Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variance Ratio Test of Random Walk for Foreign Trade: The Study in India during the Globalization Era of 1990s

The paper investigates the random walk properties of foreign trade. The data used in the empirical test correspond to monthly exports and imports of India in the globalization era of 1990s. The test of random walk employed in this study is the variance ratio test, developed by Lo and Mackinlay. The empirical results indicate that the series contain large permanent component and small temporary component for both exports and imports. This suggests that foreign trade follows a random walk.
RISK REALLOCATION IN DEFINED-CONTRIBUTION FUNDED PENSION SYSTEMS

This paper explores the introduction of collective risk-reallocation elements into defined-contribution pension contracts. We consider status-contingent, age-contingent, and asset-contingent arrangements to reallocate risk among participants. Eliminating asset market risk for the retired raises their welfare, whereas it lowers the welfare of the workers, despite the fact that they benefit later from the same arrangement. Overall welfare falls. The welfare effects are largest when personal and pension portfolios are optimally chosen. Allowing for intragenerational heterogeneity, the highest-skilled retirees benefit most, whereas the highest-skilled workers lose most. Our main results are qualitatively robust to a number of model variations and extensions.
Haavelmo on the Climate Issue

Although environmental issues were not the main theme of most of Haavelmo's writings, issues related to the environment are discussed in many publications with a broader focus. Haavelmo was also concerned about continued rapid population growth, and argued at several occasions that continued rapid population growth would have a detrimental effect on the development of environmental quality. We show that this concern was well founded; the future population development is extremely important for how the future climate will develop.
Effects of live yeast cell supplementation to high concentrate diets on the toxicokinetics of ochratoxin A in sheep

Previous studies have indicated that high concentrate feeding reduces the ruminal degradation of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OA) to the less-toxic ochratoxin α (Oα) in ruminants. This is due to a pH-induced decrease in ruminal protozoa and subsequent increasing transfer of OA into the systemic circulation. The present study investigated whether stabilization of rumen pH by the live yeast cell supplementation to high concentrate diets affects the toxicokinetics of OA in sheep. Sheep were fed diets consisting of 70% concentrates and 30% grass silage (dry matter basis) supplemented without or with live yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077). After an adaptation period of 3 weeks, animals were given a single dose of OA (2.46 mg) in the form of contaminated wheat. Even though live yeast cells accelerated the recovery of ruminal pH from the decrease in pH induced by feeding, no effect on ruminal degradability and systemic availability of OA was recorded. Based on in vitro studies, live yeast cells and extracts of live yeast cell walls have been suggested as a mycotoxin-binding agent. However, supplementation with live yeast cells had no effect on the excretion pattern of OA in sheep, indicating that binding of OA to yeast components may be limited in ruminants. With respect to the toxicokinetics of OA, our results are in agreement with earlier results demonstrating that the hydrolysis of OA in the gastrointestinal tract of sheep is substantially less than previously described, especially if OA is ingested in combination with concentrate-rich diets. Our study demonstrates that feeding a live yeast cells product, registered as a feed additive for improving zootechnical performance, had no impact on the toxicokinetics of OA under the chosen conditions.
The changing U.S. financial system: some implications for the monetary transmission mechanism

An important part of monetary policy is the monetary transmission mechanism, the process by which monetary policy actions influence the economy. While the transmission mechanism involves a number of channels, including exchange rates, bank credit, and asset prices, most economists consider interest rates to be the principal avenue by which monetary policy affects economic activity. > In recent decades, significant changes in the structure of financial markets and institutions in the United States may have altered the interest rate channel. Key developments include the deregulation of the financial system, the growth of capital markets as an alternative to bank intermediation, increased competition among intermediaries both domestically and internationally, and greater transparency by the Federal Reserve about monetary policy operations. These changes may have altered both the timing and magnitude of the response of interest rates to monetary policy. Indeed, the failure of long-term interest rates to respond to monetary policy easing during the past year has been cited in the financial press as an indication that monetary policy may now have less influence on interest rates than in the past. > Sellon examines how the changing financial system has affected the interest rate channel of monetary policy. He finds that the response of interest rates to monetary policy, rather than diminishing, has actually increased considerably over time. Indeed, bank lending rates on consumer and business loans and mortgage rates now appear to exhibit a much stronger and faster response to monetary policy actions than in the past. Moreover, institutional changes, such as the increased use of variable-rate loans and the availability of low-cost mortgage refinancing, may have altered the transmission mechanism, potentially broadening the influence of monetary policy on the economy.
3‐Iodothyronamine: a modulator of the hypothalamus‐pancreas‐thyroid axes in mice

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Preclinical pharmacology of 3‐iodothyronamine (T1AM), an endogenous derivative of thyroid hormones, indicates that it is a rapid modulator of rodent metabolism and behaviour. Since T1AM undergoes rapid enzymatic degradation, particularly by MAO, we hypothesized that the effects of T1AM might be altered by inhibition of MAO.
The Incremental Information Content of Earnings and Cash Flows from Operations Affected by Their Extremity

Previous returns studies have shown that extreme earnings and extreme cash flows from operations are less informative than moderate (i.e., less extreme) earnings and moderate cash flows. Studies also report that cash flows supplement to earnings in firm valuation by showing a higher association of cash flows with returns when earnings are extreme than when earnings are moderate. We propose that this supplementary role of cash flows is affected by cash flows extremity. Using data from the US capital markets, we find that the supplementary role of cash flows exists only when cash flows are not extreme. We also investigate the supplementary role of earnings to cash flows and search for a higher association of earnings with returns when cash flows are extreme than when cash flows are moderate. Similar to results on cash flows, our findings show that the supplementary role of earnings exists only when earnings are not extreme. Our results imply that investors and researchers should consider "both" earnings "and" cash flows extremity when assessing the information content of these variables. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2002.
Creating an E-Mentoring Community

This brief provides an example of how to create and sustain an e-mentoring community to promote the success of youth with disabilities in school, careers, and other life experiences. Established in 1992, the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) e-mentoring community may have been the first intentional Internet-based mentoring community for teenagers with disabilities. DO-IT’s e-mentoring program received the National Information Infrastructure Award in 1996 and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mentoring in 1997. Its value has been documented in research (Burgstahler & Cronheim, 2001; Kim-Rupnow & Burgstahler, 2004) and reflected in the successful lives of its participants and the willingness of those who were once protégés in the program to become e-mentors themselves.
Economic Reform and Dynamic Political Constraints

In this paper, we examine the impact of political constraints on economic reform plans, with special reference to the transition from centrally planned to market economies. We analyse the problem of an agenda-setting reform-minded Government facing a bureaucracy or industrial sector for which allocative efficiency requires redundancies and an increase in work intensity. The Government also tries to minimize the rents conceded to its heterogeneous workforce. We examine two types of political constraints: unanimity rule and majority rule, both in a one-period and a two-period horizon. The main results are the following. First of all, we show how adverse selection and time-consistency may generate the widely-observed feature of gradualism as an ingredient of an optimal reform. Second, under a majority rule, it is shown to be possible for the Government to obtain a majority vote for a reform scheme that intertemporally hurts majority interests. Indeed, the Government can improve rent extraction through the strategic use of the threat of future proposals: the group which expects to be in the minority tomorrow may accept concessions, while its votes can be used to extract rents from another group. These results suggest that, in a dynamic context, democratic constraints should not be overestimated as an obstacle against efficiency-enhancing economic reforms. The results of this paper may throw some light on the political economy of current reforms in Eastern Europe.
How Well Does the Weighted Price Contribution Measure Price Discovery?

The weighted price contribution (WPC) is a popular measure for price discovery. This paper examines the theoretical properties and empirical performance of the WPC in sequential markets. The benchmark used to judge the WPC is the information share (IS) measure based on the variation of the efficient price. We derive the asymptotic value of the WPC, which is a complex combination of the unconditional means and variances of the returns of sequential markets, under the assumption of normality. We show that the WPC correctly converges to the IS only when the returns are uncorrelated with zero means. Our theoretical predictions based on normality hold well in simulations and in empirical analyses of the overnight price discovery for the S&P 100 index and its constituent stocks. As the correlation between overnight and daytime returns increases, the WPC deviates from the IS substantially.
Phase III study of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG 2597): induction chemotherapy followed by either standard thoracic radiotherapy or hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy for patients with unresectable stage IIIA and B non-small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE To compare once-daily radiation therapy (qdRT) with hyperfractionated accelerated radiation therapy (HART) after two cycles of induction chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eligible patients were treatment naive, and had stage IIIA and B unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0/1, and normal organ function. Induction chemotherapy consisted of two cycles of carboplatin area under time-concentration curve 6 mg/mL . min plus paclitaxel 225 mg/m2 on day 1. RT consisted of arm 1 (qdRT), 64 Gy (2 Gy/d), versus arm 2 (HART), 57.6 Gy (1.5 Gy tid for 2.5 weeks). A total of 388 patients were needed to detect a 50% increase in median survival from 14 months of qdRT to 21 months of HART; accrual was not achieved and the study closed prematurely. RESULTS Of 141 patients enrolled, 83% were randomly assigned after chemotherapy to qdRT (n = 59) or HART (n = 60). Median survival was 20.3 and 14.9 months for HART and qdRT, respectively (P = .28). Overall response was 25% and 22% for HART and qdRT, respectively (P = .69). Two- and 3-year survival was 44% and 34% for HART, and 24% and 14% for qdRT, respectively. Grade > or = 3 toxicities included esophagitis in 14 v nine patients, and pneumonitis in 0 v 6 patients for HART and qdRT, respectively. Any subsequent trials of the HART regimen must address the issues that led to early closure, including slow accrual, logistics of HART, mucosal toxicity, and the fact that concurrent chemoradiotherapy now seems more effective than sequential treatment. CONCLUSION After two cycles of induction chemotherapy with carboplatin-paclitaxel, HART is feasible with an acceptable toxicity profile. Although statistical significance was not achieved and the study closed early, there was a positive statistical trend suggesting a survival advantage with the HART regimen.
Studies on Calciferol Metabolism

Cholecalciferol (vitamin Da) undergoes an obligatory twostep hydroxylation which is carried out sequentially first in the liver and then in the kidney, where 25-hydroxycholecalciferol-1-hydroxylase catalyzes the production of the biologically active form of vitamin Ds, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. This report describes an assay with which l-hydroxylase velocities as low as 0.2 pmole per mm can be measured. The level of enzyme activity varies over a 6-fold range depending whether the mitochondria are isolated from cholecalciferol-deficient ( -D3) (V,,, = 12 to 16 pmoles per min per mg of protein) or -repleted ( +D3) (V,,, = 2 to 3 pmoles per min per mg of protein) chicks; the K, for 25-hydroxycholecalciferol was 1 to 2 x 10m7 in both mitochondrial preparations. Succinate and malate are the most effective electron donors for the hydroxylation. The pattern of inhibition of l-hydroxylase activity seen in the presence of antimycin, rotenone, oligomycin, and CN when succinate or malate were electron donors is consistent with the concept that the l-hydroxylase is similar in nature to many other mixed function oxidases. The partition coefficient, K, for CO inhibition of the 1-hydroxylase was found to be 1.0, a value comparable to that for other steroidogenic hydroxylases. The wavelength of light most effective in reversing CO inhibition was 450 nm. This is the first direct evidence of the involvement of cytochrome P-450 with the renal I-hydroxylase. The presence of Ca*+, 10m5 M, or phosphate, 5 X 10T3 M, both effected a 50% inhibition of the I-hydroxylase. This is consistent with the view that changes in the mitochondrial fluxes of these ions may be important in the regulation of the production of the hormonally active form of vitamin D. Also 2 X 10e6 M Mn*+, 1 x 10m5 M Sr2+ effected a 50 % inhibition of the I-hydroxylase, but 0.1 M Ba2+, 0.4 mM ethane diphosphonate, 10 mM acetate, or 10 mrd sulfate had no effect on enzyme activity. The variation in renal 25-hydroxycholecalciferol-l-hydroxylase activity with cholecalciferol status and the inhibi-
Factory Discipline in the Industrial Revolution

It is nowadays increasingly coming to be accepted that one of the most critical, and one of the most difficult, transformations required in an industrializing society is the adjustment of labour to the regularity and discipline of factory work.2 Current interest in this process has led to a certain amount of re-examination of the experience of Britain during the corresponding period of her development.3 Much more requires to be known, and only detailed research can add to our knowledge. The present article is less ambitious: it seeks to further the discussion by examining briefly the evidence available so far, and drawing some tentative conclusions. The subject will be treated analytically rather than historically, that is to say, the first generation of factory workers will be examined, irrespective of its appearance at different times in different industries.
Linkage between patent management and technological innovation performance: New evidence from Chinese high-tech enterprises

Given the changing role of patents within enterprises, this study aims to investigate the linkage between patent management (PM) and technological innovation performance (TIP) from a resource-based perspective. According to 252 valid samples collected from 106 high-tech enterprises, the analysis results show that patent acquisition (PA) has positively effect on patent protection (PP) and patent commercialization (PC); PP has positively effect on PC and PA; PA and PC have positively effect on TIP. Therefore, the key factors to enhance the linkage between PM and TIP are effective PA and subsequent commercialization. This study not only expands the academic research fields on PM and TIP, but also provides practical underpinning to the enhancement of TIP in Chinese high-tech enterprises through committing targeted patent management under open innovation.
Disease Extinction and Community Size: Modeling the Persistence of Measles

A basic issue in ecology is the relation between extinction and population size. One of the clearest manifestations of a population threshold for extinction is the critical community size below which infections like measles do not persist. The current generation of stochastic models overestimates the observed critical community size for measles, generating much less persistence of infection than is observed. The inclusion of a more biologically realistic model for the duration of infection produced a much closer fit to the actual critical community size and explains previously undescribed high-frequency oscillations in measles incidence.
Median-unbiased estimation of structural change models: an application to real exchange rate persistence

Measuring deviations from purchasing power parity has been the subject of extensive investigation. The most common practice in empirical research for measuring real exchange rate persistence is to estimate univariate autoregressive (AR) time series models and calculate the half-life, defined as the number of periods for a unit shock to a time series to decay by 50%. In the presence of structural change, there are two potential biases in the parameter estimates of AR models: (1) a downward small sample median-bias and (2) an upward bias, which occurs when structural change is present and ignored. We conduct a variety of Monte Carlo simulations and demonstrate that the existence of structural change causes a substantial increase in the small sample bias documented in Andrews (1993). We then propose an extension of median-unbiased estimation, which explicitly accounts for structural change, and apply these methods to estimate half-lives of several long-horizon real exchange rates analysed by Lothian and Taylor (1996) and Taylor (2002). The upward bias from neglecting structural change dominates the downward median-bias for these real exchange rates. When structural change is present and accounted for, the median-unbiased half-lives towards a changing mean decrease and the confidence intervals tighten.
Elevation of lung glutathione by oral supplementation of L‐2‐oxothiazolidine‐4‐carboxylate protects against oxygen toxicity in protein‐energy malnourished rats

The objectives of this study were to investigate whether oral supplementation of l‐2‐oxothiazolidine‐4‐carboxylate (OTC) is effective for increasing tissue glutathione (GSH) concentrations in rats fed a diet very low (0.5%) in protein — a model of wasting malnutrition — and to determine the efficacy of OTC for protection against pulmonary oxygen toxicity. Weanling rats, fed a 0.5 or 15% protein diet for 2 wk, were given an oral supplement of OTC, and tissue GSH concentrations were measured over a 24 h period. OTC supplementation to rats fed 0.5% protein significantly increased GSH concentrations in liver and lung, but not in kidney and blood, when compared with the 0.5% protein unsupplemented group. The liver GSH concentration in the 0.5% protein OTC‐supplemented group was higher than the 15% control group. Daily supplementation of OTC protected rats from pulmonary oxygen toxicity during 4 days of 85% oxygen exposure as determined by lung‐to‐body weight ratios and in vivo proton magnetic resonance imaging. Although hyperoxia exposure increased lung GSH concentrations in all groups, OTC supplementation was effective for increasing lung GSH concentration in rats fed the 0.5% protein diet. This study demonstrated that oral administration of OTC to wasting malnourished rats is an effective procedure to increase GSH concentration rapidly in target organs such as lung, and that daily supplementation of a low dose of OTC has a sustained effect to protect against pulmonary oxygen toxicity during 4 days of hyperoxia exposure. — Taylor, C. G. ; Bauman, P. F. , Sikorski, B. , Bray, T. M. Elevation of lung glutathione by oral supplementation of L‐2‐oxothiazolidine‐4‐carboxylate protects against oxygen toxicity in protein energy malnourished rats. FASEB J. 6: 3101‐3107; 1992.
Evaluating frame structure design in WiMAX relay networks

This paper evaluates the effect of the choice of frame structure type in WiMAX networks employing non‐transparent relay stations (ntRS). The IEEE 802.16j‐2009 amendment allows two frame structure types, single frame and multiframe. Thus far, a comparison of the two choices, in terms of network performance, has not been made. To facilitate this evaluation, we expanded on light WiMAX ns2 add‐on to support ntRS, the two‐frame structure types, in addition to the relevant operational requirements (e.g. QoS support). We observed that whereas the multi‐frame structure allows for higher throughput and voice capacities, the single frame shows some general advantage in terms of delay. A serious need exists, however, for schedulers that exploit the advantages of a dynamic multi‐frame structure in order to realize its full potential. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.