Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implied Volatility Trees and Pricing Performance: Evidence from the S&P 100 Options

This paper examines the pricing performance of various discrete-time option models that accept the variation of implied volatilities with respect to the strike price and the time-to-maturity of the option (implied volatility tree models). To this end, data from the S&P 100 options are employed for the first time. The complex implied volatility trees are compared to the standard Cox–Ross–Rubinstein model and the ad-hoc traders model. Various criteria and interpolation methods are used to evaluate the performance of the models. The results have important implications for the pricing accuracy of the models under scrutiny and their implementation.
Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography for the Diagnostic Evaluation of Autoimmune Pancreatitis

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the role of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for diagnosing autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) and the accuracy of MRCP in depicting the main pancreatic duct (MPD) morphology of AIP using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) as the reference standard. Methods: Thirty-eight AIP patients, 40 pancreatic cancer patients, and 40 patients with normal pancreas were included. MRCP was interpreted in association with cross-sectional magnetic resonance images regarding MPD morphology, pancreatic parenchyma, and extrapancreatic abnormalities. Main pancreatic duct was interpreted as narrowed when a narrowed-appearing segment on MRCP was associated with upstream dilatation or pancreatic parenchymal abnormalities in the same location. Results: Accuracy of MRCP for depicting MPD morphology of AIP (64.7% [22/34]) was lower than those for pancreatic cancer (88.5% [23/26]) (P = 0.041) or normal pancreas (100% [40/40]) (P < 0.0005). The inaccuracy in AIP was primarily (10/12) due to overestimation of MPD narrowing. Of various differing MRCP findings between AIP and pancreatic cancer, multiple MPD narrowing (AIP vs cancer, 27/38 vs 0/40) and upstream MPD dilatation greater than 5 mm in diameter (AIP vs cancer, 0/38 vs 10/40) could exclude pancreatic cancer and AIP, respectively. Conclusions: MRCP cannot replace ERCP for the diagnostic evaluation of AIP but may deserve to be used when ERCP has been unsuccessful or is difficult to perform.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes chemically functionalized with polyethylene glycol promote tissue repair in a rat model of spinal cord injury.

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) induces tissue damage and results in the formation of a cavity that inhibits axonal regrowth. Filling this cavity with a growth-permissive substrate would likely promote regeneration and repair. Single-walled carbon nanotubes functionalized with polyethylene glycol (SWNT-PEG) have been shown to increase the length of selected neurites in vitro. We hypothesized that administration of SWNT-PEG after experimental SCI will promote regeneration of axons into the lesion cavity and functional recovery of the hindlimbs. To evaluate this hypothesis, complete transection SCI was induced at the T9 vertebral level in adult female rats. One week after transection, the epicenter of the lesion was injected with 25? L of either vehicle (saline), or 1? g/mL, 10? g/mL, or 100? g/mL of SWNT-PEG. Behavioral analysis was conducted before injury, before treatment, and once every 7 days for 28 days after treatment. At 28 days post-injection the rats were euthanized and spinal cord tissue was extracted. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the area of the cyst, the extent of the glial scar, and axonal morphology. We found that post-SCI administration of SWNT-PEG decreased lesion volume, increased neurofilament-positive fibers and corticospinal tract fibers in the lesion, and did not increase reactive gliosis. Additionally, post-SCI administration of SWNT-PEG induced a modest improvement in hindlimb locomotor recovery without inducing hyperalgesia. These data suggest that SWNT-PEG may be an effective material to promote axonal repair and regeneration after SCI.
Inter-channel Effects in Multichannel Travel Services

Travel agents continue to offer traditional services, but as customers migrate to online sales channels, many traditional agencies have added their own online distribution channels. This study of the attitudes of 114 university students finds that excellence in offline service is associated with a favorable view of an agent’s online presence. Moderating this relationship is the effect of social presence (SP) on the website. That is, the respondents’ view of the website was improved by the availability of live chat or video chat interactions. The effect of SP also interacted with some respondents’ need for human interaction (NHI), although that effect was not strong. The study used a novel comic-strip format to depict the process of purchasing airline tickets and hotel accommodations with three treatments: offline, online with weak SP, and online with strong SP. The study compared the attitudes toward an agency’s online channel based on its in-person service quality, as moderated by the website’s SP and the respondents’ NHI.
Subsidising Inequality: Economic Reforms, Fiscal Transfers and Convergence Across Chinese Provinces

The article investigates per capita income convergence across Chinese provinces over the 1978-92 period. It confirms previous studies which find a reduction in inter-regional income inequality over the course of economic reforms. However, the rate of convergence has declined since 1985 as a result of two factors. First, the shift from rural to industrial reforms has disproportionately benefited the relatively wealthier coastal provinces. Second, the system of inter-provincial fiscal transfers has prevented convergence among interior provinces, as transfers have gone to the richer among them. Further fiscal decentralisation and an acceleration of reforms in the interior provinces is thus unlikely to increase regional income inequality.
Crystal structure of dihydrodipicolinate synthase (BA3935) from Bacillus anthracis at 1.94 Å resolution

Introduction. As part of a structural genomics program, we are determining structures of proteins from the causative agent of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, a Grampositive spore-forming bacterium. Among our initial candidates for crystallographic analysis are the products of essential genes based on knock-out studies in Bacillus subtilis. The BA3935 gene of B. anthracis (www.tigr.org), annotated as DapA2, encodes a putative protein consisting of 292 amino acid residues with a subunit molecular weight of 31,233 Da. The predicted protein has 60% identity with dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS or DapA) from B. subtilis and 40% amino acid sequence identity to its orthologue in Escherichia coli. dapA is one of only 271 out of the total of 4118 genes in B. subtilis that are indispensable for growth of the organism on standard laboratory media. 1 DHDPS catalyses the condensation of aspartate semialdehyde and pyruvate and is the first committed step on the pathway to diaminopimelate and L-lysine in prokaryotes, some fungi, and higher plants (Scheme 1). The product released from the E. coli enzyme has been shown to be 4-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(2S)-dipicolinic acid (HTDPA) rather than L-2,3-dihydrodipicolinic acid (DHDPA); as the name of the enzyme suggests, 2 DHDPA can be formed spontaneously from HTDPA by elimination of water. The steps of aspartate semialdehyde synthesis from aspartate are shared with the biosynthetic pathways leading methionine and threonine. The diaminopimelate/ lysine pathway is thought to be of particular importance in Gram-positive bacteria because diaminopimelate makes up a higher proportion of the dry cell weight than it does in Gram-negative bacteria, a consequence of the thicker cell wall in the former. In Bacilli, the product of the DHDPS reaction is further reduced by dipicolinate synthase to dipicolinate, which makes up 10% of the dry weight of spores. Crystal structures have been determined of DHDPS from E. coli, 3 Nicotiana sylvestris, 4 and most recently from Thermotoga maritima. 5 In this article, we report the crystal structure of DHDPS from B. anthracis (Ba DHDPS), the first structure of a dihydrodipicolinate synthase from a Gram-positive bacterium. The structure of Ba DHDPS was determined by molecular replacement using the coordinate set for the E. coli orthologue (PDB code 1DHP) as the search model. 3 Two structures have been determined to 1.9 and 2.2 A resolution in different orthorhombic crystal forms. Data collection, refinement, and model-building statistics are summarized in Table I. The structures in the two crystal forms are very similar and unless otherwise stated, the commentary here will refer to the structure refined to higher resolution
The Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market? The Counter-case of the Okayama Farm-engine Industrial District in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to understand how industry organization evolves under conditions of a growing market. Since Adam Smith the traditional argument has claimed that as a market grows, a vertically disintegrated industry organization evolves, and that this enhances productivity. However, the question remains whether the market alone can select an efficient industry organization. This paper analyzes a case from the Japanese farm-engine industry of the 1950s, namely the industrial district of Okayama, where the breakthrough into disintegrated production was never achieved, despite rapid growth in the domestic market for agricultural engines. This led to the collapse of the district. The analysis shows that, if vertical disintegration requires radical changes in the technological competence of each firm, the market does not necessarily offer sufficient incentives for vertical disintegration, even under conditions of a growing market.
Corporate social responsibility decisions: a dilemma for SME executives?

Purpose - This study aims to examine the factors that move the decision-makers in small businesses to expend company resources for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative phenomenological study used a Van Kaam method as modified by Moustakas with in-depth, semi-structured interviews to explore the factors and priorities considered by SME executives in CSR decisions. Findings - The study revealed that small business executives are generally influenced by personal feelings, financial conditions, friends and family, and religion in making decisions on CSR activities. In addition, these decision-makers prefer local CSR activities, are concerned with the environment, and go beyond the basic legal requirements. The sole focus on profits was not evident in these small business executives. Research limitations/implications - The results imply that small business management does not rely simply on the analytical but on the relational and emotional. Management theories for small businesses may need to include the factors such as local community, personal feelings and religion as determining the direction of overall decision-making in the small business community. This study is also significant to leadership in that it identifies factors that influence the decision process in small businesses. Originality/value - The results of this study may open new discussions and lead to the development of new theories on leadership and management in small businesses.
Are African Voters Really Ethnic or Clientelistic? Survey Evidence from Ghana

This article explores voting behavior in one of Africa's new democracies. Recognizing that much of the literature assumes African political behavior to be subsumed in ethnic ties and clientelism, we ask if individual voting behavior in Africa is driven by evaluative rationales based on retrospective or prospective judgments of the performance of parties or representatives, or by non-evaluative rationales characterized by clientelism and proxy voting. Based on a survey of voters in two recent elections in Ghana, one of the most surprising findings is that an overwhelming majority of the respondents do not vote based on clientelism, or due to ethnic or family ties but cast their ballots after evaluation of candidates and parties. Despite the significance of ethnicity among elites in Africa, voters are seemingly not influenced primarily by it. This leads us to hypothesize that citizens in "transitional democracies" often reason and behave as relatively "mature" democratic voters by consciously appraising the past performance of the promised policy programs of candidates and parties. We also found in the Ghanaian case that as expected clientelism is more likely where political competition is high. This seems to suggest a dilemma in newly democratizing poor countries: while high-level competition is generally thought to be a desirable characteristic of a democratic regime, competition may also work to raise the frequency of political corruption.
Making an accounting entity: the case of the hospital in Finnish health care reforms

This paper is about the making of an accounting entity. The entity is the hospital, and the context is the Finnish health care reforms of the early 1990s. These reforms, which sought to make private sector accounting principles central to this core field of the New Public Sector, had significant implications for the varied actors involved in the financing, production and consumption of health care. For the defining of the hospital as an accounting entity entailed a narrowing of the basis of accountability, and to this extent it came into conflict with the broader societal conceptions of accountability held by medical professionals. This narrowing of the basis of accountability, and the attempt to ensure that decisions concerning resource allocation and equipment purchase are similarly focused, is examined in this paper along with the reaction of medical professionals. Accounting is possible only when there is an area of economic interest that can be defined. Indeed, this is the essence of the entity concept in accounting. When a definable area of economic interest exists, it is possible to identify, accumulate, and report financial information about that entity as distinct from all other information. Without such an entity, accounting is impossible. (American Accounting Association, 1965)
Stock returns in Chinese markets and lucky numbered days

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the stock return impact of “lucky” numbered days in markets dominated by Chinese participants. The existence of such patterns might present arbitrage opportunities for investors who do not share a belief in the Chinese system of “lucky” numbers. Design/methodology/approach - – In univariate and multivariate analyses, the author examines the statistical significance of return differences between “lucky” numbered days and other days. The author examines samples which only consider single digit days and months, and the author also considers samples based on the last digit of the day or month. Based on the findings in these tests, the author designs and tests a trading strategy on the Shenzhen Exchange that produces significant risk-adjusted returns in excess of the buy-and-hold return on the Shenzhen Composite Index. Findings - – The author shows that “lucky” numbered dates impact stock returns in Chinese markets and demonstrate a “lucky” number date trading strategy for the Shenzhen market that produces risk-adjusted returns in excess of the market return. Originality/value - – Prior research on home address numbers and stock trading codes shows that, in markets dominated by Chinese participants, assets with identifiers containing numbers defined by
Through a Glass and Darkly: Attitudes Toward International Trade and the Curious Effects of Issue Framing

Are most voters opposed to globalization? A growing body of empirical research, using data from available surveys of public opinion, suggests that antiglobalization sentiments are strong, especially among blue-collar workers. This article reports the findings from a survey experiment aimed at measuring the impact of issue framing on individuals' stated attitudes toward international trade. Respondents given an antitrade introduction to the survey question, linking trade to the possibility of job losses, were 17 percent less likely to favor increasing trade with other countries than were those asked the same question without any introduction at all. Curiously, respondents who were given a protrade introduction to the question, suggesting that trade can lead to lower prices for consumers, were not more likely to express support for trade than those who received no introduction. In addition, the responses of less educated individuals were more sensitive to framing effects than those of highly educated individuals. Without measuring and taking these types of framing effects into account, opinion surveys offer unreliable guides to gauging the extent (and distribution) of opposition to trade among voters. Results from a second experiment reveal that knowledge of the endorsement of trade openness by economists mitigates framing effects and raises overall support for trade liberalization by a substantial degree.I would like to thank Adam Berinsky, Mac Destler, Jeffry Frieden, Judith Goldstein, Jens Hainmueller, Helen Milner, Diana Mutz, Dani Rodrik, Ken Scheve, Mike Tomz, and seminar participants at Harvard, Duke, Columbia, Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Pennsylvania for helpful comments on earlier drafts. My thanks also go to Lisa Martin and two anonymous IO reviewers.
Contribution of Peroxisomes to Penicillin Biosynthesis in Aspergillus nidulans

ABSTRACT Peroxisomal localization of the third enzyme of the penicillin biosynthesis pathway of Aspergillus nidulans, acyl-coenzyme A:IPN acyltransferase (IAT), is mediated by its atypical peroxisomal targeting signal 1 (PTS1). However, mislocalization of IAT by deletion of either its PTS1 or of genes encoding proteins involved in peroxisome formation or transport does not completely abolish penicillin biosynthesis. This is in contrast to the effects of IAT mislocalization in Penicillium chrysogenum.
‘Biological’ revolution and strategies for innovation in pharmaceutical companies

Fundamental advances in the life sciences are exerting a profound influence on the structure of the pharmaceutical industry and the strategies of drug companies. The ‘biological’ revolution makes it possible to apply a scientific method to drug research. This paper argues that pharmaceutical companies can take advantage of the new method only if they encourage ‘openness’ of their research. We also offer a framework to explain why innovations in this industry increasingly result from networks of agents with complementary skills and resources. Greater use of scientific knowledge implies that important information for innovation can be expressed in relatively general and universal forms. This eases information exchange, and encourages specialisation and division of labour in drug R&D and marketing. Finally, the possibility of a division of labour in innovation opens new opportunities for medium-sized national pharmaceutical firms in Europe. Provided that they found their strategies on high-quality research in specialised niches, they can set up alliances with partners that possess complementary knowledge, and supply resources for clinical development and international marketing.
International accounting and finance

Choi, F.D. S. , C.A. Frost, and G.K. Meek. 1999. International Accounting, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall). Baker, J.C. 1998. International Finance: Management, Markets, and Institutions (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall).
Simultaneous hand-eye calibration and reconstruction

Hand-eye calibration is a well-known calibration problem. The problem assumes that a camera (eye) is rigidly mounted to the gripper (hand) of a robot arm and aims to find the transformation between them. In this paper, we propose a novel pipeline for hand-eye calibration without the use of a calibration target. First we employ feature extraction and matching, followed by an initial hand-eye calibration step using 2-view matches. In an iterative process, we then alternately employ triangulation and bundle adjustment to optimize the reconstruction and the hand-eye calibration result. Unlike in structure from motion and traditional hand-eye calibration, during this process we always determine the global camera poses using the hand poses and the estimated hand-eye transformation. Synthetic-data and real-data experiments are performed to evaluate the proposed approach, and the results indicate that the accuracy of our approach is superior to state-of-the-art approaches. Moreover, the speed of our algorithm is faster than existing methods.
Predicting User Attitude by Using GPS Location Clustering

In these days, recognizing a user personality is an important issue in order to support various personalized services. Besides the conventional phone usage such as call logs, SMS logs and application usages, smart phones can gather the behavior of users by polling various embedded sensors such as GPS sensors. In this paper, we focus on how to predict user attitude based on GPS log data by applying location clustering techniques and extracting features from the location clusters. Through the evaluation with one month-long GPS log data, it is observed that the location-based features, such as number of clusters and coverage of clusters, are correlated with user attitude to some extent. Especially, when SVM is used as a classifier for predicting the dichotomy of user attitudes of MBTI, over 90% F-measure is achieved. key words: user personality, location clustering, feature extraction, attitude, SVM