Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utility maximization in pure-jump models driven by marked point processes and nonlinear wealth dynamics

We explore martingale and convex duality techniques to study optimal investment strategies that maximize expected risk-averse utility from consumption and terminal wealth. We consider a market model with jumps driven by (multivariate) marked point processes and so-called non-linear wealth dynamics which allows to take account of relaxed assumptions such as differential borrowing and lending interest rates or short positions with cash collateral and negative rebate rates. We give suffcient conditions for existence of optimal policies for agents with logarithmic and CRRA power utility. We find closed-form solutions for the optimal value function in the case of pure-jump models with jump-size distributions modulated by a two-state Markov chain.
The Impact of Private Long-Term Care Insurance on the Use of Long-Term Care

This paper investigates the effects of privately purchased long-term care insurance (LTCI) on three major types of long-term care services: nursing home care, paid home care, and informal care received from family and friends. Using 2002–2008 data from the ongoing Health and Retirement Study, we analyze the determinants of long-term care utilization simultaneously with the determinants of holding LTCI. We find that LTCI has modest effects on the likelihood of using long-term care services. For the very frail elderly, private LTCI enhances their access to nursing home care. For those with moderate disability, LTCI makes it more likely that they can remain at home and receive home care services, instead of going to a nursing home. We find no evidence that formal care substitutes for informal care in the presence of LTCI. These findings suggest that if LTCI becomes much more prevalent in the future, many older adults will be able to choose the type of long-term care arrangement that best suits their needs.
Relationship Between Therapeutic Climate and Treatment Outcome in Group-Based Sexual Offender Treatment Programs

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between therapeutic climate and the effectiveness of CBT treatment for sexual offenders in U.K. prisons. To this end a measure of group atmosphere was administered to members and leaders of 12 treatment groups running the same prison-based sexual offender treatment program. Treatment outcome was measured using a case-by-case methodology clinically significant change analysis—to identify the percentage of individuals within each group who had significantly changed on measures of pro-offending attitudes targeted in treatment. The results of the group process measure indicated leaders generally viewed groups more positively than members. Clear differences were also found between groups (ostensibly running the same treatment program) in terms of group climate. Analysis of members’ process data indicated that there was a clear relationship between how cohesive the members reported the group to be and the extent to which freedom of action and expressions of feelings were encouraged in groups, as well as treatment outcome as measured by significant reductions in pro-offending attitudes. These results are discussed in terms of what they say about attitudes and goals of those involved in running treatment and how the effectiveness of treatment programs can be maximized.
Money Creation and the State : A Critical Assessment of Chartalism

The article discusses various issues related to money creation and the state. Chartalists believe that attempts at separating the central bank's and the treasury's functions is merely confused discussion. Indeed, as economist L. Wray clearly states in response to previous critiques, it should be obvious, but it usually does not appear to be so that central bank liabilities do not differ in any significant degree from treasury liabilities; in other words, they can treat both as essentially high powered money or liabilities of the state. In this sense, Wray proposes to simply consolidate the central bank and the treasury, calling the conglomerate the State, and combine treasury and central bank liabilities into a high-powered money or fiat money. This is precisely the crucial point that we have chosen to question here with reference to bookkeeping and central bank practices. In many countries law from directly financing state deficits has prohibited the central bank. Treasuries have to sell bonds to commercial banks, which in their turn may sell them to the central bank to obtain high-powered money.
Extensive and Heritable Epigenetic Remodeling and Genetic Stability Accompany Allohexaploidization of Wheat

Allopolyploidy has played a prominent role in organismal evolution, particularly in angiosperms. Allohexaploidization is a critical step leading to the formation of common wheat as a new species, Triticum aestivum, as well as for bestowing its remarkable adaptability. A recent study documented that the initial stages of wheat allohexaploidization was associated with rampant genetic and epigenetic instabilities at genomic regions flanking a retrotransposon family named Veju. Although this finding is in line with the prevailing opinion of rapid genomic instability associated with nascent plant allopolyploidy, its relevance to speciation of T. aestivum remains unclear. Here, we show that genetic instability at genomic regions flanking the Veju, flanking a more abundant retroelement BARE-1, as well as at a large number of randomly sampled genomic loci, is all extremely rare or nonexistent in preselected individuals representing three sets of independently formed nascent allohexaploid wheat lines, which had a transgenerationally stable genomic constitution analogous to that of T. aestivum. In contrast, extensive and transgenerationally heritable repatterning of DNA methylation at all three kinds of genomic loci were reproducibly detected. Thus, our results suggest that rampant genetic instability associated with nascent allohexaploidization in wheat likely represents incidental and anomalous phenomena that are confined to by-product individuals inconsequential to the establishment of the newly formed plants toward speciation of T. aestivum; instead, extensive and heritable epigenetic remodeling coupled with preponderant genetic stability is generally associated with nascent wheat allohexaploidy, and therefore, more likely a contributory factor to the speciation event(s).
On the Frequency of Large Stock Returns: Putting Booms and Busts into Perspective

Numerous articles have investigated the distribution of share prices, and find that the returns are fat tailed. Nevertheless, there is still controversy about the amount of probability mass in the tails, and hence about the most appropriate distribution to use in modeling returns. This controversy has proven hard to resolve, as the alternatives are non-nested. The authors employ extreme value theory, focusing exclusively on the larger observations in order to assess the tail shape within a unified framework. They find that at least the first two moments exist. This enables one to generate robust probabilities on large returns, which put the recent stock market swings into historical perspective. Copyright 1991 by MIT Press.
The Indian Growth Story

India embarked on a high growth path right in the early 1950s. However, due to some internal and external shocks, the economy slowed down from the mid-1960s until about 1980. Moreover, throughout the period, industry and services grew at higher rates compared to agriculture whose share in GDP was almost 60 per cent in 1950. Thus, the increasing trend in the overall growth rate is the reflection of the increasing shares of the high growing sectors in the GDP. It is also suggested that mere growth is not sufficient to reduce poverty, while poverty reduction may also impact growth positively.
Genetic abnormalities involved in t(12;21) TEL–AML1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Analysis by means of array‐based comparative genomic hybridization

The TEL (ETV6)–AML1 (RUNX1) chimeric gene fusion is the most common genetic abnormality in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias. Evidence suggests that this chimeric gene fusion constitutes an initiating mutation that is necessary but insufficient for the development of leukemia. In a search for additional genetic events that could be linked to the development of leukemia, we applied a genome‐wide array‐comparative genomic hybridization technique to 24 TEL–AML1 leukemia samples and two cell lines. It was found that at least two chromosomal imbalances were involved in all samples. Recurrent regions of chromosomal imbalance (>10% of cases) and representative involved genes were gain of chromosomes 10 (17%) and 21q (25%; RUNX1) and loss of 12p13.2 (87%; TEL), 9p21.3 (29%; p16INK4a/ARF), 9p13.2 (25%; PAX5), 12q21.3 (25%; BTG1), 3p21 (21%; LIMD1), 6q21 (17%; AIM1 and BLIMP1), 4q31.23 (17%; NR3C2), 11q22‐q23 (13%; ATM) and 19q13.11‐q13.12 (13%; PDCD5). Enforced expression of TEL and to a lesser extent BTG1, both single genes known to be located in their respective minimum common region of loss, inhibited proliferation of the TEL–AML1 cell line Reh. Together, these findings suggest that some of the genes identified as lost by array‐comparative genomic hybridization may partly account for the development of leukemia. (Cancer Sci 2007; 98: 698–706)
Advice by an Informed Intermediary: Can You Trust Your Broker?

The paper investigates the credibility of an intermediary's advice in a bilateral trade model. A seller and a buyer with private and independent valuations exchange a unit of good. Trade is mediated by an intermediary, who observes a coarse signal about the buyer's valuation and may reveal it to the seller before bargaining. We show that if the broker gets a fixed per-transaction fee, he can fully transmit information via cheap talk. This information transmission increases ex ante welfare of the seller and the broker but has an ambiguous impact on the buyer. We show that limits to informative communication may arise if the intermediary observes signals about valuations of both participants or because of competition between intermediaries. Finally, using mechanism design approach, we show that choosing an appropriate system of two-part tariffs allows the intermediary to secure the same expected profit as in the optimal direct mechanism.
Truth and Lies about Megaprojects

In what follows I will: (1) Argue that a major problem in megaproject policy and planning is the high level of misinformation about costs and benefits that decision makers face in deciding whether to build, and the high risks such misinformation generates; (2) Explore the causes of misinformation and risk, mainly in the guise of optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation; (3) Present measures aimed at better policy and planning, including changed governance structures and better planning methods; and (4) Identify the most promising areas for further research, especially as they pertain to the Dutch situation and the Chair in Infrastructure Policy and Planning at Delft University of Technology.
hsp82 is an essential protein that is required in higher concentrations for growth of cells at higher temperatures

hsp82 is one of the most highly conserved and abundantly synthesized heat shock proteins of eucaryotic cells. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains two closely related genes in the HSP82 gene family. HSC82 was expressed constitutively at a very high level and was moderately induced by high temperatures. HSP82 was expressed constitutively at a much lower level and was more strongly induced by heat. Site-directed disruption mutations were produced in both genes. Cells homozygous for both mutations did not grow at any temperature. Cells carrying other combinations of the HSP82 and HSC82 mutations grew well at 25 degrees C, but their ability to grow at higher temperatures varied with gene copy number. Thus, HSP82 and HSC82 constitute an essential gene family in yeast cells. Although the two proteins had different patterns of expression, they appeared to have equivalent functions; growth at higher temperatures required higher concentrations of either protein. Biochemical analysis of hsp82 from vertebrate cells suggests that the protein binds to a variety of other cellular proteins, keeping them inactive until they have reached their proper intracellular location or have received the proper activation signal. We speculate that the reason cells require higher concentrations of hsp82 or hsc82 for growth at higher temperatures is to maintain proper levels of complex formation with these other proteins.
Agricultural Planning and Pricing in the Post-Mao Period

During the past decade China's leaders have called repeatedly for reductions in administrative interventions in the economy, for greater reliance on economic “levers,” for decentralization of economic decision-making, and for an increased role of markets. Although the need for liberalization is fairly widely accepted, debate over how far and how fast to proceed has continued. One view initially proposed by Chen Yun sees China moving towards a system where a “planned economy is primary, and markets are supplementary” (jihua jingji wei zhu, shichang tiaojie wei bu). Others advocate moving beyond Chen Yun's vision to a system where, in fact if not in name, allocation takes place primarily through markets. Li Peng's government work report to the first session of the Seventh National People's Congress suggests that the current consensus leans towards the latter, more progressive view: The focus of reform of the planning system is to transform the function of state planning organs, gradually reduce mandatory planning and expand guidance planning, … use economic instruments, and gradually establish a new economic mechanism where “the state regulates markets, and markets guide enterprises” (guojia tiaojie shichang, shichang yindao qiye).
A 1.6-V 25-µ A 5-ppm/°C Curvature-Compensated Bandgap Reference

A high precision high-order curvature-compensated bandgap reference (BGR) compatible with standard BiCMOS process is presented in this paper that is capable of working down to input voltages of 1.6 V with 1.285 V output voltage. High-order curvature correction for this reference is accomplished by a novel piecewise technique, which realizes exponential curvature compensation in temperature range, and a logarithmic compensation term proportional to VT In T in higher temperature range through simple structures. Experimental results of the proposed BGR implemented in 0.5-μm BiCMOS process demonstrate that a temperature coefficient (TC) of 5 ppm/°C is realized at 3.6 V power supply, a power-supply noise attenuation (PSNA) of 70 dB is achieved without filtering capacitors, and the line regulation is better than 0.47 mV/V from 1.6 V to 5 V supply voltage while dissipating a maximum supply current of 25 μA. The active area of the presented BGR is 180 μm × 220 μm.
Data Centric Performance Measurement Techniques for Chapel Programs

Chapel is an emerging PGAS (Partitioned Global Address Space) language whose design goal is to make parallel programming more productive and generally accessible. To date, the implementation effort has focused primarily on correctness over performance. We present a performance measurement technique for Chapel and the idea is also applicable to other PGAS models. The unique feature of our tool is that it associates the performance statistics not to the code regions (functions), but to the variables (including the heap allocated, static, and local variables) in the source code. Unlike code-centric methods, this data-centric analysis capability exposes new optimization opportunities that are useful in resolving data locality problems. This paper introduces our idea and implementations of the approach with three benchmarks. We also include a case study optimizing benchmarks based on the information from our tool. The optimized versions improved the performance by a factor of 1.4x for LULESH, 2.3x for MiniMD, and 2.1x for CLOMP with simple modifications to the source code.
Gender and higher education in post-colonial Zimbabwe: tentative reflections on policy issues

Social configurations, development projects and even analyses in the academe have largely been androcentric due to the dominance of patriarchy as the mode of existence. Womenâ€™s interests and concerns over the years have been subsidiary to those of men. Many organisations now seek to reverse this by establishing an even keel for men and women. Governments are promoting gender equality and equity through the implementation of gender sensitive policies and programmes. This is being done by according women preferential treatment in jobs and promotions, quota systems in political party candidate lists, enrolment in schools and colleges, and by the elimination of gender restrictions in all spheres of life. In order to show regard for womenâ€™s rights, the engendering of policies, programmes and projects of governments, training institutions, NGOs bilateral and multilateral organisations and other interested partners in development and governance is imperative. This paper seeks to make a historical critique of the application of gender, as a concept and a framework of policy formulation in post-colonial Zimbabweâ€™s higher education sector by academics and administrators. The underlying argument of the paper is that the higher education sector is not â€œsufficientlyâ€ gender mainstreamed. This is so in spite of the fact that as early as 1992 the University of Zimbabwe adopted affirmative action policy
Asymmetric extreme interdependence in emerging equity markets

SUMMARY We assess the extent of integration between stock markets during stressful periods using the concept of copulas. Our methodology consists of fitting copulas to simultaneous exceedances of high thresholds, and computing copula-based measures of interdependence and contagion. Using 21 pairs of emerging stock markets daily returns, we investigate if dependence increases with crisis, and analyse the chances of both markets crashing together. Dependence at joint positive and negative extreme returns levels may differ. This type of asymmetry is captured by the upper and lower tail dependence coefficients. Propagation of crisis may be faster in one direction, and this feature is captured by asymmetric copulas. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Variability of Particle Size Distributions in the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea

Particle size distribution (PSD) is an important parameter that is relevant to many aspects of marine ecosystems, such as phytoplankton functional types, optical absorption and scattering from particulates, sediment fluxes, and carbon export. However, only a handful of studies have documented the PSD variability in different regions. Here, we investigate the PSD properties and variability in two shallow and semi-enclosed seas (the Bohai Sea (BS) and Yellow Sea (YS)), using in situ laser diffraction measurements (LISST-100X Type C) and other measurements at 79 stations in November 2013. The results show large variability in particle concentrations (in both volume and number concentrations), with volume concentrations varying by 57-fold. The median particle diameter (Dv50) from each of the water samples also covers a large range (22.4–307.0 μm) and has an irregular statistical distribution, indicating complexity in the PSD. The PSD slopes (2.7–4.5), estimated from a power-law model, cover nearly the entire range reported previously for natural waters. Small mineral particles (with large PSD slopes) are characteristic of near-shore waters prone to sediment resuspension by winds and tides, while large biological particles (with small PSD slopes) dominate the total suspended particulates for waters away from the coast. For the BS and YS, this study provides the first report on the properties and spatial variability of the PSD, which may influence the optical properties of the ocean surface and remote sensing algorithms that are based on estimations of particle concentrations and sizes.
Overexpression and Ribozyme-mediated Targeting of Transcriptional Coactivators CREB-binding Protein and p300 Revealed Their Indispensable Roles in Adipocyte Differentiation through the Regulation of Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor γ*

The cAMP-response element-binding protein-binding protein (CBP) and p300 are common coactivators for several transcriptional factors. It has been reported that both CBP and p300 are significant for the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), which is a crucial nuclear receptor in adipogenesis. However, it remains unclear whether CBP and/or p300 is physiologically essential to the activation of PPARγ in adipocytes and adipocyte differentiation. In this study, we investigated the physiological significance of CBP/p300 in NIH3T3 cells transiently expressing PPARγ and CBP and in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes stably expressing CBP- or p300-specific ribozymes. In PPARγ-transfected NIH3T3 cells, induction of expression of PPARγ target genes such as adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) by adding thiazolidinedione was enhanced, depending on the amount of a CBP expression plasmid transfected. Expression of aP2 and LPL genes, as well as glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and triacylglyceride accumulation after adipogenic induction, was largely suppressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes expressing either the CBP- or p300-specific active ribozyme, but not in inactive ribozyme-expressing cells. These data suggest that both CBP and p300 are indispensable for the full activation of PPARγ and adipocyte differentiation and that CBP and p300 do not mutually complement in the process.
Evanescent-Wave Spectroscopy Using an SU-8 Waveguide for Rapid Quantitative Detection of Biomolecules

A 30-mm-long multimode waveguide, 40 mum wide and 40 mum high, is fabricated on a silicon wafer using polymer SU-8 as the core and liquid buffer as the cladding. Antibodies are successfully immobilized on the SU-8 surface designated for binding target antigens dispersed in the buffer solution. Evanescent-wave spectroscopy is performed by exciting the fluorescently labeled antigens, bound to the waveguide surface within its evanescence field, and measuring the emission light intensity. This evanescent-wave biosensor detects specific molecular interaction. The optical output as a function of the antigen concentration can be described by Langmuir equation. Antigen concentration as low as 1.5 mug/mL is detected; concentrations higher than 100 mug/mL lead to sensor saturation.
Interindividual differences in the effect of drugs on bilirubin plasma binding in newborn infants and in adults

The nonprotein‐bound fraction of bilirubin was determined in undiluted plasma or serum from healthy adult volunteers and newborn irifants after addition of unconjugated bilirubin, 12 mg/100 ml. There were significant interindividual differences (2‐fold in 13 adults, 2.6‐fold in 9 full‐term newborn infants) in the free fraction value. Sulfisoxazole, salicylic acid, and salicyluric acid had a pronounced displacing effect on bilirubin in the 10 to 30 mg/100 ml drug concentration range. Aspirin had only a small effect at concentrations below 20 mg/100 ml. There was a very strong correlation between the free fraction value of bilirubin in individual samples of drug‐free plasma and in the same plasmas after addition of anyone of the 4 drugs studied. This shows that the relative increase of the free fraction of bilirubin induced by anyone of the drugs was essentially the same but that the absolute increase varied greatly between subjects. It may be possible, therefore, to predict quantitatively the bilirubin‐displacing effect of drugs in individual patients before drug administration by determining the free fraction of bilirubin in a plasma or serum sample obtained prior to initiation of drug therapy.