Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The links between property and the economy – evidence from the British and German markets

This study supplies empirical evidence on the dynamic interactions between the property markets in Germany and the United Kingdom and their country‐specific macroeconomic environment. Using a VECM framework, the findings contribute to improving the evaluation of the properties’ behaviour by considering a wide range of macroeconomic risk factors. On a long‐term basis, we find remarkable similarities between both examined real estate markets with respect to significance, signs and magnitude of coefficients, despite essential differences in terms of market structure, conditions and performance. This suggests that the fundamental role of property markets in an economy dominates the country‐specific characteristics in the long run. However, the distinctive features of the national property markets, including differences with respect to the financial systems, are primarily relevant during the short‐term adjustment process back to the long‐term equilibrium.
A new recoding method for treating protest responses in contingent valuation studies using travel cost data

In this paper, it is proposed one method to recode protest responses applicable to the simple dichotomous format valuation question made to visitors to natural environment in contingent valuation studies. Those respondents that give a protest response but have a travel cost greater than the bid proposed in the valuation question are recoded as an affirmative answer to the proposed payment. The economic justification lies in the minimum willingness to pay for enjoying the environment that travel cost reveals, while valuation question tries to obtain information about respondent maximum willingness to pay. Recoding allows to recover information and to improve estimates, accuracy. It also avoids computational complexity associated with sample selection models used to avoid biases derived from excluding protest responses.
Editorial. Disseminating good leadership practices across the globe

The professional learning communities and communities of practice approaches in the arena of education appear to hold considerable promise for sustainable school improvement. These approaches flow from the assumption that teacher s collaboration is central to transform a school into a learning organization. They also provide opportunities for teachers’ professional development. The literature shows that schools are frequently called upon to improve by developing high levels of teacher collaboration. In this study we describe how the process of building a professional learning community took place in two urban public elementary schools located in Monterrey, Mexico in which seven teachers participated, from which three were novices and four experts. Through this study, we found that teachers visualized as possible the ability to generate a space where they could reflect and solve problems while they shared experiences from their teaching practices. This space of reflection also allowed them to create projects and develop a sense of community when they had more time available since the schools were usually involved in many projects. IJELM – International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management Vol. 3 No. 2 July 2015 pp. 113-142 2015 Hipatia Press ISSN: 2014-9018 DOI: 10.17583/ijelm.2015. 1338
Heart-shaped band-notched UWB antenna with U-shaped slots

This paper proposes a novel heart-shaped band-notched UWB antenna with compact and simple structure. The antenna comprise of a microstrip feeding line, a heart-shaped patch to achieve UWB characteristic, and a defected ground with bevels to obtain good impedance match and stable gain in the operating band. The band-notched characteristic is achieved by a U-shaped slot on the patch. The measured results indicate that the proposed antenna yields an impedance bandwidth of 3.4 ~ 14 GHz with VSWR <; 2, except the notched band of 5 ~ 6 GHz (WLAN band). It has a promising radiation characteristic and is suitable for UWB applications.
The Decline in Unskilled Employment in UK Manufacturing

Almost all studies of skilled/unskilled employment over the 1980s use data on manuals and non-manuals to measure skill. This paper constructs data on skilled/unskilled employment using occupational data from the UK New Earnings Survey Panel Data set. It merges these data with other product and labour market information on trade, computers, unionization, subcontracting etc. The major findings are: (a) the ratio of skilled to unskilled employment rose by 4.4%; (b) the averaging effect of the shift of employment between industries is negligible in explaining this rise; (c) the introduction of microprocessors/computers increased the employment ratio by 1.5%; and (d) there is no significant effect from trade, unionization, subcontracting, small firms or entry.
Teachers’ Perceptions of Pupils’ Maladjustment Problems: A Psycho-social Perspective

Abstract The study explored teachers’ perceptions of maladjustment problems manifested by pupils in South African primary schools using the psycho-social lens to view and interpret the phenomena. Thirty-two primary school educators participated in the study. The sample of educators was randomly selected from eight primary schools in the Central Johannesburg district. The survey design adopted combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The study found that teachers who were not adequately trained to deal with maladjusted pupils did not endeavour to implement any interventions to alleviate them. It also revealed that not all maladjusted pupils cause disciplinary problems for teachers as some of the pupils who are unsocial, withdrawn, unhappy, depressed, fearful and nervous do attract very little attention to themselves. In examining the causes of pupil maladj ustments the study found that these can be traced to some unfulfilled or thwarted psychosocial needs. Therefore the implementation of intervention strategies is likely to be more successful with adequate training and support for school personnel especially teachers.
Evaluating NAFTA – an impulse function approach

Models developed under ex ante approach are mostly based on some utility function. The assumptions underlying these models are hard to meet. These models also have stringent data requirements. The models developed under ex post approach, on the other hand, are simple to use, avoid the need of using a utility function and require less information. However, these models only offer two points in time: one before a trade reform and the other after the reform. As such, they do not provide a region of acceptance or rejection, which enables us to test the models empirically. Our study overcomes those problems, develops an intervention model, estimates the impulse response function and estimates the short-term and the long-run impacts of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) on the variable representing Canada's welfare. Our results show that both the short-term and the long-term impacts are negative. Therefore, we conclude that Canada's welfare has, in fact, deteriorated, or at least not improved due to NAFTA.
Is the metabolic syndrome, with or without diabetes, associated with progressive disability in older Mexican Americans?

BACKGROUND The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is highly prevalent in the growing U.S. Latino population. We hypothesize that MetS, with or without diabetes, is associated with progressive disability in older Mexican Americans. METHODS Data from Mexican Americans 60-98 years old participating in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA) were analyzed from baseline through 3 years (3 years of follow-up). Disability was assessed by self-reported limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental ADLs (IADLs), and mobility/strength tasks. MetS (46% of sample) was defined by National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Diabetes (DM, 33%) was defined by fasting blood sugar>125 mg/dL, physician diagnosis, and/or medication use. Four metabolic groups were defined: MetS with diabetes (MetS+DM+, n=402); MetS without diabetes (MetS+DM-, n=330); diabetes without MetS (MetS-DM+, n=125); and neither (MetS-DM-, n=749). Generalized estimating equation (GEE) regression models were used to evaluate the effect of metabolic group on physical limitations and disability changes over time. RESULTS Diabetes, with or without MetS, was associated with a higher percent rate of increase over 3 years in ADL and IADL disability than was no diabetes, even after controlling for demographics, body mass index (BMI), and incident disease. The mean ADL score had a 35% higher rate of increase (higher = more impairment) for the MetS+DM+ group and 68% higher for the MetS-DM+ group. Results for IADL were similar. The baseline MetS, without or with diabetes, was associated with a significantly higher rate of increase in mobility/strength limitations (8% and 36.5%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS In older Mexican Americans, MetS is associated with progressive limitations in mobility and strength. Preventing progressive mobility/strength limitations may require assessing and treating these impairments in people with MetS regardless of the presence of diabetes. However, preventing the progression of MetS without to MetS with diabetes may be important to limit the progression of ADL and IADL disability found in people with MetS and diabetes.
Microglia Are Irrelevant for Neuronal Degeneration and Axon Regeneration after Acute Injury

The role of microglia in degenerative and regenerative processes after damage of the nervous system remains ambiguous, partially due to the paucity of appropriate investigative methods. Here, we show that treatment with the pharmacological colony stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor PLX5622 specifically eliminated microglia in murine retinae and optic nerves with high efficiency. Interestingly, time course and extent of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration after optic nerve crush remained unaffected upon microglia depletion, although remnants of prelabeled apoptotic RGCs were not cleared from the retina in these animals. In addition, microglia depletion neither affected the induction of regeneration associated genes upon optic nerve injury nor the increased regenerative potential of RGCs upon lens injury (LI). However, although the repopulation of the optic nerve lesion site by astrocytes was significantly delayed upon microglia depletion, spontaneous and LI-induced axon regeneration were unaffected by PLX5622 treatment or peripheral macrophage depletion by clodronate liposome treatment. Only concurrent double depletion of microglia and infiltrated macrophages slightly, but significantly, compromised optic nerve regeneration. Therefore, microglia are not essentially involved in RGC degeneration or axonal regeneration after acute CNS injury. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The roles of microglia, the phagocytosing cells of the CNS, and invading macrophages in degenerative and regenerative processes after injury are still controversial and insufficiently characterized. Here, we show that application of a CSF1R inhibitor eliminated virtually all microglia from the visual system, whereas macrophages were spared. Specific microglia depletion impaired the removal of dead labeled retinal ganglion cells after optic nerve crush, but remarkable had no influence on their degeneration. Similarly, optic nerve regeneration was completely unaffected, although repopulation of the lesion site by astrocytes was delayed significantly. Therefore, contrary to previous reports, this experimental approach revealed that microglia seemingly neither promote nor inhibit neuronal degeneration or axonal regrowth within the injured visual system.
Islamic banking services adoption as a new banking restructure: Examining its adoption from the perspective of DOI theory and trust in Malaysia

Purpose - – This study aims to identify the main influential factors of Islamic banking services adoption in Malaysia. Islamic banking as a new banking method represents its multiple services around the world. Different groups of bank customers use these services in their daily financing and banking activities. However, the usage and adoption rate of these services in Malaysia seems to be under expected level. Design/methodology/approach - – Therefore, this study attempts to discover the main influential factors of Islamic banking services adoption in Malaysia as a country with the dual banking system. Findings - – The study concluded that perceived attributes of innovation, namely, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and finally observability of Islamic banking services with customers’ desire will influence them to use these novel banking services. Originality/value - – As discussed in the previous part of this study, the usage rate of Islamic banking services has not achieved the expected rate by customers. Consequently, it is crucial to focus on finding the determinant factors that are able to increase the acceptance as well as usage of these services among bank consumers. This information would afford researchers as well as banking service providers a better understanding of how to facilitate future adoption of this Islamic facility.
Understanding tinnitus distress: Introducing the concepts of moderators and mediators

We focus this theoretical paper on a neglected distinction in tinnitus research between moderators and mediators of tinnitus distress. A moderator variable is one that influences the strength of a relationship between two other variables. In the paper we propose that several variables might act as moderators of tinnitus distress. Degree of hearing loss, arousal, insomnia, characteristics of tinnitus, noise sensitivity, and a range of psychological factors such as personality and perceived control are discussed as potential moderators. We then move on to mediator variables. A mediator variable is one that explains the relationship between the two other variables, and must by definition be caused by a predictor, and then mediate between the predictor and the dependent variable. We propose that stress levels (caused by tinnitus), classical conditioning, selective attention towards tinnitus, and psychological acceptance of tinnitus (versus experiential avoidance) might be mediators of distress. We encourage more research on moderators and mediators of tinnitus distress, as these will help illuminate treatment protocols and how they might work.
Wormholes in spacetime.

Any reasonable theory of quantum gravity will allow closed universes to branch off from our nearly flat region of spacetime. I describe the possible quantum states of these closed universes. They correspond to wormholes which connect two asymptotically Euclidean regions, or two parts of the same asymptotically Euclidean region. I calculate the influence of these wormholes on ordinary quantum fields at low energies in the asymptotic region. This can be represented by adding effective interactions in flat spacetime which create or annihilate closed universes containing certain numbers of particles. The effective interactions are small except for closed universes containing scalar particles in the spatially homogeneous mode. If these scalar interactions are not reduced by sypersymmetry, it may be that any scalar particles we observe would have to be bound states of particles of higher spin, such as the pion. An observer in the asymptotically flat region would not be able to measure the quantum state of closed universes that branched off. He would therefore have to sum over all possibilities for the closed universes. This would mean that the final state would appear to be a mixed quantum state, rather than a pure quantum state.
Supplementary Material for Superpixel Convolutional Networks using Bilateral Inceptions

The bilateral inception module presented in the main paper computes a matrixvector product between a Gaussian filter K and a vector of activations zc. Bilateral filtering is an important operation and many algorithmic techniques have been proposed to speed-up this operation [1,2,3]. In the main paper we opted to implement what can be considered the brute-force variant of explicitly constructing K and then using BLAS to compute the matrix-vector product. This resulted in a few millisecond operation. The explicit way to compute is possible due to the reduction to super-pixels, e.g., it would not work for DenseCRF variants that operate on the full image resolution. Here, we present experiments where we use the fast approximate bilateral filtering algorithm of [2]. This choice allows for larger dimensions of matrix-vector multiplication. The reason for presenting the explicit multiplication in the main paper was that it was computationally faster. For the small sizes of the involved matrices and vectors, the explicit computation is sufficient and we had no GPU implementation of an approximate technique that matched this runtime. Also it is conceptually easier and the gradient to the feature transformations (Λf) is obtained using standard matrix calculus.
Do Happy Employees Really Mean Happy Customers? Or Is There More to the Equation?

The long-established perception that happy employees are necessary for happy customers certainly holds true in the hospitality industry. However, simply making employees happy is not sufficient to ensure the best possible customer experience. Instead, managers must go beyond employee attitudes and work toward making all associates feel that they are members of a team, well trained, and given appropriate tools and policies to provide the best possible customer service. Managers must form and lead this team of well-trained employees, making clear that every person’s effort is essential to the operation’s success.
A Task Force to Address Bullying

Bullying in the workplace can create a dysfunctional environment that is associated with serious physical and psychological harm to the person being bullied. Nurses’ experience with bullying has gained considerable attention in recent years, and warrants further discussion. Nurse leaders need to develop and implement effective bullying prevention initiatives that will foster the functioning of a professional and productive staff in a healthy work environment. The aim of this article is to review workplace bullying as experienced by nurses, and describe how nurses at a Magnet-designated academic medical center developed and implemented a bullying task force to address the problem.
Modified admittance control for maneuverable human-powered augmentation lower exoskeleton systems

On-line motion control in coupled human-exoskeleton system is still rich research field and represents a step towards fully autonomous, safe and intelligent navigation. Admittance Controller (AC) can successfully handle the changing dynamic during flat terrain walking in coupled human-exoskeleton systems. Trajectory correction technique transforms the interaction force exerted on the exoskeleton to appropriate intended joint flexion angles through dynamic visco-elastic model. Further, Modified AC (MAC) is developed to handle stairs transition case by applying LOcally WEighted Scatterplot Smoothing (LOWESS). We proposed Admittance Controller (AC) for on-line motion control. We demonstrate our proposed control strategy on one degree-of-freedom (1-DOF) platform first, to prove it is efficiency then can be extend to the Human power Augmentation Lower Exoskeleton (HUALEX). The experimental results show that the proposed motion control strategy can minimize the interaction dynamics with less interaction force between the pilot and the exoskeleton.
Kurtosis of the logistic-exponential survival distribution

ABSTRACT In this article, the kurtosis of the logistic-exponential distribution is analyzed. All the moments of this survival distribution are finite, but do not possess closed-form expressions. The standardized fourth central moment, known as Pearson’s coefficient of kurtosis and often used to describe the kurtosis of a distribution, can thus also not be expressed in closed form for the logistic-exponential distribution. Alternative kurtosis measures are therefore considered, specifically quantile-based measures and the L-kurtosis ratio. It is shown that these kurtosis measures of the logistic-exponential distribution are invariant to the values of the distribution’s single shape parameter and hence skewness invariant.
Interpreting Reaction Time Measures in Between-Group Comparisons

Although reaction time measures have been used extensively in many types of between-group comparisons, the assumptions and limitations of reaction time measurement are not always recognized. In this article we discuss three issues that should be considered when designing and interpreting comparisons involving reaction time. These concern speed-accuracy tradeoffs, methods of analyzing measures postulated to reflect specific processes, and methods for distinguishing group-related influences that are shared with other variables from those that are unique to a single variable.
Minimum Wage Effects on Permanent Versus Temporary Minimum Wage Employment

type="main" xml:lang="en"> We estimate the effect of minimum wages on employment using the Master Files of the Canadian Labour Force Survey over the recent period 1997–2008. Particular attention is paid to the differences between permanent and temporary minimum wage workers—an important distinction not made in the existing literature. Our estimates for permanent and temporary minimum wage workers combined are at the lower end of estimates based on Canadian studies estimated over earlier time periods, suggesting that the adverse employment effects are declining over time for reasons discussed. Importantly, the adverse employment effects are substantially larger for permanent compared to temporary minimum wage workers; in fact they fall almost exclusively on permanent minimum wage workers. (JEL J30)
Travelers' behavioral intention toward hotel self-service kiosks usage

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to propose a refined technology acceptance model (TAM) to examine the relationship between factors that affect travelers' use of hotel self-service kiosks. Design/methodology/approach – The target population of the study is domestic travelers whose e-mail addresses are in a publicly available database. The measures in this study were developed based on a thorough review of the previous literature. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed through online, and a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted by LISREL 8.0 to test the proposed extended technology acceptance model (TAM). Findings – Results suggested that all external variables (i.e. perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility, and perceived risks) have significant direct effects on travelers' attitude toward using hotel self-service kiosks. However, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use did not have significant effects on travelers' satisfaction. S.
The use of content addressable memories in the level 2 trigger for the CLAS detector at CEBAF

The LEVEL 2 trigger in the CLAS detector will find tracks and associate a momentum and angle with each track within 2 ps after the event. This is done through a hierarchical track finding design in which track segments ae found in each dnft chamber axial superlayer. An m y of 384 custom content addressable (or associative) memories (CAMS) uses independent subfield matchng to link these track segments into roads. The track parameters corresponding to each found road are then looked up in a separate memory. We present the overall architecture of the LEVEL 2 trigger, the details of how the CAM chip links tracks segments to find roads, and report on the performance of our prototype CAM chips.