Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
‘Amenity’ or ‘eyesore’? Negative willingness to pay for options to replace electricity transmission towers

A frequent scenario in public decision-making is that of choosing between a number of proposed changes from the status quo. In such a case, stated preference surveys, such as the contingent valuation method, are often undertaken to assess the size of the benefits associated with each proposed change. For certain undesirable options, respondents may prefer the status quo; however, it may not be credible to directly elicit negative willingness to pay or willingness to accept to endure the change. This study, using contingent valuation, outlines an indirect means of measuring negative willingness to pay – for the problem of visual disamenity arising from alternative electricity transmission tower designs – based on the elicitation of indicators of how inconvenienced respondents would feel if a less preferred option were to replace the status quo; that is, the time and cost respondents were prepared to commit to opposing the change. The results show that taking account of negative willingness to pay matters and this significantly changes value estimates for some of the least liked options.
An Overview of Automatic Target Detection ( ATD ) algorithms in SAR Image

Target detection is a conventional problem for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image. The technology of target detection is very useful in striking military targets, such as ship, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, trucks, bulldozers, cannon and howitzers. Discriminating target from clutter is a challenging task in Automatic target detection (ATD) problem. Different types of clutter and their distribution model are discussed in this work. After many decades of research, robust target detection algorithm still remains a highly challenging task. In this paper a review of the techniques used to solve the Automatic target detection problem is given.
The Bootstrap and Multiple Imputations: Harnessing Increased Computing Power for Improved Statistical Tests

The bootstrap and multiple imputations are two techniques that can enhance the accuracy of estimated confidence bands and critical values. Although they are computationally intensive, relying on repeated sampling from empirical data sets and associated estimates, modern computing power enables their application in a wide and growing number of econometric settings. We provide an intuitive overview of how to apply these techniques, referring to existing theoretical literature and various applied examples to illustrate both their possibilities and their pitfalls.
Characteristics of the neuronal firing patterns in the subthalamic nucleus with graded dopaminergic cell loss in the nigrostriatal pathway

The aim of this study was to evaluate the neuronal firing changes in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in a graded mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Unilateral graded dopaminergic cell loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta was achieved by injecting different concentrations of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in the right medial forebrain bundle. Electrophysiological analysis of neuronal firing patterns in the STN revealed an increased firing rate, burst index, and interspike interval coefficient of variation in groups treated with higher 6-OHDA concentrations. The results of this study suggest the detailed pathophysiological characteristics of Parkinson's disease in a mouse model.
New Growth Theory and Development Economics

After a period of relative calm in the aftermath of the so-called Cambridge Cambridge controversies in the theory of capital (for an overwiew, see Kurz and Salvadori, 1995, chapter 14) which had dealt a serious blow to the long-period version of neoclassical theory in general and the Solovian growth model based on an aggregate production function in particular (Solow, 1956), growth economics has become again one of the most vibrant areas of research in economics in the last two decades. The revival was spurred by theoretical and empirical contributions. New modelling techniques imported from other areas in economics were used in order to ‘endogenize’ technological progress within a macroeconomic intertemporal general equilibrium framework and thus overcome a major shortcoming of Solow’s model – the treatment of technological change as exogenous. This is also the reason why the new class of models are frequently dubbed ‘endogenous’. The construction of new data sets for a large number of countries, in particular the Penn World Table (Summers and Heston, 1991; Heston, Summers and Aten, 2002) and Maddison (2001), has led to a revived interest in empirical studies which in turn have thrown up new problems for growth theory. The existing literature is huge and still rapidly growing. For summary accounts of the present state of the art in this area of research, see, in particular, Barro and Sala-i-Martin (2003), Jones (2002), Aghion and Howitt (1998), and Aghion and Durlauf (2005).
Asset pricing dynamics

This paper is concerned with the issue of dynamics in financial data and asset pricing models such as the CAPM. A literature review in this area is undertaken and highlights the need for a modern time series econometric approach in asset pricing. Such an approach is discussed and deals with problems related to structural breaks and microstructures, dynamics in the mean and variance process, and non-stationary regressions and cointegration. An empirical application using UK stock market data demonstrates the merit of the proposed methodology in correcting market model regressions.
Strategic Choice and Performance in Late Movers: Influence of the Top Management Team's External Ties

This work examines how the strategic choice and performance of late movers are influenced by the top management team's external ties, inside and outside the firm's industry. Using a multiyear sample of firms from the computer industry, we found that intra-industry trade-association ties of top managers led to the adoption of a resource-imitation strategy by late movers while extra-industry importation and professional-association ties led to the adoption of a resource-substitution strategy. We also found that trade association ties had a negative effect on the performance of late movers using resource-substitution, while top managers' service on other firms' boards had a positive influence on the performance of those firms. Our findings not only confirm the importance of the role of fit in strategy and performance, but they also highlight the importance of the management and control of boundary-spanning activities.
Enhanced probabilistic latent semantic analysis with weighting schemes to predict genomic annotations

Genomic annotations with functional controlled terms, such as the Gene Ontology (GO) ones, are paramount in modern biology. Yet, they are known to be incomplete, since the current biological knowledge is far to be definitive. In this scenario, computational methods that are able to support and quicken the curation of these annotations can be very useful. In a previous work, we discussed the benefits of using the Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis algorithm in order to predict novel GO annotations, compared to some Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based approaches. In this paper, we propose a further enhancement of that method, which aims at weighting the available associations between genes and functional terms before using them as input to the predictive system. The tests that we performed on the annotations of human genes to GO functional terms showed the efficacy of our approach.
Parameter Identification of Five-Phase Induction Machines With Single Layer Windings

Despite the increased interest in multiphase induction machines for safety-critical applications, machine parameter identification for the different sequence planes is still a challenging research point. In most available literature, the effect of nonfundamental sequence planes is overlooked due to the assumption of sinusoidal winding distribution and healthy operation. However, in a single layer or concentric winding layout with an odd number of phases, the effect of flux produced by nonfundamental sequence planes cannot be ignored for the open-phase case. This paper proposes a simple offline method to estimate the parameters of a five-phase induction machine corresponding to different sequence planes. The proposed technique can estimate the stator leakage inductance as well as the magnetizing inductance of both fundamental and third sequences by applying a quasi-square voltage to the stator winding while the machine is running at no-load. Consequently, the rotor circuit parameters of the fundamental sequence plane can be simply obtained by deducting the stator impedance from the blocked rotor machine impedance. For the third sequence plane, an approximate relation to estimate these parameters based on the measured fundamental sequence rotor parameters is also given. An experimental 1.5 Hp prototype machine is used to verify the proposed technique.
Piezoresistive Tactile Sensor Discriminating Multidirectional Forces

Flexible tactile sensors capable of detecting the magnitude and direction of the applied force together are of great interest for application in human-interactive robots, prosthetics, and bionic arms/feet. Human skin contains excellent tactile sensing elements, mechanoreceptors, which detect their assigned tactile stimuli and transduce them into electrical signals. The transduced signals are transmitted through separated nerve fibers to the central nerve system without complicated signal processing. Inspired by the function and organization of human skin, we present a piezoresistive type tactile sensor capable of discriminating the direction and magnitude of stimulations without further signal processing. Our tactile sensor is based on a flexible core and four sidewall structures of elastomer, where highly sensitive interlocking piezoresistive type sensing elements are embedded. We demonstrate the discriminating normal pressure and shear force simultaneously without interference between the applied forces. The developed sensor can detect down to 128 Pa in normal pressure and 0.08 N in shear force, respectively. The developed sensor can be applied in the prosthetic arms requiring the restoration of tactile sensation to discriminate the feeling of normal and shear force like human skin.
THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVES ON WORK OUTCOMES IN AUSTRALIA: A COMPARATIVE MULTI‐DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

There is a general consensus that individuals who are driven to serve the public interest can possess a mix of public service motives for engaging in altruistic actions. This article proposes that when analysed simultaneously, some public service motives may play a more important role than others in influencing work outcomes. The pressing questions are which ones and how? Through a survey of a group of Australian public sector employees, this article explores the relationship between the various dimensions of public service motivation (PSM) and the common work outcomes: organizational commitment, job satisfaction and job motivation. The combinations of PSM dimensions that had a greater impact on these work outcomes are also found to vary with different outcomes.
Mathematical Programming and Service Scheduling

There are many business situations where it might be necessary to keep the potential service level (preparedness) above requirements at least in some of the time intervals. For instance, a fleet of trucks (or cabs) or group of production machines, cannot be easily adjusted month by month and, therefore, during slack periods the potential service level may exceed requirements. In a manufacturing firm, there are certain functions to be performed, such as maintenance or clerical work (often overhead type functions), where again the potential service level is expensive to change. In fact, even in the case of production workers, the expense of hiring, training, firing, or the contractual obligations of guaranteed wage agreements may make it undesirable to change the level of employment during slack periods. The reader will readily find further illustrations of the type of planning problems we are describing here.
You're from where? The influence of distance factors on New Zealand expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment

This study empirically tests the influence of various distance factors on expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. Expatriate perceptions of home and host country differences, objective measures of distance and the accuracy of expatriate evaluations of host country distance were compared as predictors of expatriate adjustment difficulty in the host country. The results revealed that perceived distance, objective cultural distance and the expatriate's perceptual inaccuracy had a significant effect on expatriate adjustment difficulty for one's first assignment. However, on subsequent assignments all measures of distance were significant. Adjustment became more difficult as perceptual accuracy improved. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Oil Shocks, Policy Uncertainty and Stock Returns in China

type="main" xml:id="ecot12062-abs-0001"> This paper examines the interdependence of China's policy uncertainty, the global oil market and stock market returns in China. A structural VAR model is estimated that shows that a positive shock to economic policy uncertainty in China has a delayed negative effect on global oil production, real oil prices and real stock market returns. Shocks to oil market-specific demand significantly raise China's economic policy uncertainty and reduce the real stock market returns. As measured by a spillover index, the interdependence between these variables has been rising since 2003 as China's influence in the oil market has increased. An equivalent spillover index calculated for the US is smaller and has been largely flat over time.
Progressive Changes in a Distributed Neural Circuit Underlie Breathing Abnormalities in Mice Lacking MeCP2

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2). Severe breathing abnormalities are common in RTT and are reproduced in mouse models of RTT. Previously, we found that removing MeCP2 from the brainstem and spinal cord in mice caused early lethality and abnormal breathing. To determine whether loss of MeCP2 in functional components of the respiratory network causes specific breathing disorders, we used the Cre/LoxP system to differentially manipulate MeCP2 expression throughout the brainstem respiratory network, specifically within HoxA4-derived tissues, which include breathing control circuitry within the nucleus tractus solitarius and the caudal part of ventral respiratory column but do not include more rostral parts of the breathing control circuitry. To determine whether respiratory phenotypes manifested in animals with MeCP2 removed from specific pons medullary respiratory circuits, we performed whole-body plethysmography and electrophysiological recordings from in vitro brainstem slices from mice lacking MeCP2 in different circuits. Our results indicate that MeCP2 expression in the medullary respiratory network is sufficient for normal respiratory rhythm and preventing apnea. However, MeCP2 expression within components of the breathing circuitry rostral to the HoxA4 domain are neither sufficient to prevent the hyperventilation nor abnormal hypoxic ventilatory response. Surprisingly, we found that MeCP2 expression in the HoxA4 domain alone is critical for survival. Our study reveals that MeCP2 is differentially required in select respiratory components for different aspects of respiratory functions, and collectively for the integrity of this network functions to maintain proper respiration. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Breathing abnormalities are a significant clinical feature in Rett syndrome and are robustly reproduced in the mouse models of this disease. Previous work has established that alterations in the function of MeCP2, the protein encoded by the gene mutated in Rett syndrome, within the hindbrain are critical for control of normal breathing. Here we show that MeCP2 function plays distinct roles in specific brainstem regions in the genesis of various aspects of abnormal breathing. This provides insight into the pathogenesis of these breathing abnormalities in Rett syndrome, which could be used to target treatments to improve these symptoms. Furthermore, it provides further knowledge about the fundamental neural circuits that control breathing.
Real-Time Navigation in Classical Platform Games via Skill Reuse

In platform videogames, players are frequently tasked with solving medium-term navigation problems in order to gather items or powerups. Arti- ficial agents must generally obtain some form of direct experience before they can solve such tasks. Experience is gained either through training runs, or by exploiting knowledge of the game's physics to generate detailed simulations. Human players, on the other hand, seem to look ahead in high-level, abstract steps. Motivated by human play, we introduce an approach that leverages not only abstract "skills", but also knowledge of what those skills can and cannot achieve. We apply this approach to Infinite Mario, where despite facing randomly generated, maze-like levels, our agent is capable of deriving complex plans in real-time, without relying on perfect knowledge of the game's physics.
What Drives the Association between Health and Portfolio Choice?

There is a persistent association between health and portfolio choice, but hardly anything is known about the underlying sources of heterogeneity: what makes healthier individuals hold more risky assets? This paper uses rich Dutch longitudinal data to take into account and explain unobserved heterogeneity in the association between health and portfolio choice. We show that the association largely reflects unobserved heterogeneity, which is driven partly by behavioural variables. Yet even when adding an extensive set of behavioural variables including risk aversion, stock aversion, loss aversion, time preferences, and mental accounting, the association between health and portfolio choice does not completely vanish.
Short‐term potentiation of GABAergic synaptic inputs to vasopressin and oxytocin neurones

Hypothalamic neurones that release the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin from the posterior pituitary are controlled, in part, by synaptic inputs mediated by the neurotransmitter GABA. GABA synapses on the vasopressin neurones, but not the oxytocin neurones, have been shown to elicit excitation. We show that brief (1 s) electrical stimulation of hypothalamus slices causes release of GABA lasting several minutes at synapses on vasopressin and oxytocin neurones. Consistent with GABA being excitatory in vasopressin neurones, brief electrical stimulation of GABA synaptic inputs elicited activation of vasopressin neurones, but not oxytocin neurones, that lasted for several minutes. Prolonged GABA release following a brief stimulus together with GABA excitation of vasopressin neurones constitute a basic synaptic mechanism for controlling vasopressin release.
A rational justification of the pecking order hypothesis to the choice of sources of financing

Developed by Stewart Myers (1984), the pecking order theory has turned out to be a spotlight in the recent trend of shifting from the traditional static trade‐off optimal model to other theories as an effort to look for an explanation of corporate capital structure behaviour. This article proposes a rational justification to the pecking order hypothesis through the establishment of its relationship to the paradox Modigliana‐Miller proposition I. In the process of reasoning to support our justification, we have resorted to various existing theoretical hypothesis including tax‐shelter theory, bankruptcy costs theory, agency theory, signalling theory, and managerial risk aversion theory. Some implications of this rational justification to the pecking order hypothesis are also briefly discussed.
The Sars Crisis: Was Anybody Responsible?

As scholars in fields such as media studies, crisis studies and public policy studies have argued, there exists a fundamental link between crises and the media. Once an event has been interpreted as a crisis, questions of accountability inevitably appear on the media agenda, and the struggle to attribute blame and responsibility to a specific entity or entities - the blame game - thus becomes an inexorable part of the crisis process. Focusing on three liberal Western newspapers with an international, primarily Western elite readership and a reputation for in-depth analysis of global events, The Economist, the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, this article employs Iyengar's and Valkenburg's notions of responsibility frames to examine whether initial coverage of the 2003 SARS crisis in these accounts held any particular entity accountable for the crisis, looks at three key themes used to communicate to the reader a particular way of thinking about responsibility for SARS and examines some of the consequences of the kind of responsibility frame constructed around the SARS crisis in these accounts. As our findings show, there is an entity that the early news accounts studied consistently held responsible for the 2003 SARS crisis, the Chinese system, and the corresponding responsibility frame at operation in these accounts is thematic rather than episodic in nature, since it consistently places the SARS crisis within a broader context (a product of "China" itself and/or of societal-governmental forces in China) rather than in relation to a specific episode or as the result of the particular actions of individuals. The SARS crisis narrative therefore presented in these accounts tells the story of an anachronistic Chinese system faced with a contemporary health threat that, by its very nature, it is incapable of assessing accurately or managing responsibly. By way of conclusion, we argue that, while the use of such a thematic frame to explain China's role in the 2003 SARS crisis may be accurate in certain respects, this frame falls short in other respects and proves particularly inadequate to the challenge of capturing the economic complexities of China's role during the crisis.
Proteomic characterization of protein phosphatase 1 complexes in ischemia‐reperfusion and ischemic tolerance

Serine/threonine protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) regulates multiple cellular processes. Protein phosphorylation–dephosphorylation is largely altered during ischemia and subsequent reperfusion. The brain is particularly vulnerable to stress resulting from ischemia‐reperfusion (IR), however, the acquisition of ischemic tolerance (IT) protects against IR stress. We studied PP1 complexes in response to IR stress and IT in brain using proteomic characterization of PP1 complexes in animal models of IR and IT. PP1α and PP1γ were immunoprecipitated and resolved by 2‐D. DIGE analysis detected 14 different PP1‐interacting proteins that exhibited significant changes in their association with PP1α or PP1γ. These proteins were identified by MALDI‐TOF MS. Seven had the PP1‐binding RVxF motif. IR altered the interaction of heat shock cognate 71 kDa‐protein, creatine kinase B, and dopamine‐ and cAMP‐regulated phosphoprotein 32 kDa (DARPP32) with both PP1α and PP1γ, and the interaction of phosphodiesterase‐6B, transitional ER ATPase, lamin‐A, glucose‐regulated 78 kDa‐protein, dihydropyrimidinase‐related protein‐2, γ‐enolase, neurofilament‐L, and ubiquitin ligase SIAH2 with PP1γ. IT prevented most of the IR‐induced effects. This study identifies novel PP1α‐ and PP1γ‐interacting proteins and reveals an in vivo modularity of PP1 holoenzymes in response to physiological ischemic stress. It supports a potential role of PP1 in IR stress and as a target of the endogenous protective mechanisms induced by IT.