Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mandatory managerial stock ownership plans and the quality and credibility of management forecasts

Both theory and empirical evidence suggest that increased managerial stock ownership will better align the interests of stockholders and investors, which should lead to better quality financial information and management forecasts. Corporate governance groups recommend ownership requirements for top management and over 400 firms in the S&P 500 have adopted mandatory plans over the last 15 years. The authors find evidence of more informative earnings when firms adopt a target ownership plan relative to the years with no ownership mandate. The authors find that management earnings forecast accuracy improves following the adoption of a target share ownership plan. Finally, the paper finds that the market recognizes the disclosure benefits of target ownership plans and reacts more strongly to surprising management earnings forecasts after adoption.
Quantity and distribution of suitable habitat for endangered San Joaquin kit foxes : conservation implications

The San Joaquin kit fox Vulpes macrotis mutica is endemic to central California, and is listed as Federally Endangered and California Threatened, primarily due to profound habitat loss. This loss continues and habitat protection is urgently needed to conserve and recover this species. To identify lands to target for habitat protection, we used a GIS-based map-algebra model to determine the distribution of remaining suitable habitat for San Joaquin kit foxes. The primary variables used in the model included land use/land cover, vegetation density and terrain ruggedness. Suitability was categorized as high, medium or low based on habitat attributes relative to the presence and persistence of kit fox populations. Model results indicated that only 4,267km2 of high suitability habitat and 5,569km2 of medium suitability habitat remain for San Joaquin kit foxes, and much of this habitat is highly fragmented. High suitability habitat primarily is concentrated in the southern portion of the kit fox range with some also scattered along the western edge. Persistent kit fox populations appear to occur only in areas with relatively large patches of high suitability habitat or a mix of high and medium suitability habitat. Kit fox populations appear to be unable to persist in areas with high habitat fragmentation or areas with primarily medium suitability habitat. Our results underscore the urgent need to focus protection efforts on high suitability habitat and to do so in a manner that increases patch size of protected lands and reduces fragmentation.
“Il Piave mormorava…”: Recognizing Locations and other Named Entities in Italian Texts on the Great War

SUMMARY. Increasing amounts of sources about World War I (WWI) are nowadays available in digital form. In this paper, we illustrate the automatic creation of a NE-annotated domain corpus used to adapt an existing NER to Italian WWI texts. We discuss the annotation of the ntraining and test corpus and provide results of the system evaluation. RIASSUNTO. Negli ultimi anni, si sono resi disponibili in formato digitale un numero sempre maggiore di materiali riguardanti la Prima Guerra Mondiale. In questo lavoro illustriamo la creazione automatica di un corpus di addestramento per adattare un NER esistente a testi italiani sulla Prima Guerra Mondiale e presentiamo i risultati della valutazione del nostro sistema addestrato sul nuovo corpus.
The effect of manager risk attitudes on range improvement decisions.

Despite the availability of potentially profitable range improvement alternatives, private land ranch managers in the central U.S. are not readily adopting recommended range improvement practices. One explanation for this behavior is that managers may not be willing to accept the increased risk associated with implementing range improvement programs. The objectives of this study were to estimate the expected value and variability of net returns derived from several range improvement practices and use this information to assess the influence that manager risk attitudes have on the selection of range improvement practices. A stochastic range simulation model was used to provide estimates of the expected value and variability of income following the application of several range improvement practices in the Cross Timbers Region. Generalized stochastic dominance procedures were then used to rank these practices for managers characterized by alternative risk attitudes. Results of the analysis illustrate that optimal range improvement practices may be sensitive to manager risk attitudes. Managers willing to accept the possibility of low or negative incomes may prefer more intensive range improvement practices such as application of tebuthiuron for brush management followed by annual prescribed burning. In contrast, risk averse decision makers are inclined to implement lower cost range improvement practices or fail to utilize any range improvement practice.
comf: An R Package for Thermal Comfort Studies

The field of thermal comfort generated a number of thermal comfort indices. Their code implementation needs to be done by individual researchers. This paper presents the R package, comf, which includes functions for common and new thermal comfort indices. Additional functions allow comparisons between the predictive performance of these indices. This paper reviews existing thermal comfort indices and available code implementations. This is followed by the description of the R package and an example how to use the R package for the comparison of different thermal comfort indices on data from a thermal comfort study.
THE Parus caeruleus COMPLEX REVISITED

A set of mensural and plumage pattern characters is analyzed by Standardized Principal Component Analysis over the entire range of the Parus caeruleus - Parus cyanus species complex. Clinal size variation in P. caeruleus extends into P. cyanus without discontinuity. The latter species has the largest specimens within the caeruleus - cyanus complex. Within both species one observes a trend towards smaller size, finer bills and longer tarsus along a north-east - south-west cline in P. caeruleus and a north - south cline in P. cyanus. Results are consistent with the hypothesis of a major role of changes in environmental conditions on mensural variation. Sample simi­ larities based on plumage pattern show higher consistency with the probable phylogeny (see Vaurie 1957). Considering that the four major subspecies groups recognized are geographically and/or genetically isolated, the P. cae­ ruleus - P. cyanus species complex could be described as a super-species comprised of four sister species consisting of the teneriffae (Lesson 1831), caeruleus (Linnaeus 1758), cyanus (Pallas 1770) andflavipectus(Severtrov 1873) subspecies groups recognized by Vaurie (1957).
The mediating effect of supply chain integration on the relationship between information technology, trust and firm performance: a conceptual framework

Supply chain Management has played a significant role in corporate efficiency and has attracted the attention of numerous academicians over the last few years. As the concept of becomes more widely accepted, supply chain integration (SCI) is gaining more attention among both practitioners and academics. The paper aims at understanding how SCI and its antecedents, impacts firm performance. For the literature review of the related academic articles for the previous studies has been taken by international journals in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and Operations Management. The study looked at some variables such as trust and information technology (IT) that might impact the SCI and finally improve firm performance. Therefore, it is crucial for managers to apply their firms IT and trust as lower-order organizational capabilities to improve SCI as a higher-order organizational capability. To aid the study, Resourced-Based View (RBV) theory has been developed as the framework for the present research. The paper also proposes the framework for future research in empirical investigation in manufacturing. This study bridges the gap by developing a framework for measuring SCI, which enables any organization to identify critical success factors for integrating their SC, measures the degree of integration qualitatively and quantitatively and suggest improvement measures.
The Relationship among Service Quality, Relationship Quality, and Customer Loyalty for Chain Restaurant Industry

In an environment featuring fierce competition and consumersi¯ ever higher requirements on service quality, the enterprises in the catering industry are facing unprecedented pressure in their survival. This study aims to explore the relevance among service quality, relationship quality and customer loyalty. With the customers of the Taiwanese chain stores in the catering industry as the research subjects, it collects data through questionnaire and analyzes the data with the descriptive statistics, the reliability and validity analysis, and the multiple regression analysis. The research results show that the i°tangiblesi±, i°responsivenessi± and i°assurancei± of service quality have effects on relationship quality. Moreover, the i°assurancei± of service quality and the i°trusti± and i°commitmenti± have effects on customer loyalty. According to the research results, this study offers some reference to relevant enterprises and provides a direction for future studies.
Device level modeling of metal-insulator-semiconductor interconnects

A rigorous model for metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) interconnects is presented based on device level simulation results. At the device level, the motion equations of charged carriers and Maxwell's equations are simultaneously solved using a finite element scheme and Newton's method. Simulations provide detailed information regarding field-carrier interactions, semiconductor substrate loss and nonlinearity, as well as the slow-wave effect, external bias effect, and screening effect of the charged carriers. An equivalent circuit model of MIS interconnects is established using an energy-based approach. The model consists of an equivalent transmission line that mimics the energy transport characteristics of the actual MIS interconnect, and provides a generalized nonlinear and electronic tunable circuit model suitable for both small-signal and large-signal analysis. Examples are presented to illustrate capabilities and efficiency of the method as well as properties of the equivalent circuit model.
A Prelude to SPySort: Neuronal Spike Sorting with Python

Extracellular recordings with multi-electrode arrays is one of the basic tools of con-temporary neuroscience. These recordings are mostly used to monitor the activities, understood as sequences of emitted action potentials, of many individual neurons. But the raw data produced by extracellular recordings are most commonly a mixture of activities from several neurons. In order to get the activities of the individual con-tributing neurons, a pre-processing step called spike sorting is required. We present here a pure Python implementation of a well tested spike sorting procedure. The latter was designed in a modular way in order to favour a smooth transition from an interac-tive sorting, for instance with IPython, to an automatic one. Surprisingly enough—or sadly enough, depending on one's view point—, recoding our now 15 years old pro-cedure into Python was the occasion of major methodological improvements.
Comparative Study of Temperatures Used in Silicone Impregnation of Porcine Hearts Plastination

Forced impregnation process is normally performed under vacuum at freezing temperature which requires expensive plastination apparatus. To reduce the cost in the plastination process, forced impregnation of porcine hearts under two different environments, which are at the freezing temperature (-20oC) and at room temperature (22-25oC), was compared. Twelve porcine hearts were collected from a slaughter house, and divided into the groups, six in each, and subjected to be plastinated by S10 standard technique at the two temperatures. Although the forced impregnation at room temperature, also the curing process, was more time-consuming, all hearts from both groups produced satisfying plastinated specimens. The gross structures, rigidity and color of the plastinated hearts from both groups were examined. The surface and internal structures of the heart, after dissection, were kept in shape and no differences were observed between the two groups. The color of the external and internal structures was brown. Moreover, no significant color difference was detected between the specimens although the natural color of the heart before plastination is more grayish. All plastinated hearts were rigid and slightly flexible. In conclusion, although forced implegnation at room temperature required more processing time than forced impregnation at freezing temperature, both could still produce an equal quality at plastinated heart specimens.
A COMPREHENSIVE CULTURE SYSTEM RECAPITULATING IN VIVO LIVER DEVELOPMENT

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold a potential as an unlimited source to generate hepatocytes to be used in cell therapy and toxicity screening. However, a more rigorous understanding of the instructive signals that govern the hESCs into the hepatocyte lineage is in demand. We herein have studied some of the approaches that improve the in vitro hepatic protocols that are ultimately aimed at obtaining functional hepatocytes. Differentiation of definitive endoderm (DE) is a pre-requisite for its derivative organ, the liver. Therefore, signalling governing DE fate has been the focus of the research in this field. In this study, we have demonstrated that suppression of PI3K singling pathway enhances the Activin-induced DE differentiation via mesendoderm formation in chemically defined conditions, hence improving hepatocyte generation from enriched DE. On the other hand, achieving functional maturation of hepatocytes remains one of the key challenges for hESC–derived hepatocytes, as they lose their in vivo niche when growing in monolayer. Thus, recreating the 3dimensional (3D) niche in vitro is the key step needed to improve the maturation of these cells. Our findings underscore the feasibility of 3D-induced hepatic function, and reveal the behaviour of hepatocyte differentiation of hESCs in 3D culture and using more controlled differentiation stages than in previous work by embryoid body formation. Thus, we anticipate that these findings will bring us closer to the ultimate goal of efficient generation of hepatocytes from hESCs for both clinical and biomedical applications. A B S T R A C T
Discrete monetary policy changes and changing inflation targets in estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models

Many estimated macroeconomic models assume interest rate smoothing in the monetary policy equation. In practice, monetary policymakers adjust a target level for the federal funds rate by discrete increments. One often-neglected consequence of using a quarterly average of the daily federal funds rate in empirical work is that any change in the target federal funds rate will affect the quarterly average in the current quarter and the subsequent quarter. Despite this clear source of predictable change in the quarterly average of the federal funds rate, the vast bulk of the literature that estimates policy rules ignores information concerning the timing and magnitude of discrete changes to the target federal funds rate. Consequently, policy equations that include interest rate smoothing inadvertently make the strong and unnecessary assumption that the starting point for interest rate smoothing is last quarter's average level of the federal funds rate. The authors consider, within an estimated general equilibrium model, whether policymakers put weight on the end-of-quarter target level of the federal funds rate when choosing a point at which to smooth the interest rate.
SELECTION AND ROLE OF A MIX ROSEMARY (Rosmarinus officinalis) - PALMITATE ASCORBYL AS ANTIOXIDANT IN A FRYING PROCESS

Background: Several studies have found that rosemary has active components with antioxidant potential, and that is why, an extract combined with ascorbyl palmitate provides protection for systems with high fat content was obtained. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of two extracts of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis): AP10R and AP30R at three concentrations 1000, 1500 and 2000ppm, on the oxidative stability of palm oil subjected to accelerated oxidation and frying conditions, Methods: controlling the concentration of hydroperoxides, total polar compounds and the thermal stability of phenolic compounds it is conducted in the oil through fluorescence spectroscopy and were evaluated with and without addition of the extract. Results: The extract AP10R to 2000ppm inhibited the oxidation of olein in 30.38% and 60.84% in terms of the concentration of total polar compounds and hydroperoxides, respectively. In addition, Conclusions: Results indicated that heating decreases the concentration of polyphenols; this decrease was most evident in the olein without extract, reflecting the effect of rosemary extract on the stability of used oil polyphenols.
Increasing Children’s Working Memory Capacity: Preliminary Evaluation of a Card-Based Programme

Working memory (WM) is recognised as universally foundational to children’s learning. While computerised training programmes can increase working memory capacity, their application in school contexts may be limited by resources and pedagogy, which may restrict use to pupils with the greatest difficulty. This research presents findings from a preliminary evaluation into the effectiveness of a novel, six-week, whole-class working memory programme, which involved pairs of children undertaking daily card-based activities within a single mainstream primary school classroom, involving 24 eight- and nine-year-old children. Post and follow-up measures demonstrated significant gains in children’s working memory and verbal short-term memory, with large effect sizes. While promising, these results should be interpreted with caution due to the sample size and age of participants. Before it can be concluded that this working memory training programme holds potential to increase children’s capacity to learn and achieve, further research needs to establish its usefulness for children with the most prominent WM difficulties, justify its application for children without WM difficulties and eliminate the possibility that gains could have occurred as a result of task-specific learning.
Dynamic Light Scattering for the Characterization of Polydisperse Fractal Systems: II. Relation between Structure and DLS Results

Dynamic light scattering (DLS) is frequently used to characterize suspensions of pyrogenic silica which consists of polydisperse fractal aggregates of sintered spherical primary particles. As the method primarily measures temporal fluctuations of scattered light caused by the translational and rotational diffusive motion of the aggregates it is an important prerequisite to identify those structural properties that are measurable with DLS and to quantify the method's sensitivity to changes in these properties. In a recent paper [1] we have investigated the structure‐hydrodynamics relationship via simulations. Here, the validation of the simulation results by experimental data is presented. Therefore, the structure of different pyrogenic silica grades has been characterized by static light and X‐ray scattering and the diffusional properties were obtained by multi‐angle DLS measurements. It is shown that the hydrodynamic radii determined with DLS scale well with the mean aggregate radius of gyration but that the influence of rotational diffusion has to be accounted for in the measurements.
Short-range and long-range order of phyllomanganate nanoparticles determined using high-energy X-ray scattering

High-energy X-ray scattering (HEXS) is used to explore the pH-dependent structure of randomly stacked manganese oxide nanosheets of nominal formula [delta]-MnO2. Data are simulated in real space by pair distribution function (PDF) analysis and in reciprocal space by both the Bragg-rod method and the Debye equation in order to maximize the information gained from the total scattering measurements. The essential new features of this triple-analysis approach are (1) the use of a two-dimensional supercell in PDF modeling to describe local distortions around Mn layer vacancies, (2) the implementation in Bragg-rod calculations of a lognormal crystal size distribution in the layer plane and an empirical function for the effect of strain, and (3) the incorporation into the model used with the Debye equation of an explicit elastic deformation of the two-dimensional nanocrystals. The PDF analysis reveals steady migration at acidic pH of the Mn atoms from layer to interlayer sites, either above or below the Mn layer vacancies, and important displacement of the remaining in-layer Mn atoms toward vacancies. The increased density of the vacancy-interlayer Mn pairs at low pH causes their mutual repulsion and results in short-range ordering. The layer microstructure, responsible for the long-range lateral disorder, is modeled with spherically and cylindrically bent crystallites having volume-averaged radii of 20-40 A. The b unit-cell parameter from the hexagonal layer has different values in PDF, Bragg-rod and Debye equation modeling, because of the use of different weighting contributions from long-range and short-range distances in each method. The PDF b parameter is in effect a measure of the average inlayer Mn.Mn distance and consistently deviates from the average structure value determined by the Bragg-rod method by 0.02 A at low pH, as a result of the local relaxation induced by vacancies. The layer curvature increases the Bragg-rod value by 0.01-0.02 A with the cylindrical model and as much as 0.04-0.05 A with the spherical model. Therefore, in principle, the diffraction alone can unambiguously determine with good accuracy only a volume-averaged apparent layer dimension of the manganese oxide nanosheets. The b parameter is model dependent and has no single straightforward interpretation, so comparison of b between different samples only makes sense if done in the context of a single specified model.
The Relationship between Elevation Roughness and Tornado Activity: A Spatial Statistical Model Fit to Data from the Central Great Plains

AbstractThe statistical relationship between elevation roughness and tornado activity is quantified using a spatial model that controls for the effect of population on the availability of reports. Across a large portion of the central Great Plains the model shows that areas with uniform elevation tend to have more tornadoes on average than areas with variable elevation. The effect amounts to a 2.3% [(1.6%, 3.0%) = 95% credible interval] increase in the rate of a tornado occurrence per meter of decrease in elevation roughness, defined as the highest minus the lowest elevation locally. The effect remains unchanged if the model is fit to the data starting with the year 1995. The effect strengthens for the set of intense tornadoes and is stronger using an alternative definition of roughness. The elevation-roughness effect appears to be strongest over Kansas, but it is statistically significant over a broad domain that extends from Texas to South Dakota. The research is important for developing a local climato.