Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Expectations in Monetary Policy

Recent literature on monetary policy has emphasised the role of expectations and the merits of tying them down through credible commitment. However, although always in favour of reaping the benefits of having committed, Central Banks worry about the fact that in real time, it is not always easy to assume that they are in such a position. Decisions need to be taken then, under the assumption of predetermined expectations. We argue that in these circumstances, the provision of clear inflation objectives helps agents understand Central Bank objectives better and is thus beneficial to all.
Employee-Friendly Acquirers and Acquisition Performance

This paper investigates the relationship between the employee-friendly practices of the acquiring firm and the acquisition performance. I find a positive relationship between employee friendliness of the acquirer and acquisition performance. Employee friendliness of the acquirer is also positively linked to acquisition completion probabilities and completion speeds. The effect of employee-friendly policies on performance is stronger for human capital intensive firms. The positive relationship between employee friendliness and acquisition performance is robust to an alternative measure of employee friendliness and endogeneity corrections. The results reflect the importance of human capital and employee-related policies for the long-term success of an acquisition.
The RBC models through statistical inference: An application with french data

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the capacity of RBC models to mimic the French business cycle. We are thus led to investigate the three following assumptions on the labour market: (1) the non-time separability of leisure, (2) the indivisibility of labour and (3) the imperfect information on labour market and time-varying effort. Using the General Method of Moments, we estimate the structural parameters and we test (1) the model's hypothesis using a set of overidentifying restrictions and (2) the model's implications, i.e. its ability to reproduce the cyclical features of the French economy. Copyright 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Implementing Change in a Hospital Management Accounting System

A central aspect of the efforts to improve public healthcare systems often is a provider’s management accounting system (MAS). The article focuses on a change effort for a hospital’s MAS. The effort involved implementing low-cost information technology designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness in operating rooms. The article aims to identify and discuss the factors that led to the hospital’s success in achieving improved outcomes at lower costs via the improvement of its MAS. The analysis uses a theoretical framework that can assist managers to identify methods that can help to foster the factors needed for effective change implementation.
Fuzzy regions in an intrinsically disordered protein impair protein–protein interactions

Despite the partial disorder‐to‐order transition that intrinsically disordered proteins often undergo upon binding to their partners, a considerable amount of residual disorder may be retained in the bound form, resulting in a fuzzy complex. Fuzzy regions flanking molecular recognition elements may enable partner fishing through non‐specific, transient contacts, thereby facilitating binding, but may also disfavor binding through various mechanisms. So far, few computational or experimental studies have addressed the effect of fuzzy appendages on partner recognition by intrinsically disordered proteins. In order to shed light onto this issue, we used the interaction between the intrinsically disordered C‐terminal domain of the measles virus (MeV) nucleoprotein (NTAIL) and the X domain (XD) of the viral phosphoprotein as model system. After binding to XD, the N‐terminal region of NTAIL remains conspicuously disordered, with α‐helical folding taking place only within a short molecular recognition element. To study the effect of the N‐terminal fuzzy region on NTAIL/XD binding, we generated N‐terminal truncation variants of NTAIL, and assessed their binding abilities towards XD. The results revealed that binding increases with shortening of the N‐terminal fuzzy region, with this also being observed with hsp70 (another MeV NTAIL binding partner), and for the homologous NTAIL/XD pairs from the Nipah and Hendra viruses. Finally, similar results were obtained when the MeV NTAIL fuzzy region was replaced with a highly dissimilar artificial disordered sequence, supporting a sequence‐independent inhibitory effect of the fuzzy region.
Multi-path traffic engineering distributed VPLS routing algorithm

The paper proposes a multi-path routing algorithm to guarantee the bandwidth QoS requirements of point to multipoint (P2MP) virtual private LAN services (VPLS). The probability to find a single feasible path which satisfies a VPLS bandwidth requirement is low for connection requests with large bandwidth constraint requirements or when the network is congested Thus, the proposed algorithm divides the required constraint into sub-constraints and finds the minimum number of optimum P2MP paths that meet the sub-constraint requirement. Most of the work in the area of multi-path routing is focused on partitioning the traffic among multiple point to point (P2P) paths. The traffic is partitioned to reduce the network congestion or to adaptively balance the load among multiple paths based on the network status. The novelty of the proposed algorithm is that the algorithm finds the minimum number of paths that satisfy certain bandwidth QoS constraint. Additionally, the multi-path route is calculated to avoid the critical links of other ingress routers and balances the load by choosing paths with maximum residual bandwidth. The proposed algorithm performance is validated using extensive simulation. The results show that the algorithm is capable of increasing the number of admitted requests and improve the network resource utilization by avoiding critical links and choosing paths with maximum residual bandwidth.
ECB Policy Response to the Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate

The exchange rate is an important part of transmission mechanism in the determination of monetary policy because movements in the exchange rate have significant effect on the macroeconomy. Measuring the reaction of monetary policy to the movements in exchange rate has some difficulties due to the simultaneous response of monetary policy on the exchange rate and the possibility that both variables respond several other variables. This study will use an identification method based on the heteroscedasticity in the high-frequency data. In particular, shifts in the importance of exchange rate relative to monetary policy shocks, and the estimated changes in the covariance between the shocks that result, allow us to measure the reaction of interest rates to changes in exchange rates. This study comes up with unbiased estimates with heteroscedasticity based identification approach and results of this paper suggest that ECB systematically respond to the exchange rate movements but that quantitative effects are small. The empirical results indicate that a 1 point rise (fall) in the exchange rate tends to decrease (increase) the three-month interest rate by around 20 basis points. Small and negative reaction coefficient implies that ECB may respond to the movements in exchange rate only to the extent warranted by their impact on the macroeconomy, since it affects the expected inflation and future output path.
Spectral/Energy Efficiency Tradeoff of Cellular Systems With Mobile Femtocell Deployment

The mobile femtocell (MFemtocell) is a new concept that has been recently proposed to be a potential wireless communication technology for next-generation cellular systems. The essence of MFemtocell lies in adopting the femtocell technology inside vehicles such as trains, buses, or private cars to provide better coverage and a good Internet experience while on the move. In this paper, we investigate the spectral and energy efficiency for the MFemtocell-assisted network with different resource partitioning schemes. Closed-form expressions for the relationships between spectral efficiency and energy efficiency are derived for a link-level MFemtocell network. We also investigate the spectral efficiency for multiuser system-level MFemtocells with opportunistic scheduling schemes. Our analysis shows that MFemtocells can provide better spectral and energy efficiency compared with the direct transmission scheme.
Risk-Based Dynamic Asset Allocation With Extreme Tails and Correlations

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EEG classification for motor imagery BCI using phase-only features extracted by independent component analysis

The accurate classification of the electroencephalography (EEG) signals is the most important task towards the development of a reliable motor imagery brain-computer interface (MI-BCI) system. In this study, we utilized a publically available BCI Competition-IV 2008 dataset IIa. This study address to the binary classification problem of the motor imagery EEG data by using a sigmoid activation function-based extreme learning machines (ELM). We proposed a novel method of extracting the features from the EEG signals by first applying the independent component analysis (ICA) on the time series data and transforming the ICA time series data into Fourier domain and then extract the phase information from the Fourier spectrum. This phase information was further used to calculate the maximized cross-correlation connectivity matrix. The upper diagonal of this matrix was then vectorized and it serves as the basic feature for the ELM classification framework. By using the phase-only features we achieved 97.80% (p < 0.0022) nested cross-validated classification accuracy. In addition, this process is relatively computationally inexpensive. Thus, it can be an excellent candidate for the motor imagery BCI applications.
Forest disturbance and recovery: A general review in the context of spaceborne remote sensing of impacts on aboveground biomass and canopy structure

[1] Abrupt forest disturbances generating gaps >0.001 km 2 impact roughly 0.4–0.7 million km 2 a 1 . Fire, windstorms, logging, and shifting cultivation are dominant disturbances; minor contributors are land conversion, flooding, landslides, and avalanches. All can have substantial impacts on canopy biomass and structure. Quantifying disturbance location, extent, severity, and the fate of disturbed biomass will improve carbon budget estimates and lead to better initialization, parameterization, and/or testing of forest carbon cycle models. Spaceborne remote sensing maps large-scale forest disturbance occurrence, location, and extent, particularly with moderate- and fine-scale resolution passive optical/near-infrared (NIR) instruments. High-resolution remote sensing (e.g., 1 m passive optical/NIR, or small footprint lidar) can map crown geometry and gaps, but has rarely been systematically applied to study small-scale disturbance and natural mortality gap dynamics over large regions. Reducing uncertainty in disturbance and recovery impacts on global forest carbon balance requires quantification of (1) predisturbance forest biomass; (2) disturbance impact on standing biomass and its fate; and (3) rate of biomass accumulation during recovery. Active remote sensing data (e.g., lidar, radar) are more directly indicative of canopy biomass and many structural properties than passive instrument data; a new generation of instruments designed to generate global coverage/sampling of canopy biomass and structure can improve our ability to quantify the carbon balance of Earth’s forests. Generating a high-quality quantitative assessment of disturbance impacts on canopy biomass and structure with spaceborne remote sensing requires comprehensive, well designed, and well coordinated field programs collecting high-quality ground-based data and linkages to dynamical models that can use this information.
CAPM RISK ADJUSTMENT FOR EXACT AGGREGATION OVER FINANCIAL ASSETS

Barnett originated the Divisia monetary aggregates, which in continuous time exactly track any monetary aggregator function under perfect certainty. With user costs measuring the prices of the services of components, Barnett's aggregates are based on Francois Divisia's derivation of the Divisia line integral from the first-order conditions for optimizing behavior by economic agents under perfect certainty. We derive an extended Divisia index from the first-order conditions (Euler equations) that apply under risk. Our extended Divisia index is the first extension of index number theory into the domain of decision making under risk and thereby produces a route for the extension of all index number theory to permit non-risk-neutrality. We generate simulated data from a modeled rational consumer and investigate the tracking accuracy of the extended Divisia index to the consumer's exact aggregator function.
The foreign expansion of a service company: The case of ISS A/S

The internationalization of business increasingly is led by service sectors, particularly services based on highly skilled labour industries. This article explores a quite different range of services – those that employ low-skilled workers in labour-intensive services. The article is based on the case of ISS – International Service Systems – which over the past four decades has pursued an aggressive internationalization strategy. The article describes the foreign expansion history in the period from 1960 to the year 2000 that reflected the vision of top management in combination with the development of a unique business model. In order to explain its development, three theoretical frameworks are highlighted, and it is shown that the resource-based view offers a convincing frame of interpretation.
Active Form of Notch Members Can Enforce T Lymphopoiesis on Lymphoid Progenitors in the Monolayer Culture Specific for B Cell Development1

The in vitro induction of T lymphopoiesis needs the precise stereoscopic structure of thymus tissues as seen in fetal thymus organ culture. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that the introduction of the intracellular region of Notch1 can induce T cells expressing TCR without any thymic environment. In the coculture on the monolayer of OP-9, which was originally known to support B cell specific development, hemopoietic progenitors developed into Thy-1+CD25+ T lineage cells if the progenitor cells were infected with the retrovirus containing Notch1 intracellular domains. The Thy-1+ cells progressed to a further developmental stage, CD4 and CD8 double-positive cells expressing TCR on the cell surface, if they were further cultured on OP-9 or in the thymus. However, T cell induction by intracellular Notch1 failed unless both OP-9 and IL-7 were present. It is notable that Notch2 and Notch3 showed an effect on T lymphopoiesis similar to that of Notch1. These results indicate that in vitro T lymphopoiesis is inducible by signaling via Notch family members in a lineage-specific manner but shares other stroma-derived factors including IL-7 with B lymphopoiesis.
An empirical study on the interaction between EUA futures, coal, natural gas and electricity

This paper uses a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), a method to estimate the adjustment speed of variables toward their long-run relationship in the short run, to investigate the dynamic relationship between the prices of EUA, coal, natural gas and electricity futures. It finds that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between them. Short-run relationships between them are also revealed by impulse response analysis. The price of electricity futures has a positive short-run response to EUA futures price shocks. It also has a positive short-run response to the price of fossil fuel futures. Price shocks in EUA futures have a significant impact on fossil fuel prices, but fossil fuel prices have a small impact on EUA futures. The effect of price shocks in EUA and coal futures on the price of peak load electricity futures is smaller than that of the price of base load electricity futures.
Underpricing and Aftermarket Performance of IPO Firms in Mauritius

Initial public offering (IPO) financial strength measures are created to examine both the initial underpricing and aftermarket performance of firms in an emerging market. We find that the initial underpricing is positively related to financial strength as proxied by cash flow and sales. Since bond ratings do not exist in Mauritius, a return-to-risk meas ure and Altman's z-score serve as proxies for financial strength. Using these measures, the aftermarket performance results indicate that net income is more higbly valued for strong firms. When net income is separated into dividends and earnings retained, we find dividends are valued more highly than earnings retained for firms in Mauritius.
An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior Model for Tourists

The sufficiency of theory of planned behavior (TPB) is still being questioned although the model was validated in predicting a wide range of intentions and behaviors. Based on a comprehensive literature review, an extended TPB model of tourists was proposed to investigate relations among constructs of the model with the addition of motivation and actual behavior. An instrument was developed based on previous tourism and marketing studies as well as focus groups. A two-wave data collection was implemented, with data collected from 1,524 Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou residents in Stage 1 and 311 respondents from the same cohort in Stage 2. Results of the study demonstrated that the extended TPB model with tourist motivation fit the data relatively well, explaining 5% more of the variation in behavioral intention in comparison with a base model without motivation. However, the model with both tourist motivation and actual behavior was not tenable, despite a marginal relationship found between behavioral intention and actual tourist behavior using regression analysis. The findings warrant further research examining the predictive power of behavioral intention on actual behavior.
Word similarity-based Schema Matching and its application in Chinese mobile phone information integration

Schema Matching is one of the fundamental problems of many application fields of database, such as data integration, data warehousing, e-commerce and information sharing. The aim of schema matching is to find out semantic correspondence schema elements among disparate data source. This paper proposes a word similarity-based schema matching method which uses information of instances to find out the semantic mappings automatically. The application of the proposed method in Chinese mobile phone information integration problem shows its effectiveness in real applications.
Comparison of an SMS text messaging and phone reminder to improve attendance at a health promotion center: A randomized controlled trial

ObjectiveTo compare the efficacy of a short messaging service (SMS) text messaging and phone reminder to improve attendance rates at a health promotion center.MethodsA total of 1 859 participants who had scheduled appointments in the health promotion center of our hospital from April 2007 to May 2007 were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned into 3 groups: control (no reminder) group, SMS text messaging reminder group and telephone reminder group. Attendance rates and costs of interventions were collected.ResultsA total of 1848 participants were eligible for analysis. Attendance rates of control, SMS and telephone groups were 80.5%, 87.5% and 88.3%, respectively. The attendance rates were significantly higher in SMS and telephone groups than that in the control group, with odds ratio 1.698, 95% confidence interval 1.224 to 2.316, P=0.001 in the SMS group, and odds ratio 1.829, 95% confidence interval 1.333 to 2.509, P<0.001 in the telephone group. However, there was no difference between the SMS group and the telephone group (P=0.670). The cost effectiveness analysis showed that the cost per attendance for the SMS group (0.31 Yuan) was significantly lower than that for the telephone group (0.48 Yuan). ConclusionSMS and telephone are effective reminders for improving attendance rate at a health promotion center. SMS reminder may be more cost-effective compared with the telephone reminder.
Binarization: A Tool for Text Localization

This paper presents a novel procedure for localizing text on scene photos. It takes advantage of the fact that text should present some contrast in comparison with the background, in order to be distinguished by the human eye. A procedure of binarization is applied in order to create appropriate images for the text detection. The connected components of the image are extracted and some heuristic rules are applied in order to identify areas containing text. Finally, the overlaps are handled and the false detections are rejected. The method is evaluated using images of natural scene taken from the robust reading competition of ICDAR2011. The results are promising and some useful conclusions are drawn.
The Impacts of Hong Kong's Currency Board Reforms on the Interbank Market

Among the economies with a Currency Board System, Hong Kong is probably the one with (a) the largest and most developed financial sector, and (b) the highest capital mobility. Hence, studying Hong Kong's Currency Board System is not only crucial to Hong Kong, but also important for the understanding of the modern Currency Board System. This paper outlines the major monetary reforms in Hong Kong since the late 1980s. The impacts of these reforms and the 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis are then examined empirically. We focus on the differentials between the US and Hong Kong interbank interest rates. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models are used to capture the time-varying level and volatility of the differentials. In light of the empirical results we provide an assessment of the reforms in Hong Kong.
The role of women in peacemaking, conflict and rehabilitation management in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government of Rivers State, Nigeria

The basic energies common to all human beings have been directed in such a way that men seek power and women protect men from the consequences of excessive power. At the close of every war, destroyed communities have been rebuilt, and much of the physical labour of rebuilding is often heaped on women. Another activity traditionally expected of women is conflict resolution, since it is troublesome to go to war all the time. The old practice of marrying the daughters of one village to the sons of the next was a war avoidable strategy. Key words: Conflict, Elele, role of women, Nigeria, peace making.