Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Work and Retirement Patterns for the G.I. Generation, Silent Generation, and Early Boomers: Thirty Years of Change

This study examines how the shifting choices and constraints facing older workers have changed work and retirement patterns over the past 30 years. Health improvements, declines in physical job demands, changes in Social Security rules, and the erosion in traditional defined benefit pension coverage and employer-sponsored retiree health insurance have altered work incentives at older ages. This paper compares labor force exits by older workers born 1913 to 1917 (part of the G.I. Generation), 1933 to 1937 (part of the Silent Generation), and 1943 to 1947 (part of the Baby Boom Generation). The analysis uses 16-year longitudinal panels from the Health and Retirement Study and decades-long administrative earnings records linked to respondents in the Survey of Income and Program Participation. The results show that early boomers worked longer than members of the Silent Generation, and that the pathways older workers follow out of the labor force have become more complex over time. The median retirement age for men was about one-half year higher in the 1943–47 cohort than in the 1933–37 cohort (62 vs. 61.5), but differences were more pronounced at older ages. By age 65, for example, 40 percent of early boomer men had not yet retired, compared with only 20 percent of Silent Generation men. Both male and female workers in the 1933–37 cohort were much less likely than their counterparts in the 1913–17 cohort to follow the traditional retirement path of exiting the labor force from full-time employment and never returning to work. Length: 60 pages
Beyond the thin-wall approximation : Precise numerical computation of prefactors in false vacuum decay

We present a general numerical method for computing precisely the false vacuum decay rate, including the prefactor due to quantum fluctuations about the classical bounce solution, in a self-interacting scalar field theory modeling the process of nucleation in four-dimensional space-time. This technique does not rely on the thin-wall approximation. The method is based on the Gelfand-Yaglom approach to determinants of differential operators, suitably extended to higher dimensions using angular momentum cutoff regularization. A related approach has been discussed recently by Baacke and Lavrelashvili, but we implement the regularization and renormalization in a different manner, and compare directly with analytic computations made in the thin-wall approximation. We also derive a simple new formula for the zero mode contribution to the fluctuation prefactor, expressed entirely in terms of the asymptotic behavior of the classical bounce solution.
Buffett in Foresight and Hindsight

Investors know the extraordinary performance of Warren Buffett with hindsight, but what did they know with foresight? Will Rogers said, “Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it. ” Investors know today with perfect hindsight that the performance of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has been extraordinary. But did they know it with foresight? We report that investors, as a group, did not see Buffett's performance with foresight, and we use our evidence to highlight the pitfalls of hindsight in investment analysis. A share of Berkshire Hathaway stock could have been bought for $18 on May 10, 1965, the day Warren Buffett took control of the company. That share could have been sold for $71,000 on December 31, 2000. The annualized return of Berkshire Hathaway's stock during the period was 26.18 percent, more than double the 11.69 percent of the S&P 500 Index. The $18 price of Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1965 was its “value-in-foresight”; that is, that price represents the sum of investors' wisdom in 1965 about the future performance of Berkshire Hathaway stock. Looking back in hindsight, from the vantage point of 2000, we know that the value of Berkshire Hathaway stock in 1965 was $1,383; that is, investors would have had to invest $1,383 in the S&P 500 in 1965 to earn the $71,000 accumulated by investors who bought shares of Berkshire Hathaway for $18 in 1965. So, Berkshire Hathaway's “value-in-hindsight” is almost 77 times higher than its value-in-foresight. If investors had foreseen in 1965 the wonderful future performance of Berkshire Hathaway, the company's stock price would have jumped from $18 to $1,383 right then. The fact that the price of Berkshire Hathaway shares increased only gradually over the years tells us that today's investors are fooled by hindsight to believe that they have seen Buffett's performance in foresight. Buffett himself understands well the distinction between foresight and hindsight. When the DJIA declined in the spring of 1966 after its climb beyond 1,000 earlier that year, some of Buffett's partners called to warn him that the market might decline further. Such calls, Buffett said, raise two questions: “If they knew in February that the Dow was going to 865 in May, why didn't they let me in on it then; and (2) if they didn't know what was going to happen during the ensuing three months back in February, how do they know in May? ” The bias of hindsight that leads us to believe that we have seen Berkshire Hathaway's extraordinary performance with foresight also fools us into believing that we can identify the next Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. We might identify, instead, the next WebVan, the next Enron, or any of the many stocks that peaked at tens or even hundreds of dollars before they were gone. Today more than ever, through 401(k) and other saving programs, investors hold their financial futures in their own hands. They cannot entirely avoid the risks in investing, but they cannot afford to let the confidence of hindsight ruin their financial well-being.
Deciphering Russia's Federal Finance: Fiscal Appeasement in 1995 and 1996

FOR OBSERVERS OF RUSSIA'S TRANSITIONAL POLITICS, the often strained relations between the country's centre and regions have been a particular focus of interest.1 Not surprisingly, some of the most controversial questions have concerned flows of money. What determines how fiscal transfers and tax assignments are allocated among Russia's 89 oblasti, kraya, republics, autonomous oblasti and okruga? Do fiscal outcomes reflect the objectives of central policy makers-alleviating need, encouraging reform, buying votes-or the relative lobbying capacity of different regions, all of which are concerned to maximise their share in central largesse? These questions present not just an academic puzzle but a political conundrum which has acquired considerable resonance.2 In previous work, analysing data for 1992 and 1994, I found that the pattern of allocation of net fiscal transfers between centre and regions exhibited a marked political logic. Regions that demonstrated both the capacity and the resolve to threaten economic or constitutional order-by declaring sovereignty, staging strikes, voting against El'tsin and pro-reform parties, or through public opposition to El'tsin by the regional governor in the crisis of September 1993-were subsequently rewarded with larger fiscal transfers and tax benefits. These political factors remained significant even after controlling for the various other possible determinants of fiscal transfers, including measures of relative regional need. And political factors were still important in 1994, even after the government introduced reforms designed to rationalise the regional transfer system. Central responses to regional threats constituted a pattern of fiscal appeasement of the most assertive and credible troublemakers.3 In a recent article in this journal, Alastair McAuley takes issue with this view.4 He analyses data on fiscal transfers in 1995 with the goal of discerning 'how far the pattern and level of federal support for individual regions in 1995 can be explained by indicators of social need'. He asserts that 'if a high degree of correlation between the pattern of transfers and indicators of social need can be established then it may be assumed that decision makers are motivated by a concern for equity', and adds that 'it is not necessary to test explicitly for a relationship between the pattern of transfers and proxies for political power or bargaining skill before rejecting that hypothesis'. Having found a correlation between the pattern of transfers and certain indicators of social need, he concludes that 'federal redistributive policy . appears to be influenced if not determined by social concern. There is, therefore, little scope for the
Genome-wide association analysis of Sasang constitution in the Korean population.

OBJECTIVES Sasang constitutional medicine is a traditional Korean medicine in which an individual is classified into one of four types of constitution: Taeum (TE), Soeum (SE) Soyang (SY), and Taeyang (TY). These constitution types are determined with biologic and physiologic characteristics, so it has been assumed that genetic factors are associated with each constitution type. Identifying the genetic elements underlying each constitution is necessary for the elucidation of the molecular mechanism of Sasang constitutional medicine. DESIGN A total of 341,998 genetic loci across the whole genome were genotyped for 1222 subjects of defined constitution type. The genetic loci associated with each constitution type were identified and the functional connectivity of genes within these loci was analyzed using statistical text mining. RESULTS From the difference in allele frequencies between constitution types, significant genetic loci associated with each type were identified. Chromosomes 3q27.3 (rs10937331, p=2.71×10(-6)), 15q22.2 (rs7180547, p=1.58×10(-6)), and 14q22.3 (rs12431592, p=1.31×10(-6)) were most significantly associated with TE, SE, and SY constitution types, respectively. From the functional relationship analysis using all loci with a p-value≤10(-4), genes associated with each constitution type were identified. Fifteen (15) genes, including GPM6A, SYT4, and GRIK1, were significantly associated with the TE constitution type (p<0.05); 12 genes, including DRGX and AKAP11, were significantly associated with the SE constitution type (p<0.05); and 17 genes, including ZFP42, CDH22, ALDH1A2, OTX2, and EN2, were significantly associated with the SY constitution type (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Genetic loci and genes associated with Sasang constitution types were systematically identified from a genome-wide association study using a large number of subjects.
INTERACTION GOALS IN POLITICAL ACCOUNTS IN ISIXHOSA

This study deals with research that has been conducted within three government departments (Education, Health and Social Development) that form part of the social needs cluster in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Five portfolio committee members were interviewed in each department (six in the department of Health). Reproaches (failures and challenges of service delivery and policy implementation) were developed using information obtained from the “policy and budget speeches” of the afore-mentioned departments. In response to these reproaches, committee members had to give accounts (responses, explanations and/or reason-giving). Four types of accounts (concession, excuse, denial and justification) which are typical political accounts have proved to be quite popular and focus has been given to them in the analysis. The focus on the analysis of the accounts was given to effectiveness, argumentation (reasons or arguments that are tendered in support of the accounts to establish the amount of persuasiveness) and politeness. The conclusions of the findings in the interviews were focused on three elements: The interviewee: The analyses of the interviewees were discussed with regard to the accounts together with the number of arguments given. Each reproach was analyzed within an overview of the type of account with regard to three criteria: effectiveness, argumentation and politeness. The analyses of the interviewees were discussed individually with the help of tables of each interviewee. The focus was on the accounts of justification and excuses. The interview was judged on two parameters: i. The number of accounts each interviewee has used with regard to the three criteria above. ii. A comparison was made to establish the relative merit of the interviewees among themselves. The reproach: various reproaches in the three departments were discussed separately with regard to the number of accounts and arguments in each
Length-dependent regulation of the Kv1.2 channel activation by its C-terminus

The cytoplasmic C-terminus plays regulatory roles in the gating of many ion channels. However, lack of structural information on the C-terminus prevents the elucidation of how the C-terminal domain interacts with the gating machinery to exert its effects on the channel gating. In this report, we investigated the regulatory role of the C-terminus with functional study and structural modeling of a succession of C-terminal truncations of the Kv1.2 and Kv1.2427-KcsA112-160 chimeric channels. Functional study demonstrated a length-dependent shift of the activation curves for the C-terminal truncations of the Kv1.2 channel. Structural modeling indicated that the C-terminus of one subunit could dynamically interact with the S4–S5 linker of a neighboring subunit and the probability of interaction was dependent on the length of the C-terminal truncated Kv1.2 channels. In contrast, no length-dependent shift of the activation curve and probability of interaction between C-terminus and the neighboring S4–S5 linker were observed for the truncations of the Kv1.2-KcsA chimeric channel, suggesting that the native C-terminus of the Kv1.2 channel is essential for the interaction. Furthermore, surface plasmon resonance measurements indicated that there is direct interaction between the C-terminal domain and the S4–S5 linker of the Kv1.2 channel. These results imply that the dynamic interaction of the C-terminus with the S4–S5 linker from a neighboring subunit of the Kv1.2 channel provides a mechanism for its C-terminus to regulate the channel activation.
State space control for buck converter using decoupled block diagram approach

In this paper, a different manner to analyze a buck converter and how to design its feedback control is proposed. The block diagram of the buck converter plant will be described using space-state averaging and controlled by block decoupled approach, a space-state control technique. With this technique, first order transfer functions are obtained allowing easier synthesis of the involved controllers and the results will be compared to controllers based on k-factor approach for their relevant and acceptable applications in integrated circuit manufacturing and industrial environment.
Sub 0.5 V Operation of Performance Driven Mobile Systems Based on Area Scaled Tunnel FET Devices

Advanced mobile applications demand low power and high performance systems. In this paper, a technology computer aided design (TCAD)-based feasibility investigation of a recently proposed area tunneling field effect transistor (FET) structure is carried out from the point of high volume and ultralow power mobile applications. We demonstrate that for realization of future ultralow power and high performance systems, unique properties of area tunneling class of tunnel FET structures need to be employed. These devices are realized by engineering the tunneling region profile and tunneling cross-sectional area. The optimized devices are found to leverage up to ~ 7× energy reduction when compared with the 20-nm node MOS device options while meeting the high performance targets. Device design insights for such an area tunneling class of tunnel FET structures are discussed in this paper for the first time. It is shown that by lowering the supply voltage below 0.5 V, up to 10× reduction of the energy delay product is feasible by using area tunneling devices.
Form and Function of Clostridium thermocellum Biofilms

ABSTRACT The importance of bacterial adherence has been acknowledged in microbial lignocellulose conversion studies; however, few reports have described the function and structure of biofilms supported by cellulosic substrates. We investigated the organization, dynamic formation, and carbon flow associated with biofilms of the obligately anaerobic cellulolytic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum 27405. Using noninvasive, in situ fluorescence imaging, we showed biofilms capable of near complete substrate conversion with a characteristic monolayered cell structure without an extracellular polymeric matrix typically seen in biofilms. Cell division at the interface and terminal endospores appeared throughout all stages of biofilm growth. Using continuous-flow reactors with a rate of dilution (2 h−1) 12-fold higher than the bacterium's maximum growth rate, we compared biofilm activity under low (44 g/liter) and high (202 g/liter) initial cellulose loading. The average hydrolysis rate was over 3-fold higher in the latter case, while the proportions of oligomeric cellulose hydrolysis products lost from the biofilm were 13.7% and 29.1% of the total substrate carbon hydrolyzed, respectively. Fermentative catabolism was comparable between the two cellulose loadings, with ca. 4% of metabolized sugar carbon being utilized for cell production, while 75.4% and 66.7% of the two cellulose loadings, respectively, were converted to primary carbon metabolites (ethanol, acetic acid, lactic acid, carbon dioxide). However, there was a notable difference in the ethanol-to-acetic acid ratio (g/g), measured to be 0.91 for the low cellulose loading and 0.41 for the high cellulose loading. The results suggest that substrate availability for cell attachment rather than biofilm colonization rates govern the efficiency of cellulose conversion.
Auditor Realignments Accompanying Implementation of SOX 404 ICFR Reporting Requirements

ABSTRACT: We examine the impact of adverse auditors’ opinions on clients’ internal control over financial reporting (ICFR), issued under SOX Section 404, on auditor dismissals. Companies receiving adverse ICFR opinions are more likely to subsequently dismiss their auditors. This association between adverse reports and dismissals persists over a four-year period beginning with the initial year of SOX 404 reporting. Our evidence also suggests that these dismissals tend to be part of clients’ efforts to improve their overall financial reporting. Clients receiving adverse reports are more likely to switch to higher-quality auditors, as proxied by Big 4 membership and two measures of industry specialization, than are clients receiving favorable reports. Further, adverse opinion clients that dismiss auditors and then hire new auditors that specialize in the client’s industry are more likely to receive an improved ICFR report in the next year.
The prevalence of inflammation in carotid atherosclerosis: analysis with fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography.

AIMS There is increasing evidence that (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) imaging can be useful for non-invasive measurement of atherosclerotic plaque inflammation in humans. However, it is unknown how often atherosclerosis has inflammation in humans. Thus, we examined the prevalence of inflammation in documented carotid atherosclerosis using FDG-PET imaging. METHODS AND RESULTS FDG-PET imaging was performed in 100 consecutive patients who underwent carotid artery ultrasonography (CA-US) for screening of carotid atherosclerosis. Carotid atherosclerosis was considered when patients had the plaque score >or=5 and/or the focal thickening of the maximum intima-media complex >or=2 mm (localized plaque) by CA-US. The inflammation of carotid atherosclerosis was quantified by measuring the standardized uptake value (SUV) of FDG of the carotid artery. Inflammation was defined as present if the SUV score was >or=1.60 (>or=1 x standard deviation above the average). FDG-PET imaging revealed inflammation in 12 of 41 (29%) patients having carotid atherosclerosis, whereas in 6 of 59 (10%) patients not having carotid atherosclerosis (P < 0.01). In patients with documented atherosclerosis by CA-US, body mass index, waist circumference, and the number of localized plaques were greater in a subset with inflammation than in a subset without. CONCLUSION Inflammation was visualized by FDG-PET imaging in approximately 30% of patients with documented carotid atherosclerosis.
A Marginal Productivity Index Policy for the Finite-Horizon Multiarmed Bandit Problem

This paper addresses the discounted discrete-state finite-horizon multiarmed bandit problem. The goal is to design a well-grounded and tractable scheduling policy of index type. The approach is based on reformulating the model as a restless bandit problem, and then deploying the marginal productivity index (MPI) theory developed by the author in recent work, which extends the approach of Klimov (1974), Gittins (1979) and Whittle (1988). It is shown that the model satisfies the author's sufficient conditions for existence of the MPI. An efficient recursive procedure is proposed for computing the finite-horizon MPI. This further furnishes a new method for approximating the infinite-horizon Gittins index.
Perceived fairness and trust in consumer's reactions to revenue management

This paper explores interventions of perceptions of fairness and trust in the relationships between the practice of revenue management and consumer satisfaction. The consumers, when confronting discriminations during the buying process or the selling period, may perceive unfair transactions and some untrustworthy firms. Satisfaction may decrease accordingly. Using structural equation modelling, the analysis of responses to a survey of international travellers finds a negative influence of price variations on perceptions and attitudes. The results document a mediation of perceived fairness, trust on satisfaction. As an implication, revenue managers should tailor their pricing schemes to maintain trust in the firm.
Scientific mindfulness: A foundation for future themes in international business

We conceptualize new ways to qualify what themes should dominate the future international business and management (IB/IM) research agenda by examining three questions: Whom should we ask? What should we ask, and which selection criteria should we apply? What are the contextual forces? Our main findings are the following: (1) wider perspectives from academia and practice would benefit both rigor and relevance; (2) four key forces are climate change, globalization, inequality, and sustainability; and (3) we propose scientific mindfulness as the way forward for generating themes in IB/IM research. Scientific mindfulness is a holistic, cross-disciplinary, and contextual approach, whereby researchers need to make sense of multiple perspectives with the betterment of society as the ultimate criterion.