Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The general public's support for forest policy in Sweden: a value belief approach

In the present study, the legitimacy of the forest policy in Sweden was explored. Based on a value belief approach, the general public's support for forest policy was examined by means of a questionnaire (n = 796). Results demonstrated that the respondents believed ecological principles, such as sustaining natural conditions for native plants and animals, were most important in forest policy, but preservation of social values and using the forest efficiently to maintain high market value were also emphasised. Although socio-demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) had some impact on support for the policy, different values and beliefs reflecting ecological, social and economic interests were more important. By considering different values and beliefs, as well as policy support explicitly, the study provides a multifaceted account of the public's viewpoint regarding forest issues.
Conglomerate Structure and Capital Market Timing

We examine the effects of keiretsu structure on capital market timing. Keiretsu groups offer a hybrid structure between fully integrated conglomerates and stand alone firms. We find that past market conditions affect the capital structure of keiretsu firms more than they affect the capital structure of unaffiliated firms. The decision to issue equity is more correlated with market conditions for keiretsu members than it is for unaffiliated firms. The stock returns of keiretsu firms following the issuance of equity decrease with the size of the issuance. These results suggest that keiretsu members time the issuance of equity more so than stand alone firms.
The Effect of Tonsillectomy Alone in Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of tonsillectomy as a single procedure in the treatment of adult obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Study Design Prospective multi-institutional study evaluating adults with tonsillar hypertrophy scheduled to undergo tonsillectomy as an isolated surgery. Setting Tertiary care medical centers within the US Department of Defense. Subjects and Methods Adult subjects with tonsillar hypertrophy who were already scheduled for tonsillectomy were enrolled from October 2010 to July 2013. Subjects underwent physical examination, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Berlin Questionnaire, and polysomnogram before surgery and after. Collected data included demographics, questionnaire scores, apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), and lowest saturation of oxygen. Results A total of 202 consecutive subjects undergoing tonsillectomy were enrolled. The final analysis included 19 subjects testing positive for OSA. The mean age was 27.9 years; mean body mass index, 29.6; median tonsil size, 3; and most frequent Friedman stage, 1. The AHI before surgery ranged from 5.4 to 56.4 events per hour. The mean AHI decreased from 18.0 to 3.2 events per hour after surgery, a reduction of 82%. The responder rate—with subjects achieving at least a 50% reduction of AHI to a value <15—was 94.7%. Following tonsillectomy, there were statistically significant reductions in median lowest saturation of oxygen level and Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Berlin scores. Conclusions Adult tonsillectomy alone has beneficial effect in OSA management, particularly in young overweight men with large tonsils, moderate OSA, and low Friedman stage.
Coordination and Behaviour Integration in Cooperating Simulated Robots

This paper shows how a group of evolved physicallylinked robots are able to display a variety of highly coordinated basic behaviours (coordinated motion, coordinated obstacle avoidance, coordinated light approaching) and to integrate such behaviours into a single coherent behaviour. In this way the group is capable of searching and approaching a light target in an environment scattered with obstacles, furrows, and holes and of dynamically changing its shape in order to pass through narrow passages. The paper analyses in detail the emerged basic behaviours and shows how the coordination of the group relies upon robust self-organising principles based on a traction sensor that allows the single robots to perceive the “average” direction of motion of the rest of the group.
Overbuilding in office markets: Are behavioural aspects important?

The purpose of this paper is to apply behavioural theories on the decision-makers in theoffice-building sector. The market has a well-known feature of cycles of production. This cansometimes lead to overbuilding. This paper tries to illuminate the problem with overbuildingby using economic behavioural theory developed the last 25 years. We have formulated sixpossible behavioural explanations for overbuilding. The method we have used is partly byinterviewing investors about specific projects and partly by a survey, which was sent out toindependent persons that has followed the office market for a long time. Our results indicatethat myopic behaviour and sunk cost fallacy have influenced decision makers.
Pooling in Dynamic Panel-Data Models: An Application to Forecasting GDP Growth Rates

In this article, we analyze issues of pooling models for a given set of N individual units observed over T periods of time. When the parameters of the models are different but exhibit some similarity, pooling may lead to a reduction of the mean squared error of the estimates and forecasts. We investigate theoretically and through simulations the conditions that lead to improved performance of forecasts based on pooled estimates. We show that the superiority of pooled forecasts in small samples can deteriorate as the sample size grows. Empirical results for postwar international real gross domestic product growth rates of 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries using a model put forward by Garcia-Ferrer, Highfield, Palm, and Zellner and Hong, among others illustrate these findings. When allowing for contemporaneous residual correlation across countries, pooling restrictions and criteria have to be rejected when formally tested, but generalized least squares (GLS)-based pooled forecasts are found to outperform GLS-based individual and ordinary least squares-based pooled and individual forecasts.
Optimal Aggregation of Money Supply Forecasts: Accuracy, Profitability and Market Efficiency

We present a general procedure for aggregating expert forecasts which exploits regularities in the structure of information within the forecaster population. Specific information structures lead to aggregation methods which adjust for additive bias, differences in individual accuracy, and correlation among forecasts. As an application, we construct composite predictions of the weekly change in the money supply from forecasts made by twenty major securities dealers, for which high positive correlation is found to be a significant characteristic. Due to instability in the information structure, our methods cannot improve on the accuracy of a simple average in this case. However, they do capture information about the correlation among money supply forecasts which is not fully impounded in short-term interest rates. Forecasts from our models accurately predict the direction of price changes for Treasury bills and Treasury bill futures after a money supply announcement. THE ADJUSTMENT OF PRICES to information in financial markets has been studied at length, mostly from the perspective of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. Market efficiency tests typically look at the behavior of prices, the end product
Covered Call Investing in a Loss Aversion Framework

In a mean-variance framework, the covered call investment strategy has been seen as an inefficient method of allocating wealth. Covered calls reduce the riskiness of the portfolio and therefore lead to lower portfolio returns. Recent debate has focused on the shortcomings of mean-variance efficiency as an accurate depiction of investor utility. Using alternative utility functions, we find mixed support for the use of the covered call investing strategy. Using loss aversion, however, we reexamine the covered call investment decision and find it significantly enhances investor utility relative to an index portfolio investment strategy. We conclude that loss aversion's more accurate depiction of investor preferences and behavior helps to explain the popularity of the covered call investment strategy.
Are Flexible Exchange Rate Regimes More Volatile? Panel GARCH Evidence for the G7 and Latin America

This paper investigates empirically the relationship between exchange rate (ER) regimes and volatility of real exchange rate depreciation (RERD), comparing the G7 and 17 Latin American (LA17) countries, during 1970–2010. We estimate a panel autoregressive model with generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) errors and regime-specific effects on both the conditional mean and conditional variance. For the G7, we find that, relative to the fixed ER regime, only the freely floating regime shows higher RERD volatility; under the managed floating regime the RERD is equally volatile and under the crawling peg it is actually less volatile. Instead, in the case of the LA17, more flexible ER regimes are associated with more volatile RERD rates, with higher volatility under the managed floating regime than under the crawling peg and with extremely high volatility under the “freely falling” ER regime.
Asymmetric Mean Reversion in European Interest Rates: A Two-factor Model

Abstract This paper tests for asymmetric mean reversion in European short-term interest rates using a combination of the interest rate models introduced by Longstaff and Schwartz (Longstaff, F.A., Schwarts, E.S. (1992) Interest rate volatility and the ferm structure: A two factor general equilibrium model, Journal of Finance, 48, pp. 1259–1282. ) and Bali (Bali, T. (2000) Testing the empirical performance of stochastic volatility models of the short-term interest rates, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 35, pp. 191–215. ). Using weekly rates for France, Germany and the United Kingdom, it is found that short-term rates follow in all instances asymmetric mean reverting processes. Specifically, interest rates exhibit non-stationary behavior following rate increases, but they are strongly mean reverting following rate decreases. The mean reverting component is statistically and economically stronger thus offsetting non-stationarity. Volatility depends on past innovations past volatility and the level of interest rates. With respect to past innovations volatility is asymmetric rising more in response to positive innovations. This is exactly opposite to the asymmetry found in stock returns.
Capacity Expansion for India's Nitrogenous Fertilizer Industry

A massive investment program is under way to meet the increased demand for chemical fertilizers in India. This paper reports on a preinvestment survey of that program. Such a survey cannot be viewed as a master plan for the development of the entire chemical fertilizers industry. Rather, it is intended to provide a rough framework within which to draw up a detailed proposal on the next few units to be built. The conculsions are intended to serve as the initial premises for a specific project: when, where, and how large a plant to construct. Necessarily, a preinvestment survey will contain fewer engineering details and will be less realistic than a report on a specific unit.
– (-) Menthol Induces Reversal of Promoter Hypermethylation and Associated Up-Regulation of the FANCF Gene in the SiHa Cell Line

Objective: To identify natural bioactive molecules with potential to inhibit DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and cause reactivation of genes silenced due to promoter hypermethylation. Methods and Results: -(-) Menthol and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) (reference molecule) were investigated using an in vitro methylation assay, which indicated potential of -(-) menthol as an epigenetic modulator with the ability to directly inhibit M.SssI (an analogue of DNMT1) activity at 100µM. Methylation specific PCR and bisulphite sequencing revealed complete hypomethylation of 15 CpG sites in the Fanconi anemia, complementation group F (FANCF) gene between +280 and + 432 nucleotides relative to the transcription start site, which resulted in significant (P<0.001) up-regulation of FANCF gene expression by 2.1 and 2.5 fold respectively after treatment with menthol (80µM) and EGCG (80µM) for 4 days in the SiHa cell line as analyzed by qRT PCR. Conclusion: The present work highlighted the potential of -(-) menthol, a naturally occurring cyclic monoterpene, as an epigenetic modulator causing promoter hypomethylation induced reactivation of the FANCF gene mediated by possible inhibition of DNMT1 activity in the SiHa cell line.
Review of Tax Policy in Northern Ireland

Published with the permission of HM Treasury on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The text in this document (excluding the Royal Coat of Arms and departmental logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified.
Variance Term Structure and VIX Futures Pricing

Using no arbitrage principle, we derive a relation between the drift term of risk-neutral dynamics for instantaneous variance and the term structure of forward variance. We show that the forward variance curve can be derived from options market. Based on the variance term structure, we derive a no arbitrage pricing model for VIX futures pricing. The model is the first no arbitrage model combining options market and VIX futures market. The model can be easily generalized to price other volatility derivatives.
Modelling Marshall Stability of fiber reinforced asphalt mixtures with ANFIS

In this study, an Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) model for predicting the Marshall Stability (MS) of basalt fiber reinforced asphalt concrete mixtures and various mix proportions has been developed. Experimental details were used to construct the model. The amounts of bitumen (%), Fiber (Basalt) Ratio (%) were used as input variables and Marshall Stability (kg) values were used as output variables. Statistical equations were used to evaluate the Developed ANFIS model. Results showed that developed ANFIS model has strong potential to predict Marshall Stability of asphalt concrete using related inputs in a short time. Also, the Marshall Stability of Fiber-Reinforced asphalt concrete and various mix proportions can be found without performing any experiments.
Labor Market Dysfunction During the Great Recession

This paper documents the abnormally slow recovery in the labor market during the Great Recession, and analyzes how mortgage modification policies contributed to delayed recovery. By making modifications means-tested by reducing mortgage payments based on a borrower's current income, these programs change the incentive for households to relocate from a relatively poor labor market to a better labor market. We find that modifications raise the unemployment rate by about 0.5 percentage points, and reduce output by about 1 percent, reflecting both lower employment and lower productivity, which is the result of individuals losing skills as unemployment duration is longer.
The Critical Wage, Unemployment Duration, and Wage Expectations: The Case of Chile

This study tests the relevance of the job search model to understanding unemployment in developing countries by utilizing a 1982 data set describing unemployed men in Chile. The findings indicate that the model is relevant to a developing country: the job seekers studied based their critical wages on their perceptions of their own productivity, economic resources, and search costs, and they reduced their wage requirements as the duration of their unemployment increased. The authors also show, in the first direct test of this question, that the critical wage and the expected wage are determined jointly and that the expected wage is adjusted to duration of unemployment mainly in response to the fall in the critical wage.
AMADI_LontarSet: The First Handwritten Balinese Palm Leaf Manuscripts Dataset

We present the AMADI_LontarSet, the first handwritten Balinese palm leaf manuscript dataset. It includes three components of dataset as follows: binarized images ground truth dataset, word annotated images dataset, and isolated character annotated images dataset. The dataset was constructed from a hundred pages of randomly selected collections of palm leaf manuscripts from Bali, Indonesia. The dataset is publicly available for scientific use.
GrlA of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 activates LEE1 by binding to the promoter region.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 encodes virulence factors that lead cooperatively to an attaching and effacing lesion on host large intestine cells. Global regulator of LEE activator (GrlA), encoded by the open reading frame 3 in the EHEC LEE, is known to serve as a positive regulator of LEE expression. However, how it functions to orchestrate gene expression remains unclear. METHODS A grlA-deleted mutant strain was created, and the determinants needed for the LEE activation were addressed by complementation experiments. A DNA electrophoresis mobility-shifting assay was used to test a hypothesis that the activation occurs via a direct binding on the putative promoter region. RESULTS Activation of the major LEE operons could be rescued by an over-expression of LEE-encoded regulator (Ler), except for the LEE1 operon, expression of which absolutely required GrlA. Consistent with the latter observation, GrlA bound specifically to the putative LEE1 promoter region. Furthermore, determinants critical for this activity have been mapped to the N-terminal region of GrlA. CONCLUSION GrlA upregulates the expression of LEE through binding of the LEE1 promoter, which in turn increases the level of Ler allowing it to function as a downstream activator. The opposing effect of global regulator of LEE repressor (GrlR) is explainable by in vitro findings that GrlR interacts with GrlA, suppressing the specific binding of GrlA on the LEE1 promoter.
The Empirical Distribution of UK and US Stock Returns

There is now substantial evidence that daily equity returns are not normally distributed but instead display significant leptokurtosis and, in many cases, skewness. Considerable effort has been made in order to capture these empirical characteristics using a range of "ad hoc" statistical distributions. In this paper, we investigate the distribution of daily, weekly and monthly equity returns in the UK and US using two very flexible families of distributions that have been recently introduced: the exponential generalised beta (EGB) and the skewed generalised-"t" (SGT). These distributions permit very diverse levels of skewness and kurtosis and, between them, nest many of the distributions previously considered in the literature. Both the EGB and the SGT provide a very substantial improvement over the normal distribution in both markets. Moreover, for daily returns, we strongly reject the restrictions on the EGB and SGT implied by most of the distributions that are commonly used for modelling equity returns, including the student-"t", the power exponential and the logistic distributions. Instead, our preferred distributions for daily returns are the generalised-"t" for the US and the skewed-"t" for the UK, both of which are members of the SGT family. For weekly returns, our preferred distributions are the student-"t" for the UK and the skewed-"t" for the US, while for monthly returns, our preferred distributions are the EBR12 for the UK and the logistic for the US. We consider the implications of our findings for the implementation of value-at-risk, a risk management methodology that rests heavily on the distributional characteristics of returns. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2001.
Values of Place: Measuring Attitudes of Community Leaders Toward Scenes from Rural Landscapes

This article reports on an exploratory study designed to measure community leaders' attitudes toward scenes from working rural landscapes as elicited by photographs paired with a semantic differential scale. Using this approach it is determined that age, occupation, knowledge about farm structure, and community size are important factors shaping the diverse attitudes held by community leaders in rural southern Illinois. Findings suggest that the position and magnitude of attitude differences between relevant social groups be examined prior to launching new rural development initiatives.
The paradoxes of environmental policy in Eastern Europe: The dynamics of policy‐making in the Czech republic

The environmental policy process in post‐communist central Europe currently appears a paradoxical one: on the one hand the domestic political pressures for action over environmental problems have declined, but at the same time several states in the region continue to adopt tough environmental regulations. This can be explained by four sets of factors. First, pressure group politics is weak, which prevents industrial lobbies from obstructing environmental policy measures; secondly, by the influence of compact environmental policy networks; thirdly, by the dynamics of competition within coalition governments; and fourthly, by systemic influences upon national states emanating from the international system. The last factor is the most decisive of the four. The recent history of environmental policy‐making in the Czech Republic provides a clear example of vigorous environmental policy‐making under politically unfavourable circumstances and demonstrates the influence of all of these factors. There may be futur.
Design and Fabrication of Wide Wavelength Range 25.8-Gb/S, 1.3-μM, Push-Pull-Driven DMLs

We design and fabricate wide wavelength range directly modulated lasers (DMLs) on the same InP wafer to realize a large-capacity monolithically integrated light source array up to 1 Tb/s. We demonstrate a 25.8-Gb/s push-pull operation over a 30-nm wavelength range, which is conventionally about 14 nm for 100 GbE applications. To extend the operating wavelength range, we design the wavelength dependence of the differential gain (∂G/∂n) for an InGaAlAs multiple quantum well structure, and realize high frequency relaxation oscillation resulting from the high differential gain over a wide range. Next, we also design the wavelength detuning (Δλ) under an operating injection current condition by taking account of the thermal effect of the chip, because Δλ determines ∂G/∂n, and the threshold current of the laser diode (LD). In addition, to achieve a 25.8-Gb/s push-pull operation, we fabricate a ridge waveguide structure buried in benzocyclobutene (BCB) with a low parasitic capacitance, and electrically isolate the DML from the neighboring chip by etching off n-InP. By using this design and structure, we achieve a 3-dB-down frequency bandwidth of over 20 GHz from 1290 to 1320 nm. We also achieve a mean output power of 8.0 dBm, and a dynamic extinction ratio of 5 dB. We measure the 25.8-Gb/s transmission characteristics, and obtain clear eye openings for a back-to-back configuration. We also measure the bit-error-rate performance, and obtain error-free operation for a 30-nm operating wavelength range.
The Male-Female Wage Gap and the Firm Effect: The Case of Young Italian Workers

The idea that wages are determined by firm and individual characteristics suggests that there is a firm effect that influences wage differentials. This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of gender wage differentials - based on INPS data for people between the ages of 20 and 25 employed in the private sector in 1996 - which takes into account the characteristics of workers and firms using a two-level random-effects model. Firm variables proved to be significant, and the proportion of females in the firm showed a negative effect on the wages of both men and women. Copyright 2004 CEIS, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.