Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inferring genotyping error rates from genotyped trios

Genotyping errors are known to influence the power of both family-based and case-control studies in the genetics of complex disease. Estimating genotyping error rate in a given dataset can be complex, but when family information is available error rates can be inferred from the patterns of Mendelian inheritance between parents and offspring. I introduce a novel likelihood-based method for calculating error rates from family data, given known allele frequencies. I apply this to an example dataset, demonstrating a low genotyping error rate in genotyping data from a personal genomics company.
REMAINING COMPETITIVE AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL: DEVELOPING A LOCAL AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

Aquaculture industry development has been recognized to be an important step in improving a state's economy. However, local producers are facing significant competition from international, national, and other state producers. In this paper, the focus is on competition among local producers. The objective is to examine how interactions among industry participants determine prices and profitability of individual fish growers. The application involves the trout sector of the West Virginia aquaculture industry. Using a game theoretic framework, the Bertrand oligopoly model, and a combination of data from primary and secondary sources, price competition among producers is modeled under different supply and demand scenarios. Factors such as production volume and cost, location relative to market outlets, supply dependability, and proximity to other competitors and markets influence the profitability and competitive position of individual producers. Results also show that, as expected, the entrance of new growers results in a reduction of the sales price, and creates more favorable conditions for sales outlets. In contrast, the appearance of new sales outlets results in an expected increase in sales prices and producers' profits. Implications are derived for the West Virginia aquaculture industry and for other areas where an abundant natural resource base combined with a rapidly growing aquaculture industry are linked to a growing competition for markets and, hence, producer profitability and survival.
Off-Farm Labor Participation Decisions of Married Farm Couples and the Role of Government Payments

The determinants of off-farm work by married farm couples are examined using data from the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey and multinomial logistic regression. Expected government payment is found important in decreasing the likelihood of off-farm work strategies involving work by the husband only or by both husband and wife relative to a strategy of no work by either husband or wife. The marginal impact of government payments on the probability of the wife working off farm alone is found positive suggesting the possibility of nonpecuniary motives for off-farm employment for 21% of farm households in the selected weighted sample. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Hybrid optimisation for managed network services

One of the solutions to overcome the network congestion issue over the WAN is to deploy QoS. However Service Provider rarely utilized the QoS function to avoid any implication on the network because it requires high maintenance and attention from network administrator. Usually they would propose customers to add more bandwidth due to congestion but it would only resolve the congestion issue temporarily and application performance would still be an issue. This paper presents the performance evaluation on hybrid optimisation which combines both network-based QoS and WAN Optimisation solution to overcome the congested link issue over the WAN. The headquarters and branch office connection were setup over the MPLS VPN on our test lab to simulate the congested link. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by measuring the network and application throughput, round-trip time, efficiency and utilisation. The results presents that the proposed hybrid optimisation was able to reduce bandwidth utilisation at 53% over the congested link. The proposed method was useful to managed network service provider to customize their managed service as well as improving the network efficiency and provide optimum level quality of service to enhance their end user experience.
Estimating free space in an elevator's confined environment

This paper proposes a computer vision approach aimed at improving the operation of an elevator based on its spatial occupancy. Besides parameters such as weight and number of persons, we use floor space as an additional parameter to determine occupancy more accurately. Our approach combines the use of Horn-Schunck optical flow to monitor opening and closing of the elevator's door so that the floor segmentation algorithm, which uses a colour detection scheme based on HSV colour space to calculate the amount of free floor space by learning the specific variation in hue, saturation and brightness of the floor area. The projected outcome of this work is to reduce the number of unnecessary stops when the elevator is full in order to conserve power consumption and provide faster service to users.
Where do they come from? Prevalence and characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs

This paper reports on a unique study of a large, random sample of business start-ups that were identified prior to the actual, commercial launch of the ventures. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, to present frequencies on the involvement of the Swedish population in the small business sector (particularly in start-ups of firms) and to compare these with estimates from Norway and the USA, which are based on studies using a similar research design. The authors also discuss the possible reasons for the differences that emerge between countries. Second, the characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals trying to start an independent business) are analysed and compared for sub-groups within the sample and with characteristics of business founders as they appear in theoretical accounts or retrospective empirical studies of surviving all firms. In order to get a representative sample from the working age population, respondents (n = 30,427) were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone. It was found that 2.0% of the Swedish population at the time of the interview were trying to start an independent business. Sweden had a significantly lower prevalence rate of nascent entrepreneurs compared to Norway and the USA. Nascent entrepreneurs were then compared to a control group of people not trying to start a business. The results confirmed findings from previous studies of business founders pointing to the importance of role models and the impression of self-employment obtained through these, employment status, age, education and experience. Marital status, the number of children in the household, and length of employment experience were unrelated to the probability of becoming a nascent entrepreneur. The gender of the respondent was the strongest distinguishing factor. Importantly, the results suggest that while one has a reasonably good understanding of the characteristics associated with men going into business for themselves, the type of variables investigated here have very limited ability to predict nascent entrepreneur status for women.
The Determinants of Corporate Debt Maturity Structure

The authors examine the empirical determinants of debt maturity structure using a maturity structure measure that incorporates detailed information about all of a firm's liabilities. They find that larger, less risky firms with longer-term asset maturities use longer-term debt. Additionally, debt maturity varies inversely with earnings surprises and a firm's effective tax rate but there is only mixed support for an inverse relation with growth opportunities. The authors find strong support for the prediction of a nonmonotonic relation between debt maturity and bond rating; firms with high or very low bond ratings use shorter-term debt. Copyright 1996 by University of Chicago Press.
Cost, Revenue and Profit Efficiency of Islamic and Conventional Banking Sector: Empirical Evidence from Gulf Cooperative Council Countries

This article examines the cost, revenue and profit efficiency levels of 74 banks (47 conventional and 27 Islamic banks) in Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries over the periods 2007 to 2011. The level of efficiencies was measured using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method which applied the intermediation approach. We find that, revenue efficiency seems to play the main factor leading to the lower or higher profit efficiency levels. In essence, the higher revenue efficiency only affects a higher profit efficiency levels in Islamic banks. However, the profit efficiency on conventional banks will not be affect by the higher revenue efficiency levels since the result shows the level of profit efficiency is lower than cost efficiency due to the higher revenue efficiency. In addition, the result of this study also shows that they are statistically significant difference on cost, revenue and profit efficiency between Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries. The findings of this study are expected to contribute significantly to the existing knowledge on the operating performance of the GCC Islamic and conventional banking sector, bank’s specific management, policy makers and may also facilitate directions for sustainable competitiveness of the GCC Islamic and conventional banking sector operations in the future.
Estimating 3-D Human Body Poses from 2-D Static Images

Our objective is to estimate 3-D human body poses from single 2-D static images. This task is difficult due to the influence of numerous real-world factors such as shading, image noise, occlusions, background clutter and the inherent loss of depth information when a scene is captured onto a 2-D image. We propose a novel fusion of two techniques to form a two-step process: in image preprocessing, an algorithm based on image segmentation and the evaluation of visual cues is used to find immediately identifiable body parts, which we consolidate into 'proposal maps'. This is then fed to a data driven Markov chain Monte Carlo (DDMCMC) pose estimation technique to explore the high dimensional solution space. The best 3-D body pose is then estimated by the maximum a posteriori solution. Experimental results show that the DDMCMC is highly accurate in converging to the true solution when given ideal proposal maps. The results show that the DDMCMC is able to converge to the true solution, albeit with some errors. Nevertheless, the technique shows promise in inferring 3-D body poses. We are currently exploring improvements such as a more accurate model of the human body, the ability to estimate poses from images with cluttered backgrounds and improvement in recognition speed.
Bayesian Expected Shortfall Forecasting Incorporating the Intraday Range

Intraday sources of data have proved to be effective for dynamic volatility and tail risk estimation. Expected shortfall (ES) is a tail risk measure, which is now recommended by the Basel Committee, involving a conditional expectation that can be semi-parametrically estimated via an asymmetric sum of squares function. The conditional autoregressive expectile class of model, used to implicitly model ES, is generalized to incorporate information on the intraday range. An asymmetric Gaussian density model error formulation allows a likelihood to be developed that leads to direct estimation and one-step-ahead forecasts of expectiles and, subsequently, of ES. Adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling schemes are employed for estimation, while their performance is assessed via a simulation study. The proposed models compare favorably with a large range of competitors in an empirical study forecasting seven financial return series over a 10-year period.
Does Decentralization Reform Always Increase Economic Growth?: A Cross Country Comparison of the Performance

This study aims to test the impact of decentralization on the economic growth of a country. Based on the longitudinal data set of 63 countries with a time series spanning 1960 to 2007, the test result reveals that there is a negative relationship both between fiscal decentralization and GDP growth and between political decentralization and GDP growth. In order to examine the different impacts of decentralization, the same analysis was applied to subsets of countries categorized into three groups according to the economic stage of the country. This further analysis found that there is a negative relationship between political decentralization and growth in developing countries, between fiscal decentralization and growth in semi-developed countries, but no relationship in developed countries. These results show that decentralization is not always instrumental in economic growth, which means that the time variable, or more precisely the stage of economic development of a country, is an important factor when introducing decentralization reforms.
Occupational Structure and Incidence of Poverty in Indian Towns of Different Sizes

This paper investigates the incidence of poverty in Indian towns and cities of various sizes of population. It also tests the hypothesis that larger towns and cities, because of their size, are capable of supporting more complex economic activities, improving labor productivity, and hence lowering the incidence of poverty. In particular, similar levels of education, ceteris paribus, have a larger impact in bigger conurbations.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SUBCONTRACTING: EVIDENCE FROM A SURVEY OF SOUTH WALES BUSINESSES

Recent interest in the growth of subcontracting, as part of a broader trend towards greater ‘flexibility’in forms of employment relationship, has not as yet been matched by a full consideration of its organizational and managerial implications. In particular, the question of whether or not subcontracting has an impact upon, or is affected by, the organization's structural characteristics remains largely unexplored. the aim of this article is to report findings from a detailed study of subcontracting practices across a sample of British industry, which focuses upon the relationship between subcontracting and organizational characteristics. the results indicate several important points about the practice. Firstly, that there is wide variation in the use of subcontracting across industry, although the overall extent is limited. Secondly, that variation in the practice is significantly related to basic firm characteristics ‐ namely, industrial sector, type of production system and pattern of ownership and control. Thirdly, that, on balance, subcontracting is associated with more, not less, structural complexity. Finally, that this greater complexity is found in particular types of firms ‐ notably, outside the manufacturing sector, in mass and process production systems and amongst British independents and subsidiaries, rather than in their foreign competitors.
Crystal structure of human cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase reveals a new GTP-binding site.

We report crystal structures of the human enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) with and without bound substrates. These structures are the first to be determined for a GTP-dependent PEPCK, and provide the first view of a novel GTP-binding site unique to the GTP-dependent PEPCK family. Three phenylalanine residues form the walls of the guanine-binding pocket on the enzyme's surface and, most surprisingly, one of the phenylalanine side-chains contributes to the enzyme's specificity for GTP. PEPCK catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the metabolic pathway that produces glucose from lactate and other precursors derived from the citric acid cycle. Because the gluconeogenic pathway contributes to the fasting hyperglycemia of type II diabetes, inhibitors of PEPCK may be useful in the treatment of diabetes.
Comparison of Directly Connected and Constant Voltage Controlled Photovoltaic Pumping Systems

This paper presents a comparative investigation of the performance characteristics of a directly connected photovoltaic (PV) pumping system and a scheme utilizing a constant voltage maximum power point tracking algorithm. A simple and accurate model is developed for each individual component of the system based on its measured characteristics and the system is simulated numerically. System performance is analyzed and energy utilization efficiency is calculated for different weather conditions. A detailed comparison identifying the advantages and drawbacks of each technique is presented. Experimental results obtained using a 1080-Wp PV array connected to a 1-kW permanent magnet dc motor-centrifugal pump set show very good agreement with the numerical simulation of the systems.
The Market Share of Wine in Denmark*

Abstract This paper analyzes the position of wine in the Danish alcohol market from 1978 to 2008. During this time period the market share of wine has doubled, assumingly due to a tax-induced change in relative prices as well as behavioral changes. This paper models the yearly observed market share of wine by unobserved component models which allow for adaptive trends including regressions with time varying coefficients. I find that the market share of wine has a steady upward trend even if it was temporarily broken by a tax reduction for liquor in 2001. (JEL Classification: C22, D11, L66)
An Efficient Method of Locating Vehicle License Plate

License plate location is an important stage for vehicle license plate recognition. Basing on corner detection and edge extraction, a method is applied to license plate location of vehicle images. Thresholding method is adopted at first. Second, the image is operated by mathematical morphology in order to achieve the clear edge of vehicle licenses. Then, vehicle license plate is located by the improved method. Experimental results demonstrate the great robustness and efficiency of our method.
Successful Factor Market Competition Pre-Privatisation? China's eclectic.com

Can factor market competition, given pertinent incentives, bring about efficiency gains, or is privatisation necessary? We assess the impact of factor market competition on Chinese state-owned enterprises' productivity in a laboratory-like setting. The empirical evidence suggests that substantial efficiency gains are achievable pre-privatisation. Methodologically, we adapt an algorithm developed by Olley and Pakes (1996) which deals with simultaneity and selection bias in production function estimation. This is required since the reform process that introduced factor market competition involved endogenous group selection. While macro-level timing was important, enterprise characteristics, chiefly capital intensity and productivity, played an important role in the sequencing of reforms. Further, reform-induced competitive pressures brought about significant efficiency gains prior to privatisation. Finally, not controlling for selection bias would have resulted in an overestimation of reform-related productivity gains by up to fifty percent.
Complexity and Internationalization of Innovation: Why is Chip Design Moving to Asia

Among Keith Pavitt's many contributions to the study of innovation is the proposition that physical proximity is advantageous for innovative activities that involve highly complex technological knowledge. But chip design, a process that creates the greatest value in the electronics industry and that requires highly complex knowledge, is experiencing a massive dispersion to leading Asian electronics exporting countries. To explain why chip design is moving to Asia, the paper draws on interviews with 60 companies and 15 research institutions that are doing leading-edge chip design in Asia.I demonstrate that "pull" and "policy" factors explain what attracts design to particular locations. But to get to the root causes that shift the balance in favour of geographical decentralisation, I examine "push" factors, i.e., changes in design methodology ("system-on-chip design") and organisation ("vertical specialisation" within global design networks). The resultant increase in knowledge mobility explains why chip design — which in Pavitt's framework is not supposed to move — is moving from the traditional centres to a few new specialised design clusters in Asia.
Evaluating the ocean biogeochemical components of Earth system models using atmospheric potential oxygen and ocean color data

Abstract. The observed seasonal cycles in atmospheric potential oxygen (APO) at a range of mid- to high-latitude surface monitoring sites are compared to those inferred from the output of six Earth system models (ESMs) participating in the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5). The simulated air–sea O2 fluxes are translated into APO seasonal cycles using a matrix method that takes into account atmospheric transport model (ATM) uncertainty among 13 different ATMs. Three of the ocean biogeochemistry models tested are able to reproduce the observed APO cycles at most sites, to within the large TransCom3-era ATM uncertainty used here, while the other three generally are not. Net primary production (NPP) and net community production (NCP), as estimated from satellite ocean color data, provide additional constraints, albeit more with respect to the seasonal phasing of ocean model productivity than overall magnitude. The present analysis suggests that, of the tested ocean biogeochemistry models, the community ecosystem model (CESM) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) ESM2M are best able to capture the observed APO seasonal cycle at both northern and southern hemispheric sites. In most models, discrepancies with observed APO can be attributed to the underestimation of NPP, deep ventilation or both in the northern oceans.
Wal‐Mart and County‐Wide Poverty*

This study seeks to identify the independent effect of Wal-Mart stores on changes in U.S. family-poverty rates at the county level. We draw on the contributions of a number of disciplines to enhance our understanding of the broader forces that influence poverty. Copyright (c) 2006 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.
Increased success rates in an FE college: the product of a rational or a performative college culture?

Ethnographic research between 2000 and 2005 in the Business Department of a Further Education (FE) college (College X) was designed to uncover the validity of achievement and success rates as proxy measures for the meeting of New Labour’s skills and egalitarian agenda. Whilst the general view of senior managers was that improved success rates within the department was the result of top-down internal policy and procedure the dominant lecturer and middle manager view suggested it was the product of a culture of performativity and student commodification. Such a culture was seemingly driven by the need to meet national benchmarks on achievement and success rates in the face of the rationalisation agenda of the Learning and Skills Council and the need to achieve a good Ofsted inspection grade. The relevance of such research, for the shaping of FE policy by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2013, relates to the possible perverse consequences of the use of performance indicators within FE colleges. In particular, research in College X suggests that the continued policy of national benchmarking in the FE sector may encourage gaming behaviours in those colleges with disadvantaged vocational students unable to achieve at the level of the average student. To limit this perverse incentive, Ofsted should recognise the heterogeneous nature of colleges and, in particular, differences in the nature of student cohorts in terms of advantage or disadvantage.