Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Lévy process for the GNIG probability law with 2nd order stochastic volatility and applications to option pricing

Here we derive the Lévy characteristic triplet for the GNIG probability law. This characterizes the corresponding Lévy process. In addition we derive equivalent martingale measures with which to price simple put and call options. This is done under two different equivalent martingale measures. We also present a multivariate Lévy process where the marginal probability distribution follows a GNIG Lévy process. The main contribution is, however, a stochastic process which is characterized by autocorrelation in moments equal and higher than two, here a multivariate specification is provided as well. The main tool for achieving this is to add an integrated Feller square root process to the dynamics of the second moment in a time-deformed Browninan motion. Applications to option pricing are also considered, and a brief discussion is held on the topic of estimation of the suggested process.
Target Concessions in the Shadow of Intervention

Why do targets sometimes make concessions when third parties offer assistance? Both the extended deterrence and alliance literatures point to unreliable third parties to explain deterrence failure and target acquiescence. On the other hand, the alliance literature also suggests that third parties present a moral-hazard situation in which targets will behave less prudently when they have outside support. Without dismissing the importance of these dynamics, I demonstrate that targets will still make concessions when intervention is certain, and that interveners do not always embolden targets in crisis situations. Counterintuitively, interveners alter the bargaining situation, shifting the bargaining space so that conceding is more attractive than war for the target state. Instead of emboldening targets, third parties deter larger demands and produce settlement outcomes that reduce the burden on the target.
The New Indonesian Company Law: Does it Support Good Corporate Governance?

This article explores and analyses concept of board of commissioners under Law No. 40 of 2007, which is to answer a question of whether it is a legal tool to support the hope of Indonesian Government in implementing good corporate governance. It finds that the law has contained differences and uniqueness of the two-tier board model compare to the European Two-tier systems such as the two-tier board structure is compulsory, regardless of size, listing or type of company; the board of commissioners (except the delegated commissioners) are representative of shareholders; the board of commissioners do not have right to both appoint and dismiss the board of directors. Additionally, the law also introduces the delegated and the independent commissioners. This concludes that the law does not regulate fundamental principles that encourage the board of commissioners to be professional. Thus, the hope of the government to implement corporate governance is a dream.
Spread of Low-Cost Carriers: Tourism and Regional Policy Effects in Spain

Vera Rebollo J. F. and Ivars Baidal J. A. Spread of low-cost carriers: tourism and regional policy effects in Spain, Regional Studies. Low-cost carriers form the most dynamic segment in the international tourism traffic toward Spain. Their recent evolution shows high growth rates that contrast with the stagnation of traditional companies, a phenomenon which is part of the transformations experienced by the tourism market and air transport in Europe and which has caused both quantitative and qualitative changes in Spain's tourist activity. However, the effects of low-cost carrier operations go beyond the context of the tourism sector and affect land-use and infrastructure planning policies, gradually shaping a new scenario where the specialization of tourism in real estate along the Spanish Mediterranean coast becomes reinforced. Vera Rebollo J. F. et Ivars Baidal J. A. Le developpement des transporteurs a faible cout: effets du tourisme et de la politique regionale en Espagne, Regional Studies. Les transp.
Abnormal Glucuronidation of Zomepirac in Patients with Cirrhosis of the Liver

The disposition of zomepirac was investigated in 18 patients with various liver diseases and in 10 healthy normal subjects in order to further test the hypothesis that glucuronidation of drugs may be spared in liver disease. Severity of the liver disease was assessed by the galactose elimination capacity. Following oral administration of zomepirac (200 mg), plasma and urinary drug concentrations were measured by high‐pressure liquid chromatography. Urine was assayed before and after alkaline hydrolysis. The apparent oral clearance of zomepirac was 3.7 ± S.D. 1.2, 3.0 ± 0.8, and 1.8 ± 0.6 mlmin_1kg_1 in normal subjects, patients with mild liver disease, and cases with cirrhosis, respectively. In patients with liver disease, the reduction in zomepirac clearance was significantly correlated with the abnormalities in galactose elimination capacity (r = 0.83, n = 18), suggesting that the functioning liver cell mass was the major determinant of the rate of zomepirac disposition. These results are not consistent with the original hypothesis but suggest that–in contrast to ether‐glucuronidation–ester‐glucuronidation may be abnormal in liver disease. Dosage adjustments may, therefore, be necessary in patients with cirrhosis of the liver.
Who's missing out? Access and equity in vocational education and training

They report that those young people most likely to miss out on vocational education and training include those with disabilities, young people still living at home, children from single-parent families and those families with a history of parental unemployment. Gillian Considine, Ian Watson, Richard Hall explore access to vocational education and training (and university) currently and historically over the past 20 years. They report that those young people most likely to miss out on vocational education and training include those with disabilities, young people still living at home, children from single-parent families and those families with a history of parental unemployment. Those individuals face patterns of ‘cumulative disadvantage’. In addition, the report argues strongly for striking a balance between the pursuit of social and economic outcomes as being essential for community-based initiatives aimed at addressing access and equity in vocational education and training.
Pulmonary Physiology and Pathophysiology in Obesity Obesity , airway hyperresponsiveness , and inflammation

[PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , April 1, 2012; 112 (7): 1174-1183. J Appl Physiol Sara K. Rosenkranz, Richard R. Rosenkranz, Tanis J. Hastmann and Craig A. Harms evidence from a randomized controlled trial High-intensity training improves airway responsiveness in inactive nonasthmatic children: [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , April , 2012; 57 (4): 572-582. Respir Care Dâmaso Daniela Inoue, Claudia MO do Nascimento, Lila M Oyama, Lian Tock, Sérgio Tufik and Ana R de Piano, Flávia Campos Corgosinho, Raquel Munhoz da Silveira Campos, June Carnier, Patrícia Leão da Silva, Marco Túlio de Mello, Nadia Carla Cheik, Priscila Lima Sanches, Aline Bronchospasm in Obese Adolescents Undergoing Treatment The Role of Pro-inflammatory and Anti-inflammatory Adipokines on Exercise-Induced [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , July , 2013; 6 (4): 877-888. Dis. Model. Mech. Amarjit Mishra, Xianglan Yao and Stewart J. Levine From bedside to bench to clinic trials: identifying new treatments for severe asthma [PDF] [Full Text] [Abstract] , September , 2013; 22 (129): 227-235. Eur Respir Rev Reinier R.L. Wener and Elisabeth H. Bel Severe refractory asthma: an update [PDF] [Full Text] , February , 2014; 43 (2): 651-653. Eur Respir J Bruno Sposato and Marco Scalese hyperresponsiveness? Can overweight/obesity and smoking have combined effects on bronchial
Mycobacterium tuberculosis hypoxic response protein 1 (Hrp1) augments the pro‐inflammatory response and enhances the survival of Mycobacterium smegmatis in murine macrophages

Purpose. The DosR/DosS two‐component regulatory system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis regulates the expression of numerous genes under stress conditions and is important for the long‐term survival of M. tuberculosis in the host. The rv2626c gene of M. tuberculosis is one of the most strongly induced transcripts of the dormancy regulon. This study focused on the immunological effects and possible function of Rv2626c in maintaining mycobacterial survival under various stress conditions. Methodology. We heterologously expressed the Rv2626c protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis by constructing a recombinant strain Ms_rv2626c. The viability of Ms_rv2626c was evaluated both in vivo and ex vivo. Different stress conditions, including acidified sodium nitrite, malachite green, low pH, SDS and lysozyme, were used to evaluate the effect of Rv2626c on bacterial resistance. An in vitro assay using a macrophage infection model was utilized to investigate the potential effect of Rv2626c to alter the immune response of host cell and its associated pathways. The effect of Rv2626c on cell necrosis was also explored. Results. The expression of Rv2626c‐enhanced M. smegmatis survival under hypoxia and nitric oxide stress in vitro, and this enhancement was maintained within macrophages and in mouse tissues. In addition, macrophages infected with M. smegmatis expressing Rv2626c showed significantly higher interleukin‐1&bgr; (IL‐1&bgr;), IL‐6, tumour necrosis factor‐&agr; (TNF‐&agr;) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, as well as a higher level of cell necrosis, compared with the control. Conclusion. M. tuberculosis protein Rv2626c plays a significant role in stimulating macrophages to provoke a pro‐inflammatory response and in mycobacterial survival during infection.
Characterization of large linear plasmids in mycobacteria

Linear plasmids were found in Mycobacterium xenopi, M. branderi, and M. celatum. These elements represented a wide size range (from 20 to 320 kb), had Streptomyces-like terminal structures, and defined five hybridization groups. Cross-hybridization and common restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of plasmids from the different species suggest either genetic exchange or a common ancestry of the species.
The price-concentration relationship in grocery retailing: Retesting Newmark

A study by Newmark is one of two price-concentration studies of U.S. grocery retailing that has failed to find a positive relationship. We examined four possible sources of experimental error in this study. The most important source of error was the failure to exclude noncompeting grocery retailers in the construction of the concentration measure. The relationship was also sensitive to controlling for a subgroup of observations from one state, to alternative data sources, and functional form. When these changes were made, concentration was found to be positively associated with the cost of groceries across cities. The relationship was significant despite a small nonrandom sample of cities and unscientifically sampled prices. lEcon Lit citations: L130, L810, L100r © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pharmacokinetic monitoring of intravenous cyclosporine A in pediatric stem‐cell transplant recipients. The trough level is not enough

Abstract: In order to monitor CsA serum levels after SCT, trough levels (C0) are widely used. The aim of this study was to estimate the population and individual PK parameters for patients receiving intravenous CsA after SCT. In 27 pediatric patients after SCT receiving CsA (3 mg/kg/day) every 12 h, a total of 289 CsA concentrations was obtained. To describe the PK parameters of CsA, a two‐compartment model with first order elimination was used. Covariate analysis identified body weight, age, and the co‐administration with itraconazole and tobramycine as factors influencing the Cl. The statistical comparison of AUC, trough level, and C2 indicates a correlation between AUC and C2, but no correlation between the AUC and C0, r = 0.24 (p = 0.146) vs. r = 0.526 (p = 0.000692), respectively. Our results underscore the fact that CsA trough levels do not reflect the drug exposure in patients receiving intravenous CsA after SCT. By contrast, CsA blood levels measured 2–6 h after CsA infusion showed a better correlation with the AUC. Our data provide new information to optimize the balancing act between GvHD‐prophylaxis, graft vs. leukemia effect, and CsA side‐effects after SCT.
Unbalanced Expanders and Randomness Extractors from Parvaresh-Vardy Codes

We give an improved explicit construction of highly unbalanced bipartite expander graphs with expansion arbitrarily close to the degree (which is polylogarithmic in the number of vertices). Both the degree and the number of right-hand vertices are polynomially close to optimal, whereas the previous constructions of Ta-Shma, Umans, and Zuckerman (STOC "01) required at least one of these to be quasipolynomial in the optimal. Our expanders have a short and self-contained description and analysis, based on the ideas underlying the recent list-decodable error-correcting codes of Parvaresh and Vardy (FOCS "05). Our expanders can be interpreted as near-optimal "randomness condensers," that reduce the task of extracting randomness from sources of arbitrary min-entropy rate to extracting randomness from sources of min-entropy rate arbitrarily close to 1, which is a much easier task. Using this connection, we obtain a new construction of randomness extractors that is optimal up to constant factors, while being much simpler than the previous construction of Lu et al. (STOC "03) and improving upon it when the error parameter is small (e.g. 1/poly(n)).
The Impact of Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference on Health-related Quality of Life Among Colorectal Cancer Survivors: Results from the PROFILES Registry

ABSTRACT Background: We aimed to assess the association of waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) with health-related quality of life (HRQL) among colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Methods: CRC survivors diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 completed questionnaires in August 2013 (with self-reported weight, height, and self-assessed WC) and January 2014 (with HRQL using the EORTC-QLQ-C30). Clinical characteristics were retrieved from the Netherlands Cancer Registry. In multivariable linear regression analyses associations of BMI only, WC only and both BMI and WC with HRQL outcomes were assessed. Results: 1,111 CRC survivors were included of whom 34% had a normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 kg/m2), 49% had overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2), 17% had obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2), and 44% had an increased WC (i.e., >102 and >88 cm for men and women, respectively). Both BMI and WC were separately associated with worse global health status, functioning, and more symptoms of fatigue. Increased WC was associated with lower physical, role and emotional functioning, regardless of BMI, with average differences ranging between 3 and 5 points. Conclusion: Future research on HRQL among CRC survivors should consider both BMI and WC. Furthermore, weight reduction trials should not only focus on general weight loss but also on the loss of abdominal fat.
On optimal emergency orders with updated demand forecast and limited supply

This study analyses a two-stage newsvendor system with a regular and an emergency order. The emergency order can be placed at a later time based on a more accurate demand forecast. However, the unit cost for the emergency order is higher, and the quantity is limited. To maximise the expected profit, a retailer should determine both regular and emergency order quantities by considering the demand forecast updating, ordering cost and quantity constraint. Using dynamic programming, optimal ordering quantities are derived, and properties of the optimal solutions are obtained. Numerical experiments are carried out to illustrate the effect of the emergency order on the ordering decisions and expected profit. Some managerial insights are gained from the numerical results.
Encephalitis and antibodies to synaptic and neuronal cell surface proteins

The identification of encephalitis associated with antibodies against cell surface and synaptic proteins, although recent, has already had a substantial impact in clinical neurology and neuroscience. The target antigens are receptors and proteins that have critical roles in synaptic transmission and plasticity, including the NMDA receptor, the AMPA receptor, the GABAB receptor, and the glycine receptor. Other autoantigens, such as leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 and contactin-associated protein-like 2, form part of trans-synaptic complexes and neuronal cell adhesion molecules involved in fine-tuning synaptic transmission and nerve excitability. Syndromes resulting from these immune responses resemble those of pharmacologic or genetic models in which the antigens are disrupted. For some immune responses, there is evidence that the antibodies alter the structure and function of the antigen, suggesting a direct pathogenic effect. These disorders are important because they can affect children and young adults, are severe and protracted, occur with or without tumor association, and respond to treatment but may relapse. This review provides an update on these syndromes and autoantigens with special emphasis on clinical diagnosis and treatment.
Impact of Linearity and Write Noise of Analog Resistive Memory Devices in a Neural Algorithm Accelerator

Resistive memory (ReRAM) shows promise for use as an analog synapse element in energy-efficient neural network algorithm accelerators. A particularly important application is the training of neural networks, as this is the most computationally-intensive procedure in using a neural algorithm. However, training a network with analog ReRAM synapses can significantly reduce the accuracy at the algorithm level. In order to assess this degradation, analog properties of ReRAM devices were measured and hand-written digit recognition accuracy was modeled for the training using backpropagation. Bipolar filamentary devices utilizing three material systems were measured and compared: one oxygen vacancy system, Ta-TaOx, and two conducting metallization systems, Cu-SiO2, and Ag/chalcogenide. Analog properties and conductance ranges of the devices are optimized by measuring the response to varying voltage pulse characteristics. Key analog device properties which degrade the accuracy are update linearity and write noise. Write noise may improve as a function of device manufacturing maturity, but write nonlinearity appears relatively consistent among the different device material systems and is found to be the most significant factor affecting accuracy. This suggests that new materials and/or fundamentally different resistive switching mechanisms may be required to improve device linearity and achieve higher algorithm training accuracy.
How Does Chinese Local Government Respond to Citizen Satisfaction Surveys? A Case Study of Foshan City (中国地方政府如何响应公民满意度调查？来自广东省佛山市的案例研究)

Three decades of economic liberalisation in China have reshaped relationships between the state, market and community to a remarkable degree. In recent years, a growing body of literature has documented the rise of citizen satisfaction surveys in assessing the performance of Chinese local government. Yet little is known about how Chinese local government responds to such surveys. This article addresses this gap. Based on a case study of Foshan City in Guangdong Province, this article shows that information in citizen satisfaction surveys is used in two major ways in this locality: the city's leadership officials use the information to support pre-existing policies while departmental officials use it to improve service delivery. This study shows that, with the rising power of the community, citizen satisfaction surveys can be an important intermediary between the Chinese state and its citizens and help local government to be more responsive to citizen needs. 中国过去三十年来的经济改革在很大程度上重塑了政府、市场与社会的关系。 近年来，越来越多的研究开始关注公民满意度调查在评估中国地方政府绩效中的使用。 然而，对于地方政府如何响应这些调查的结果却知之尚少。 本文试图解答这个问题。 文章通过对广东省佛山市的案例研究发现，公民满意度调查中的信息在该地主要用于两个方面：市领导使用这些信息来支持既有改革和调整政策投入，而主管改革的部门官员则使用这些信息来改善公共服务。 本研究表明，随着社会的力量不断增强，公民满意度调查或可成为中国地方政府与公民之间的重要媒介，并使地方政府对公民的需求更具响应性。
Joint Labor Supply and Childcare Choice Decisions of Married Mothers

This paper examines the impact of childcare prices and wage rates on the joint employment and childcare mode (center, sitter, relative, and husband) choice decisions of married mothers by estimating both a mixed logit and universal logit choice model. Data are drawn from the 1988 Canadian National Child Care Survey and the 1988 Labour Market Activity Survey. The estimation results show that wages have a positive impact on the probability of choosing any of the working states and that childcare prices for center, sitter, and relative care reduce the probability of working and using each respective mode of care. Sensitivity analyses reveal that the wage elasticity for employment is fairly robust across model specifications, while the own-price elasticity of childcare is sensitive to model specification, differing identifying assumptions in the estimation of childcare price equations, and sample selection. The simulation results show that differences exist in the degree to which government subsidies in the form of wage subsidies, targeted childcare subsidies, or unconditional childcare subsidies, impact on labor supply decisions and decisions to substitute across different modes of care by those mothers already in the labor market.
What Drives ETF Flows?

The value of exchange traded fund (ETF) assets has increased from $66 billion in 2000 to almost a trillion dollars in 2010. We use this massive expansion in ETF assets to study what drives ETF flows. Using a data set of over 500 ETFs from 2001 to 2010, we show that ETF investors chase returns in the same way as mutual fund investors. While there is an active debate about whether return chasing by mutual fund investors represents the pursuit of superior talent, the existence of return chasing in this passively managed environment should not represent a search for skilled managers. We also show that ETF flows increase following high volume, small spreads, and high price/net asset value ratios. Finally, we find little evidence of superior market timing in ETF flows. Our results suggest that return chasing in both mutual funds and ETFs is more likely the result of naive extrapolation bias on the part of investors that has contributed to the growth of the ETF industry.