Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Opening a can of worms: the pitfalls of time-series regression analyses of income inequality

This paper argues that time-series regression analysis is of only very limited use for understanding the determinants of income inequality. The argument is based on a combination of results from the time series econometrics literature and several characteristics of inequality itself, principally nonstationarity of the data in most inequality regression models, and the weak theoretical foundations underlying the models. A sample of postwar US data is used to illustrate the problems involved.
More of the Same is Not Enough! How Could Strategic Spatial Planning Be Instrumental in Dealing with the Challenges Ahead?

The environmental crisis, the energy crisis, the financial crisis, and the subsequent economic crisis—to name only a few of the crucial issues of our times—are causing an outcry for change, even structural change, in our society. Change is the sum of a great number of acts (individual, group, institutional) of reperception and behaviour change at every level. This takes decision makers, planners, institutions, and citizens out of their comfort zones and compels them to confront their key beliefs, to challenge conventional wisdom, and to examine the prospects of ‘breaking out of the box’. Not everyone (individual planners, groups, institutions, citizens) wants to give up the power associated with the status quo. Society is starting to reflect on new concepts and new ways of thinking that change the way resources are used, (re)distributed, and allocated, and the way the regulatory powers (market versus state) are exercised. As the call for change has been central to planning, one of the key challenges is to develop an approach to planning that will make these ideas and concepts ‘travel’ and that will translate them into an array of practice arenas, which in turn will transform these arenas themselves, rather than merely being absorbed within them. The spectrum for change cannot be so open that anything is possible, as if we could achieve anything we wanted to achieve. Conditions and structural constraints on ‘what is’ and ‘what is not’ possible are imposed by the past and the present. These conditions and constraints have to be questioned and challenged in the process, given the specific context of time and place. So, in order to imagine the conditions and constraints differently, we need to deal with history and to overcome history. This defines the boundaries of a fairly large space between openness and fixity. Thus, change becomes the activity whereby (within certain boundaries) that which might become is ‘imposed’ on that which is, and it is ‘imposed’ for the purpose of transforming what ‘is’ into what ‘might become’. This differs from the established or traditional way of thinking, in which there is no choice and we are not even aware of other possibilities. In this paper I argue for a strategic planning approach that focuses, invents, creates, and is implemented—in relation to the context, and to the social and cultural values to which a particular place or society is historically committed—as something new rather than as a solution arrived at as a result of existing trends. It is only by working backwards (‘reverse thinking’, ‘back casting’) that planning is able to open up new perspectives and take other directions. Subsequently I reflect on the changing role of planners in this respect.
Alice: a dying man's passion

I have spent the last fifteen years of my life leading an incredible team. Our quest (which we did not even realize in the beginning) was to revolutionize the way computer programming is taught. Current versions of the Alice system (Alice v2.0, and Caitlin Kelleher's "Storytelling Alice") have been very effective in the college classroom and in tests with middle school girls. The use of drag-and-drop authoring to create 3D movies has proved to be a powerful motivator for students of all ages and both genders. In 2008, we will release Alice v3.0, which provides "real Java" programming and the characters from EA's "The Sims," the most popular PC video game in history. Damn shame I won't be there to see it. As you probably know, I'm dying of pancreatic cancer, as became widely known in my "Last Lecture. " Like Moses, I get to see the promised land, but not set foot in it. But the vision is clear. Long before I became ill, Dennis Cosgrove took over the responsibility for the design of Alice v3.0, and he's doing a whale of a job. Steve Cooper (of St. Joseph's University), Wanda Dann, and Don Slater are handling the pedagogic materials for college and high school, and Caitlin Kelleher (now junior faculty at Washington University in St. Louis) is heading the efforts regarding middle school girls. This talk will address the history, philosophy, and future of the Alice project, and will include a behind-the-scenes look at a pre-release version of Alice v3.0. I will give this address in person if I am still alive and able, or by a combination of pre-taped video and help from the Alice team. I cannot imagine a better professional legacy than what the Alice team is currently building.
The role of corporations in economic development: Albania on its way to internationalisation

Albania's inward-oriented economy gradually opened to global influences during its period of transition. This eased access to markets and capital but also revealed many weaknesses in Albanian corporations. Today the country's growth strategy is based on exports. Consequently, a strong and competitive corporate sector with international potential is vital. Following the evolutionary approach in corporate governance theory, we examine internal organisation of the firm, relationships between stakeholders and Albania's historical legacy (path dependency), linking these characteristics with competitiveness and export orientation. Cluster analysis reveals two distinct groups, where cooperation between agents and human capital investment, as well as productivity and export orientation, differ significantly. In terms of development policy, the results are very important for Albania and similar countries. Beside a unique dataset, the article also introduces methodological innovations in the survey technique and represents a contribution to the literature on intangible capital.
Construction of classification models for credit policies in banks

The execution and outcome of credit rating policies of banks are highly relevant to banks' decisions in investments, loans, and their measurement of default risks. They also have impacts on capital flows and utilisation of corporate borrowers. Therefore, it is essential to establish a scientific, objective, and accurate model of credit ratings for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) of the banking industry. The correct results of customers' ratings can serve as an important reference in the CRM of banks. This paper applies two classification methods, Multiple Discriminate Analysis (MDA) and Rough Set Theory (RST), to analyse and compare a total of 70 entries of corporate credit data. The result shows that the RST classification model boasts better classifying effects and is suitable for the analysis of credit ratings in the banking industry. This paper also suggests that a decision support system should be established with a scientific classification model in order to assist in the decisions and judgements of decision makers.
Building Executive Power at the European Level On the role of EU-level agencies

Establishing separate executive bodies of a confederation or of a nascent federation of states seems in many respects to be the ‘hard case’ of institution-building. This article argues that ‘agencification’ at the EU level is basically about increasing the potential for more uniform implementation of EU policies across member states. The aim of this article is explorative by (i) assessing the current organisation and capacities of EU-level agencies, (ii) explaining why EU-level agencies emerge, and (iii) empirically exploring the actual role of EU-level agencies in their relationship to national administrations. The article argues that the recent booming of EU-level agencies is strongly embedded within and conditioned by existing institutional structures. Empirically, the article presents fresh survey data showing that EU-level agencies are involved in the formulation of implementation guidelines and even in the handling of individual cases within national agencies. Hence, EU-level agencies may be capable of significant task expansion beyond their formal mandates.
The long-term interest rate conundrum: not unraveled yet?

In congressional testimony on February 16, 2005, Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan characterized the recent behavior of long-term interest rates as a "conundrum. " Typically, long-term rates tend to rise as monetary policymakers raise short-term rates. But not in the current episode. Despite steady monetary tightening beginning in the middle of 2004, the yields on long-term U.S. Treasury securities actually have declined since then by about 50 basis points. As a consequence, the current level of long-term interest rates seems to be well below what one would expect on the basis of economic fundamentals.
Calcium messenger system in plants.

The purpose of this review is to delineate the ubiquitous and pivotal role of Ca2+ in diverse physiological processes. Emphasis will be given to the role of Ca2+ in stimulus-response coupling. In addition to reviewing the present status of research, our intention is to critically evaluate the existing data and describe the newly developing areas of Ca2+ research in plants.
Optimal Dynamic Hedging in Unbiased Futures Markets

A discrete-time dynamic hedging problem is solved under expected utility maximization and basis risk without imposing a particular parametric form for utility, nor assuming normally distributed cash and futures prices. The solution is valid for any increasing and strictly concave utility function, and for quite general specifications of the joint distribution of cash and futures prices. This generality is achieved by restricting the futures market to be unbiased, and requiring that the size of the cash position be nonstochastic. The dynamic hedging rule can be estimated empirically using similar methods to those used to estimate static hedge ratios. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.
On the pricing of GDP-linked financial products

This paper discusses the pricing of GDP-linked financial products. GDP-linked bonds for instance are bonds which pay a coupon tied to the changes of GDP (Gross Domestic Product): if economic growth is low, the coupon decreases while a strong economic rise leads to a higher coupon. Therefore these innovative financial instruments are able to translate changes in the business cycle and long-term prospects into changes in the issuing country's debt service, taking into account GDP development. Against the background of a growing interest in macro-indexed financial instruments and Argentinas very recent offer to issue GDP-linked bonds, different characteristics of GDP-linked bonds are briefly discussed and a simple pricing approach for GDP-linked bonds and European options on GDP development is provided assuming a Black–Scholes type environment.
Availability-Constrained Multipath Protection in Backbone Networks with Double-Link Failure

Reliability is crucial for high speed backbone networks. Protection mechanisms are therefore critical in the design of infrastructure networks. This paper investigates a new multi- path provisioning model with availability-guarantee on networks where events of up to two simultaneous link failures can occur. A service level agreement (SLA) which mandates service availability must be met even during network failure situations. We present a mathematical formulation to perform optimal capacity allocation in both GMPLS Self-protecting Multi-path (SPM) environment and SONET/SDH networks. Linear Programming (LP) and Integer Linear Programming (ILP) models are formulated in this study to provide multi-path protection mechanisms on MPLS and SONET/SDH networks. Network Service Providers (NSP) could use this mathematical model to design a network with certain availability requirement according to a priori defined SLAs to accommodate network traffic under dual link failure scenarios.
Effect of Smoking Cessation on Multiple Sclerosis Prognosis.

IMPORTANCE Smoking tobacco is a well-established risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system usually characterized by bouts and remissions and typically followed by a secondary progressive (SP) course. However, it is not clear whether smoking after diagnosis is detrimental. OBJECTIVE To determine whether smoking after MS diagnosis is associated with a change in time to SP disease. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional study of patients with prevalent MS who smoked at diagnosis (n = 728) taken from the Genes and Environment in Multiple Sclerosis Study, which consists of patients from the Swedish National MS Registry. The study entrance date was at time of first-year smoking. The study was conducted between November 2008 and December 2011, with patient environmental data collected from November 2009 to March 2011 via questionnaire. Study participants were from all counties in Sweden diagnosed as having MS at the time of the Genes and Environment in Multiple Sclerosis Study and registered in the Swedish National MS Registry. Patients with MS with relapsing-remitting disease course or SP were included. These patients' conditions were diagnosed according to the McDonald criteria and the patients responded to recruitment letters with detailed questionnaires. EXPOSURE Smoking, considered yearly after diagnosis and combined into a time-invariant covariate before diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Time to SPMS, measured using an accelerated failure time model, with smoking as a time-varying covariate. Other covariates included sex, age at diagnosis, snuff use, and smoking before diagnosis. RESULTS The optimized model illustrated that each additional year of smoking after diagnosis accelerated the time to conversion to SPMS by 4.7% (acceleration factor, 1.047; 95% CI, 1.023-1.072; P < .001). Kaplan-Meier plots demonstrated that those who continued to smoke continuously each year after diagnosis converted to SPMS faster than those who quit smoking, reaching SP disease at 48 and 56 years of age, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study provides evidence that continued smoking is associated with an acceleration in time to SPMS and that those who quit fare better. Therefore, we propose that patients with MS should be advised to stop smoking once a diagnosis has been made, not only to lessen risks for comorbidities, but also to avoid aggravating MS-related disability.
The impact of obesity in renal transplantation: an analysis of paired cadaver kidneys

Background: Previous studies indicate that obesity is a risk factor in renal transplantation. However, these analyses did not control for variable donor factors that may strongly influence outcome. To control for donor variables such as age, cause of death, procurement techniques, preservation methods, cold ischaemia time and implantation technique, we analysed patient and graft survival in recipients of paired kidneys, derived from the same procurement procedure, preserved in the same manner, subjected to similar cold ischaemia time and implanted by the same surgical team. Between June 1992 and August 1999, 28 procurement procedures provided kidneys which were transplanted into one obese and one non‐obese recipient. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as kg/m2. Recipients were classified as obese (BMI > 30) or non‐obese (BMI < 30). Immunotherapy for all recipients consisted of a triple therapy regimen of cyclosporine or prograf, azathioprine or cellcept, and prednisone. Patients with delayed graft function (DGF), defined as the need for dialysis within 72 h of the transplant procedure, were treated with anti‐thymocyte globulin (ATG) or thymoglobulin (TMG) induction for 5–7 d. The rate of DGF (7.1 versus 10.7%) and acute rejection (39.3 versus 35.7%) were similar in the obese and non‐obese recipient groups. Patient survival was similar at 1, 3 and 5 yr in both groups. In addition, graft survival was similar at 1 yr. However, a trend toward decreased medium‐term graft survival, which reached significance at 5 yr, was observed in the obese group. Furthermore, mean serum creatinine at 1 yr was higher in the obese group (2.0) compared with the non‐obese group ( 1 , 4 ) (p=0.12). This analysis of paired cadaver kidneys indicated that obesity is not a risk factor for DGF, acute rejection, and 1‐yr graft survival. However, a decreased medium‐ and long‐term graft survival trend, which reached statistical significance at 5 yr, was observed in obese recipients.
2.2 A +70dBm IIP3 single-ended electrical-balance duplexer in 0.18um SOI CMOS

The electrical-balance (EB) duplexer concept explored in [1-4] suggests a possible integrated multiband alternative to conventional fixed-frequency surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) duplexers. The basic principle of the EB duplexer is to balance the impedances seen at the ports of a hybrid transformer to suppress signal transfer from the TX to the RX through signal cancellation (Fig. 2.2.1). While the potential payoff is tantalizing, several challenges must still be solved before EB duplexers can become commercially viable. Specifically, the duplexer must provide high isolation and linearity in both the TX and RX bands across wide bandwidth (BW), with low insertion loss (IL), all in the presence of a real antenna whose impedance is constantly varying due to real-world user interaction. In this paper, we present a duplexer that significantly advances the state-of-the-art for two of these critical challenges: linearity and insertion loss.
Optimized design of the electric power train for wheel hub drive systems without friction brakes

Wheel hub drives provide the opportunity to control the torque at every wheel independently. Thus, safety functions like anti-lock braking system (ABS) or electronic stability control (ESC) can be implemented in the drives as well. This enables the substitution of friction brakes at the driven wheels by electric drives. In this paper, resulting requirements for the drive system are presented and an optimized power train topology for this application is developed. Therefore, an approach for the design process of an optimized power train and a comparison of different power train topologies regarding size and efficiency are given.
Preparing the Staff of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife to Appreciate and Use Information and Communication Technology for Solving Work Place Problems and Managing Change

This paper examined the various efforts the management and administration of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife made to prepare and encourage its staff and students to appreciate and use ICT for solving work place problems and to manage change. It was also designed to investigate the extent to which accelerated computer/internet usage, job type; age and sex have affected the attitude of O.A. U Staff towards computer and Internet. The study adopted the survey research design. Samples of 600 staff were selected through stratified sampling techniques. The result obtained showed that 94% of the staff of OAU use computer. Also academic staff (49.2%) used computer and Internet more than any other categories of staff. Not only this, female staff (58%) used computer more than their male staff (42%). In addition age is a correlate of ICT usage. Staffs between ages 25 and 40 are usually more favorably disposed to using ICT than staff that is above 40 years. (X 2 c = 15.67). African Research Review Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp. 175-197
A Collaborative Framework for Conceptual Design

Currently almost all complex products, including physical products as well as information - based products are developed through the interaction of many participants that work on different elements of project. This creates a need for increased adoption of information technology and computer - based communication tools to manage the entire process of product development. This work proposes a framework of a collaborative system to support conceptual design. This should provide a team environment in which to discuss, exchange knowledge and information, negotiate, and develop joint projects through intelligent interfaces in order to have more flexibility to design more efficiently and effectively.
Energy Efficient Resource Allocation in SC-FDMA Uplink with Synchronous HARQ Constraints

In this paper we propose framework for energy efficient (margin adaptive, MA) resource allocation in multiuser SC-FDMA under synchronous HARQ constraints. Resource allocation is formulated as a two-stage problem where resources are allocated in both time and frequency. To limit the impact of retransmissions on the time-frequency problem segmentation, we propose use of a block scheduling interval that ensures uplink users do not experience ARQ blocking. We formulate the optimal MA resource allocation problem under this framework and based on its structure, we propose a variable complexity sub-optimal approach to solving the resource allocation problem. The proposed method's performance is shown to minimize transmission energy for low complexity implementation.
Diagnostic Significance of the Blue Hue in Dermoscopy of Melanocytic Lesions: A Dermoscopic–Pathologic Study

In epiluminescence microscopy, the perception of a blue hue is generally considered a clue to malignancy, especially in clinically equivocal melanocytic skin lesions. However, melanocytic nevi can seldom show a blue hue under dermoscopy. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the histopathologic correlates of the blue hue seen in dermoscopy, to clarify its significance and diagnostic value. From a series of 224 consecutive pigmented skin lesions submitted to surgical excision, we selected all the melanocytic skin lesions (n. 36), blue nevi excluded, characterized by the presence of a blue hue dermoscopically. In agreement with recent refinement of dermoscopic semeiology, all cases were further classified in cases showing blue areas and cases showing blue-whitish veil by experts observers blinded to the final diagnosis. Histopathologically, the series included 23 (63.9%) melanocytic nevi and 13 (36.1%) melanomas. For each lesion, several histopathologic parameters related to both epidermal and dermal alterations were assessed. Blue areas were found in 21 melanocytic nevi and 7 melanomas, whereas blue-whitish veil was found in 6 melanomas and 2 nevi. Careful dermoscopic-histopathologic correlation demonstrated that blue areas are related to the presence of large amounts of melanin pigment, either within melanophages (in the context of areas of regression) or within pigmented melanocytes in the superficial dermis. Conversely, the histopathologic correlate of the blue-whitish veil resulted in the presence of an acanthotic epidermis with compact orthokeratosis overlying large amounts of melanin in the dermis. Such melanin was found not only within melanocytes but also in large clusters of melanophages within areas of regression in the dermis. In conclusion, the majority of melanocytic lesions characterized by the presence of blue areas were histopathologically diagnosed as melanocytic nevi whereas the presence of blue-whitish veil was highly indicative of malignant melanoma diagnosis (specificity 91% vs. 9% of blue areas; sensitivity 75% vs. 25% of blue areas). Thus, these two features of blue hue under dermoscopy cannot be longer considered as synonymous in dermoscopy setting, being associated with different histopathologic alterations and different diagnostic information.