Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Exchange Rate Risk Exposure of Asset Returns

Real exchange-rate changes affect bonds differently from stocks. Bonds, having relatively fixed income streams, reflect only an interest-rate effect; stocks reflect a conjunction of interest-rate and cash-flow effects. If exchange rate changes contain information about future interest rates and cash flows over more than one period, then using short horizons may not fully capture exchange exposure, which may explain why prior empirical studies have failed to find an association between stock returns and exchange rates. Using long-horizon returns and long-horizon exchange-rate changes as the authors do provides a clearer picture of exchange exposure. Copyright 1997 by University of Chicago Press.
Pediatric thyroid nodules: ultrasonographic characteristics and inter-observer variability in prediction of malignancy

Abstract Background: Pediatric thyroid nodules, while uncommon, have high malignancy risk. The objectives of the study were (1) to identify sonographic features predictive of malignancy; (2) to create a prediction model; and (3) to assess inter-observer agreement among radiologists. Methods: All available cases of thyroid nodules, surgically removed between 2000 and 2009. Three radiologists reviewed the sonographic images; 2 pathologists reviewed the tissue specimens. Adult prediction models were applied. Interobserver variability was assessed. Results: Twenty-seven subjects, mean age 13.1±3.4 years, were included. Nineteen nodules were differentiated thyroid carcinomas. On multivariate analysis, size was the only significant predictor of malignancy. On recursive partitioning analysis, size >35 mm with microcalcification and ill-defined margins yielded the best prediction model. Radiologist inter-observer agreement regarding malignancy was moderate (κ=0.50). Conclusions: Larger size, microcalcifications and ill-defined margins on ultrasound demonstrate the best predictive model for malignancy in the pediatric population. Experienced pediatric radiologists demonstrate moderate inter-observer agreement in prediction of malignancy.
A Reduction in Radiation Exposure During Pediatric Craniofacial Computed Tomography

Background:Radiation exposure during computed tomography (CT) evaluation in children is the subject of growing professional and public concern. The authors previously demonstrated an 18% reduction in effective radiation dose during craniofacial CT imaging using a modified head position (“exaggerated sniff”), without any compromise of image diagnostic quality. The current study reports additional reduction of radiation exposure using a commercially available iterative reconstruction CT technique. Methods:This single-institution, retrospective cohort study compared the overall effective radiation dose received during elective pediatric craniofacial CT imaging. Patients imaged using the iterative reconstruction and exaggerated sniff protocol combined (January 2010 through December 2013) were compared with those undergoing imaging with the exaggerated sniff position alone, between October 2008 and January 2010. Results:A total of 325 patients who underwent CT imaging with the exaggerated sniff position, decreased dose and iterative reconstruction protocol experienced an average effective radiation dose of 1.22 mSv (47% reduction), compared with 2.32 mSv for the sniff-position alone group. Age-matched reference patients not treated using either protocol received an average of 2.82 mSv. This represents a 56.7% average radiation dose reduction for combined sniff position and iterative reconstruction patients compared with reference patients and 47.4% reduction compared with the sniff-position alone group. Image quality of both bone and brain windows was equivalent. Conclusions:Altering head position and use of iterative reconstruction technique with a reduced radiation protocol diminishes CT imaging-related effective radiation dose by approximately 50% in children undergoing elective cranial CT imaging for craniofacial disorders.
Management of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in the Older Adult Patient With Diabetes

Older adults with diabetes are at higher risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) than younger adults with diabetes and older adults without diabetes. The rationale to implement ASCVD risk–lowering therapies in older adults with diabetes is compelling. Recommendations for lifestyle modification, lipid-lowering therapy, blood pressure management, blood glucose control, and aspirin therapy are often based on studies that show their efficacy in younger populations. However, the risks associated with each of these interventions increase with age, and favorable risk-to-benefit ratios demonstrated in younger adults with diabetes are less certain in older populations. The variability in health status among older adults is pertinent. Those with robust health are more likely to tolerate and derive benefit from many therapies when compared with those who have more complex health including frailty. Age- and/or frailty-stratified data to help clarify these relationships are sparse. In this Perspective, current recommendations for modifying ASCVD risk are described with a review of the pertinent literature that guides their application in older adults. A pragmatic approach to the treatment of ASCVD risk factors in older adults with diabetes is presented.
Magnet minimization in IPM-PMASR motor design for wide speed range application

The paper presents the design issues to implement a permanent magnet (PM) amount reduction at given motor performance for a wide speed range IPM-PMASR (Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance) electric machine. The paper firstly describes the design procedure followed to obtain a first limited minimum PM amount adopting magnets whose dimensions are linked to the flux barrier shape of the basic synchronous reluctance motor. Then a further PM reduction is introduced still maintaining the previously obtained machine performance. The procedure will first be defined following an analytical approach, then validated by finite element analysis and experimental results.
25.2 A 10MHz 3-to-40V VIN tri-slope gate driving GaN DC-DC converter with 40.5dBµV spurious noise compression and 79.3% ringing suppression for automotive applications

As power efficiency becomes essential in automotive applications, DC-DC converters are widely employed [1]. However, size and thermal limits have made it challenging to continue using standard CMOS-based converters. Gallium Nitride (GaN) FETs, on the other hand, have a much higher conductivity with small size/capacitance in comparison to silicon FETs, enabling a highly efficient power conversion at high switching frequency (fSW). However, there are several issues that must be resolved before using GaN in automotive. High fSW incurs larger di/dt and dv/dt transitions which injects high frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise into the input bus. This creates unwanted noise or even a malfunction in a safety-critical system. A bulky input filter can reduce EMI, but it greatly increases size and cost. Several techniques [2–5] are reported to mitigate EMI. Frequency hopping using discrete frequencies is proposed in [2], but cannot spread the frequency evenly to lower the peak noise effectively. Alternatively, a series resistor is typically added at the gate of the GaN FET to slow down the transition [3–4]. However, the switching loss is dramatically increased. To mitigate this, adjustable driving strength is proposed in [5]. Unfortunately, the sensing and driver delays confine its use in low fSW applications, where the switch node rising time is several tens or hundreds of ns. Another issue of high fSW operation is that it causes significant current and voltage spikes due to the parasitics at the drain/source of the high side GaN FET (MH), which could lead to GaN VDS breakdown or damage on logic-level FETs. Thus, EMI noise suppression and reliable operation of GaN FETs remain as major challenges in realizing high fSW power converters for automotive-use.
Why Governments Tax or Subsidize Trade: Evidence from Agriculture

This paper empirically explores the political-economic determinants of why governments choose to tax or subsidize trade in agriculture. The authors use a new data set on nominal rates of assistance (NRA) across a number of commodities spanning the last five decades for 64 countries. NRAs measure the effect on domestic (relative to world) price of the quantitative and price-based instruments used to regulate agricultural markets. The data set admits consideration of both taxes and subsidies on exports and imports. The authors find that both economic and political variables play important roles in determining the within-variation in the NRA data. Based on results the authors offer a number of data-driven exploratory hypotheses that can inform future theoretical and empirical research on why governments choose to tax or subsidize agricultural products an important policy question that is also one of the least understood by scholars.
Craving in hospitalized cocaine abusers as a predictor of outcome.

Despite its common use, the term "craving" is controversial. Moreover, its measurement can be problematic, since craving is purely subjective and is highly influenced by setting and drug availability. Thus, one might expect patients in protective settings such as hospitals to experience little craving, despite potentially being at high risk to relapse upon discharge. In this study of 73 patients hospitalized for cocaine dependence, we developed a series of five questions to measure different aspects of cocaine craving: 1) current intensity, 2) intensity during the previous 24 hours, 3) frequency, 4) responsiveness to drug-related conditioned stimuli, and 5) imagined likelihood of use if in a setting with access to drugs. We hypothesized that some hospitalized patients with low craving levels might believe their risk of relapse to be high in another setting. We then examined the relationship between inpatient craving levels and 3-month treatment outcome. Results revealed a high level of internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha scores of . 82 to . 94 on daily measures; factor analysis revealed unidimensionality; and each of the five items showed significant decreases in craving over time. The question regarding likelihood of use in another setting consistently scored higher than other questions on current craving (p < .001). Predictive validity was assessed by examining 3-month outcome. Among the 37 patients who participated in a follow-up study, there were no statistically significant relationships between 3-month cocaine use outcome and any item on the craving scale. Neither inpatient craving levels nor predictions regarding future use correlated with actual 3-month outcome.
Joint Digital Storytelling on Twitter: Creative Appropriation in Political Deliberation

Abstract: This paper explores on the basis of empirical research, how patterns of interaction and argumentation in political discourse on Twitter evolve as translocal communities in the creative shape of “joint digital storytelling”. Joint storytelling embraces coordinated activities by multiple actors focusing on a shared topic. By adding personal information and evaluation, participants construct an open narrative format, which can be inviting and inspiring for others, who then join in with their own narratives. This model will be exemplified by analyzing a large amount of tweets (107,000) collected during a political conflict between proponents and adversaries of a local traffic project in Germany. Analysis is based on (1) the textual level, (2) the operative level (hashtags, @- and RT-Symbol, hyperlinks etc.) and (3) the visual level of storytelling (embedded photos, videos). Results show a new way of creating translocal online communities and political deliberation.
Tempered by the EU? Political parties and party systems before and after accession

Party systems of European Union (EU) candidate states follow a predictable evolution over time. Before negotiations begin, most major political parties respond to EU leverage by adopting agendas that are consistent with qualifying for membership. Consequently, the party systems – at least for a while – reflect a consensus on the direction of domestic policy-making. Candidate states where regime change in 1989 was followed by illiberal democracy or authoritarianism are the most interesting. For key parties in these states, pushing for EU accession is a marker of profound moderation in their agendas. Yet after EU accession, the parameters for party competition broaden again. The lifting of accession-related constraints is especially apparent among parties that adopt more nationalist and culturally conservative positions. However, preliminary evidence suggests that such parties have made only modest political gains.
Structural Change And Economic Convergence Across The Eu-15 Regions: Can The Agricultural Sector Play a Role?

Economic and agricultural convergence across the EU regions has for a long time attracted the attention of economists and more so in the recent decade following the EU enlargement. Empirical contributions have referred explicitly or implicitly to the Solow's model of economic growth testing absolute and conditional b-convergence. The recent literature suggests that the prevailing neoclassical and sectoral approach is not suitable to face the implication of structural change on economic convergence whose understanding is key within the current process of significant marginalization of agriculture and partly of industry in favour of the service sector. In this context the aim of the paper is the understanding the size and evolution of this change, the way in which it has affected aggregate economic convergence and if the agricultural sector has influenced the process despite its small and decreasing contribution to total GDP comparing the results from the neoclassical and Paci, Pigliaru approach
Evidence on the tax and investment affairs of small firms

This paper documents the findings from an extensive postal survey conducted in 1997‐98, which looks at the tax affairs of small firms, both incorporated and unincorporated. Tax planning practices of small firms in the UK, and the implications of these practices on working capital and investment in these businesses, are considered. The results indicate that tax planning in most small firms is not very sophisticated and this has an effect on investment decisions in these businesses. As a result of poor tax planning practices small firms are not in a position to utilise fully all available tax reduction mechanisms. Instead they have to rely on mechanisms that can be decided upon after the accounting year end; unfortunately these involve the withdrawal of money from the business (eg pension schemes, salaries/bonuses). The results presented in this paper illustrate that the decision concerning the level of pension fund contributions and drawings/salaries, and subsequently the level of retained profits, will depend on both financial (business needs and market characteristics) as well as non‐financial (management characteristics) factors. However, the present combination of these factors in the small business sector favours the extraction of profits out of the business rather than the reinvestment of profits that will enhance the creation of wealth and employment. Based on the beliefs and expectations of small business owner/directors a number of tax incentives are discussed that the government could introduce in order to enhance the financial development and prosperity of small firms.
Genetic Algorithm-Based Artificial Neural Network for Voltage Stability Assessment

With the emerging trend of restructuring in the electric power industry, many transmission lines have been forced to operate at almost their full capacities worldwide. Due to this, more incidents of voltage instability and collapse are being observed throughout the world leading to major system breakdowns. To avoid these undesirable incidents, a fast and accurate estimation of voltage stability margin is required. In this paper, genetic algorithm based back propagation neural network (GABPNN) has been proposed for voltage stability margin estimation which is an indication of the power system's proximity to voltage collapse. The proposed approach utilizes a hybrid algorithm that integrates genetic algorithm and the back propagation neural network. The proposed algorithm aims to combine the capacity of GAs in avoiding local minima and at the same time fast execution of the BP algorithm. Input features for GABPNN are selected on the basis of angular distance-based clustering technique. The performance of the proposed GABPNN approach has been compared with the most commonly used gradient based BP neural network by estimating the voltage stability margin at different loading conditions in 6-bus and IEEE 30-bus system. GA based neural network learns faster, at the same time it provides more accurate voltage stability margin estimation as compared to that based on BP algorithm. It is found to be suitable for online applications in energy management systems.
The Financial Crisis and the Measurement of Financial Sector Activity

The widespread expectation, forcefully posed by Reinhart and Rogoff (2009), that growth in the U.S. and the rest of the industrialized world will be subpar for a prolonged period following the financial crisis, raises issues for the measurement of the financial sector’s activity. According to the U.S. NIPA, finance and insurance accounts for roughly 8 percent of GDP, much of which consists of routine processing of transactions and maintenance of accounts. As noted in Steindel (2009), by normal growth accounting reasoning, even a marked contraction in the sector’s activity would not seem likely to be capable by itself to have a major prolonged negative impact on growth. One possible alternate way to account for the activity of the sector, building on the work of Corrado, Hulten, and Sichel (2005, 2009), is that the very high levels of employee compensation in finance partly reflect investments in market knowledge, a form of intangible capital. The increased growth in such market knowledge in the years leading up to the crisis may have helped to support growth in the economy outside of finance, while its diminution in the current environment (if not offset by increased growth of comparable knowledge elsewhere) could work to hold down growth. Altering the treatment of finance in the accounts in this fashion helps to bridge, if not fully close, the gap between the absolute size of the sector as gauged in the standard way and its generally acknowledged large and persistent effect on aggregate activity.
GKLF as a Novel Target in Selenium Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer

Abstract : The present study investigated the functional significance of the zinc finger transcription factor gut-enriched kr ppel-like factor (GKLF) in mediating selenium action in the androgen receptor (AR)-null PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. We found that over-expression of GKLF enhances selenium inhibition of DNA synthesis and induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, knocking down the expression of GKLF greatly attenuates the growth suppressive and apoptosis inducing activities of selenium. Therefore, our data support an important role of GKLF induction in selenium action in the AR-null prostate cancer cells. However, we found that, in cells expressing a functional AR, the disruption of AR signaling is most likely more important than the induction of GKLF signaling for selenium action. Selenium treatment significantly decreases the expression of AR and AR-regulated genes implicated in prostate carcinogenesis (PSA, KLK2, ABCC4, DHCR24, and GUCY1A3) in five human prostate cancer cell lines irrespective of their AR genotype (wild-type vs. mutant) or sensitivity to androgen-stimulated growth. Transfection of AR in the androgen-dependent LNCaP cells weakens significantly the inhibitory effect of selenium on cell proliferation and AR target gene expression. Since the vast majority of prostate cancers, including those refractory to hormone therapy, express a functional AR, the disruption of AR signaling is probably more important for selenium action and more relevant to selenium chemoprevention of prostate cancer than the induction of GKLF.
Effect of Advanced Oxidation Protein Products on Articular Cartilage and Synovium in a Rabbit Osteoarthritis Model

Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), a marker of oxidative stress, are prevalent in many kinds of disorders. Osteoarthritis (OA), mainly resulting from the regression of cartilage, chronic inflammation of the synovium and the subchondral bone remodeling. Although the inflammatory response of AOPPs on fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLSs) were reported, the effect of AOPPs on cartilage and synovial in vivo remains unclear. Therefore, our study aims to investigate whether AOPPs have an effect on the articular cartilage and synovial in a rabbit model of OA.
The psychometric properties of the Persian version of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure

Background: Investigating the psychometric properties of existing psychometric scales in societies with differing dynamics can help with their external validity. This research specifically aimed at standardization and validation of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM) scale in Iran. Materials and Methods: Persian version of the IPSM was produced through forward translation, reconciliation, and back translation. A total of 357, nonclinical students were selected through multistage sampling method and completed a set of questionnaires including IPSM. Internal consistency, convergent validity, divergent validity, and test-retest reliability of the Persian version of the IPSM were analyzed. To assess the construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed. Results: Total IPSM, as well as all subscales showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α =0.86 and 0.51–0.71, respectively). Test-retest reliability at a 2-week interval was significant, with intraclass correlation coefficient ranging between 0.73 and 0.92. In terms of convergent validity, IPSM showed the significant positive correlation with self-report measures of depression, social anxiety, and anxious attachment style. IPSM showed negative correlation with Social Desirability Scale and secure (C subscale of avoidant attachment style [AAS]) and dependent (D subscale of AAS), thus demonstrated divergent validity with these constructs. According to the CFA, the responses of the sample in this study were fitted to the original five-factor structure. Conclusion: The IPSM showed good validity and reliability and could be useful in assessing interpersonal sensitivity in Iranian population.
Whole body physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models: their use in clinical drug development.

BACKGROUND Whole-body physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (WB-PBPK) models mathematically describe an organism as a closed circulatory system consisting of compartments that represent the organs important for compound absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination. OBJECTIVES To review the current state of WB-PBPK model use in the clinical phases of drug development. METHODS A qualitative description of the WB-PBPK model structure is included along with a review of the varying methods available for input parameterisation. Current and potential WB-PBPK model application in clinical development is discussed. CONCLUSIONS This modelling tool is at present used for small and large molecule drug development primarily as a means to scale pharmacokinetics from animals to humans based on physiology. The pharmaceutical industry is active in employing these models to clinical drug development although the applications in use now are narrow in comparison to the potential. Expanded integration of WB-PBPK models into the drug development process will only be achieved with staff training, managerial will, success stories and regulatory agency openness.