Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Influences U.S. International Equity Investment: Equity or Currency Returns?*

We address a number of questions raised by the Curcuru, Thomas, Warnock, and Wongswan (2010) findings that within their foreign equity portfolios U.S. investors reallocate away from past winners and into markets that subsequently perform well. First, when separating U.S. dollar returns into their underlying components, we find that reallocations within U.S. investors‘ foreign equity portfolios are not related to past or prospective changes in exchange rates, but are related to returns in the underlying equity markets; U.S. investors rebalance away from equity markets that recently performed well, and move into equity markets market just prior to relatively strong performance. Second, the reallocations do not actually lead to stronger portfolio performance, because picking a market that subsequently does well is not the same as picking the best market. Third, conclusions about U.S. investors‘ global equity portfolios are more difficult to make, in part because tests for that portfolio lack power, although those portfolios did outperform value-weighted global equity benchmarks by over 200 basis points per year over the past two decades.
A Multi-Priority Application Framework For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

The fast spread of small wireless computers has enabled the design and deployment of wireless Ad Hoc networks. Typical applications proposed for such networks include both Real Time and Non-Real Time applications. We propose an architecture that provides a complete framework for Real Time applications and Best Effort traffic. The proposed architecture comprises of an Ad Hoc Routing Protocol for route setup and route repair, a Bandwidth Allocation and Reservation Scheme for Real Time traffic, and a MAC layer protocol that provides traffic differentiation. The Admission Control module is used to admit or reject a new Real Time flow request depending upon bandwidth availability along the route. The Rate Policing Protocol is used to reduce the flow rate of Best Effort traffic in order to make room for new Real Time flows. The bandwidth availability along a route is provided through Hello packets to the network layer, which, in turn, finds a suitable route for Real Time applications. The concept of Local Route Repair is also introduced to repair a route that might have been broken due to node mobility.
Decreased Nocturnal Catecholamine Excretion: Parameter for an Overtraining Syndrome in Athletes?*

The effectiveness of high performance training should be examined at short intervals in order to recognize overtraining promptly. Field or laboratory tests can usually not be performed with such frequency. Easy-to-measure biological, training-relevant parameters are being sought to use in their place. Since the importance of the sympathetic nervous system for adaptation of stress and the relationship between physical training and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system are well accepted, and since an impairment of the sympathetic nervous system is assumed in an overtraining syndrome, we examined the relevance of nocturnal "basal" urinary excretion of free catecholamines with respect to its practical application: 1. during a pilot study (training of road and track cyclists before the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul), 2. through a 4-week prospective, experimental study in 1989 and 1990 (middle- and long-distance runners), 3. during the competitive season and winter break of a soccer team between August 1990 and April 1991. The following hypothesis was made: An overtraining or exhaustion syndrome in athletes may usually be accompanied by at least a 50% decrease in basal dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline excretion. When training is effective or the athletes are not exhausted, the decrease of the excretion rate--with the exception of dopamine--is more likely to be lower (noradrenaline, adrenaline). Generalization of these results requires further expansion of the experimental basis.
Selective Dry Cow Therapy: the effect of different selection criteria on costs, antibiotic use and mastitis infections at Dutch dairy farms

3 2. Introduction 4 3. Material and methods 6 3.1 Model overview 6 Simulation phase 7 Optimization phase 8 3.2 Model parameterization 9 Classification of the animals 9 Risk of mastitis 10 Antibiotic use 12 Economic costs 13 3.3 Scenarios 13 Simulation phase 13 Optimization phase 15 Antibiotic restriction 15 Increasing and decreasing risk 15 4. Results 16 4.1 Scenarios 16 Antibiotic restriction 18 Increasing and decreasing risk 22 5. Discussion 25 6. Conclusion 28 Acknowledgements 29 References 30 Appendix 1 32 Appendix 2 35 Appendix 3 38 Appendix 4 41 Appendix 5 42 Appendix 6 43 Appendix 7 44 Appendix 8 47 Appendix 9 48 Appendix 10 49
Atrial Switch Operation in the Current Era

Although rarely performed today, atrial switch operations continue to have an important role in the management of some forms of congenital heart disease. In developing countries, delayed diagnosis and presentation of patients with transposition of the great arteries is not uncommon. For some patients who are referred for surgery beyond the newborn period, the atrial switch operations are still considered to be the best option. Also, as part of surgical repair of congenitally corrected transposition, an atrial switch operation is combined with arterial switch or the Rastelli procedure as an alternative to physiologic repair. In isolated ventricular inversion (atrioventricular discordance with ventriculoarterial concordance), the atrial switch operation alone leads to complete anatomical correction. Finally, management of late complications of atrial switch operations requires a thorough understanding of the procedures.
The prevalence and predictors of self-stigma of individuals with mental health illness in two Chinese cities

Background: Although self-stigma is found to have adverse effects on the lives of persons with mental illness, little is known on the self-stigma of these individuals in Chinese societies. Objective: This research study explores the prevalence rate and predicting factors of self-stigma of consumers in two Chinese cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Methods: A cross-sectional research design is adopted which involves a random sample of 266 consumers from Hong Kong and a convenient sample of 208 consumers from Guangzhou. These individuals have been assessed in terms of their self-stigma, recovery, self-esteem and quality of life by using standardized assessment scales. Results: In all, 38.3% of the Hong Kong participants and 49.5% of the Guangzhou participants report to have self-stigma. Also, self-stigma is found to be negatively related to self-esteem and quality of life. A logistic regression analysis shows that hope and well-being are predicting factors of self-stigma. Conclusion: Self-stigma is found to be higher in Guangzhou, probably due to the influence of traditional cultural values. Also, as hope and well-being are found to be predicting factors of self-stigma, suitable recovery-orientated interventions that facilitate hope and well-being should be developed so as to reduce self-stigma of consumers in Chinese societies.
Technical, Perceptual and Motor Skills in Novice-Expert Water Polo Players: An Individual Discriminant Analysis for Talent Development

Abstract D'Ercole, AA, D'Ercole, C, Gobbi, M, and Gobbi, F. Technical,Perceptual and Motor Skills in Novice-Expert Water Polo Players: An Individual Discriminant Analysis for Talent Development. J Strength Cond Res 27(12): 3436–3444, 2013—The 4 tasks (A, B, C, and Y) have the characteristic of containing one more element than the task performed before it. In fact, task B introduces the slalom which is not present in task A. Task C introduces the ball control that are not present in tasks A and B, whereas task Y introduces the slalom and ball control in a visual dual task situation developed in horizontal swimming over a distance of 20 m at maximum speed. This exercise not included in task C. These tasks were performed by a group of pre-adolescent players and national under 18 water polo players. The novice players showed that tasks B and C are predictors of task Y. Such characteristics were not present in the expert players. The novice players also had difficulty in performing task Y because of the visual-attention overload, a difficulty that was not present in the expert players. To improve the 4 skills, the coach of the novice players developed a technical-didactic program, which was checked 6 months after the pretest. The posttest was not significantly different from the pretest while the individual discriminant analysis identified the improvements in some novice players, which on elaboration proved significant, enabling us to distinguish 2 subgroups, one with higher learning rates and the other with lower learning rates. In the practical applications, we describe the didactic tools (task analysis) and the different levels of development of technical skills in water polo. Improvements in these skills are explained through computational models like the HMOSAIC (Hierarchical, Modular, Selection and Identification for Control) while the individual discriminant analysis enables us to do a longitudinal analysis that is not possible with cross-sectional models.
Improving EMR System Adoption in Canadian Medical Practice: A Research Model

Fewer than one in four Canadian doctors use electronic medical record (EMR) systems, although almost all have some form of computer for scheduling and billing purposes. As a result, patient clinical records are mostly on paper, and are scattered and often inaccessible in doctors’ offices, clinics, test centres, labs, and hospitals. To properly care for their patients, primary care practitioners must have access to all their relevant medical records. If these are in digital form, they can be stored and readily accessed on EMR systems. If they are not, there are often significant delays, duplication of effort, and even inaccuracy in diagnosing problems. Insufficient adoption of EMR systems is a highly complex problem that has not been addressed adequately in a comprehensive manner. There are many interdependent factors that influence adoption and these must be considered simultaneously. The objective of this proposed research is to develop and validate statistically a comprehensive theoretical model of EMR adoption through a national survey of users, to attempt to explain why medical practices in Canada have tended to be slow in adopting electronic medical records and related systems. This paper describes that model and its basis, including the methodology that will be used to analyze the data.
Cholesterol efflux by high density lipoproteins is impaired in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis

Objectives Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) is a major antiatherogenic function of high density lipoprotein (HDL). In the current work, the authors evaluated whether the RCT capacity of HDL from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is impaired when compared to healthy controls. Methods HDL was isolated from 40 patients with RA and 40 age and sex matched healthy controls. Assays of cholesterol efflux, HDL's antioxidant function and paraoxanase-1 (PON-1) activity were performed as described previously. Plasma myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was assessed by a commercially available assay. Results Mean cholesterol efflux capacity of HDL was not significantly different between RA patients (40.2%±11.1%) and controls (39.5%±8.9%); p=0.75. However, HDL from RA patients with high disease activity measured by a disease activity score using 28 joint count (DAS28>5.1), had significantly decreased ability to promote cholesterol efflux compared to HDL from patients with very low disease activity/clinical remission (DAS28<2.6). Significant correlations were noted between cholesterol efflux and the DAS28 (r=−0.39, p=0.01) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, (r=−0.41, p=0.0009). Higher plasma MPO activity was associated with worse HDL function (r=0.41/p=0.009 (antioxidant capacity); r=0.35, p=0.03 (efflux)). HDL's ability to promote cholesterol efflux was modestly but significantly correlated with its antioxidant function (r=−0.34, p=0.03). Conclusions The cholesterol efflux capacity of HDL is impaired in RA patients with high disease activity and is correlated with systemic inflammation and HDL's antioxidant capacity. Attenuation of HDL function, independent of HDL cholesterol levels, may suggest a mechanism by which active RA contributes to increased cardiovascular (CV) risk.
Research Paper: Association Rules and Data Mining in Hospital Infection Control and Public Health Surveillance

Objectives: The authors consider the problem of identifying new, unexpected, and interesting patterns in hospital infection control and public health surveillance data and present a new data analysis process and system based on association rules to address this problem. Design: The authors first illustrate the need for automated pattern discovery and data mining in hospital infection control and public health surveillance. Next, they define association rules, explain how those rules can be used in surveillance, and present a novel process and system—the Data Mining Surveillance System (DMSS)—that utilize association rules to identify new and interesting patterns in surveillance data. Results: Experimental results were obtained using DMSS to analyze Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection control data collected over one year (1996) at University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. Experiments using one-, three-, and six-month time partitions yielded 34, 57, and 28 statistically significant events, respectively. Although not all statistically significant events are clinically significant, a subset of events generated in each analysis indicated potentially significant shifts in the occurrence of infection or antimicrobial resistance patterns of P. aeruginosa . Conclusion: The new process and system are efficient and effective in identifying new, unexpected, and interesting patterns in surveillance data. The clinical relevance and utility of this process await the results of prospective studies currently in progress.
A Framework for the Information Classification in ISO 27005 Standard

Information Security Risk Management (ISRM) process involves several activities to conduct a risk management (RM) task in an organization. ISRM activities require access to various information related to the organization. An organization often needs to share information related to an ISRM process with the stakeholders involved in the activity. Therefore, it is important to manage the information which is critical to the operations of the organization. The presence of an information classification scheme can enable the proper handling of the information involved in the RM task. We selected ISO/IEC27005:2011 risk management standard to assess various information generated during the process of applying this standard in an organization. The purpose of this study is to propose a framework to show various information objects involved in ISO27005 risk management standard and classify the information based on the guideline provided by UNINETT scheme. A case scenario of a health clinic is developed to identify ISRM related information objects using the proposed framework and classify the information using UNINETT scheme.
A chronometric model of the relationship between frontal midline theta functional connectivity and human intelligence.

Individual differences in cognitive control have been suggested to act as a domain-general bottleneck constraining performance in a variety of cognitive ability measures, including but not limited to fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and processing speed. However, owing to psychometric problems associated with the measurement of individual differences in cognitive control, it has been challenging to empirically test the assumption that individual differences in cognitive control underlie individual differences in cognitive abilities. In the present study, we addressed these issues by analyzing the chronometry of intelligence-related differences in midfrontal global theta connectivity, which has been shown to reflect cognitive control functions. We demonstrate in a sample of 98 adults, who completed a cognitive control task while their electroencephalogram was recorded, that individual differences in midfrontal global theta connectivity during stages of higher-order information-processing explained 65% of the variance in fluid intelligence. In comparison, task-evoked theta connectivity during earlier stages of information processing was not related to fluid intelligence. These results suggest that more intelligent individuals benefit from an adaptive modulation of theta-band synchronization during the time-course of information processing. Moreover, they emphasize the role of interregional goal-directed information-processing for cognitive control processes in human intelligence and support theoretical accounts of intelligence, which propose that individual differences in cognitive control processes give rise to individual differences in cognitive abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
A Simple and Effective Dependency Parser for Telugu

We present a simple and effective dependency parser for Telugu, a morphologically rich, free word order language. We propose to replace the rich linguistic feature templates used in the past approaches with a minimal feature function using contextual vector representations. We train a BERT model on the Telugu Wikipedia data and use vector representations from this model to train the parser. Each sentence token is associated with a vector representing the token in the context of that sentence and the feature vectors are constructed by concatenating two token representations from the stack and one from the buffer. We put the feature representations through a feedforward network and train with a greedy transition based approach. The resulting parser has a very simple architecture with minimal feature engineering and achieves state-of-the-art results for Telugu.
Exploring the Decision Process of School Leavers' and 'Mature Students' in University Choice

ABSTRACT Education services are an important social and economic element of Australian society. For example, at any one time, more than one in three Australians is a student. Further, educational institutions employ 7% of the Australian workforce, and the production of education is valued at more than 6% of Gross Domestic Product (Gatfield 1998). Similarly, industry and governments regularly spend more than $20 billion on education each year (Burke 1992). Thus, this area of university choice is important to the continued development of the Australian economy and society. With an increasing proportion of the Australian population being given the chance to attend university, educators and marketers in the sector are faced with a diverse mix of Mature and School Leaver entrants. Where the institution is newly formed, or undergoing change, the problems associated with attracting and keeping students are increased. Thus, this research specifically addressed the important issue: 'are there any differences between how Mature entrants and those who have just left school undertake the decision to attend a new University.
Customer Expertise

Abstract Customer expertise is a little-known issue. Still, it is of a great importance in customer relation shipman agement. Customer expertise changes during long-term relation ships, and, most importantly novice customershave differentre quirements and expectations than experts. If the selling company anticipates the development of customer expertise and is capable of adjusting its offering accordingly during customer relationships, a long-term competitive advantage can be achieved.
Robust camera parameter estimation using genetic algorithm

We propose a genetic algorithm based approach to determine the external parameters of the camera from the knowledge of a given set of points in object space. We study the effect of noise and presence of outliers, resulting from incorrect correspondences between the object space points and the image space points, on the estimation of three translation parameters and two rotational parameters of a camera. The average of the magnitudes of the translation errors varies from 2.25 cm. to 5 mm. and the average of the magnitudes of the rotational errors varies from 0.9 degree to 0.25 degree at 20 dB SNR. The error in parameter estimation is insignificant up to 3 pairs of mismatched points out of 20 points in object space and skyrockets when 4 or more pairs of points are mismatched. These results have clearly established the robustness of genetic algorithm in external camera parameter estimation.
Multiplexed coherent optical processor for calculating generalized moments.

A coherent optical processor capable of calculating generalized moments of a two-dimensional pattern is described. A spatial-frequency multiplexing scheme is used to provide for parallel computation of multiple moments. The use of a computer-generated holographic mask permits complete flexibility in choosing moment-generating functions; e.g., the functions could be complex or have a predetermined weighting function. Experimentally, calculation of five geometric moments (corresponding to x, y, xy, x(2), and y(2)) is demonstrated for simple objects. The special features of the proposed coherent optical processor and its space-bandwidth requirements are also discussed.
Effects of multisensory and motor stimulation on the behavior of people with dementia

A quasi-experimental study using a pre–posttest design was conducted in four aged care facilities to assess the effects of a person-centred care (PCC) multisensory stimulation (MSS) and motor stimulation (MS) program, implemented by direct care workers, on the behaviors of residents with dementia. Data were collected at baseline and after the intervention through video recordings of morning care routines. Forty-five residents with moderate and severe dementia participated in the study. A total of 266 morning care routines were recorded. The frequency and duration of a list of behaviors were analyzed. The frequency of engagement in task decreased significantly (p = .002) however, its duration increased (p = .039). The duration of gaze directed at direct care workers improved significantly (p = .014) and the frequency of closed eyes decreased (p = .046). There was a significant decrease in the frequency of the expression of sadness. These results support the implementation of PCC–MSS and MS programs as they may stimulate residents’ behaviors.
Optimal Power Flow by Newton Approach

The classical optimal power flow problem with a nonseparable objective function can be solved by an explicit Newton approach. Efficient, robust solutions can be obtained for problems of any practical size or kind. Solution effort is approximately proportional to network size, and is relatively independent of the number of controls or binding inequalities. The key idea is a direct simultaneous solution for all of the unknowns in the Lagrangian function on each iteration. Each iteration minimizes a quadratic approximation of the Lagrangian. For any given set of binding constraints the process converges to the Kuhn-Tucker conditions in a few iterations. The challenge in algorithm development is to efficiently identify the binding inequalities.
Minimum Quality Standards and Exports

This paper studies the interaction of a minimum quality standard and exports in a vertical product differentiation model when firms sell global products. If exante quality of foreign firms is lower (higher) than the quality of exporting firms, a mild minimum quality standard in the home market hinders (supports) exports. The minimum quality standard increases quality in both markets. A welfare maximizing minimum quality standard is always lower under trade than under autarky. A Minimum quality standard reduces profits for the exporting firm. It increases domestic welfare, but reduces welfare in the export market.