Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
JAPANESE YEN AND EAST ASIAN CURRENCIES

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the impact of the Japanese yen on the values of East Asian currencies has increased since the 1997 East Asian financial crisis. In particular, this paper focuses on four crisis-affected countries: Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. To this end, this paper estimates the weights of the Japanese yen in the determination of the values of the East Asian currencies using daily exchange rate data sets covering the pre-crisis period from January 1990 to June 1997 and the post-crisis period from January 1999 to June 2003. Empirical test results indicate that the impact of the Japanese yen on East Asian currencies has increased since the crisis. The null hypothesis that the weight of the Japanese yen remains the same is rejected for all four countries examined, supporting the alternative that it has increased since the financial crisis.
Effects of Service Characteristics on Interlocal Cooperation in U.S. Cities: A Pooled Regression Analysis

Drawing on the theoretical framework of transaction cost theory and social exchange theory, this study empirically examines factors affecting the likelihood and the level of interlocal expenditure for 11 service types in a panel of 695 American cities, with populations over 20,000, during the time period of 1990–2000. The findings indicate that elements of transaction costs risks (asset specificity and measurement difficulty) affect both the likelihood and the level of interlocal cooperation. It also shows that the level of trust does the same. However, it suggests that the perceived transaction risks may vary depending on factors affecting local managers' perception of transaction risks. This will further affect the likelihood and the level of interlocal cooperation.
The Psychological Origins of a Constitutional Revolution

One of the most significant changes in American law was the application of the Bill of Rights to the states. Some members of the U.S. Supreme Court enthusiastically supported the doctrine of incorporation, while others actively opposed it. Why? Evolutionary psychology posits that birth order can explain support for radical change; older siblings identify with authority and resist changes in the rules, while laterborns defy authority and are willing to alter the status quo. Applying the birth order hypothesis to the Court, the author finds that the incorporation revolution was led by laterborns, even after taking account of justices’ political preferences.
Molecular analysis of the feline immunodeficiency virus protease: generation of a novel form of the protease by autoproteolysis and construction of cleavage-resistant proteases

The feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) protease is essential for virion maturation and subsequent viral replication in that it cleaves the Gag and Gag/Pol polyproteins at eight sites to release the respective structural proteins and enzymes. During purification of a recombinant FIV protease (PR), we noted that it underwent autoproteolysis (autolysis) to give discrete cleavage products. These additional PR cleavage sites were defined using N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis and mass spectrometry. Protease breakdown products were also found in FIV virions and were of the same apparent molecular weights as the in vitro autolysis products. Four primary PR autolysis sites were blocked via substitution of either the P1 amino acid with a beta-branched amino acid or the P1' amino acid with lysine. Cleavage-resistant PRs which had Km and k(cat) values similar to those of FIV PR were constructed. An autolysis time course determined that blocking all four primary autolysis sites yielded a cleavage-resistant PR which was enzymatically stable. Concomitant with autolysis is the generation of an N-terminally truncated form of the PR (Thr6/PR) which has enhanced stability with respect to that of FIV PR. A structural basis for the Thr6/PR activity is presented, as are the possible roles of autolysis in the viral replication cycle.
Time-Varying Liquidity and Momentum Profits

A basic intuition is that arbitrage is easier when markets are most liquid. Surprisingly, we find that momentum profits are markedly larger in liquid market states. This finding is not explained by variation in liquidity risk, time-varying exposure to risk factors, or changes in macroeconomic condition, cross-sectional return dispersion, and investor sentiment. The predictive performance of aggregate market illiquidity for momentum profits uniformly exceeds that of market return and market volatility states. While momentum strategies have been unconditionally unprofitable in the United States, in Japan, and in the Eurozone countries in the last decade, they are substantial following liquid market states.
Bank-characteristics, lending channel and monetary policy in emerging markets: bank-level evidence from Malaysia

This article analyses the effects of bank-specific characteristics, bank specialization and portfolio concentrations on the transmission of monetary policy via the bank-lending channel in Malaysia, a fairly well-developed financial system, using the dynamic panel regression estimation. The results provide evidence in favour of the bank-lending channel theory that the bank-lending channel operating via small- and low-liquidity banking entities. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that the dividing lines between different categories of financial institutions distinguished by differences in both market and regulatory structures, influence the way the financial institutions react to a monetary policy shock, of which finance companies react stronger than commercial banks. The results also suggest that banks with a higher level of corporate loan concentration experience greater financial constraint and limited access to other source finance.
Fast Evaluation of Segmentation Quality with Parallel Computing

In digital image processing and computer vision, a fairly frequent task is the performance comparison of different algorithms on enormous image databases. This task is usually time-consuming and tedious, such that any kind of tool to simplify this work is welcome. To achieve an efficient and more practical handling of a normally tedious evaluation, we implemented the automatic detection system, with the help of MATLAB®źs Parallel Computing Toolboxź. The key parts of the system have been parallelized to achieve simultaneous execution and analysis of segmentation algorithms on the one hand and the evaluation of detection accuracy for the nonforested regions, such as a study case, on the other hand. As a positive side effect, CPU usage was reduced and processing time was significantly decreased by 68.54% compared to sequential processing (i.e., executing the system with each algorithm one by one).
Effect of pyochelin on the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A virulent isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, which had been obtained from eight sequential intraperitoneal infections in mice compromised with iron and methotrexate, expressed greater lethality than the avirulent parent strain when both strains were injected into mice treated with iron. The present study demonstrates that pyochelin, a siderophore produced by P. aeruginosa, also increases the lethality of the virulent bacteria but not of the avirulent bacteria. Analysis of the growth and clearance of both virulent and avirulent strains in mice revealed that pyochelin increased the growth and lethality of virulent bacteria but only increased the survival of the avirulent bacteria. A streptomycin-dependent mutant of strain PAO1 (strd1) was used to demonstrate that pyochelin did not affect the clearance activity of mice. This strongly suggests that the effects of pyochelin in stimulating the persistence of avirulent bacteria and in increasing the lethality of virulent bacteria are due solely to the promotion of bacterial growth. Since the virulent bacteria were equivalent to the avirulent bacteria in utilizing pyochelin during in vitro growth in the presence of transferrin, it appears that the stimulation of growth by pyochelin allows the expression of additional virulence properties by the virulent bacteria.
Anti-Jamming Process for Reply Extraction of MSSR

This paper is about MSSR reply decoding and confidence bits. A novelty method is presented in this paper which can extract the reply code efficiently on highly high density reply occasion. The results of theoretical analysis and practical system-test have showed that this method can get very high detection probability and very low falsehood probability even in the environment of high density inquiring and complex jamming of FRUIT
Supplementation of dormant tallgrass-prairie forage: I. Influence of varying supplemental protein and(or) energy levels on forage utilization characteristics of beef steers in confinement.

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate effects of supplemental protein vs energy level on dormant forage intake and utilization. In Exp. 1, 16 ruminally cannulated steers were blocked by weight (avg wt = 242 kg) and assigned randomly to a negative control or to one of three isocaloric supplement treatments fed at . 4% BW: 1) control, no supplement (NS); 2) 12% CP, low protein (LP); 3) 28% CP, moderate protein (MP); 4) 41% CP, high protein (HP). In Exp. 2 and 3, 16 ruminally cannulated steers were blocked by weight (avg wt = 332 kg, Exp. 2; 401 kg, Exp. 3) and assigned randomly to a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. The treatments contrasted low (LP) and high (HP) levels of supplemental protein (.66 g CP/kg BW vs 1.32 g CP/kg BW) with low (LE) and high (HE) levels of supplemental ME (9.2 kcal/kg BW vs 18.4 kcal/kg BW). In Exp. 1, forage DMI as well as ruminal DM and indigestible ADF fill at 4 h postfeeding were greater (P less than .10) with the MP and HP steers than with control and LP steers. Total DM digestibility increased (P less than .10) for supplemented steers (35.5% for control vs 47.3 for supplemented steers); however, LP depressed (P less than .10) NDF digestibility. In Exp. 2, forage DMI, indigestible ADF flow and liquid flow were depressed (P less than .10) in LP-HE supplemented steers. In Exp. 3, HP steers had greater (P less than .10) forage DMI, indigestible ADF fill values (4 h postfeeding), liquid volume and tended (P = .11) to have greater ruminal DM fill (4 h postfeeding). In summary, increased levels of supplemental protein increased intake and utilization of dormant tallgrass-prairie forage (less than 3% CP). Increasing supplemental energy without adequate protein availability was associated with depressed intake and digestibility.
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERREGIONAL PRICE LINKAGES

Vector autoregression models are used to analyze the relationships between Texas and Illinois corn prices, and the New Orleans export price. Decomposition of error variances suggests an increasing exogeneity in the recent years between the export market and the two U.S. markets. Impulse response functions indicate that the export price influences both the Illinois and Texas prices.
The determinants of capital structure: evidence from Dutch panel data

This paper studies the determinants of capital structure choice of Dutch firms. Our main objective is to investigate whether and to what extent the main capital structure theories can explain capital structure choice of Dutch firms. A better understanding of the capital structure determinants in a rela-tively small yet open industrialized economy is essential not only for enrich-ing empirical studies in this field, but also for the purpose of cross country asset evaluation. By estimating a panel data model explaining both the ab-solute level of leverage with respect to various factors and the year-to-year changes in leverage with respect to the changes of various factors, we find evidence suggesting the relevance of the pecking order hypothesis in ex-plaining the financing choice of Dutch firms, which implies the importance of asymmetric information models in explaining capital structure choice of Dutch firms. We argue that factors based on agency costs and corporate con-trol considerations are relatively unimportant for the Dutch case.
Human sex differences in d-amphetamine self-administration.

UNLABELLED Women and men may respond differently to the effects of stimulants such as amphetamine and cocaine. AIM In order to assess potential sex differences in the reinforcing effects of d-amphetamine, a retrospective-analysis was conducted on data collected from three studies that employed similar d-amphetamine self-administration procedures and used identical subject-rated drug-effect measures. METHODS Data from 10 women and 15 men were included in the analysis. In all studies, participants sampled placebo, low (8-10 mg) or high (16-20 mg) dose oral d-amphetamine. Following sampling sessions, participants worked for capsules containing one eighth of the previously sampled dose on a modified progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement. We hypothesized that women and men would be differentially sensitive to the reinforcing effects of d-amphetamine. A two-way mixed-model analysis of variance (sex and dose) and planned comparisons were used in the statistical analyses. RESULTS The low dose of d-amphetamine functioned as a reinforcer in women, but not men, whereas the high dose of d-amphetamine functioned as a reinforcer in men, but not women. Men self-administered significantly more capsules under the high dose condition than women. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that men are more sensitive to the reinforcing effects of a high dose of d-amphetamine than women. Future research is needed that determines prospectively the reinforcing effects of weight-adjusted doses of d-amphetamine in women and men while controlling for menstrual cycle phase.
Application of Probabilistic Neural Networks to Eddy Current Non Destructive Test Problems

The aim of this paper is to propose the use of elliptical basis function probabilistic neural networks in automatic defects classification. The aim of classification is to assign a new pattern to a class, on the basis of already classified patterns. In eddy current based inspection, the patterns are sequences of complex voltages whose shape depends on the kind of defect affecting the conductive object under test.
Experimental Two-Element Time-Modulated Direction Finding Array

A two-element time-modulated array system is configured to operate as a direction finding antenna. The signal from each element of the array is time switched to provide a phase modulated output in which the depth of modulation is dependent on the angle of arrival of the received signal. Details of an experimental system designed to operate at 2400 MHz are presented and the results are compared to theoretical predictions.
PKDIP: Efficient Public-Key-Based Data Integrity Protection for Wireless Image Sensors

Due to limited energy of “wireless image sensors (WISs),” existing data integrity protection mechanisms typically employ a hash-function-based signing algorithm to generate “message authentication codes (MACs)” for long image frames. However, hash-function-based signing algorithm requires the WIS and the “end user (EU)” sharing a secret, which leads to a new security issue: Once the EU becomes malicious due to some reasons, it will be able to forge the WIS’s data since it holds the shared secret. Therefore, public-key cryptography is desirable. Unfortunately, public-key cryptographic operations are quite time-consuming for energy-restrained WISs. Facing this dilemma, we present a novel data integrity protection protocol named PKDIP in this paper. Similar to the mechanisms of this field, PKDIP generates MACs for data integrity protection. However, different from other well-known approaches, PKDIP introduces the “Montgomery Modular Multiplication (MontMM)” technique to current public-key-based signing algorithms. Since MontMM is much more efficient than hash functions, PKDIP can reduce the signing cost significantly. Experimental results show PKDIP can even be more efficient than hash-function-based schemes.
Priming Effects from Phonologically Related Distractors in Picture—Word Interference

In the cross-modal picture-word interference task, distractors phonologically related to a to-benamed picture facilitate the naming response as compared to unrelated distractors. Our experiment shows that this phonological priming effect can be obtained with as early an SOA as-300 ms. The experiment also demonstrates that this priming effect cannot be attributed to strategic behaviour of the participants as opposed to automatic preactivation processes in the lexical-conceptual system. The implications for studies using the picture-word interference task as a tool for investigating lexicalization processes in speech production are discussed.
Genetic variation in the humoral immune responses of mice to the nematode Trichuris muris

Summary Genetically based differences in the antibody responses to the large intestinal nematode Trichuris muris were studied in two groups of H–2 congenic strains of mice that differed in their relative resistance to infection with this parasite. The primary antibody response to parasite excretory/secretory (E/S) antigen was predominantly an IgG response with the strains forming two distinct groups, defined by their genetic background. The more susceptible B10 genetic background mice had strikingly higher antibody levels than mice of the BALB genetic background. Superimposed upon these background effects were clearly defined influences attributable to H–2–linked genes, strains which differed genetically only at H–2 loci exhibiting differences in the kinetics of the antibody response. Only B10.G and B10.BR mice showed any great increase in IgM levels post–infection. No IgA specific to E/S antigen was detected in the peripheral circulation of any strain at any time post–infection. Antibody responses to a 40–43 kD antigen revealed clear H–2–linked gene effects, with mice sharing the H–2k haplotype (B10.BR, BALB/K) exhibiting considerably higher total antibody levels than strains expressing other haplotypes; mice of the H–2d haplotype (BALB/c, B10.D2/n) responded very weakly to this antigen. A Western blot analysis of antigen recognition by antibody revealed similarities between the mouse strains in their total antibody responses to T. muris E/S antigen. However, immunoprecipitation studies showed that in general the more susceptible B10 congenic strains had wider spectra of antigen recognition than the BALB congenics. Strains sharing the same H–2 haplotype had dissimilar antigen recognition profiles, but strains sharing the H–2b haplotype (B10, BALB/B) recognized a low mol. wt antigen (20–23 kD) not recognized by any other strain, suggesting an exclusively H–2b restriction in the recognition of this antigen. These results support the conclusion that both H–2–linked and background genes play important roles in controlling the humoral immune response to T. muris infection.
The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt

The authors provide an empirical examination of the determinants of corporate debt maturity. Their evidence offers strong support for the contracting-cost hypothesis. Firms that have few growth options, are large, or are regulated have more long-term debt in their capital structure. The authors find little evidence that firms use the maturity structure of their debt to signal information to the market. The evidence is consistent, however, with the hypothesis that firms with larger information asymmetries issue more short-term debt. The authors find no evidence that taxes affect debt maturity. Copyright 1995 by American Finance Association.
Towards an optimised design of private complex services

This paper describes an approach for designing complex services for private, everyday life. Therefore, potentials and requirements of complex services as well as the possibilities and restrictions of creating such services are discussed. It is shown that the enhancement of already existing services through innovative mobile or ubiquitous components as well as the combination of these services can lead to offers of higher quality. This leads to first guidelines for the successful implementation of complex services concerning the increased mobility of private everyday life. Also, some potentials and requirements to be taken into consideration when developing complex services are discussed.
Labour Taxation in a Unionised Economy with Home Production

This paper investigates the impact of payroll taxes on unemployment and welfare in a model with household production and union firm wage bargaining. It turns out that unemployment, most likely, falls with a reduced payroll tax in the market sector producing household substitutes (service sector), although the taxation in the rest of the economy needs to be raised. From a welfare point of view, in the presence of lump-sum taxes, it is optimal to subsidise the service sector, and the subsidy should be greater the more market power the negotiating units in the service sector exert in the wage bargains. Moreover, welfare improves with a reduced service sector payroll tax that is financed with higher distortionary taxes in the rest of the economy, if the two sectors are equally labour intensive.
Phase II Evaluation of Phenoxodiol in Combination With Cisplatin or Paclitaxel in Women With Platinum/Taxane-Refractory/Resistant Epithelial Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancers

Introduction: Chemoresistance is a major limitation in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Phenoxodiol is a novel biomodulator capable of reversing chemoresistance in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we determined the safety and efficacy of intravenous phenoxodiol in combination with cisplatin or paclitaxel in women with platinum/taxane-refractory/resistant ovarian cancers. Methods: Thirty-two patients were randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms according to their previous responses: (1) platinum refractory/resistant, cisplatin (40 mg/m2 intravenous) weekly on day 2 + phenoxodiol (3 mg/kg) weekly on days 1 and 2 and (2) taxane refractory/resistant, paclitaxel (80 mg/m2 IV) weekly on day 2 and phenoxodiol (3 mg/kg) weekly on days 1 and 2. Patients continued on treatment until complete response, disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or voluntary withdrawal. Results: There were no treatment-related deaths. There was only one treatment-related hospitalization and 2 grade 4 toxicities. In the cisplatin arm, there were 3 partial responses, 9 patients (56%) achieved stable disease, 4 (25%) progressed, and the overall best response rate was 19%. In the paclitaxel arm, there was one complete response and 2 partial responses, 8 patients (53%) achieved stable disease, 4 patients (27%) progressed, and the overall best response rate was 20%. Discussion: The combination of IV phenoxodiol with cisplatin or paclitaxel was well tolerated in this study. Cisplatin-phenoxodiol was particularly active and warrants further study in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.