Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How well do financial experts perform? A review of empirical research on performance of analysts, day-traders, forecasters, fund managers, investors, and stockbrokers

In this manuscript, empirical research on performance of various types of financial experts is reviewed. Financial experts are used as the umbrella term for financial analysts, stockbrokers, money managers, investors, and day-traders etc. The goal of the review is to find out about the abilities of financial experts to produce accurate forecasts, to issue profitable stock recommendations, as well as to make successful investments and trades. On the whole, the reviewed studies show discouraging tendencies of the alleged excellence of financial experts.
Corporate Diversification Discounts: Incentives Diminishing and Investment Misallocation

By building a model of internal capital markets, we draw conclusion that allocation resources in divisions of diversified firms depends not only on output efficiency of division but also on stimulation level of division managers. Therefore diversified firms suboptimally invest by subsidizing poor performing business segments with resources from profitable business segments, which bring resources misallocation and harm corporate value. We take a closer and more critical look at diversification discount by this theoretical research.
Analytic generation of synthesis units by closed loop training for totally speaker driven text to speech system (TOS drive TTS)

This paper provides a new method for automatically generating speech synthesis units. The algorithm, called Closed-Loop Training (CLT), is based on evaluating and reducing the distortion in synthesized speech. It minimizes distortion caused by synthesis process such as prosodic modification in an analytic way. The distortion is measured by calculating the error between synthesized speech units and natural speech units in a large speech database (corpus). The CLT method effectively generates the synthesis units that are most resembling of natural speech after synthesis process. In this paper, CLT is applied to a waveform concatenation based synthesizer, whose basic unit is a diphone. By using CLT, the synthesizer generates clear and smooth synthetic speech even with a relatively small volume of synthesis units.
The Choice of the Time Horizon during Estimation of the Unconditional Stock Beta

The stock beta coefficient literature extensively discusses the proper methods for the estimation of beta as well as its use in asset valuation. However, there are relatively few references with respect to the appropriate time horizon that investors should utilize when evaluating the risk- return relationship of a stock. We examine the appropriate time horizon for beta estimation differentiating our results by sector according to the Industry Classification Benchmark. We employ data from the NYSE and we estimate varying lengths of beta employing data from 30 to 250 trading days. The constructed beta series is then examined for the presence of breaks using the endogenous structural break literature. Results show evidence against the use of betas that employ more than 90 trading days of data provisional to the sector under study.
Digital social interactions in the city: reflecting on location-based social media

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Astronomy and Astrophysics Growth of Galactic Bulges by Mergers: I Dense Satellites

Andredakis, Peletier & Balcells (1995) fit Ser-sic's law µ(r) ∼ r 1/n to the bulges of the Balcells & Peletier (1994) galaxy sample, and infer that n drops with morphological type T from n ≈ 4–6 for S0 to n = 1 (exponential) for Sc's. We use collisionless N body simulations to test the assumption that initially the surface brightness profiles of all bulges were exponential, and that the steepening of the profiles toward the early-types is due to satellite accretion. The results are positive. After the accretion of a satellite, bulge-disk fits show that the bulge grows and that the bulge profile index n increases proportional to the satellite mass. For a satellite as massive as the bulge, n rises from 1 to 4. We present kinematic di-agnostics on the remnants and disk thickening. The latter suggests that the bulge growth must have occurred before the last formation of a thin disk in the galaxy. The thick disks created by the merger are reminiscent of thick disks seen in early-type edge-on galaxies. The efficiency of the process suggests that present day bulges of late-type spirals showing exponential profiles cannot have grown significantly by collisionless mergers.
Recombinant Plasmid of pPIC9K-afp84

Objective: Recombinant plasmid of pPIC9K-afp84. Methods: Afp84 gene was amplified by PCR and cloned into pUCm-T vector. Double enzyme digestion for the expression vector afp84 of pPIC9K gene in Pichia pastoris. Results: the target gene fragment was obtained by PCR amplification, and the recombinant plasmid pUCm-T and afp84 were obtained by pUCm-T-afp84 and afp84. Conclusion: eukaryotic expression vector pPIC9K-afp84 was successfully constructed, which is the basis for the expansion of the production scale and the nature and application of the antifreeze protein TmAFP84.
Teoria Motivacional do Coping: um modelo hierárquico e desenvolvimental

Motivational Coping Theory: A hierarchical and developmental model Research on coping is commonly based on the cognitive model developed by Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman. However, other theoretical approaches also discuss the subject. Among them, we highlight the Motivational Theory of Coping (MTC) developed by Ellen Skinner and colleagues in the 1990s. This integrative review aimed to systematize the elements of the nomological network of coping, as proposed by the MTC. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the selection of articles. Results were organized into three sections. In the first, we discuss elements that influence coping. In the second section, we show the hierarchical framework of coping. Finally, we discussed the relationship between the coping and the adaptive outcomes. We conclude that the MTC is a promising developmental approach. Further studies should be conducted to gather empirical evidence of the model.
Interferometric Fiber Optic Sensors

Fiber optic interferometers to sense various physical parameters including temperature, strain, pressure, and refractive index have been widely investigated. They can be categorized into four types: Fabry-Perot, Mach-Zehnder, Michelson, and Sagnac. In this paper, each type of interferometric sensor is reviewed in terms of operating principles, fabrication methods, and application fields. Some specific examples of recently reported interferometeric sensor technologies are presented in detail to show their large potential in practical applications. Some of the simple to fabricate but exceedingly effective Fabry-Perot interferometers, implemented in both extrinsic and intrinsic structures, are discussed. Also, a wide variety of Mach-Zehnder and Michelson interferometric sensors based on photonic crystal fibers are introduced along with their remarkable sensing performances. Finally, the simultaneous multi-parameter sensing capability of a pair of long period fiber grating (LPG) is presented in two types of structures; one is the Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed in a double cladding fiber and the other is the highly sensitive Sagnac interferometer cascaded with an LPG pair.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Concerns About Current and Future Medications Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—To evaluate ethnic differences in medication concerns (e.g., side effects and costs) that may contribute to ethnic differences in the adoption of and adherence to type 2 diabetes treatments. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We conducted face-to-face interviews from May 2004 to May 2006 with type 2 diabetic patients ≥18 years of age (N = 676; 25% Latino, 34% non-Hispanic Caucasian, and 41% non-Hispanic African American) attending Chicago-area clinics. Primary outcomes of interest were concerns regarding medications and willingness to take additional medications. RESULTS—Latinos and African Americans had higher A1C levels than Caucasians (7.69 and 7.54% vs. 7.18%, respectively; P < 0.01). Latinos and African Americans were more likely than Caucasians to worry about drug side effects (66 and 49% vs. 39%, respectively) and medication dependency (65 and 52% vs. 39%, respectively; both P < 0.01). Ethnic minorities were also more likely to report reluctance to adding medications to their regimen (Latino 12%, African American 18%, and Caucasian 7%; P < 0.01). In analyses adjusted for demographics, income, education, and diabetes duration, current report of pain/discomfort with pills (odds ratio 2.43 [95% CI 1.39–4.27]), concern regarding disruption of daily routine (1.97 [1.14–3.42]), and African American ethnicity (2.48 [1.32–4.69]) emerged as major predictors of expressed reluctance to adding medications. CONCLUSIONS—Latinos and African Americans had significantly more concerns regarding the quality-of-life effects of diabetes-related medications than Caucasians. Whether these medication concerns contribute significantly to differences in treatment adoption and disparities in care deserves further exploration.
Globalización y política urbana en la periferia del capitalismo

Este artigo discute um tema complexo como e o planejamento urbano e que esta passando por uma grande mudanca no mundo revolucionado pela reestruturacao da producao capitalista iniciada no fi nal do seculo XX. Esta analise permite uma serie de recomendacoes: dar visibilidade a cidade real ou desconstruir a cidade virtual edifi cada pelo marketing urbano e interesses globais, dar visibilidade aos confl itos, contruir reforma administrativa, capacitar agentes para o planejamento da acao, desenvolver reforma fundiaria.
Sexual segregation in ungulates: a comparative test of three hypotheses

In most social ungulate species, males are larger than females and the sexes live in separate groups outside the breeding season. It is important for our understanding of the evolution of sociality to find out why sexual segregation is so widespread not only in ungulates but also in other mammals. Sexual body size dimorphism was proposed as a central factor in the evolution of sexual segregation in ungulates. We tested three hypotheses put forward to explain sexual segregation: the predation‐risk, the forage‐selection, and the activity budget hypothesis. We included in our analyses ungulate species ranging from non‐dimorphic to extremely dimorphic in body size. We observed oryx, zebra, bighorn sheep and ibex in the field and relied on literature data for 31 additional species. The predation‐risk hypothesis predicts that females will use relatively predator‐safe habitats, while males are predicted to use habitats with higher predation risk but better food quality. Out of 24 studies on different species of ungulates, females and their offspring chose poorer quality but safer habitat in only eight cases. The forage‐selection hypothesis predicts that females would select habitat based on food quality, while males should prefer high forage biomass. In fact, females selected higher quality food in only six out of 18 studies where males and females segregated, in eight studies there was no difference in forage quality and in four studies males were in better quality habitat. The activity budget hypothesis predicts that with increasing dimorphism in body size males and females will increasingly differ in the time spent in different activities. Differences in activity budgets would make it difficult for males and females to stay in mixed‐sex groups due to increased costs of synchrony to maintain group cohesion. The predictions of the activity budget hypothesis were confirmed in most cases (22 out of 23 studies). The heavier males were compared to females, the more time females spent foraging compared to males. The bigger the dimorphism in body mass, the more males spent time walking compared to females. Lactating females spent more time foraging than did non‐lactating females or males. Whether species were mainly bulk or intermediate feeders did not affect sexual differences in time spent foraging. We conclude that sexual differences in activity budgets are most likely driving sexual segregation and that sexual differences in predation risk or forage selection are additive factors.
MAC Protocols for IEEE 802.11ax: Avoiding Collisions on Dense Networks

Wireless networks have become the main form of Internet access. Statistics show that the global mobile Internet penetration should exceed 70\% until 2019. Wi-Fi is an important player in this change. Founded on IEEE 802.11, this technology has a crucial impact in how we share broadband access both in domestic and corporate networks. However, recent works have indicated performance issues in Wi-Fi networks, mainly when they have been deployed without planning and under high user density. Hence, different collision avoidance techniques and Medium Access Control protocols have been designed in order to improve Wi-Fi performance. Analyzing the collision problem, this work strengthens the claims found in the literature about the low Wi-Fi performance under dense scenarios. Then, in particular, this article overviews the MAC protocols used in the IEEE 802.11 standard and discusses solutions to mitigate collisions. Finally, it contributes presenting future trends in MAC protocols. This assists in foreseeing expected improvements for the next generation of Wi-Fi devices.
Study of dielectric spectra of ldpe/zeolite nanoscale and micronscale composites

Type NaY zeolite powder with nanoscale and micronscale were doped in low-density polyethylene(LDPE). The zeolite particles with nanoscale and also with micronscale were uniformly distributed in LDPE shown in SEM images. The dielectric spectra of LDPE/zeolite composites and pure LDPE are tested by broadband dielectric spectrometer at two different temperatures, 293K and 353K. The study found that composites' dielectric constant generally decline, which is relative with the zeolite porous structure. At the same time, the dielectric constant of LDPE/zeolite nanoscale composite was smaller than the dielectric constant of LDPE/zeolite micronscale composite at the same doping concentration, which attributed to the enormous specific surface area of nanoscale zeolite that increased the interface area and the amount of gaps between LDPE and zeolite nanoparticles. The law of the dielectric loss showed that there were loss curve peaks in the middle frequency range both with the LDPE/zeolite naoscale and micronscale composites. In accordance with the Maxwell-Wagner (M-W) theory, the loss peak position calculated from M-W equation was consistent with the experimental curve which means the loss peak applied to the interfacial polarization. There were also some differences of dielectric losses between LDPE/zeolite nanoscale and microscale composites, the loss curve peak of nanoscale composite was much lower than the curve peak of micronscale composite. It can be explained that the nanoscale particles of zeolite were combined more closely with LDPE substrate than the microscale particles which reduced the interfacial polarization. When the temperature rose up to 353K, the dielectric constant of LDPE/zeolite nanoscale and micronscale composites decreased concurrently. At the same time, the loss curve peak moved to the high frequency direction which was also conformed to the M-W theory using Arrhenius equation calculations.
Automatically Inserting Synchronization Statements in Divide-and-Conquer Programs

Divide-and-conquer is a well-known and important programming model that supports efficient execution of parallel applications on multi-cores, clusters, and grids. In a divide-and-conquer system such as Satin or Cilk, recursive calls are automatically transformed into jobs that execute asynchronously. Since the calls are non-blocking, consecutive calls are the source of parallelism. However, the programmer has to manually enforce synchronization with texttt{sync} statements that indicate where the system has to wait for the result of the asynchronous jobs. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to automatically insert texttt{sync} statements to relieve the programmer of the burden of thinking about synchronization. We investigate whether correctness can be guaranteed and to what extent the amount of parallelism is reduced. We discuss the code analysis algorithms that are needed in detail. To evaluate our approach, we have extended the Satin divide-and-conquer system, which targets efficient execution on grids, with a sync generator. The fact that Satin uses Java as a base language helps the sync generator to reason about control flow and aliasing of references to objects. Our experiments show that, with our analysis, we can automatically generate synchronization points in virtually all real-life cases: in 31 out of 35 real-world applications the texttt{sync} statements are placed optimally. The automatic placement is correct in all cases, and in one case the sync generator corrected synchronization errors in an application (FFT).
Multipotent Neural Crest Stem Cell-Like Cells from Rat Vibrissa Dermal Papilla Induce Neuronal Differentiation of PC12 Cells

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplants have been approved for treating central nervous system (CNS) injuries and diseases; however, their clinical applications are limited. Here, we model the therapeutic potential of dermal papilla cells (DPCs) in vitro. DPCs were isolated from rat vibrissae and characterized by immunocytofluorescence, RT-PCR, and multidifferentiation assays. We examined whether these cells could secrete neurotrophic factors (NTFs) by using cocultures of rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12) with conditioned medium and ELISA assay. DPCs expressed Sox10, P75, Nestin, Sox9, and differentiated into adipocytes, osteoblasts, smooth muscle cells, and neurons under specific inducing conditions. The DPC-conditioned medium (DPC-CM) induced neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells and promoted neurite outgrowth. Results of ELISA assay showed that compared to BMSCs, DPCs secreted more brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Moreover, we observed that, compared with the total DPC population, sphere-forming DPCs expressed higher levels of Nestin and P75 and secreted greater amounts of GDNF. The DPCs from craniofacial hair follicle papilla may be a new and promising source for treating CNS injuries and diseases.
Eph Receptors and Ephrin Signaling Pathways: A Role in Bone Homeostasis

The maintenance of bone homeostasis is tightly controlled, and largely dependent upon cellular communication between osteoclasts and osteoblasts, and the coupling of bone resorption to bone formation. This tight coupling is essential for the correct function and maintenance of the skeletal system, repairing microscopic skeletal damage and replacing aged bone. A range of pathologic diseases, including osteoporosis and cancer-induced bone disease, disrupt this coupling and cause subsequent alterations in bone homeostasis. Eph receptors and their associated ligands, ephrins, play critical roles in a number of cellular processes including immune regulation, neuronal development and cancer metastasis. Eph receptors are also expressed by cells found within the bone marrow microenvironment, including osteoclasts and osteoblasts, and there is increasing evidence to implicate this family of receptors in the control of normal and pathological bone remodeling.
On using rectangle packing for SOC wrapper/TAM co-optimization

The testing time for a system-on-chip (SOC) is determined to a large extent by the design of test wrappers and the test access mechanism (TAM). Wrapper/TAM co-optimization is therefore necessary for minimizing SOC testing time. We recently proposed an exact technique for co-optimization based on a combination of integer linear programming (ILP) and exhaustive enumeration. However, this approach is computationally expensive for large SOCs, and it is limited to fixed-width test buses. We present a new approach for wrapper/TAM co-optimization based on generalized rectangle packing, also referred to as two-dimensional packing. This approach allows us to decrease testing time by reducing the mismatch between a core's test data needs and the width of the TAM to which it is assigned. We apply our co-optimization technique to an academic benchmark SOC and three industrial SOCs. Compared to the ILP-based technique, we obtain lower or comparable testing times for two out of the three industrial SOCs. Moreover, we obtain more than two orders of magnitude decrease in the CPU time needed for wrapper/TAM co-design.
Linking Class and Community

This study contributes to the service learning (SL) literature by providing new empirical evidence of learning from a problem-based SL research project conducted in a developmental research methods course. Two sections of the course taught in a traditional manner were compared to two sections of the course taught with an integrated SL project involving a local Boys & Girls Club. Pre- and posttest scores of the groups were compared in regard to content knowledge, civic engagement, and perceptions of the course. Results indicated that the SL students outperformed the control courses in learning outcomes. Civic engagement did not significantly change over the course of the semester. Student preference data indicated that most enjoyed the SL course, found it helpful, and thought it contributed to their understanding of the course material. The findings are related to past research and theoretical underpinnings that support SL.
Binary and Ordinal Random Effects Models Including Variable Selection

A likelihood-based boosting approach for fitting binary and ordinal mixed models is presented. In contrast to common procedures it can be used in high-dimensional settings where a large number of potentially influential explanatory variables is available. Constructed as a componentwise boosting method it is able to perform variable selection with the complexity of the resulting estimator being determined by information criteria. The method is investigated in simulation studies both for cumulative and sequential models and is illustrated by using real data sets.
Linked Heterogeneous BML Servers in NATO MSG-085

Dr. J. Mark Pullen and Douglas Corner C4I Center George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22030, USA +1 703 993 3682 mpullen@c4i.gmu. edu dcorner@c4i.gmu. edu Thomas Remmersmann and Dr. Irmtrud Trautwein Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics Fraunhofer Str. 20 53343 Wachtberg Germany +49 (0)228 9435-522 thomas.remmersmann@fkie.fraunhofer. de irmtrud.trautwein@fkie.fraunhofer. de