Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Fiscal Shocks with Debt-Stabilizing Budgetary Policies in Italy

We study the effects of fiscal policy on macroeconomic developments in Italy over the period 1982-2010 with a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model. We include public debt and impose the government budget constraint in the estimation. In contrast with previous research we also include foreign demand, significantly improving estimation accuracy. We find that movements in debt induce stabilizing reactions in fiscal policy. In this context, expenditure and revenue shocks have significant effects on economic activity; these are stronger, as well as more precisely estimated and robust, for expenditure. Expenditure multipliers are higher when we exclude from our sample the initial years and, in particular, when we focus on the post-Maastricht period.
Testing Portfolio Efficiency When the Zero-Beta Rate Is Unknown: A Note

A lower bound on the distribution function of the likelihood ratio test of portfolio efficiency is derived. An empirical application demonstrates that the bound may sometimes be used to infer rejection of the null hypothesis without appeal to asymptotic statistical approximations. A procedure for incorporating partial information about the zero-beta intercept, in the multivariate framework, is also developed and applied. A FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM IN empirical finance is that of determining whether a given portfolio is on the mean-variance efficient frontier. From a normative perspective, a solution to this problem has relevance for any investor wishing to maximize expected portfolio return for a given level of risk. Since a number of equilibrium models, including the well-known Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), yield predictions that particular portfolios are efficient, the problem is also important from a positive economic perspective. Fama [3], Roll [9], and Ross [10] observe that the efficiency of a portfolio is equivalent to the existence of a positive linear relation between the expected returns of the component securities and their betas computad relative to the portfolio. If borrowing and lending at a known riskless rate, r, is assumed, then the "zero-beta" intercept in the linear relation must equal r, and the econometric analysis is greatly simplified. Gibbons, Ross, and Shanken [5] show that a transformation of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) statistic has an exact F distribution in this case, assuming joint normality of returns. The analysis is more complicated when the zero-beta intercept is unknown and must be treated as an additional parameter in the econometric specification. Shanken [11] introduces a multivariate "cross-sectional regression test" (CSRT) of efficiency for this case and derives an approximate sampling distribution for the test. An upper bound on the exact distribution functions of the CSRT and the LRT is also obtained.1 Under certain circumstances, this bound enables the researcher to infer, without appeal to asymptotic approximations, that the null hypothesis of efficiency cannot be rejected on the basis of the given statistics. In this paper, we present a complementary small-sample result. A lower bound on the distribution function of the LRT is derived which, in some cases, permits the researcher to infer that the null hypothesis should be rejected. An application involving the CRSP equal-weighted stock index illustrates the usefulness of the result.
Performance of open-loop MIMO precoders in the presence of a line-of-sight component

The performance of open-loop MIMO precoders is evaluated in the presence of a line-of-sight (LOS) component. Furthermore, the performance for the effect of the use of cross-polarized antennas is presented. The simulation results show that the proposed open-loop precoder works well even in the presence of the LOS with cross-polarized antennas.
An Approach to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis

Abstract Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition affecting many athletes. Anatomic and biomechanical factors combined with overuse can contribute to its genesis. Correction of gait disturbances, changes in footwear, use of tension night splints, and stretching of tight calf and plantar tissues have all be proven to relieve symptoms. Anti-inflammatory modalities, including medications, iontophoresis, and corticosteroid injection generally provide temporary improvement. Recent studies on the efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy are conflicting. Injections with platelet-rich plasma or sclerotic agents are currently under investigation for use in this and other similar conditions. A small percentage of patients with refractory symptoms may benefit from surgical release of the plantar fascia. Diagnosis and correction of biomechanical factors leading to this condition should be a mainstay of treatment and may prevent recurrences.
LEFT-ORDERABLE COMPUTABLE GROUPS

Abstract Downey and Kurtz asked whether every orderable computable group is classically isomorphic to a group with a computable ordering. By an order on a group, one might mean either a left-order or a bi-order. We answer their question for left-orderable groups by showing that there is a computable left-orderable group which is not classically isomorphic to a computable group with a computable left-order. The case of bi-orderable groups is left open.
Cochleovestibular Dysfunction in Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a rheumatic disease characterized by chronic inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functions of the cochlea and the vestibular system in patients with AS. The study group consisted of 32 patients with AS and 30 healthy volunteers as a control group. Otorhinolaryngologic examinations were performed in all patients together with pure-tone audiometry, speech tests, impedancemetry, transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) and electronystagmography (ENG). A significant difference was found between the 2 groups with regard to pure-tone averages at high frequencies in each ear (p < 0.05). The rates of reproducibility in TEOAE testing were significantly lower in patients with AS (p = 0.03). The signal-to-noise rates of the response values were lower at all frequencies in patients with AS, but a statistically significant difference was only observed at 2, 3 and 4 Hz (p < 0.05). ENG revealed pathologies in 11 patients with AS (34%), 8 of which were central (25%) and 3 of which were peripheral (9%). No correlation was found between cochleovestibular dysfunction and age, sex, disease duration, activity and medication taken. This study demonstrated that there is an association between AS and cochleovestibular dysfunction.
FYVE Domain Targets Pib1p Ubiquitin Ligase to Endosome and Vacuolar Membranes*

Signaling by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) is often mediated by proteins which bind PI3K products directly and are localized to intracellular membranes rich in PI3K products. The FYVE finger domain binds with high specificity to PtdIns(3)P and proteins containing this domain have been shown to be important components of diverse PI3K signaling pathways. The genome of the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae encodes five proteins containing FYVE domains, including Pib1p, whose function is unknown. In addition to a FYVE finger motif, the primary structure of Pib1p contains a region rich in cysteine and histidine residues that we demonstrate binds 2 mol eq of zinc, consistent with this region containing a RING structural domain. The Pib1p RING domain exhibited E2-dependent ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro, indicating that Pib1p is an E3 RING-type ubiquitin ligase. Fluorescence microscopy was used to demonstrate that a GFP-Pib1p fusion protein localized to endosomal and vacuolar membranes and deletional analysis of Pib1p domains indicated that localization of GFP-Pib1p is mediated solely by the FYVE domain. These results suggest that Pib1p mediates ubiquitination of a subset of cellular proteins localized to endosome and vacuolar membranes, and they expand the repertoire of PI3K-regulated pathways identified in eukaryotic cells.
Calcium-independent activation of contractile apparatus in smooth muscle by calyculin-A.

Calyculin-A (CL-A), a novel marine toxin isolated from Discodermia calyx, caused contraction in the smooth muscle of guinea pig taenia ceci and rat aorta in the presence or absence (with 1 mM ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid) of external Ca++ at concentrations ranging from 1 X 10(-8) to 1 X 10(-6) M. In the presence of external Ca++, the contraction induced by CL-A was accompanied by an increase in the cytosolic free Ca++ concentration [( Ca++]cyt) as measured by the fluorescence indicator fura-2. Verapamil (3 X 10(-6) M) inhibited the increase in [Ca++]cyt, but not tension development caused by CL-A. In the absence of external Ca++, CL-A still caused contraction without changing [Ca++]cyt. Thus, from studies with intact smooth muscle it was demonstrated that, in the absence of external Ca++, CL-A can induce a contraction that was not accompanied by an increase in [Ca++]cyt. In permeabilized taenia, CL-A caused contraction in the absence of Ca++ (with 2 mM ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)N,N'-tetraacetic acid) at concentrations similar to those required to contract intact tissue. This contraction was inhibited by the nonselective kinase inhibitors such as amiloride (1 X 10(-3) M) and K-252a (2 X 10(-5) M). Low concentrations of Ca++ (approximately 1 X 10(-6) M) augmented the CL-A-induced contraction in the permeabilized taenia. In native actomyosin prepared from chicken gizzard CL-A induced phosphorylation of the 20 kDa myosin light chain (MLC) in the absence of Ca++. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Earnings Management Around Share Repurchases: A Note

This work examines a subset of the important area of earnings management. Specifically, it seeks to identify the extent of earnings management preceding self-tender offers for a sample of U.S. firms. Pre-repurchase total accruals and discretionary current accruals were found to be somewhat lower for a sample of self-tendering firms compared to a sample of industry- and performance-matched control firms. Weak evidence of post-buyback accruals reversal is also presented. The evidence is weakly consistent with the notion that share repurchases are employed by managers to exploit shareholders through earnings management.
The Influence of Refractive Correction Upon Disorders of Vergence and Accommodation

Clinical care routinely includes prescription of lenses that compensate for the distance refractive error. Indeed, refractive correction is so commonly prescribed that we often neglect its potential effects on disorders of binocular vision. We report improvement of binocular function that resulted 1 or more months after prescription of an initial spectacle correction for 143 nonstrabismic patients who had a refractive error and either a vergence anomaly (28%), an accommodative anomaly (8%), or both (64%). Refractive correction was estimated objectively with an autorefractor and subjectively refined without cycloplegia. Most corrections were low to moderate in power, essentially following Orinda Study guidelines. Recovery of normal vergence and accommodative function varied according to refractive error type (79% of hyperopic astigmats recovered; 20% of myopes recovered), direction of astigmatic axes (67% recovered who had against-the-rule; 45% with with-the-rule recovered), age (63% below age 12 years recovered; 41% older than age 13 years recovered), and vergence anomaly (67% of patients with fusional vergence dysfunction recovered; 38% of those with basic exophoria recovered). These results suggest that improvement in acuity is not the only reason for prescription of a refractive correction—prescription of even small corrections should be considered as these can dramatically improve vergence and accommodative function for many patients.
Tariffs, Quality Choice, and Cost Functions: A Foreign Monopoly Case

It has been shown that trade restrictions such as tariffs, import quotas, and voluntary export restrictions, lead to quality upgrading of imports. In this paper, however, we reconsider this proposition by focusing on the nature of cost functions. Based on a standard vertical differentiation model, we analyze the effects of tariffs on quality and quantity of imports. We show that if a fixed cost is an increasing function of quality, tariffs lead to quality downgrading of imports. Moreover, we discuss minimum quality requirements (MQR) for such a trade policy. We show that MQR increases the amount of imports and an importing country's welfare in the presence of the fixed cost function. These issues will be addressed in the context of a foreign monopoly.
Fabrication, assembly, failure estimations of for ultra-thin chips stacking by using pre-molding technology

To overcome the severe challenges of achieving an extra-thin thickness down to 10 μm for chip stacking of 3D-IC module such as the mechanical damages appear at chip grinding, subsequent steps of wafer handling, and robust assembly, a novel pre-molding technology applied to assembled stacked module prior to chip thinning procedure is presented in this study. Packaging vehicle is fabricated to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed approach. Moreover, failure estimation and mechanical reliability are also implemented by using a 3D nonlinear finite element analysis.
Structural Order and Staebler–Wronski Effect in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films and Solar Cells

The structure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films is investigated by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Raman spectroscopy probes the phonon density of states, whereas X-ray diffraction measures the distribution of the electron density. Yet, both methods can yield information on the microstructure of the material represented by certain parameters like, e.g., the position or the width of the transverse optical phonon or the width of the first scattering peak. Interdependences between these parameters are investigated and evaluated. A correlation was found between the structural disorder and the relative efficiency loss caused by the Staebler-Wronski effect for intrinsic films applied as absorbing layers in solar cells. This correlation could be used to estimate the solar cell degradation without time-consuming light-soaking experiments.
Two-dimensional position and orientation tracking of micro-robot with a webcam

This paper proposes a 2D position and orientation tracking method of a micro-robot based on vision recognition. Position tracking is easy and simple, but the orientation of the micro-robot is hard to correctly recognize because the micro-robot is small and symmetrical. Since the orientation of the micro-robot is closely related to propulsion direction, it is necessary to recognize the orientation to accurately control the micro-robot. In this paper, the vision-based recognition result for orientation is compensated by expecting the direction of magnetic field from the Helmholtz coil currents.
Does ICT capital affect economic growth in the EU-15 and EU-12 countries?

The paper examines economic growth in old and new member countries of the European Union (EU-15 and EU-12) during the years of 1994-2000 and 2001-2008 mainly due to changes in information and communication technology (ICT) capital development. The first group EU-15 is presented by old EU countries and the second group EU-12 is presented by new member countries that joined the EU in 2004-2007. The threefactor Cobb-Douglas production function is estimated through the panel general least squares method. The input factors that might influence the economic growth are labour, ICT capital services and non-ICT capital services. Since ICT capital growth data are not available for all selected economies, the groups of countries were reduced to EU-14 and EU-7. The estimated panel production functions confirmed that the average growth of GDP in the EU-7 countries was supported by the stable growth of labour quantity and ICT-capital and increasing total factor productivity. A short-term drop in non-ICT capital growth with follow-up stagnation was caused rather by lower labour productivity. The research discovered that the drop in GDP growth in the EU-14 countries was a result of the slower growth of non-ICT capital and total factor productivity and the stagnated growth of ICT capital with low elasticity, and showed that even the compensation of growth in labour quality did not prevent a decrease in total factor productivity and economic growth.
Economic Theory of the «Second Worst»

Concepts like rational expectations, workable competition, bounded rationality and the second best are often used informally to suggest that imperfectly competitive market outcomes normally are very good and that it is sometimes appropriate to restrict competition further to achieve even better results. Paul Samuelson’s optimal neoclassical analysis adds plausibility to the inference, but the presumption is profoundly misleading because real markets are bounded rational and corrupt. In Herbert Simon’s satisficing framework expanded to include vicious behavior, second bests are more plausibly interpreted as «second worsts» and comparative merit must be determined with Abram Bergson’s social welfare functions rather than by appeal to the Pareto ideal.
Sum Rate Maximization of D2D Communications in Cognitive Radio Network Using Cheating Strategy

This paper focuses on the cheating algorithm for device-to-device (D2D) pairs that reuse the uplink channels of cellular users. We are concerned about the way how D2D pairs are matched with cellular users (CUs) to maximize their sum rate. In contrast with Munkres’ algorithm which gives the optimal matching in terms of the maximum throughput, Gale-Shapley algorithm ensures the stability of the system on the same time and achieves a men-optimal stable matching. In our system, D2D pairs play the role of “men,” so that each D2D pair could be matched to the CU that ranks as high as possible in the D2D pair’s preference list. It is found by previous studies that, by unilaterally falsifying preference lists in a particular way, some men can get better partners, while no men get worse off. We utilize this theory to exploit the best cheating strategy for D2D pairs. We find out that to acquire such a cheating strategy, we need to seek as many and as large cabals as possible. To this end, we develop a cabal finding algorithm named RHSTLC, and also we prove that it reaches the Pareto optimality. In comparison with other algorithms proposed by related works, the results show that our algorithm can considerably improve the sum rate of D2D pairs.
Task-dependent early latency (30–60 ms) visual processing of human faces and other objects

Electrophysiological responses to previously seen faces reportedly differ from those to novel faces at shorter latencies than generally associated with complex visual analysis. It is unclear, however, whether such observations are unique to faces, and which stages of visual processing they reflect. MEG was used in 21 normal adults to record neural responses to images of faces, other objects and abstract patterns presented individually as part of a classification task and in sequential pairs as part of an image comparison task. The amplitudes of the short latency responses (30–60 ms) to the first image in pairs of faces were significantly greater than the responses to both the second faces and the individual face images. These early responses were recorded over predominantly right hemisphere parietal and occipito-temporal cortical regions including areas that, at longer latencies, have been associated with face specific activity. The differences in the responses within pairs were less for non-face objects and absent for abstract geometrical patterns. No early neuronal activity was observed in the classification task. The results indicate the existence of early latency neural networks that are sensitive to both stimulus type and task and are strongly activated by faces.
Passive leg raising is predictive of fluid responsiveness in spontaneously breathing patients with severe sepsis or acute pancreatitis*

Objective:Rapid fluid loading is standard treatment for hypovolemia. Because volume expansion does not always improve hemodynamic status, predictive parameters of fluid responsiveness are needed. Passive leg raising is a reversible maneuver that mimics rapid volume expansion. Passive leg raising-induced changes in stroke volume and its surrogates are reliable predictive indices of volume expansion responsiveness for mechanically ventilated patients. We hypothesized that the hemodynamic response to passive leg raising indicates fluid responsiveness in nonintubated patients without mechanical ventilation. Design:Prospective study. Setting:Intensive care unit of a general hospital. Patients:We investigated consecutive nonintubated patients, without mechanical ventilation, considered for volume expansion. Interventions:We assessed hemodynamic status at baseline, after passive leg raising, and after volume expansion (500 mL 6% hydroxyethyl starch infusion over 30 mins). Measurements and Main Results:We measured stroke volume using transthoracic echocardiography, radial pulse pressure using an arterial catheter, and peak velocity of femoral artery flow using continuous Doppler. We calculated changes in stroke volume, pulse pressure, and velocity of femoral artery flow induced by passive leg raising (respectively, &Dgr;stroke volume, &Dgr;pulse pressure, and &Dgr;velocity of femoral artery flow). Among 34 patients included in this study, 14 had a stroke volume increase of ≥15% after volume expansion (responders). All patients included in the study had severe sepsis (n = 28; 82%) or acute pancreatitis (n = 6; 18%). The &Dgr;stroke volume ≥10% predicted fluid responsiveness with sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 90%. The &Dgr;pulse pressure ≥9% predicted fluid responsiveness with sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 85%. The &Dgr;velocity of femoral artery flow ≥8% predicted fluid responsiveness with sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 80%. Conclusions:Changes in stroke volume, radial pulse pressure, and peak velocity of femoral artery flow induced by passive leg raising are accurate and interchangeable indices for predicting fluid responsiveness in nonintubated patients with severe sepsis or acute pancreatitis.
Leading higher education professionals: local, connected, and artful

In this paper, we explore the work life of a scholar new to academia in her methods of leading informally. We discuss five vignettes that offer moments of learning and reflection, including reducing performance anxiety, privileging financial accountability, the rise of the virtual world, the impact of silence, and the potential for confrontation to strengthen working relationships. We offer suggestions as to how contemporary leaders may adapt to the freedom that artful action offers.
Complex-valued computational model of hippocampal CA3 recurrent collaterals

Complex planes are known to simplify the complexity of real world problems, providing a better comprehension of their functionality and design. The need for complex numbers in both artificial and biological neural networks is equally well established. In the latter, complex numbers allows neuroscientists to consider and analyze the phase component of brain oscillations occurring during chains of action potentials. This paper implements complex-valued weights and inputs in the real valued recurrent collaterals model introduced by Káli & Dayan for the CA3 region of the hippocampus, with equations appropriately modified to include the phase component. Complex models can generally be implemented by solving the real and complex parts separately resulting from solving the model equations twice. This implementation is simulated here and the results demonstrate the model's potential utility for further mathematical and neurobiological analysis to define a proper phase function which oscillates in the theta frequency range.