Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Party Strategies and Policy Representation in Multiparty Elections: Why Are Strategies so Extreme?

Existing spatial models of multiparty spatial competition have difficulty accounting for two related features of party behavior: that parties typically propose divergent policy programs, and that these programs are similar to, but more extreme than, the policies of their supporters. We expand and elaborate Iversen's "representational policy leadership" model, which combines insights from the proximity and directional theories of voting, in an effort to explain this phenomenon. By developing a spatial model of party competition that incorporates voters' nonpolicy motivations (i.e., sociodemographic characteristics, retrospective economic evaluations, partisanship) and a mixed directional-proximity policy utility metric, we significantly improve our ability to explain parties' policy strategies, compared to alternative models that ignore either nonpolicy motivations or the directional component of voters' policy utilities. We illustrate and test our arguments with conditional logit analysis of voter choice for 1989 Norwegian election data. We show that a model that includes nonpolicy motivations in addition to proximity and directional motivations accurately accounts for the actual locations of parties but that the proximity and directional components alone are insufficient. Voters' nonpolicy motivations are crucial for explaining parties' policy strategies and also for understanding the connection between parties' policy positions and the positions of their supporters.
How Reliable are ORANI Conclusions

This paper seeks to systematically review the main criticisms of the ORANI model by developing a graphical version of a two‐sector (exportables and nonexportables) miniature ORANI model. This model shows that ORANI results occur because while supply curves in both sectors have similar slopes. the slopes of the demand curves are polar opposites. Furthermore this model shows that results will tend to be more sensitive to variations in supply rather than demand parameters. Experiments using the ORANI model itself verified these findings. These results indicate that some form of sensitivity analysis with respect to assigned parameter values should form an integral part of any ORANI experiment.
Robust Deep Reinforcement Learning for Security and Safety in Autonomous Vehicle Systems

The dependence of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on sensors and communication links exposes them to cyber-physical (CP) attacks by adversaries that seek to take control of the AVs by manipulating their data. In this paper, the state estimation process for monitoring AV dynamics, in presence of CP attacks, is analyzed and a novel adversarial deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm is proposed to maximize the robustness of AV dynamics control to CP attacks. The attacker's action and the AV's reaction to CP attacks are studied in a game-theoretic framework. In the formulated game, the attacker seeks to inject faulty data to AV sensor readings so as to manipulate the inter-vehicle optimal safe spacing and potentially increase the risk of AV accidents or reduce the vehicle flow on the roads. Meanwhile, the AV, acting as a defender, seeks to minimize the deviations of spacing so as to ensure robustness to the attacker's actions. Since the AV has no information about the attacker's action and due to the infinite possibilities for data value manipulations, each player uses long short term memory (LSTM) blocks to learn the expected spacing deviation resulting from its own action and feeds this deviation to a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. Then, the attacker's RL algorithm chooses the action which maximizes the spacing deviation, while the AV's RL algorithm seeks to find the optimal action that minimizes such deviation. Simulation results show that the proposed adversarial deep RL algorithm can improve the robustness of the AV dynamics control as it minimizes the intra-AV spacing deviation.
Oxidative Stress and Aberrant Programmed Cell Death Are Associated With Pollen Abortion in Isonuclear Alloplasmic Male-Sterile Wheat

Cytoplasmic male sterility is crucial for the utilization of hybrid heterosis and it possibly occurs in parallel with tapetal programmed cell death (PCD) and oxidative metabolism responses. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie pollen abortion in wheat. Therefore, we obtained two isonuclear alloplasmic male sterile lines (IAMSLs) with Aegilops kotschyi and Ae. juvenalis cytoplasm. Compared with the maintainer line, cytochemical analyses of the anthers demonstrated that the IAMSLs exhibited anomalous tapetal PCD and organelles, with premature PCD in K87B1-706A and delayed PCD in Ju87B1-706A. We also found that the dynamic trends in reactive oxygen species (ROS) were consistent in these two IAMSLs during anther development and they were potentially associated with the initiation of tapetal PCD. In addition, the activities of ROS-scavenging enzymes increased rapidly, whereas non-enzymatic antioxidants were downregulated together with excess ROS production in IAMSLs. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the expression levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase genes, which encode important antioxidant enzymes, were significantly upregulated during early pollen development. Thus, we inferred that excessive ROS and the abnormal transcript levels of antioxidant enzyme genes disrupted the balance of the antioxidant system and the presence of excess ROS may have been related to aberrant tapetal PCD progression, thereby affecting the development of microspores and ultimately causing male sterility. These relationships between the mechanism of PCD and ROS metabolism provide new insights into the mechanisms responsible for abortive pollen in wheat.
Tail Estimation and Catastrophe Security Pricing: Can We Tell What Target We Hit if We Are Shooting in the Dark?

The past few years have seen the development and growth of traded securities with payoffs tied to natural disasters. With this comes a need for tools to evaluate the underlying risks involved. Pricing the insurance features imbedded in these securities is difficult and imprecise. This lack of pricing precision translates into greater required return premiums to holders of these securities This paper explores the nature of pricing uncertainty for a number of data sets, security designs, and loss distributions using mathematical techniques for assessing small-sample variance. Specifically the techniques applied are known as "jackknife" and "bootstrap" and where invented by the statistician John Tukey in the 1950's. The paper contains nearly 50 tables and graphs detailing the findings. Finally, the economic impact of pricing uncertainty is then briefly explored. It is shown that while differences between distribution assumption may not generate statistically significant differences in loss estimates, the economic difference in prices that these different distributions generate is large. The author asserts that while reinsurers will currently place "big bets" based on relatively small amounts of information, it will become more important to develop better understanding of the actual size of these risks as issuers seek to spread them to more entities through the capital markets. He concludes that the more confidently we can state what the price of a risky security "should" be, the more attractive these securities will become and the more successful they will be as investments and means of sharing risk.
The Impact of Cross-Border Mergers on the Co-Decision-Making Process: The Case of a Danish Company

The present article investigates changes over time in the patterns of co-decision-making in a Danish multinational company that has grown through cross-border mergers and acquisitions. The findings show the difficulties that trade union representatives and management face when firms try to introduce a governance regime based on shareholder value ideology. The Danish tradition of cooperation between management and labour was especially affected, since the changes in co-decision-making processes destroyed more than top management understood or realized. The article argues that hybrid forms of governance are unlikely to emerge due to historically embedded governance institutions, which create distinct expectations about how a firm must be governed and who has the right to participate in this governance. The spread of the Anglo-Saxon model of governance in Europe is likely to have negative effects on co-decision-making processes and established patterns of organizational cooperation.
The Importance of Selected Individual Characteristics in Determining Market Prices for Fishers and Traders in Kenyan Small-Scale Fisheries

This article examines how selected socioeconomic characteristics of fishers and traders shape market prices at five coastal communities in Kenya. Focus groups elicited perceived factors affecting market prices, which were then tested using quantitative analysis. Ownership of fishing gear by fishers negatively influenced the prices taken. Fish traders who bought larger quantities paid a higher price. There was no significant relation between the choice of fish market by traders and fish price due to the diffused nature of the fish market. Although fish traders had relatively high income than fishers, the link between individual characteristics, market prices, and the outcomes of such interactions is more complicated than commonly perceived. The complexity is enhanced by the heterogeneity in different fisheries and of the prices at different markets and underlines the importance of continued documentation and exploration of the relationships between social and economic status and market prices for fishers and traders.
Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction

A key measure of humanity's global impact is by how much it has increased species extinction rates. Familiar statements are that these are 100–1000 times pre‐human or background extinction levels. Estimating recent rates is straightforward, but establishing a background rate for comparison is not. Previous researchers chose an approximate benchmark of 1 extinction per million species per year (E/MSY). We explored disparate lines of evidence that suggest a substantially lower estimate. Fossil data yield direct estimates of extinction rates, but they are temporally coarse, mostly limited to marine hard‐bodied taxa, and generally involve genera not species. Based on these data, typical background loss is 0.01 genera per million genera per year. Molecular phylogenies are available for more taxa and ecosystems, but it is debated whether they can be used to estimate separately speciation and extinction rates. We selected data to address known concerns and used them to determine median extinction estimates from statistical distributions of probable values for terrestrial plants and animals. We then created simulations to explore effects of violating model assumptions. Finally, we compiled estimates of diversification—the difference between speciation and extinction rates for different taxa. Median estimates of extinction rates ranged from 0.023 to 0.135 E/MSY. Simulation results suggested over‐ and under‐estimation of extinction from individual phylogenies partially canceled each other out when large sets of phylogenies were analyzed. There was no evidence for recent and widespread pre‐human overall declines in diversity. This implies that average extinction rates are less than average diversification rates. Median diversification rates were 0.05–0.2 new species per million species per year. On the basis of these results, we concluded that typical rates of background extinction may be closer to 0.1 E/MSY. Thus, current extinction rates are 1,000 times higher than natural background rates of extinction and future rates are likely to be 10,000 times higher.
A Virtual Environments Editor for Driving Scenes

The goal of this project was to enable the rapid creation of three-dimensional virtual driving environments. We designed and implemented a high-level scene editor that allows a user to construct a driving environment by pasting icons that represent 1) road segments, 2) road signs, 3) trees and 4) buildings. These icons represent twoand three-dimensional objects that have been predesigned. Icons can be placed in the scene at specific locations (x, y, and z coordinates). The editor includes the capability of a user to "drive" a vehicle using a computer mouse for steering, accelerating and braking. At any time during the process of building a virtual environment, a user may switch to "Run Mode" and inspect the three-dimensional scene by “driving” through it using the mouse. Adjustments and additions can be made to the virtual environment by going back to "Build Mode". Once a user is satisfied with the threedimensional virtual environment, it can be saved in a file. The file can used with Java3D software that enables the traversing of three-dimensional environments. The process of building virtual environments from predesigned icons can be applied to many other application areas. It will enable novice computer users to rapidly construct and use three-dimensional virtual environments.
Psychological contracts and reciprocity: a study in a Finnish context

Existing research has demonstrated how the norm of reciprocity operates as a general principle in exchange relationships. However, limited explicit theoretical and empirical attention has been paid to its role in the functioning of the psychological contract. Using a sample of Finnish public sector employees, this study investigated the impact of perceived employer fulfilment of psychological contract on employee perceptions of the form of reciprocity underlying the exchange relationship. The potential mediating role of the reciprocity perceptions between perceived contract fulfilment and its outcomes (affective commitment, continuance commitment and intention to leave) was also examined. The results show that perceived employer fulfilment is positively associated with employee perceptions of the generalized form of reciprocity, and negatively with perceptions of the balanced form of reciprocity. Further, perceptions of generalized reciprocity were found to mediate the relationship between perceived contract fulfilment and affective commitment and intentions to leave the organization. Results and implications are discussed.
Characterization of polymorphic microsatellite loci for invasive wavyleaf basketgrass, Oplismenus undulatifolius (Poaceae)

Premise of the Study Novel nuclear microsatellite markers were developed for the invasive plant Oplismenus undulatifolius (Poaceae) to facilitate studies of invasion dynamics for this recently introduced, high‐risk invasive species in North American mid‐Atlantic forests. Methods and Results Sixteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized from an Illumina paired‐end shotgun library of O. undulatifolius after initial assessment of 48 loci. When screened in three populations, these markers identified two to six alleles per locus. Observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 1.000. All loci were successfully amplified in the North American native congener O. hirtellus. Conclusions We provide the first nuclear genetic resources available for population genetic studies within the genus Oplismenus. These markers will serve as a critical tool for exploring patterns of gene flow and mechanisms of invasion of O. undulatifolius across its introduced range. These microsatellites should also be suitable for studies in other Oplismenus species.
What is Frugal, What is Innovation? Towards a Theory of Frugal Innovation

Innovation in emerging markets offers fertile ground for theory development. In recognition of the growing trend in “frugal innovation” discourse among practitioners particularly in emerging economies, we parse “frugal innovation” into "frugal" and "innovation" separately and present the underlying meanings towards understanding "frugal innovation" in historical and contemporary contexts. We further develop a theoretical model of frugal innovation by applying existing theories to emerging market contexts. We do so by merging technology innovation, institutional innovation, and social innovation literatures to argue that frugal innovation lies at the intersections of these streams. We show how using the model to understand what the space currently looks like may help to offer a consolidated and encompassing theory of frugal innovation and aid in opening a research agenda.
When is it appropriate to reprimand a norm violation? The roles of anger, behavioral consequences, violation severity, and social distance

Experiments on economic games typically fail to find positive reputational effects of using peer punishment of selfish behavior in social dilemmas. Theorists had expected positive reputational effects because of the potentially beneficial consequences that punishment may have on norm violators’ behavior. Going beyond the game-theoretic paradigm, we used vignettes to study how various social factors influence approval ratings of a peer who reprimands a violator of a group-beneficial norm. We found that ratings declined when punishers showed anger, and this effect was mediated by perceived aggressiveness. Thus the same emotions that motivate peer punishers may make them come across as aggressive, to the detriment of their reputation. However, the negative effect of showing anger disappeared when the norm violation was sufficiently severe. Ratings of punishers were also influenced by social distance, such that it is less appropriate for a stranger than a friend to reprimand a violator. In sum, peer punisher ratings were very high for a friend reprimanding a severe norm violation, but particularly poor for a stranger showing anger at a mild norm violation. We found no effect on ratings of whether the reprimand had the beneficial consequence of changing the violator’s behavior. Our findings provide insight into how peer punishers can avoid negative reputational effects. They also point to the importance of going beyond economic games when studying peer punishment.
Return-Volume Dynamics in Indian Stock Market

This study examines the relationship between returns and trading volume by using data on the Sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) from 1996 to 2006. Correlation analyses, GARCH (1,1) model and Granger causality tests are used to investigate contemporaneous and causal relationships between trading volume and return. A positive and insignificant contemporaneous correlation between return and trading volume was found. However, positive and significant impact of volume on return is detected in GARCH (1,1) model. In addition, GARCH (1,1) documents that the persistence of variance over time partly declines if one includes trading volume as a proxy for information arrivals in the equation of conditional volatility. It also shows the negative impact of volume on conditional volatility because of asymmetry that is observed in significant Jarque-Bera. Furthermore, no causality exists between volume and returns indicating that volume doesn't contain predictive power for the direction of price changes.
Voluntary Disclosures and the Exercise of CEO Stock Options

We examine voluntary disclosures around the exercise of CEO stock options. Previous research shows that managerial incentives depend on the intended disposition of the exercised options' underlying shares. When CEOs intend to sell the underlying shares of exercised options, they have an incentive to increase stock prices in the pre-exercise period. In contrast, when CEOs intend to hold the underlying shares, they have a tax incentive to decrease stock prices in the pre-exercise period. Consistent with these private incentives, we find a significant increase in the frequency and magnitude of good (bad) news announcements in the pre-exercise period when CEOs implement exercise-and-sell (exercise-and-hold) strategies. We provide some evidence that CEOs' propensities for opportunistic disclosures are positively related to the value of their exercised stock options. Lastly, we find that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) generally reduces, but does not eliminate, this type of managerial opportunism.
[Diagnosis of trichinellosis in living pigs using indirect ELISA].

A modified E/S-ELISA based on the procedure described by Gamble et al. (1988) was used for the diagnosis of trichinellosis in the domestic pig. The results of screening the sera of 92 pigs experimentally infected with Trichinella larvae (T. spiralis, T. nativa) with different doses, confirmed that the E/S-ELISA is suitable for the serological detection of Trichinella-specific IgG. Although the serotest shows a high sensitivity especially in the case of a low infection rate, it can not be used as an alternative for traditional meat inspection methods because of its so called diagnostic window. On the other hand, this serotest is considered to be useful for herd monitoring. False-negative results prior to completed seroconversion (the diagnostic window) were in most cases encountered up to the 4th-5th week post infection (p.i.), depending on the infectious dose used. Due to the prolonged persistence of antibodies, it was possible to demonstrate Trichinella infections by serology for a relatively long period (at least 80 weeks p.i.). Predictably, all 960 swine sera from the field tested in the E/S ELISA were negative for Trichinella. Separation and staining of the E/S antigen in SDS-PAGE revealed altogether 4 major protein bands with molecular weights of 44-67 kD. The 44 kD band showed the most intense reaction in an immunoblot using Trichinella antibodies. In contrast to the E/S-antigen, in the immunoblot using the same defined sera, the protein bands of somatic antigen caused cross reactions with non specific antibodies, which would lead to false-positive results in the ELISA.
Thiazolidinediones Induce Rab7–RILP–MAPK‐Dependent Juxtanuclear Lysosome Aggregation and Reduce Tumor Cell Invasion

Acidic extracellular pH (pHe) has been shown to stimulate peripheral lysosome trafficking, resulting in cathepsin B secretion and tumor invasion. In addition, inhibitors of sodium‐proton exchangers (NHE) such as EIPA, cariporide and s3226, as well as the non‐specific NHE inhibitor, troglitazone (Tro), blocked these changes. In this paper, we report a differential ability of the thiazolidinedione (TZD) family of compounds to induce a time‐dependent retrograde aggregation of lysosomes over the microtubule‐organizing center (MTOC) in tumor cells exposed to acidic pHe. This trafficking event depended on microtubules and the MAP‐Kinase pathway, but was independent of Rho GTPase activity. Expression of shRNA implicated Rab7 in this process, and subcellular fractionation revealed that levels of Rab7, RILP and Erk1/2 were increased on lysosomes purified from cells treated with Tro. In addition, DN‐RILP overexpression studies indicated that this Rab7 effector also played a role in TZD‐induced retrograde trafficking. Tro was able to prevent acidic pHe‐induced cell invasion. Finally, DU145 prostate tumor cells stably over‐expressing WT‐RILP, a condition where lysosomes aggregate to the MTOC in the absence of Tro, did not invade in response to acidic pHe, suggesting that the regulation of lysosome trafficking is an inherently important aspect of tumor cell invasion.