Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Uncertainty of Value ( In alphabetical order )

This paper documents a predictive positive relation between the time-series uncertainty of “value” (book-to-market) and the cross-section of expected stock returns. A portfolio strategy that goes long in the high volatility and short in the low volatility of book-to-market (BM) ratio generates a risk-adjusted return of 13% per annum. This significant positive premium of BM volatility is confirmed in univariate and bivariate portfolio analyses and in stock-level cross-sectional analysis. Value uncertainty (UNC) is highly correlated with common economic uncertainty indices and is a significant predictor of one-year ahead market return. The reported premium of stocks exhibiting high volatility of BM is not explained by traditional risk factors. It remains significant in the presence of size, investment, profitability, and idiosyncratic volatility. BM volatility is positively related to growth potential and subsequent growth realization. Our findings are robust to different asset pricing specifications, sampling periods and economic cycles. JEL: G11, G12.
Chapter 2 : Individualization of Work Arrangements : A Contextualized Perspective on the Rise and Use of Ideals

This chapter discusses i-deals within the broader context of changes in society and organizations. Greater focus in contemporary organizations and society is now put on the individual needs and wishes of employees, whilst at the same time employees are expected to be more self-reliant in their work and careers. The ultimate consequence of this process of individualization of work is the disappearance of the meaning of collectivity in the workplace. At the same time, employees who are not proactive enough to negotiate their own benefits, face the risk of losing the competition and left with the marginalized jobs or no jobs at all.
On-track competition thwarted by delayed trains : A matter of ticketing

When connecting trains may be missed due to delays, and passengers are insufficiently flexible due to operator-tied ticketing, on-track competition may reduce effective frequency. We analyze passengers who share Vickrey’s α− β − γ−preferences for being on time and a price-sensitive demand, but differ in the preferred arrival time. If the probability of missing a connection due to a delay is sufficiently high, both producer and consumer surplus in a duopoly with reduced effective frequency is smaller than in the monopoly case. Apart from reducing unpunctuality, ensuring the transferability of tickets, and switching to competition for the market, may constitute (regulatory) remedies.
environmental carcinogen benzo [ a ] pyrene : effects in human colorectal HCT 116 TP 53 ( + / + ) , TP 53 ( + /-) and TP 53 (-/-) cells

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) can induce cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) via a p53-dependent mechanism. The effect of different p53-activating chemotherapeutic drugs on CYP1A1 expression, and the resultant effect on BaP metabolism, was investigated in a panel of isogenic human colorectal HCT116 cells with differing TP53 status. Cells that were TP53(+/+), TP53(+/‒) or TP53(‒/‒) were treated for up to 48 hr with 60 μM cisplatin, 50 μM etoposide or 5 μM ellipticine, each of which caused high p53 induction at moderate cytotoxicity (60‒80% cell viability). We found that etoposide and ellipticine induced CYP1A1 in TP53(+/+) cells but not in TP53(‒/‒) cells, demonstrating that the mechanism of CYP1A1 induction is p53-dependent; cisplatin had no such effect. Coincubation experiments with the drugs and 2.5 μM BaP showed that: (i) etoposide increased CYP1A1 expression in TP53(+/+) cells, and to a lesser extent in TP53(‒/‒) cells, compared to cells treated with BaP alone; (ii) ellipticine decreased CYP1A1 expression in TP53(+/+) cells in BaP co-incubations; and (iii) cisplatin did not affect BaP-mediated CYP1A1 expression. Further, whereas cisplatin and etoposide had virtually no influence on CYP1A1catalysed BaP metabolism, ellipticine treatment strongly inhibited BaP bioactivation. Our results indicate that the underlying mechanisms whereby etoposide and ellipticine regulate CYP1A1 expression must be different and may not be linked to p53 activation alone. These results could be relevant for smokers, who are exposed to increased levels of BaP, when prescribing chemotherapeutic drugs. Beside gene-environment interactions, more considerations should be given to potential drug-environment interactions during
The Significant Influencing Factors of Xenophobia

This paper serves as a review of the influencing factors of xenophobia and its behavioral products. Two primary categories of influencing factors of xenophobia are discussed: inherent factors and environmental factors. Inherent factors that are considered include genetic factors and personality factors; a variety of perspectives on the impact of these factors are reviewed. Discussion on the impact of environmental factors will focus on the impact of education and inter-group contact on xenophobic attitudes. The factors that influence xenophobia are clearly multifaceted, though conclusions about the extent to which environment and genetics play roles in the development of xenophobia and its by-products (racism, ethnocentrism, etc.) will require more research. THE SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCING FACTORS OF XENOPHOBIA 3 The Significant Influencing Factors of Xenophobia Despite the rapid rate at which the world-wide community is becoming increasingly connected, it appears as if xenophobia is blossoming amid people of all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Xenophobia is a complex psychological construct that makes itself apparent in a variety of ways. These can include fear or apprehension towards foreign cultures, perceived superiority of one’s social group over others, or a readiness to openly discriminate against foreign people groups (Barbarino & Stürmer, 2016). Events in recent history, such as the Nazi Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, have shown that unchecked prejudice and discrimination can leave the door open for inhumane acts of segregation, violence, and genocide. In order to properly address the visible ills of xenophobia—racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, bigotry—it is beneficial to first understand where xenophobic attitudes originate. This paper seeks to present a comprehensive assessment of modern research regarding the significant factors that influence xenophobic attitudes. The two main influences that will be discussed are inherent factors (genetics and personality) and environmental factors.
The fossil bird associations from the early Middle Pleistocene of the Ragusa province (SE Sicily, Italy)

An analysis of fossil bird remains from early Middle Pleistocene deposits of the Ragusa province is presented herein. The fi ndings occur in the limnic deposits of the Comiso area and in some fi ssure fi llings of the suburbs of Ragusa, in particular Contrada Annunziata and Contrada Tabuna. The fossil bird bones were associated in all the deposits with remains of endemic mammals of the early Middle Pleistocene “Elephas falconeri Faunal Complex” of the Sicilian biochronological scheme. This study reveals the presence of at least thirty taxa, three are extinct and endemic to Sicily and Malta: Cygnus equitum Bate, 1916, Grus melitensis Lydekker, 1890 and a possible new taxon of Corvidae. The bird taxa found at Comiso and Ragusa allow a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area to be put forward and provide important information with regard to the palaeobiogeography and early evolution of the avifauna from Sicily. RIASSUNTO [Le associazioni a uccelli fossili dall’inizio del Pleistocene Medio della provincia di Ragusa (Sicilia Sud-Orientale, Italia)] Vengono presentati i risultati dell’analisi dei resti di uccelli fossili provenienti dai depositi limnici dell’area di Comiso e dai riempimenti di fessure carsiche nell’area di Ragusa, in particolare nella zona di Contrada Annunziata e Contrada Tabuna. I resti di uccelli descritti in questo lavoro sono stati trovati associati a quelli di mammiferi endemici tipici del “Complesso Faunistico a Elephas falconeri” dello schema biocronologico delle faune pleistoceniche siciliane, datato alla parte iniziale del Pleistocene Medio. Il contesto geologico dei due depositi indica che i sedimenti limnici dell’area di Comiso hanno un’età inferiore rispetto ai riempimenti dell’area ragusana; quindi, pur rientrando nello stesso Complesso Faunistico, non possono essere considerati strettamente coevi nelle ricostruzioni paleoambientali. L’analisi sistematica ha rivelato la presenza di almeno trenta taxa, tre dei quali estinti ed endemici di Malta e della Sicilia: Cygnus equitum Bate, 1916, Grus melitensis Lydekker, 1890 e un possibile nuovo taxon di Corvidae. I taxa riconosciuti nei depositi di Comiso sono prevalentemente specie di ambiente acquatico, mentre altre specie indicano la presenza di ambienti aperti o aree boscose. L’area di Ragusa era invece caratterizzata da ampi spazi aperti con porzioni di aree umide. Da un punto di vista paleobiogeografi co, i resti di C. equitum e G. melitensis rappresentano un’ulteriore prova della connessione esistente tra Malta e la Sicilia Sud-Orientale durante il Pleistocene Medio. I fossili provenienti dai depositi limnici di Comiso costituiscono, infi ne, la più antica testimonianza della presenza di uccelli in Sicilia e sono quindi di fondamentale importanza per comprendere l’evoluzione dell’avifauna siciliana nel corso del tempo.
The Cyclical Behaviour of RealWages : Evidence from Australia

This paper analyses the behaviour of real wages over the business cycle for Australia, using quarterly observations for the period 1984 : 1–2008 : 2. The unobserved cyclical components of prices, real wages, and three other cyclical variables are extracted from the observed time series using Harvey’s (1985, 1989) structural time series model. A model relating these components is estimated, producing results which show that both prices and real wages are procyclical.
Testing Analytical Frameworks in Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Development

This article discusses the concept and the practice of transdisciplinary research, including how it is conceived and implemented through the cooperation of different actors involved. With transdisciplinarity gaining recognition as an approach to addressing sustainable development challenges, the successful integration of various disciplines and actors in the process of knowledge generation becomes essential. Through the Cooperation and Development Center (CODEV), the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has promoted transdisciplinary research by proposing a space where North–South partnerships integrating academic and non-academic actors enable the expansion of appropriate technologies and innovations adapted to local societal contexts. This study examines five collaborative research projects conducted at the EPFL. By using an analytical framework consisting of design principles for ideal transdisciplinary research, we conducted semi-structured interviews with academic and non-academic members of the research projects to assess the degree of transdisciplinarity. This framework proved to be a useful tool for exploring transdisciplinary dynamics and assessing the effectiveness of joint knowledge generation. We found that the transdisciplinary cooperation involving different actors is not a linear process, as it depends on the social context in which the project is carried out and on the internal and the external organizational structure established for its implementation. We provide recommendations on how transdisciplinarity could be expanded through institutional support and its results could be effectively transferred into science and practice and discuss the implications for further studies in the conclusions.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Personality traits and party identification over time

Why do some people stably identify with a party while others do not? This study tests whether and how the direction, stability and strength of party identification are associated with big five personality traits, using panel data from a representative sample of German citizens. First, the study confirms that personality traits are related to identification with different political parties. Second, it moves beyond previous research by showing that personality traits are related to the strength and variation in party identification over time. The implications of the study for the classical perspectives on party identification, as well as the personality and politics literature, are discussed.
Type-2 fuzzy logic system applications for power systems

In the move towards ubiquitous information & communications technology, an opportunity for further optimisation of the power system as a whole has arisen. Nonetheless, the fast growth of intermittent generation concurrently with markets deregulation is driving a need for timely algorithms that can derive value from these new data sources. Type-2 fuzzy logic systems can offer approximate solutions to these computationally hard tasks by expressing non-linear relationships in a more flexible fashion. This thesis explores how type-2 fuzzy logic systems can provide solutions to two of these challenging power system problems; short-term load forecasting and voltage control in distribution networks. On one hand, time-series forecasting is a key input for economic secure power systems as there are many tasks that require a precise determination of the future short-term load (e.g. unit commitment or security assessment among others), but also when dealing with electricity as commodity. As a consequence, short-term load forecasting becomes essential for energy stakeholders and any inaccuracy can be directly translated into their financial performance. All these is reflected in current power systems literature trends where a significant number of papers cover the subject. Extending the existing literature, this work focuses in how these should be implemented from beginning to end to bring to light their predictive performance. Following this research direction, this thesis introduces a novel framework to automatically design type-2 fuzzy logic systems. On the other hand, the low-carbon economy is pushing the grid status even closer to its operational limits. Distribution networks are becoming active systems with power flows and voltages defined not only by load, but also by generation. As consequence, even if it is not yet absolutely clear how power systems will evolve in the long-term, all plausible future scenarios claim for real-time algorithms that can provide near optimal solutions to this challenging mixed-integer non-linear problem. Aligned with research and industry efforts, this thesis introduces a scalable implementation to tackle this task in divide-and-conquer fashion.
Neural coding with deep learning

Güçlü, U. , Güçlütürk, Y. , Ambrogioni, L. , Maris, E. , van Lier, R. , and van Gerven, M. (2017). Ultrafast HRF and pRF estimation with deep learning. In De Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychonomie. ‡ Seeliger, K. , Fritsche, M. , Güçlü, U. , Schoenmakers, S. , Schoffelen, J.-M. , Bosch, S. , and van Gerven, M. (2016). A forward pass through the visual system: convnets encode MEG source activity", In Representation Learning in Artificial and Biological Neural Networks Neural Information Processing Systems. ‡ Berezutskaya, J., Freudenburg, Z. , Güçlü, U. , van Gerven, M. , and Ramsey, N. (2016). Neural tuning to low-level features of complex sound in posterior superior temporal gyrus and beyond. In Society for Neuroscience. ‡ Güçlütürk, Y. , Güçlü, U. , Jacobs, R. , van Gerven, M. , and van Lier, R. (2016). Neural correlates of liking and perceived complexity of music. In International Association of Empirical Aesthetics. ‡ Güçlü, U. , and van Gerven, M. (2016). Neural encoding of faces with deep neural networks. In Organization for Human Brain Mapping. ‡ Seeliger, K. , Fritsche, M. , Güçlü, U. , Schoenmakers, S. , Bosch, S. , and van Gerven, M. (2016). Convolutional neural networks code for spatiotemporal MEG source activity across the visual system, In ICT.Open. ‡ Güçlü, U. , and van Gerven, M. (2015). Semantic vector space models predict neural responses to complex visual stimuli. In De Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychonomie. ‡ Güçlü, U. , Knechten, M. , and van Gerven, M. (2014). A two-stage approach to estimating voxel-specific encoding models improves prediction of hemodynamic responses to natural images. In International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility. ‡ van Lier, R. , Güçlü, U. , and Koning, A. (2013). Appreciation of afterimages in contemporary art: an eye movement study. In European Conference on Visual Perception . ‡ Güçlü, U. , and van Gerven, M. (2013). Unsupervised learning of invariant features for encoding fMRI responses to natural images. In Organization for Human Brain Mapping. ‡
Perceived Racism , Emotional Responses , Behavioral Responses , and Internalized Racism among Ethiopian Adolescent Girls in Israel : A Facet Theory Approach

The present study examined perceived racism in a sample of 93 girls aged 15-21 from the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel, its correlation with emotional and behavioral coping styles, and its psychological effects (internalized racism), employing Facet Theory tools (multidimensional scaling analyses; FSSA; Mapping definition). The few studies that have been conducted on this subject in Israel found that young Ethiopian people experience racism based on skin color. It was found that the intensity of perceived racism correlates with internalized racism. A multidimensional scaling map provides a general picture of the girls’ emotional responses (anger, empowerment, internalized emotions) and behavioral responses (adapt, fight, and flight) to the experience of perceived racism. In the discussion it is suggested that racism is experienced as a danger situation in which three coping style archetypes are chosen as a line of defense, and that each of these styles is effective in a different way. The present study seeks to contribute to the corpus of knowledge on the effects of racism on the individual suffering from it by means of Facet Theory principles, and the following article presents a mapping definition for the research question regarding the effects of racism on individuals suffering from it. 1. Theoretical Background In the broad body of academic knowledge on issues of racism, one of the key questions pertains to the psychological effects of living in a racist environment. In recent decades a large number of studies have been conducted that shed light on how people from minority groups perceive racist incidents they experience, the emotions and behaviors responds to these incidents, and their psychological implications for the individual. Although all the variables described above (racist incidents, emotions, behavior, internalized racism) are studied extensively, it is difficult to find studies that attempt to combine the different variables into a comprehensive model. Thus for example, of thirty-nine studies reviewed by Carter (2007), twenty-four examine the correlation between racist incidents and various mental health measures, e.g., depression, anxiety, psychological functioning (Dohrenwend, 2000), six examine the correlation between racist incidents and different dimensions of physical health, e.g., blood pressure, infant weight (Collins et al., 2004), two examine the correlation between 1
Modeling shell disease in American lobster ( Homarus americanus ) as individual-based health trajectories

The emergence of epizootic shell disease in American lobsters (Homarus americanus) has presented many new challenges to understanding the interface between disease and the management of the lobster fishery. While a variety of the potentially causative and correlative factors for shell disease have been explored, a clear etiological agent remains elusive. The recency of this disease and the lack of identifiable causal agents have hindered the development of conceptual models that can yield testable predictions. Here, a model originally developed for human–parasite interactions was applied to lobster shell disease as a means to unify the broad experimental and field observations. The model is a graphical means to understand the onset and severity of shell disease and is a function of the length of the molt cycle and the rate of the decrease of health both before and after lesion formation as a function of bacterial abundance and pathogenicity. The model also accounts for shell hardening and passive and active portals of entry for the bacteria. The timing for a conceptual understanding of the epidemiology of shell disease is critical because its prevalence is increasing in key fishing areas. Ideally, such a model will help researchers create hypothesis-driven predictive experiments from which we can further our understanding of an important disease to a critical member of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem. Résumé : L'apparition de l'épizootie de la maladie de la carapace chez le homard (Homarus americanus) a posé de nombreux défis nouveaux en ce qui concerne la compréhension de l'interface entre la maladie et la gestion de la pêche au homard. Si divers facteurs potentiellement causatifs et corrélatifs ont été examinés, un agent étiologique bien défini n'a pas encore été cerné. Le court laps de temps écoulé depuis l'apparition de cette maladie et l'absence d'agents causaux identifiables ont limité l'élaboration de modèles conceptuels pouvant fournir des prédictions vérifiables. Nous avons appliqué un modèle élaboré à l'origine pour des interactions humains–parasites à la maladie de la carapace du homard afin d'intégrer les différentes observations expérimentales et de terrain. Le modèle est un outil graphique pour comprendre l'apparition et la gravité de la maladie de la carapace et est fonction de la longueur du cycle de mue, du taux de détérioration de l'état de santé avant et après la formation de lésions en fonction de l'abondance bactérienne et de la pathogénicité; il explique le durcissement de la carapace et les portails d'entrée passifs et actifs pour les bactéries. Il est d'importance capitale d'établir rapidement une compréhension conceptuelle de l'épidémiologie de la maladie de la carapace étant donné l'augmentation de sa prévalence dans des zones de pêche clés. Idéalement, un tel modèle aidera les chercheurs à concevoir des expériences prédictives reposant sur des hypothèses, qui permettront d'étayer la compréhension de cette importante maladie affectant un membre clé de l'écosystème du golfe du Maine. [Traduit par la Rédaction]