Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-Run Performance Persistence of Investment Funds

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the long-run persistence of returns and risk of investment in the assets of money, bound, and stock funds recorded on the Polish market in 2000–12. Portfolios of safe, hybrid, and stock classes are formed on the basis of tested funds. The persistence of returns and the Sharpe ratio are investigated in rolled five-year sub-periods, with one year step. Also, persistence in performance is assessed using classic CAPM and Fama and French models, which allow for evaluating management skills. We find the occurrence of the Sharpe ratio long-run persistence of money and bound funds. The study does not explicitly show long-run persistence in hybrid and stock fund portfolios. The CAPM and Fama and French models simulations of returns on stock and hybrid funds indicate varying management skills during five-year periods.
Clinical Assessment of Balance in Adults with Concussion

Abstract Balance is a key component to the assessment of concussion injury; however, the efficacies of clinical tests used are currently under debate. It is questionable whether currently accepted methods of standing balance assessment quantify balance disturbances sufficiently to support decisions on recovery and return to play. Recent evidence of balance abnormalities postconcussion that linger beyond the typical 3- to 5-day recovery period support arguments that currently available standing balance tests are not sensitive enough to determine recovery of function. This article discusses the current clinical tests used in the assessment of concussion in adults and their limitations and the evidence supporting continued balance dysfunction. Implications for the future of balance assessment in concussed adults and recommendations to clinicians for best practices are presented.
Contribution of Indian Index Futures to Price Formation in the Stock Market

In this paper we analyse whether the Indian Stock Index Futures market plays an important role in the assimilation of information and price discovery in the stock market. Using Futures prices for the S&P CNX Nifty Index traded on the National Stock Exchange of India, we find that there is significant information flow from the futures to the spot market and futures prices/returns have predictive power for the spot prices. If we take account of the long run relation between the two price series we find clear bidirectional information flows or feedback between the markets. The contributions of the two markets to the price discovery process are also almost equal with the futures showing a marginal edge over the spot market, as the information flow into the stock prices from the futures is slightly higher than the price information flows to the futures market from the spot market. The futures market also readjusts faster to market-wide information and thus absorbs much of the volatility induced by flow of new information.
Emergence and Prevalence of Non-H2S-Producing Salmonella enterica Serovar Senftenberg Isolates Belonging to Novel Sequence Type 1751 in China

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica serovar Senftenberg is a common nontyphoidal Salmonella serotype which causes human Salmonella infections worldwide. In this study, 182 S. Senftenberg isolates, including 17 atypical non-hydrogen sulfide (H2S)-producing isolates, were detected in China from 2005 to 2011. The microbiological and genetic characteristics of the non-H2S-producing and selected H2S-producing isolates were determined by using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) analysis. The phs operons were amplified and sequenced. The 17 non-H2S-producing and 36 H2S-producing isolates belonged to 7 sequence types (STs), including 3 new STs, ST1751, ST1757, and ST1758. Fourteen of the 17 non-H2S-producing isolates belonged to ST1751 and had very similar PFGE patterns. All 17 non-H2S-producing isolates had a nonsense mutation at position 1621 of phsA. H2S-producing and non-H2S-producing S. Senftenberg isolates were isolated from the same stool sample from three patients; isolates from the same patients displayed the same antimicrobial susceptibility, ST, and PFGE pattern but could be discriminated based on CRISPR spacers. Non-H2S-producing S. Senftenberg isolates belonging to ST1751 have been prevalent in Shanghai, China. It is possible that these emerging organisms will disseminate further, because they are difficult to detect. Thus, we should strengthen the surveillance for the spread of this atypical S. Senftenberg variant.
Immigration and the Property Market: Evidence from England and Wales

This article investigates the link between immigration and property markets in England and Wales. Evidence from fixed effects and shift-share–based instrumental variable regressions suggests that an increase in regional immigration, depending on the specification, either decreases prices at the lower end of the distribution up to the median or leaves them unchanged and has (almost) no effect on mean property prices or prices above the median. The evidence suggests that these findings can be explained through an interaction between the markets for rented and owned properties as well as through changes in the usage of housing space.
The study of factors impacting on organizational innovation in financial holding company

¿Innovation counts very much¿ has been discussed more that thirty years. Most scholars consider innovation one of the cores in modern management and strategy. There have been many empirical studies on organizational innovation from viewpoint of organizational culture. And some studies focus on that from organizational structure. This study discusses over the relationships among organizational culture, structure, learning, and innovation. The samples in the study come from fourteen financial holding companies in Taiwan. The findings are presented in the study. Organizational culture has significantly positive impact on organizational learning and innovation. Organizational learning has significantly positive influence on organizational innovation.
An automatic cloud-masking system using backpro neural nets for AVHRR scenes

The automation of pattern recognition in the field of remote sensing involves several preprocessing steps to remove noise and nonuseful data. When infrared data are used to obtain either ocean or land information, cloud pixels must first be identified and eliminated from the image, because cloud contamination is the main producer of errors in deriving sea surface temperatures from remotely sensed data. Cloud masking is usually tackled as a statistical classification problem using threshold or texture-based information from satellite scenes. We attempt to construct an automatic cloud-masking system which uses heuristic knowledge about cloud features in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer scenes and artificial neural networks as classifiers. This system could be used as a preprocessing step in a future automatic oceanic feature identification system now being developed for the North Atlantic Ocean. The system has been compared with other traditional cloud mask methods to determine its accuracy.
What features improve the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy‐parkinsonism (PSP‐P)?

Progressive supranuclear palsy‐parkinsonism (PSP‐P) is a primary tauopathy characterised by neurofibrillary degeneration, which is frequently mistaken for Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and vascular parkinsonism (VP) at presentation. The aim of this study was to identify particular clinical features (green flags) that may be helpful in differentiating PSP‐P from these other disorders. We identified 37 patients with PSP‐P from 726 patients archived at the Queen Square Brain Bank. Using a retrospective case notes review the clinical features were compared between the PSP‐P group and Lewy body associated parkinsonism (PD, n = 444 and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), n = 46), MSA (n = 90), and VP (n = 19), using the χ2‐test for proportions for a two‐by‐two contingency table. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) were calculated for individual clinical features. A specificity of >0.85 or a PPV of >0.85 were considered reliable discriminators. No clinical features were predictive of PSP‐P, but late drug induced dyskinesias (specificity 0.92, PPV 0.99), late autonomic dysfunction (specificity 0.94, PPV 0.99) and any visual hallucinations (specificity 0.94, PPV 0.99) were better in distinguishing PD and PSP‐P than predicted using operational diagnostic criteria for PD. PSP‐P shares many clinical features with PD and DLB, MSA and VP, but visual hallucinations, drug induced dyskinesias and autonomic dysfunction are very uncommon and may be helpful exclusion criteria. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society
Mucoactive drugs

Mucus hypersecretion is a clinical feature of severe respiratory diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Airway mucosal infection and/or inflammation associated with these diseases often gives rise to inflammatory products, including neutrophil-derived DNA and filamentous actin, in addition to bacteria, apoptotic cells and cellular debris, that may collectively increase mucus production and viscosity. Mucoactive agents have been the medication of choice for the treatment of respiratory diseases in which mucus hypersecretion is a clinical complication. The main purpose of mucoactive drugs is to increase the ability to expectorate sputum and/or decrease mucus hypersecretion. Many mucoactive drugs are currently available and can be classified according to their putative mechanism of action. Mucoactive medications include expectorants, mucoregulators, mucolytics and mucokinetics. By developing our understanding of the specific effects of mucoactive agents, we may result in improved therapeutic use of these drugs. The present review provides a summary of the most clinically relevant mucoactive drugs in addition to their potential mechanism of action.
Lower limb examinations for muscular tension estimation methods for each muscle group based on functionally different effective muscle theory

Conventional estimation methods distribute tension to muscles by solving optimization problems, because the system is redundant. The theory of functionally different effective muscle, based on 3 antagonistic pairs of muscle groups in limbs, has enabled to calculate the maximum joint torque of each pair, i.e. functionally different effective muscle force. Based on this theory, a method to estimate muscular tension has been proposed, where joint torque of each muscle group is derived by multiplying functionally different effective muscle force, the muscular activity of muscular activity pattern for direction of tip force, and ratio of tip force to maximum output force. The estimation of this method is as good as Crowninshield's method, moreover this method also reduce the computation time if the estimation concerns a selected muscle group.
Modeling Risk: VaR Methods for Long and Short Trading Positions

The accuracy of parametric, non-parametric and semi-parametric methods in predicting the one-day-ahead Value-at-Risk (VaR) of perfectly diversified portfolios in three types of markets (stock exchanges, commodities and exchange rates) is investigated, both for long and short trading positions. The risk management techniques are designed to capture the main characteristics of asset returns, such as leptokurtosis and asymmetric distribution, volatility clustering, asymmetric relationship between stock returns and conditional variance and power transformation of conditional variance. Based on backtesting measures and a loss function evaluation method, we find out that the modeling of the main characteristics of asset returns produces accurate VaR forecasts. Especially for the high confidence levels, a risk manager must employ different volatility techniques in order to forecast the VaR for the two trading positions.
Inconsistent voting behaviour in the FOMC

ABSTRACT This article uses transcript data to examine determinants of inconsistent voting behaviour in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in the period 1989–2008. Inconsistent voting behaviour occurs if a member shows disagreement on the interest rate proposed by the chairman in the policy go-around, but this member agrees in the formal vote. Results show that after the 1993’s increase in central bank transparency, the probability of casting inconsistent votes decreases significantly, on average by 3.3 percentage points. FOMC members with longer tenure on the committee have a lower probability of casting inconsistent votes. Further results suggest that board members and bank presidents differ significantly, with bank presidents casting inconsistent votes more often than board members do. This relation holds true for gender as well, with female members casting more inconsistent votes than males. In addition, political aspects and career backgrounds also contribute to explaining inconsistent voting behaviour in the FOMC. Conditional effects reveal that after the change in transparency, differences between board members and bank presidents remain, whereas differences between male and female members have diminished. What is more, FOMC members with a career in the government sector have been strongly affected by the regime shift in transparency.
Electrical noise in gold nanoparticle chemiresistors: Effects of measurement environment and organic linker properties

This study was conducted to assess and characterize the intrinsic electrical noise associated with thiolate functionalized gold nanoparticle films utilized as chemiresistor sensors. Recently, this sensor type has been demonstrated to have liquid-based sensing capabilities. Differences in the thermal noise component of the different thiolate functionalized nanoparticle films in ambient air and in deionized water are detailed. Comparable values are found between real impedance values and resistance values derived from the Nyquist equation, in the frequency domain, for differing chemical measurement environments. Voltage-biased studies in aqueous media demonstrate the device's retention of the intrinsic 1/f noise, known to exist in gold nanoparticle chemiresistors operating in ambient air. These results have implications on the ultimate sensitivity of devices utilized for liquid-based analyte detection.
Global Citizenship Education: Secondary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Global Education

As technology has improved communication and access to information around the world, it has become necessary for the purpose and goals of the American educational system to evolve. A focus on developing global citizens who can demonstrate 21st century skills will help educators who want to prepare their students to enter the world. This transcendental phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of current secondary educators who make global connections in their classrooms so that it can provide practical support to educators looking to begin making or improve existing global connections in the classroom. This study was guided by two research questions: (1) In a public school district committed to global citizenship, how do secondary educators perceive global citizenship education? and (2) How do public secondary school educators understand how their perception of global citizenship influences the way they include global education in their classrooms? Data were collected through one-on-one interviews with nine self-identified globally aware secondary educators, which were transcribed and analyzed. Four themes emerged from the data: (1) recognition of self as global citizen, (2) global citizenship in the classroom, (3) the participants’ vision for students as global citizens, and (4) the challenges and opportunities of GCE pedagogy. The researcher’s interpretation of the themes resulted in a collective description of the experiences of globally aware secondary educators. The study provides recommendations for practitioners, including developing a clear definition and implementation plan for global
Efficient nucleus detector in histopathology images

In traditional cancer diagnosis, (histo)pathological images of biopsy samples are visually analysed by pathologists. However, this judgment is subjective and leads to variability among pathologists. Digital scanners may enable automated objective assessment, improved quality and reduced throughput time. Nucleus detection is seen as the corner stone for a range of applications in automated assessment of (histo)pathological images.
Control Algorithm for Soft Start of Split-AC-Switched-Reluctance Motor Drives

This paper proposes a control method to balance capacitor voltages in a four-switch single-stage two-phase-switched-reluctance motor drive with integrated power factor correction during startup and at low speeds. Initial alignment process is incorporated for switched-reluctance machine before startup. However, the phase currents are unbalanced during that time. This will cause overvoltage on dc capacitors in split-ac configuration leadings to their failure. This problem also exists when the motor speed is very low, as observed in the startup process of compressors. Based on a unified model, an effective control method is proposed to eliminate the voltage difference between the capacitors. This method does not require any additional circuits or components. It also does not affect the performance during normal mode of operation. Experiments are performed to verify the feasibility of the control method.
A Driver-in-the Loop Fuel Economic Control Strategy for Connected Vehicles in Urban Roads

In this paper, we focus on developing driver-in-the loop fuel economic control strategy for multiple connected vehicles. The control strategy is considered to work in a driver assistance framework where the controller gives command to a driver to follow while considering the ability of the driver in following control commands. Our proposed method uses vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, exploits traffic lights' Signal Phase and Timing (SPAT) information, models driver error injection with Markov chain, and employs scenario tree based stochastic model predictive control to improve vehicle fuel economy and traffic mobility. The proposed strategy is decentralized in nature as every vehicle evaluates its own strategy using only local information. Simulation results show the effect of consideration of driver error injection when synthesizing fuel economic controllers in a driver assistance fashion.
High aspartate to alanine aminotransferase ratio is an indicator of cirrhosis and poor outcome in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis

Objectives: A liver biopsy is performed mainly to stage primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). In viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease and in primary biliary cirrhosis, the ratio of aspartate to alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) has been proven to be an indicator of liver cirrhosis. We wanted to test whether or not an AST/ALT ratio ≥1 is an indicator of cirrhosis also in patients with PSC.
Dietary fibre and health in children and adolescents

The role of dietary fibre in promoting sustained health has been studied for several decades and in adults there is good evidence that diets rich in high-fibre foods reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including CVD and cancer. Research in this area, however, has been hampered by uncertainties about the definition of dietary fibre which has resulted in many studies measuring fibre in different ways. There is also a wide range of properties and actions of different fibres in the human body, depending on their solubility, viscosity and fermentability by the colonic microbiota. This review considers the epidemiological evidence for dietary fibre and health in children and the current dietary recommendations and measured intakes in several countries using national surveys. In children and adolescents, there is a particular lack of relevant research on which to formulate appropriate dietary fibre recommendations and these are often based on extrapolation from adult data. However, children are not little adults and have differing physiology and nutritional needs as they grow. The dietary recommendations in different countries are based on varying premises and daily amounts. Intakes vary from country to country and on the whole do not meet recommendations. Much more research is needed in children to fully understand the impact of dietary fibre on growth and health in the young to allow more appropriate recommendations to be made.
Designing a table-top tangible user interface system for higher education

Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) have garnered significant interest in the past years as a potential solution to embed smarter technologies for education. The intrinsic ability of this technology to engage and intrigue students in active learning pedagogies has recently been successfully proven across all ages using various techniques. Predominantly amongst the effective technologies, has been the development of tabletop approaches. However, these have mostly been bespoke implementations that lack proper formalisation. To this end, this paper construes the requirements to successfully implement TUI technology within higher educational contexts and proposes the design considerations for the smart adaptation of this technology. Following the implementation of the proposed smart system, the developed TUI design was evaluated within an undergraduate university programme for its effectiveness in teaching and learning object-oriented concepts. The obtained results illustrate a significant enhancement of student-experience during utilisation of such technology and quantitively outline the design's potentiation to convey complex concepts in higher education. Detailed blueprints of the proposed architecture are openly available on: http://itc.mdx. edu.mt.
Adaptive pulse charger for Li-ion batteries

In this paper, an Adaptive Pulse Charge System (APCS) for Li-ion batteries is proposed to improve the charge performance by pulse charging with most suitable frequency and duty. To evaluate the performance of proposed method, a prototype is designed and implemented with a 600 mAh Li-ion battery. Compared with standard Constant Current — Constant Voltage(CC-CV) method, proposed APCS has improved the charge speed by 13.7 %, while charge efficiency has improved by 3.1 %. With comparison to Variable Duty Pulse Charge (VDPC) system of 500 Hz and 1100 Hz, the proposed system has improved the charging speed by 3.8 %, 8.8 % and charge efficiency by 2 % and 2.3 % respectively. The results show that the APCS can adaptively provide the most suitable pulse based on the state of the battery for best charging speed and charge efficiency.