of palpable breast lumps with fine needle aspiration cytology being reserved for definitely benign lesions.
National Responses to European Court Jurisprudence

The power of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to promote European integration through law has been broadly acknowledged, but the court’s domestic impact has received less attention and remains contested. In particular, the ambiguity of many ECJ judgments is said to have two opposed effects: According to one logic, legal ambiguity enables national policy-makers to contain the impact of court rulings, i.e. to ignore potentially broader policy implications. According to another logic, ambiguous case law provides opportunities for interested litigants to pressure national policy-makers into (anticipatory) adjustments. Which of these two logics prevails, it is argued, depends on the distribution of legal uncertainty costs between supporters and challengers of the regulatory status quo. The argument is supported by two in-depth case studies on the domestic responses to series of ECJ rulings concerning the free movement of capital (golden shares) and services (posted workers).