Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Returns Generation Process, Returns Variance, and the Effect of Thinness in Securities Markets

Garman (1976). Further, our treatment of the returns generation process allows for upward drift in security prices, and thus is consistent with the submartingale model of efficient capital markets [see, e.g., Fama (1970)]. Our analysis does not focus upon incomplete equilibria, and thus is distinguished from Copeland's (1976) model of time-distributed price-volume adjustments under sequential arrival of information. The model of the returns generation process is used to obtain the expected value and variance of security returns. This is done first for returns based on bid/ask price quotations (which we call "quotation returns") and then for returns based on transaction prices (which we call "transaction returns"). Although we abstract from the bid-ask spread, a separate analysis of transaction returns is needed because demand shifts need not trigger transactions, and hence closing transaction prices, unlike closing quotes, need not reflect all current information. Our interest in the moments of returns distributions is focused primarily on variance,' and on the existence of a relationship between variance and the value of shares outstanding for individual securities. We consider the market value of shares outstanding for a security to be an (inverse) proxy measure of thinness in the
Master or Servant? Common Agency and the Political Economy of IMF Lending

What explains the substantial variation in the International Monetary Fund's lending policies over time and across cases? Some scholars argue that the IMF is the servant of the United States and other powerful member-states, while others contend that the Fund's professional staff acts independently in pursuit of its own bureaucratic interests. I argue that neither of these perspectives, on its own, fully and accurately explains IMF lending behavior. Rather, I propose a "common agency" theory of IMF policymaking, in which the Fund's largest shareholders - the G-5 countries that exercise de facto control over the Executive Board - act collectively as its political principal. Using this framework, I argue that preference heterogeneity among G-5 governments is a key determinant of variation in IMF loan size and conditionality. Under certain conditions, G-5 preference heterogeneity leads to conflict or "logrolling" within the Executive Board, while in others it creates scope for the IMF staff to exploit "agency slack" and increase its policymaking autonomy. Statistical analysis of an original dataset of 197 non-concessional IMF lending to 47 countries from 1984 to 2003 yields strong support for this framework and its empirical predictions. In clarifying the politics of IMF lending, the article sheds light on the merits of recent policy proposals to reform the Fund and its decision-making rules. More broadly, it furthers our understanding of delegation, agency, and the dynamics of policymaking within international organizations (IOs).
Gambling Attitudes and Gambling Behavior of Residents of Macao: The Monte Carlo of the Orient

Situated on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta 1 hour from Hong Kong, Macao has had more than 150 years of experience with gambling. In the 1990s, more than 50% of tax revenue came from gambling. Recent deregulation of the gaming sector, in which licenses were granted to three investors (one local and two from Las Vegas), will bring economic and social changes to the community. This study examines Macao residents’ attitudes about gambling, their current gambling behavior, their experiences with problems related to gambling, and their concerns for the future as Macao relies on gambling as its major economic stimulus. Findings indicate that the respondents have mixed attitudes toward gambling. The problems associated with gambling that they cited most frequently were family quarrels and the need to borrow money to gamble. The study also discusses the future of the sector and the government’s role in protecting residents from the ills of gambling.
Compensating wage differentials for job stress

Recent medical studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between mental stress and cardiac events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. In the workplace, stress once accounted for less than 5% of all occupational disease claims, but it now accounts for over 15%. Although research on the effects of mental stress is increasing, few studies offer an economic perspective. In this paper, we examine the effects of job stress on weekly wages and explore the possibility that stress commands a compensating wage differential. Our findings suggest that, ceteris paribus, a wage differential does exist between workers experiencing mental stress and their 'non-stressed' cohorts. After controlling for other demographic and occupational factors, we found a statistically significant wage premium ranging from 3 to 10% attributable to mental stress. In addition, the magnitude of the differential varies by gender.
Forecasting the Chilean short-term electricity market behavior under a new proposed regulation

This paper presents a study on the likely behavior of a daily electricity market proposed to operate in the Chilean system. The simulation has been carried out by using the tool VALORE, able to model oligopolistic behaviors. Conclusions on the desirable degree of long-term contracts are obtained. The theoretical basis of the simulation tool is also explained.
How to Understand High Food Prices

Commodity price booms are best explained by macroeconomic rather than market-specific factors. I argue that the rise in food prices over 2007 and the first half of 2008 should be seen as part of the wider commodity boom which is largely the result of rapid economic growth in China and throughout Asia in a context of loose money and in which, because of previous low investment, supply was inelastic. The demand for grains and oilseeds as biofuel feedstocks was the main cause of the price rise but macroeconomic and financial factors explain its extent. The futures market may be an important monetary transmission mechanism, but it is commodity investors, not speculators, who, by investing in commodities as an asset class, may have generalized prices rises across markets.
Computationally efficient implementation for incremental redundancy within wireless networks

Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) is widely used nowadays for error control within diverse wireless networks. HARQ deploys error detection mechanisms to corrected code sequences and enforces successive retransmissions and decoding until the corrected code sequence is presumed to be decoded correctly or a maximum number of retransmissions are reached. Incremental redundancy is a HARQ technique where additional transmissions associated with error correction failures are comprised only of incremental coding bits that increase the robustness of the channel coding. Nevertheless, the throughput and BER advantages of incremental redundancy should not be treated in isolation from the computational cost associated with repetitive decoding of the same information data. In this paper, simple and computationally efficient approaches are proposed for the implementation of incremental redundancy based on rate compatible punctured convolutional codes under hard-decision decoding. The proposed approaches identify code sequences over which the cost-metric remains constant. These sequences are assumed reliable and their associated computations are eliminated whenever decoding should be repeated at lower rates. The proposed approaches are evaluated from the perspective of computations, memory requirements. The corresponding effects on bit error rate and throughput performance are reported. The computational gains (up to 21%) of the proposed approaches would be particularly beneficial in systems where energy resources are scarce such as wireless sensor networks.
Chasing trend and losing money: open end mutual fund investors’ trading behaviour in Greece

This study examines the trading behaviour of mutual fund investors, its medium-term profitability and its impact on the performance of individual funds. An important yet thinly investigated subject is examined under the prism of a small emerging stock market growing to maturity, during both a strong bull and a violent bear market. The findings of this study are insightful: Mutual fund investors do not chase past returns. The empirical evidence also suggests that they do not hunt past superior performance. However, they do seem to employ a current-performance momentum screen to pick their funds, while their trading behaviour doesn’t seem to affect the concurrent performance of the fund. Finally, it is claimed that mutual fund investors are perverse fund pickers. The suggested conclusion can only be that money is inefficiently invested in mutual funds.
Performance, Accountability, and the Debate over Rules

Does compliance with rules ensure better program performance and accountability? Since the 1980s, many scholars have answered no to this question, arguing that as managers attempt to comply with a growing thicket of rules, they often lose sight of the performance of their agencies and programs. Even the defenders of a rules-based approach have tended to view it as a necessary, though inconvenient, means of ensuring that democratic values and public rights are protected in the functioning of government. But does compliance with rules inevitably result in a loss of efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of public projects? This essay presents a case study of a public works project and three additional case summaries to demonstrate a theoretical proposition that compliance with rules for contracting and competitive selection of contractors can be an essential element of both a project’s success and its accountability.
Chronic HCV infection and lymphoproliferative disorders: association or causal relationship?

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with several extrahepatic manifestations. A causal relationship has been suggested for lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD) development in the setting of chronic HCV infection. The molecular mechanism of HCV-associated lymphomagenesis remains unclear, although several theories have been proposed. In a recent study, we evaluated mixed cryoglobulinemia syndrome, monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS) and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) prevalence in a cohort of 1313 CHC infected patients and we evaluate the association of virological and clinical factors with the presence of LPD. A positive association was found between the presence of cirrhosis and MGUS (OR=2.8924, 95%CI 1.2693-6.5909; p=0.012) and between cirrhosis and B-NHL (OR=3.9407, 95%CI 1.7226-9.0153; p=0.001). Moreover, we reported that 66.7% of patients with indolent B-NHL responders to antiviral treatment obtained a complete onco-hematological remission, supporting both the use of antiviral therapy as first-line approach in HCV-associated indolent lymphomas and the plausible causal role of HCV in lymphomagenesis.
Specification Tests for the Partial Adjustment and Adaptive Expectations Models

The partial adjustment and adaptive expectations hypotheses give rise to simple dynamic models with a long history in empirical research. Tests of their adequacy, however, do not appear to figure prominently in the literature. Specification tests are derived by nesting these two models in the more general partial adjustment-adaptive expectations model and deriving the likelihood ratio, Lagrange multiplier, and Wald tests. Monte-carlo experiments are conducted to assess the power of these tests (together with other tests, including Durbin's h-test) for small samples.
Test Algorithms for ECC-Based Memory Repair in Ultimate CMOS and Post-CMOS

In modern SoCs embedded memories should be protected by ECC against field failures to achieve acceptable reliability. They should also be repaired after fabrication to achieve acceptable fabrication yield. In technologies affected by high defect densities, conventional repair induces very high costs. To reduce it, we can use ECC-based repair, consisting in using the ECC for fixing words comprising a single faulty cell and self-repair to fix all other faulty words. However, as we show in this paper, for high defect densities the diagnosis circuitry required for ECC-based repair may induce very large hardware cost. To fix this issue, we introduce a new family of memory test algorithms that exhibit a property we termed as “single-read double-fault detection”. This approach gains interest in ultimate CMOS and post-CMOS technologies, where the defect densities are expected to increase significantly, and/or in very-low power design, as very-low voltage sharply increases defect densities.
Endotoxin Induces Interleukin-1β and Nitric Oxide Synthase mRNA in Rat Hypothalamus and Pituitary

The gases nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) may be involved in hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) modulation. In the brain, NO is synthesized by two forms of NO synthase (NOS), a constitutive neuronal form (nNOS) and an inducible form (iNOS). There are also a constitutive heme oxygenase (HO2) and an inducible form (HO1) which generate CO. We have therefore investigated the effect of peripheral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration on the gene expression of these enzymes along with interleukin-1β (IL-1β) gene expression in the hypothalamus, pituitary and liver. Male Wistar rats (200–250 g body weight) were injected intraperitoneally with endotoxin (Escherichia coli, 055 B5) dissolved in sterile normal saline [250 µg/kg first group, 2.5 mg/kg (second group) and 6.25 mg/kg (third group)] in a final volume of 0.5 ml, or saline alone in the control group. The first and the second groups were studied 1, 3, 8 and 24 h after LPS (n = 4 per group); the third group was studied at 3 h. Total RNA was extracted from the hypothalamus, pituitary and liver, and cDNA was made using standard reverse transcriptase methods. Duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was standardised in order to quantify the expression of a specific gene in relation to the ‘house-keeping’ gene β-actin. The specific genes studied were iNOS, nNOS, HO1, HO2 and IL-1β. The PCR products were separated on agarose gel and densitometric analysis of the bands allowed semi-quantification. In the second group, iNOS and IL-1β were induced in hypothalamus, pituitary and liver, showing a peak at 3 h (p < 0.001), returning to baseline levels at 24 h. Neuronal NOS was not expressed in the liver under basal conditions or after LPS; in the hypothalamus and pituitary, nNOS was expressed basally but there was no change after LPS. In the first group, iNOS and IL-1β were again induced in all three tissues studied, but with a delayed time course compared to the second and third groups; the peak change for IL-1β occurred at 8 h (p < 0.05), again returning to baseline levels at 24 h. The peak for iNOS occurred at 24 h. HO1 and HO2 were expressed in all three tissues under basal conditions; HO1 was increased at 1 h in the liver in the second group, and at 3 h in the pituitary in the third group. There was no change in either HO1 or HO2 in the hypothalamus at any dose at any time point. We conclude that IL-1β and iNOS are induced in rat hypothalamus and pituitary following various doses of endotoxin. We speculate that while IL-1β may mediate stimulation of the HPA by endotoxin, NO generation may be involved in the counter-regulation of this response.
Assessing China's Potential Import Demand for Distillers Dried Grain: Implications for Grain Trade

A team of U.S. analysts visited China to assess the potential for use of distillers dried grain plus solubles (DDGS) in China's livestock sector. They examined the economics of the use of DDGS in feeds, the policy issues surrounding the use of the product, and transportation-logistic constraints in the expansion of DDGS imports. The team collected actual and secondary data to conduct a micro-economic analysis of the impact of DDGS on feed cost, solicited official and expert opinions through interviews, and conducted site visits. They found the development of the DDGS import market in China to be very promising. The microeconomic analysis showed a clear economic incentive for feed millers and livestock producers to use DDGS in their feed ration, with a potential savings of $1 per hundredweight of mixed feed, representing a 6% feed cost savings. Moreover, China has the livestock numbers to support a DDGS market. Concerns about myctoxin contamination and nutrient profile variability must be addressed, however. Clearly differentiating imported DDGS from domestic DDGS is key in positioning U.S. DDGS in the Chinese market. Also, a science-based, and pro-active approach is needed to address policy-induced barriers.
High‐fiber diet promotes weight loss and affects maternal behavior in vervet monkeys

The dramatic increase in obesity in western societies has shifted the emphasis in nutrition research from the problems of undernutrition to the adverse consequences of being overweight. As with humans, Old World monkeys are at increased risk for type II diabetes and other chronic diseases when they gain excessive weight. To prevent overweight and obesity, promote animal health, and provide a more natural level of fiber in the diet, the standard commercial monkey chow diet at a vervet monkey breeding colony was changed to a higher fiber formulation in 2004. The new diet was also higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate and energy density than the standard diet. Because maternal behavior is known to be sensitive to differences in resource availability, data on weight and mother–infant interactions for 147 mothers with 279 infants born from 2000 through 2006 were assessed for effects of the diet change. The results showed that, even though food was provided ad libitum, the mean body weight of breeding females was 10% lower after the transition to the high‐fiber diet. Behaviorally, mothers on the high‐fiber diet were significantly more rejecting to their infants, and their infants had to play a greater role in maintaining ventral contact in the first few months of their lives. The effects of the diet change on maternal rejection were significantly related to the mother's body weight, with lower‐weight mothers scoring higher in maternal rejection. These results demonstrate that maternal behavior is responsive to changes in maternal condition, and that beneficial changes in the diet may have unintended consequences on behavior. Am. J. Primatol. 72:234–241, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Mechanism of resolvins in reducing the inflammation reaction in inflammatory diseases].

OBJECTIVE Inflammation is an important mechanism for the host to resist external infection and injury. Under normal conditions, adaptive inflammatory response not only is conducive to the repair of damaged cells and tissues, but plays an important role to promote the internal environment to restored homeostasis. However, when the immune function is damaged, the unresolved and uncontrolled inflammation will cause non-specific tissue damage, which is linked to a variety of inflammatory diseases. In the acute inflammation, resolvins, a group of endogenous small molecular lipid mediators which are biosynthesized by polyunsaturated fatty acids, possess anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving actions, which are benefit for the repair of damaged tissue. Therefore, it is helpful to deeply explore the mechanisms of resolvins in inflammation-resolution phases of acute lung injury (ALI) and sepsis, which are favor of understanding the complex processes and provide new treatment for the inflammatory diseases thereby reducing the mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Nonlinearity and dynamics in RF Oscillators: Analysis and design implications

In this paper a novel nonlinear analysis and design approach for VCOs based on modeling the circuit in the higher-dimensional state space is presented. Using the center manifold theorem, we reduce the higher-dimensional system to a two dimensional parameter dependent nonlinear system that maintains the dynamics of the higher-dimensional system. By applying the Andronov-Hopf bifurcation analysis to the reduced system, it is possible to perform a stability analysis and to approximate the amplitude and frequency of the individual state variables. The applicability of the method is verified by designing and analyzing a 2.4 GHz VCO using a 0.25 µm RF CMOS technology.
HOW TO IDENTIFY A STRANGE STAR

Contrary to young neutron stars, young strange stars are not subject to the r-mode instability which slows rapidly rotating, hot neutron stars to rotation periods near 10 ms via gravitational wave emission. Young millisecond pulsars are therefore likely to be strange stars rather than neutron stars, or at least to contain significant quantities of quark matter in the interior.
Nonlinear Mean‐Reversion in Real Exchange Rates: Toward a Solution To the Purchasing Power Parity Puzzles

We fit nonlinearly mean-reverting models to real dollar exchange rates over the post-Bretton Woods period, consistent with a theoretical literature on transactions costs in international arbitrage. The half lives of real exchange rate shocks, calculated through Monte Carlo integration, imply faster adjustment speeds than hitherto recorded. Monte Carlo simulations reconcile our results with the large empirical literature on unit roots in real exchange rates by showing that when the real exchange rate is nonlinearly mean reverting, standard univariate unit root tests have low power, while multivariate tests have much higher power to reject a false null hypothesis.
Market Education: The Unknown History

Discontent with public education has been on the rise in recent years, as parents complain that their children are not being taught the basics, that they are not pushed to excel, and that their classrooms are too chaotic to encourage any real learning. The public has begun to reject school bond levies with regularity, frustrated by what it perceives to be mounting education costs unaccompanied by increased achievement or accountability. Coulson explores the educational problems facing parents and shows how these problems can best be addressed. He begins with a discussion of what people want from their school systems, tracing their views of the kinds of knowledge, skills, and values education should impart, and their concerns over discipline, drugs, and violence in public schools. Using this survey of goals and attitudes as a guide, Coulson sets out to compare the school systems of civilizations both ancient and modern, seeking to determine which systems successfully educated generations past and which did not. His historical study ranges from classical Greece and ancient Rome, through the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, to nineteenth-century England and modern America. Drawing on the historical evidence of how these various systems operated, Coulson concludes that free educational markets have consistently done a better job of serving the public's needs than state-run school systems have. He sets out a blueprint for competitive, free-market educational reform that would make schools more flexible, more innovative, and more responsive to the needs of parents and students. He describes how education for low-income children might be funded under a market system, and how the transition from monopolistic public education to market education might be achieved. Coulson's Market Education touches on a wide range of issues, including declines in academic achievement, minority education, the role of public school teachers, and mismanagement and corruption in educational bureaucracies. Coulson examines alternative reform proposals from vouchers and charter schools to national standards for school curricula. This timely and engaging book will appeal to parents, educators, and others concerned with the quality and cost of schooling, and will serve as an excellent resource in college courses on the economics and history of education.