Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Bioassays for Analyzing Biodegradable Dissolved Organic Carbon in Drinking Water

Abstract Three different bioassays for analysis of biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) were evaluated to identify which method is most applicable to analysis of drinking water. The determination of BDOC is primarily based on the differences between initial and final DOC levels during a certain incubation period using indigenous bacterial consortium as an inoculum. The assay procedures basically differ in the preparation method of inoculum. Inoculum was added in the form of suspended bacteria in one assay. In the other two assays, bacterial inoculum attached to either sand or inert media was used in a continuous reactor column. Standard solutions containing sodium acetate, sodium oxalate, or glucose at 1 mg C/L, and tap water were tested. The bioassay using bacteria attached to sand was shown to be superior to the two other methods for BDOC determination in terms of its incubation period, recovery, and reproducibility. Tap water samples, when analyzed by this assay, could not be guaranteed for biological stability due to their high BDOC concentrations (0.17 to 0.23 mg/L) that corresponded to 26–36% of the initial DOC level.
Robustness of Bidder Preferences Among Auction Institutions

"In previous work, we found that bidders strongly prefer the ascending to the first-price sealed-bid auction on a ceteris paribus basis, but perhaps surprisingly, they are not willing to pay up to an entry price for the ascending auction that would equalize the profits. Risk aversion was proposed as an explanation. In this study, we examine two alternative explanations for the observed behavior: loss aversion and aversion to the dynamic bidding process. We find that neither alternative explanation can account for bidders' auction choice behavior, leaving risk aversion as the only unfalsified hypothesis. "("JEL "C91, D44) Copyright (c) 2008 Western Economic Association International.
Estimation and application in log-Fréchet regression model using censored data

This article introduces a new location-scale regression model based on a log-Frechet distribution. Maximum likelihood and Jackknife methods are used to estimate the new model parameters for censored data. Martingale and deviance residuals are obtained to check model assumptions, data validity, and detect outliers. Moreover, global influence is used to detect influential observations. Monte Carlo simulation study is provided to compare the performance of the maximum likelihood and jackknife estimators for different sample sizes and censoring percentages. The empirical distribution of the martingale and deviance residuals of the proposed model is examined. A real lifetime heart transplant data is analyzed under the log-Frechet regression model to illustrate the satisfactory results of the proposed model.
Bioenergy Supply and Environmental Impacts on Cropland: Insights from Multi-market Forecasts in a Great Lakes Subregional Bioeconomic Model

Using subregional models of crop production choices in central Wisconsin and southwest Michigan, we predict biomass production, land use, and environmental impacts with details that are unavailable from national scale models. When biomass prices are raised exogenously, we find that the subregional models overestimate the supply, the land use, and the beneficial environmental aspects of perennial biomass crops. Multi-market price feedbacks tied to realistic policy parameters predict high threshold absolute prices for biomass to enter production, resulting in intensified production of biomass from annual grain crops with damaging environmental impacts. Multi-market feedbacks also predict regional specialization in energy biomass production in areas with lower yields of food crops. Policies promoting biofuels will not necessarily generate environmental benefits in the absence of environmental regulations.
Pseudo training sample method for face recognition using HMMs

In this paper, a pseudo training sample method is proposed for face recognition using 1D HMMs. The proposed approach uses KL transformed vectors of face images to train ergodic HMMs and later for recognition. In the training process, besides the real face images, pseudo face images are generated using the real images and also used for training. Recognition accuracy is improved a lot in this way and analysis is given for the improvement. Our method achieves good recognition accuracy on ORL face database. The pseudo training sample method is very useful for most practical situations that there are not enough images for training.
The Impact of Options Trading on the Market Quality of the Underlying Security: An Empirical Analysis

We find that option listings are associated with a decrease in the variance of the pricing error, a decrease in the adverse selection component of the spread, and an increase in the relative weight placed by the specialist on public information in revising prices for the underlying stocks. We also find that there is a decrease in the spread and increases in quoted depth, trading volume, trading frequency, and transaction size after option listings. Overall, our results suggest that option listings improve the market quality of the underlying stocks. Copyright The American Finance Association 1998.
A Markovian model for contour grouping

Describes an algorithm which restores images of incomplete contours using a Markovian model. In order to complete the boundaries, a criterion is defined and introduced in an energy function, which has to be optimized. A deterministic relaxation algorithm ICM ("iterated conditional mode") is implemented to minimize this energy function. It generates a configuration in which the contours are reconstructed. Several examples of real image restoration have been tested on a SIMD computer (Connection Machine CM 200). This algorithm allows one to fill up large gaps and to get a better contour grouping.
The interest volatility surface

Pricing financial instruments are important for all financial institutions. To obtain a price financial institutions use theoretical pricing models. These models require parameters which describes the uncertainty of the price movements, the parameters used for this is the implied volatilities. The usual way to use these volatilities in the models is through volatility surfaces, these are surfaces where there exist a volatility for every combination of expiry and exercise date for the underlying asset. Today many financial institutions use values from Bloomberg, there are however many advantages in being able to obtain them within the institution without relying on Bloomberg. In this paper we will cover how these volatility surfaces are obtained using mathematical methods. We have focused on Black’s model and piece-wise linear interpolation in the process of obtaining the implied volatilities. We will show that using these standard methods we can come close to the volatilities provided by Bloomberg, but there is evidence of Bloomberg having a non standard undisclosed step in their calculations.
An AHP approach to assessing the relative importance weights of ERP performance measures

Several researchers have proposed various variants of the DeLone and McLean's Information System (IS) success model according to the specific features of problems under study. Among those researchers, Li (1997) and Skok et al. (2001) explored the importance of IS success measures using 7-point and 9-point Likert-type scales, respectively. The results of their research, however, show only the relative importance of IS success measures. Their results remain difficult to be applied to evaluate IS or ERP performance. In view of this, this study aims to present an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach to assess the relative importance weights of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems performance measurement in the post-implementation stage. This approach can be used to select the key performance indicators (KPI) of ERP systems. Our research results indicate that the respondents place the greatest importance on the measures of 'Information Quality' and 'System Quality' that are the fundamental factors for ERP success.
An Analysis of the Behavioural Dynamics of Corporate Governance – a talk‐based ethnography of a UK manufacturing ‘board‐in‐action’

This article draws upon research conducted in a UK manufacturing company where a group of directors and senior managers (managerial elites) interacting with each other were observed and captured on audio and video tape recordings. From detailed analysis of their talk-based interpersonal routines, the nature of their linguistic skills and how factors such as knowledge, know-how and experience were deployed to influence boardroom process was explored. They also simultaneously sought to preserve the protocols of human interaction. The objective here is to reproduce a small set of typical interactive routines between this group of managerial elites to illustrate aspects of this analysis. In particular, we illustrate their use of two basic micro-linguistic resources; the display of feelings and emotions, and; the routine selection of lexemes which activate arenas of expertise and knowledge. The laminated effect of successive interactive exchanges of the sort reproduced in this paper allowed for a range of board tasks to be executed alongside the concurrent assembly of an effective (or not) competent performance in the boardroom. Taken together this paper and our prior one provides a basis for developing a systematic and rigourous approach for the study of the behavioural dynamics of corporate governance.
Political Participation: How and Why Do People Get Involved in Politics?

Originally published in 1965 by Rand McNally College Publishing Company, this volume serves as a compilation of propositions on political participation with supporting discussions, incorporating cross-national research from such countries as Bangladesh, Israel, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Latin America. The authors have also included studies related to the operational definition of political participation, disclosing "modes" of democratic participation: voting, campaign activity, community participation, and particularized contacting.
What Determines Early Exercise of Employee Stock Options in Australia?

Employee stock options (ESOs) are a popular way of remunerating employees. We analyse factors at the firm and option level affecting the employee's decision to exercise ESOs before they mature. Exercises over the period 1998–2004 are analysed and the key factor influencing early exercise is found to be dividends. Exercises frequently occur well before maturity, but in most cases little time value is sacrificed. Our findings have implications for the ‘fair’ valuation of ESOs in companies’ financial statements, as required by the relevant Australian accounting standard, AASB 2.
The role of certificate issuer on consumers’ willingness‐to‐pay for milk traceability in China

In response to increasing concerns about domestic food safety issues, establishing tracking systems in the food industry is mandatorily required under newly launched food safety laws. However, the kinds of monitoring and certification systems that should be set up to ensure practical adoption and the effectiveness of the regulation remain unclear. This study aims to analyze consumers' preferences for milk traceability, with particular interest in investigating how consumers' preferences could be affected by monitoring and certification systems of the regarding system. Survey data from a choice-based conjoint (CBC) experiment are used to achieve this objective. In the experiment, milk is defined by a set of attributes in which we assume that milk traceability can be certified by three entities: the government, an industrial association, and a third party. The CBC data are then analyzed by using the alternative-specific form of a conditional Logit (McFadden's Choice) model. We found that urban Chinese consumers have a strong desire for traceable milk, but their preference for traceable milk is significantly related to the associated certificate issuers. Currently, the highest willingness-to-pay goes to government certificated traceable milk, followed by industrial association certificated and third-party certificated milks. In the future, however, consumers are likely to give more credit to third-party certification with rising income and knowledge.
Income effects on the trade balance in small open economies

The objective is to determine the causes of the countercyclicality of the trade balance in five small open economies, namely Austria, France, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. In order to investigate the role of permanent and temporary changes in income in the determination of the trade balance, Blanchard-Quah variance decomposition procedure is applied. The results of analysis support the conclusion that transitory income shocks are major reasons for the change in the trade balance, and that negative correlation between the trade balance and income is primarily due to transitory shocks. Thus, these results are more consistent with intertemporal models with the dichotomous view in which the aggregate demand shocks are responsible for cyclical variations in the trade balance and income and aggregate supply is responsible for the long-run growth of the economy.
Insights into the Brain: Neuroimaging of Brain Development and Maturation

The study of how the human brain develops has always been a challenge and an interest to the scientific community. In recent years, new evidence has suggested that many neuropsychiatric disorders may originate from aberrations early in development. This discovery necessitates the application of methodologies that make possible the investigation of human brain development in vivo and across the lifespan. In this commentary, we present evidence that the advent of structural neuroimaging has specifically and significantly contributed critical information about the developmental trajectories of postnatal human brain development that would otherwise not have been possible. We believe that this is particularly relevant to present day research as it has become increasingly clear that growth trajectories within the brain might serve as an endophenotype for a number of factors, ranging from IQ to psychiatric illness. We highlight seminal early works that helped to jumpstart the field of developmental neuroimaging and which inspired incredible new advances in neuroimaging methodologies that are being developed and applied in the field today.
Are Real Exchange Rates Nonstationary? Evidence from a Panel-Data Test

It is well documented that real exchange rates between the United States and many industrialized countries in the post-Bretton Woods period are integrated. This result implies that purchasing power parity (PPP) does not hold even as a long run relationship. This paper demonstrates that the failure to reject the unit-root hypothesis may result from the low power of existing univariate test procedures. I test for unit roots in real exchange rates by employing a more powerful panel-based procedure. Using both CPI and WPI real dollar exchange rate data, I strongly reject the null hypothesis of a unit root. My results provide overwhelming support for the long-run PPP under the current float. Copyright 1996 by Ohio State University Press.
OPTIMAL PRICE AND LOT SIZE IN FACE OF A SUPPLIER'S TEMPORARY PRICE REDUCTION OVER AN INTERVAL

Assuming price sensitive demand, a recent paper presents a model for a reseller’s response to a supplier’s temporary price reduction over an interval. However, the paper proposes rather complicated computational procedures for obtaining the optimal solutions to the model. We show that effective use of Excel solver can simplify the solution procedure for the practicing mangers. Thus, our work should help improve the likelihood of actual use of the model in practice. Secondly, we identify an inconsistency in the optimal strategies recommended by that model for the two situations of temporary price reductions it addresses. We show that the inconsistency originates in an unnecessarily restrictive assumption. Using a less restrictive assumption, we present a modified model. Our model not only produces internally consistent results, it also yields a higher profit for the reseller. In short, we present a model that is less restrictive, more profitable, and easier for practicing managers to actually use. Finally, based on the analysis in this paper, we identify two facets of some of the current OR modeling efforts that should be avoided in future.
Complex and Competing Demands in Field Education: A Qualitative Study of Field Directors'

The changing demographic, economic, academic, societal, and political contexts of field education in social work have been topics of much discussion and scholarship since the mid-1990s. Recent additions to this changing context include the elevation of field education to the “signature pedagogy” of social work education and the pervasiveness of commercialization within higher education. This study explores the realities of these contexts through the lens of the Field Director. Findings from fifteen in-depth, qualitative interviews suggest that Field Directors experience a complex set of competing demands at a time when needs, requests, and requirements from students, university administrators, and accreditors are on the rise, while resources in the field are diminishing.
Business definition and performance implications: the case of the Belgian construction sector

Business definition (either explicitly or implicitly defined) matters in the construction sector in Belgium. A business is a three‐dimensional ‘strategic space’ within an industry, defined by the buyer types targeted, product types sold and geographical reach. The research setting is one of family owned small non‐diversified firms in the construction industry. The sample consists of 61 firms. Data on these firms were gathered for the year 2006. Firms with a similar business definition within the construction sector were clustered. Three clusters could be delineated: residential, non‐residential and a civil engineering business. Performance differs between the three businesses. Performance was measured with perceptions on sales, sales growth, gross sales margin and return on invested capital. Perceived performance correlated with financial performance. Competitive forces differ according to the business. Firms in the civil engineering sector working for government agencies performed best.
How Trump won: The Role of Social Media Sentiment in Political Elections

The outcome of the recent US Presidential Election of 2016 shocked and baffled many. Some claimed that social media may play a larger role in influencing the outcome that expected. This study examined Twitter messages containing political discussions with references to both Trump and Clinton to uncover insights about the role of social media sentiment in political elections. We adhere to the social media analytics (SMA) framework of Fan and Gordon (2014) and the sentiment analysis taxonomy of Abbasi, Chen, and Salem (2008) as a structure to extract positive and negative sentiment from the collected tweets during the pre-election period between Nov 3 and Nov 7. The first finding reveals that Trump has an overwhelmingly larger volumes of total, positive, and negative tweets over Clinton implying a higher volume of public discourse around Trump. Secondly, the propagation of negativism towards Clinton is much more than Trump although both candidates have increasingly more negative tweets days leading up to the Election Day of Nov 8. Finally, word clouds for both candidates reveal that the Twitter public are engrossed with more negative topics against Clinton than Trump. This study clarifies the role of social media sentiment, specifically in how Trump is able to use Twitter as a conduit to reach his intended audience over and above traditional media. In addition, the influence of negative tweets seem to have a toll on Clinton creating distrust and weakening her political position especially among the working and middleclass communities that made the difference leading to Trump’s eventual victory.
ARE CROP YIELDS NORMALLY DISTRIBUTED

This paper revisits the issue of crop yield distributions using improved model specifications, estimation and testing procedures that address the methodological concerns raised in recent literature that could have invalidated previous conclusions of yield non-normality. It shows beyond reasonable doubt that some crop yield distributions are non-normal, kurtotic and right or left skewed, depending on the circumstances. A procedure to jointly estimate non-normal farm- and aggregate-level yield distributions with similar means but different variances is illustrated, and the consequences of incorrectly assuming yield normality are explored.
Combining information sharing and seeking in networked coalitions

Coalitions are the rule in crisis management and military operations. Although the partners do not form part of an organizational hierarchy, they need to share information to find their place in the coalition, to prepare plans collaboratively, to synchronize their actions, to evaluate their achievements, and to negotiate changes in their relationships. Interviews of experienced military officers have shown that information sharing in coalitions is more complex than one-way information transmission. It has the characteristics of an information market in which security regulations give information a scarcity value, with both sources and recipients initiating action. The emerging literature on information markets includes few process models. The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical, four-stage process model for information sharing between coalition partners in the context of Network Enabled Capabilities. The model combines information sharing and seeking, integrates intelligence collection, and supports a range of market mechanisms.
Arabidopsis thaliana RGXT1 and RGXT2 Encode Golgi-Localized (1,3)-α-d-Xylosyltransferases Involved in the Synthesis of Pectic Rhamnogalacturonan-II[W][OA]

Two homologous plant-specific Arabidopsis thaliana genes, RGXT1 and RGXT2, belong to a new family of glycosyltransferases (CAZy GT-family-77) and encode cell wall (1,3)-α-d-xylosyltransferases. The deduced amino acid sequences contain single transmembrane domains near the N terminus, indicative of a type II membrane protein structure. Soluble secreted forms of the corresponding proteins expressed in insect cells showed xylosyltransferase activity, transferring d-xylose from UDP-α-d-xylose to l-fucose. The disaccharide product was hydrolyzed by α-xylosidase, whereas no reaction was catalyzed by β-xylosidase. Furthermore, the regio- and stereochemistry of the methyl xylosyl-fucoside was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance to be an α-(1,3) linkage, demonstrating the isolated glycosyltransferases to be (1,3)-α-d-xylosyltransferases. This particular linkage is only known in rhamnogalacturonan-II, a complex polysaccharide essential to vascular plants, and is conserved across higher plant families. Rhamnogalacturonan-II isolated from both RGXT1 and RGXT2 T-DNA insertional mutants functioned as specific acceptor molecules in the xylosyltransferase assay. Expression of RGXT1- and RGXT2-enhanced green fluorescent protein constructs in Arabidopsis revealed that both fusion proteins were targeted to a Brefeldin A–sensitive compartment and also colocalized with the Golgi marker dye BODIPY TR ceramide, consistent with targeting to the Golgi apparatus. Taken together, these results suggest that RGXT1 and RGXT2 encode Golgi-localized (1,3)-α-d-xylosyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of pectic rhamnogalacturonan-II.