Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why are Companies Freezing Their Pensions

Defined benefit plans in the private sector are on the decline. And the early 21st century produced an uptick in the pace of decline driven by the financially devastating impact of the ‘perfect storm’ of plummeting stock prices and low interest rates, legislation that will require underfunded plans to increase their contributions, and accounting changes that will force fluctuations in pension finance onto the earnings statement and will likely eliminate the smoothing available under current rules. Increased volatility is not acceptable to corporate managers and may, in large part, explain why large healthy companies have taken steps to end their defined benefit plans. In an attempt to identify factors that led specific companies to freeze their plans, this paper explores the relationship between the probability that a plan was frozen and characteristics of the plan, the firm, and the industry. The results imply that plans where credit balances are high relative to income, legacy costs are substantial and funding ratios are low have a higher probability of being frozen. That makes sense in that plans with these characteristics are likely to have the most impact on future earnings under the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s expected reporting requirements. It is reasonable to expect more plans with these characteristics to freeze in the future.
Proposed modification to data analysis for statistical motor unit number estimate

Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) is an important electrophysiological technique for quantitative measurement of motor neuron loss. Although commonly used, there is no consensus concerning the optimal procedure for statistical MUNE, particularly regarding several operator‐dependent variables. To assess the variables, we analyzed 500 sequential, submaximal compound muscle action potential (CMAP) responses at three or four stimulus intensities in 10 controls and 10 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In both controls and ALS patients, we found that posttest filtering data based on 20% or 25% windows or 2, 2.5, or 3 SD excludes <5% of data. Windows of 10% or 15% excluded <5% of data in controls but not in ALS patients. Excluding data based on ±2 SD, the coefficient of variation for final MUNE was 12% in controls and 6% in ALS patients. Group sizes of 30 or 50 and sample sizes of 300 to 500 sequential CMAP responses per run yielded the lowest coefficient of variation. We propose that statistical MUNE data should be analyzed based on excluding data >2 SD from the mean, because this is operator independent, includes the majority of data, effectively excludes clearly outlying data, such as fasciculations or movement artifact, and has a reasonable coefficient of variation. Muscle Nerve 29: 700–706, 2004
Relation of structural and vibratory kinematics of the vocal folds to two acoustic measures of breathy voice based on computational modeling.

PURPOSE To relate vocal fold structure and kinematics to 2 acoustic measures: cepstral peak prominence (CPP) and the amplitude of the first harmonic relative to the second (H1-H2). METHOD The authors used a computational, kinematic model of the medial surfaces of the vocal folds to specify features of vocal fold structure and vibration in a manner consistent with breathy voice. Four model parameters were altered: degree of vocal fold adduction, surface bulging, vibratory nodal point, and supraglottal constriction. CPP and H1-H2 were measured from simulated glottal area, glottal flow, and acoustic waveforms and were related to the underlying vocal fold kinematics. RESULTS CPP decreased with increased separation of the vocal processes, whereas the nodal point location had little effect. H1-H2 increased as a function of separation of the vocal processes in the range of 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm and decreased with separation > 1.5 mm. CONCLUSIONS CPP is generally a function of vocal process separation. H1*-H2* (see paragraph 6 of article text for an explanation of the asterisks) will increase or decrease with vocal process separation on the basis of vocal fold shape, pivot point for the rotational mode, and supraglottal vocal tract shape, limiting its utility as an indicator of breathy voice. Future work will relate the perception of breathiness to vocal fold kinematics and acoustic measures.
Diversity of Pubertal Testosterone Changes in Boys with Constitutional Delay in Growth and/or Adolescence

In a group of 22 boys with constitutional delay in growth and/or adolescence, intermittent testosterone enanthate treatment was employed in a randomized clinical trial at multiple doses ranging from 25-100 mg every two weeks for three month periods extending over 15-21 months. Twelve of the patients displayed a prompt increase in endogenous testosterone levels during the study period, reaching levels in the adult male range (> 250 ng/dl). The remaining 10 boys showed sluggish changes in endogenous testosterone during the investigation, ranging from 35-177 ng/dl. The bone ages and testicular sizes of the two groups at study initiation did not differ though urine LH was significantly less at study entry in the slowly maturing group. The data reveal a great diversity in the pace and pattern of endogenous testosterone changes in the study population. The results also suggest that exogenous sex steroid treatment of such patients does not speed up the central nervous system processes controlling the onset and progression of puberty. Boys with delayed puberty should be followed until endogenous testosterone levels reach the adult male range in order to rule out mild gonadotropin deficits.
Understanding Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia

We recount East Asiaâ€™s experience with foreign direct investment (FDI). We document that, contrary to the Rybczynski theorem, capital flows in the region cause the host countryâ€™s labor-intensive industry to expand and its capital-intensive industry to decline. We also present narrative evidence that sheds light on how FDI is affected by the hostâ€™s countryâ€™s locational advantages, whether Asian FDI is footloose, and how the PRC has become the center of Factory Asia. Finally, we show that the evolution of production networks in the region can be explained partly by changes in the service cost of linking geographically separated production blocks relative to the cost saving arising from slicing up the value chain.
Effect of potassium on sodium-dependent adenosine diphosphate-adenosine triphosphate exchange activity in kidney microsomes.

Abstract Maximal activation of a Na+-dependent adenosine diphosphate-adenosine triphosphate exchange reaction mediated by kidney microsomes was achieved at 0.1 mm and 0.4 mm Mg++ in the presence of 1.5 mm and 32 mm Na+, respectively. K+ inhibited the Na+-dependent exchange rate when lower concentrations of Na+ and Mg++ were used and stimulated it in the presence of 0.4 mm Mg++ and 32 mm Na+. The inhibitory effect of K+ could be reversed either by increasing the Na+ concentration or decreasing that of K+. N-Ethyl-maleimide treatment of microsomes abolished the stimulatory effect of K+. Ouabain, alkaline pH, and lower temperatures less effectively decreased stimulation of Na+-dependent exchange by K+. Mg++ and K+ appeared to exhibit competitive antagonism on (Na+ + K+)-sensitive transphosphorylation activity. It is proposed that the stimulation of Na+-dependent adenosine diphosphate-adenosine triphosphate exchange reaction by K+ may be mediated, in part, by slowing the conversion of one form of the phosphoenzyme E1-P into another E2-P.
Universal Banking and the Financing of Industrial Development

In universal banking, large banks operate extensive networks of branches, provide many different services, hold several claims on firms (including equity and debt), and participate directly in the corporate governance of firms that rely on the banks for funding or as insurance underwriters. In this paper, the author contrasts the cost of financing industrialization in the United States and in Germany during the second industrial revolution. He explains that large production is typical of modern industrial practice, so the lessons from that period apply broadly to contemporary developing countries. The second industrial revolution involved many new products and technologies. Firms were producing new goods in new ways on an unprecedented scale. Therefore, they needed quick access to heavy financing. Finance costs for industry were lower in Germany than in the United States, because U.S. regulations prevented the universal banking from which Germany benefited. High finance costs retarded U.S. realization of its full industrial potential. The potential to expand quickly and reap economies of scale was greater in German industrialization. The cost of industrial financing began to decline when institutional changes came about that increased the concentration of financial market transactions. In recent decades, a combination of macroeconomic distress, international competitive pressure, and the creative invention of new financial intermediaries has helped the U.S. financial system overcome the regulatory mandate of financial fragmentation.
Task Ordering in Incentives Under Externalities

In a two-task team project with observable task outcomes, optimal incentives prioritize tasks differently depending on task externalities. When the tasks are independent, Principal follows a decreasing order by placing more essential task first. A task is more essential if its failure compromises the overall project's chance of success from a task-specific cutoff level by a greater percentage. This definition has no systematic relations to the variance of task outcomes. In particular, a more risky task can be less essential or more essential. Under externalities, essentiality and impact jointly determine the optimal ordering. A task with much higher impact can be performed early even if it is less essential. Optimal task ordering thus raises subtle new issues and forms an integral part in team incentives. Our analysis provides some contrast with recent team incentives results.
The addiction Stroop task: examining the fast and slow effects of smoking and marijuana-related cues

Abstract Research has shown that attentional bias toward smoking-related stimuli is related to the maintenance of smoking behaviour and the chance of a relapse during a quit attempt. Effects of smoking attentional bias can occur both during smoking stimulus presentation (fast effect) and on stimuli that immediately follow smoking stimuli (slow effect). The current research builds on these findings by closely examining the temporal aspects of these fast and slow effects across groups of different smoking status. In Experiment 1 (n = 64), smokers, smokers attempting to quit (SATQ) and non-smokers completed an addiction Stroop task using smoking related, negative emotion and neutral stimuli. In Experiment 2 (n = 32), marijuana smokers and non-marijuana smokers completed an addiction Stroop task using marijuana and neutral stimuli. Results showed fast effects across all smoking groups (except non-smokers) and slow effects in SATQ and marijuana smokers. Furthermore, marijuana smokers showed slow effects over extended periods of time. Results also show a relationship between anxiety, nicotine dependence and attentional bias in SATQ. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Commercial Liking and Memory: Moderating Effects of Product Categories

ABSTRACT This paper shows that product category is an important moderator of the relationship between commercial liking and memory. In this multi-year survey of responses to commercials shown on the Super Bowl, products advertised were classified as ‘approach,’ ‘avoidance,’ or ‘utilitarian. ’ Positive and significant relationships between liking and memory held true for approach products only, not avoidance or utilitarian products.
Mutational analysis of cis elements involved in E2 modulation of human papillomavirus type 16 P97 and type 18 P105 promoters

cis-Acting elements involved in E2 modulation of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) P97 promoter activity and HPV-18 P105 promoter activity were examined. In transfected primary human keratinocytes, each promoter had a basal activity that could be repressed by the bovine papillomavirus type 1 E2 gene product. Mutational analysis of the E2-binding sites in the long control region upstream of each promoter revealed that E2 repression was mediated through the E2-binding sites proximal to each promoter. In the context of a mutated E2-binding site at the promoter proximal position, the HPV-16 P97 and HPV-18 P105 promoters could be transactivated by E2. E2-mediated repression of HPV-18 P105 promoter activity was shown to be a transcriptional effect. The interaction of E2 with promoter-proximal E2-binding sites is likely to be important for the controlled expression of viral genes transcribed from the HPV-16 P97 promoter and the HPV-18 P105 promoter in infected human genital epithelial cells.
The Bromodomain of Gcn5 Regulates Site Specificity of Lysine Acetylation on Histone H3*

In yeast, the conserved histone acetyltransferase (HAT) Gcn5 associates with Ada2 and Ada3 to form the catalytic module of the ADA and SAGA transcriptional coactivator complexes. Gcn5 also contains an acetyl-lysine binding bromodomain that has been implicated in regulating nucleosomal acetylation in vitro, as well as at gene promoters in cells. However, the contribution of the Gcn5 bromodomain in regulating site specificity of HAT activity remains unclear. Here, we used a combined acid-urea gel and quantitative mass spectrometry approach to compare the HAT activity of wild-type and Gcn5 bromodomain-mutant ADA subcomplexes (Gcn5-Ada2-Ada3). Wild-type ADA subcomplex acetylated H3 lysines with the following specificity; H3K14 > H3K23 > H3K9 ≈ H3K18 > H3K27 > H3K36. However, when the Gcn5 bromodomain was defective in acetyl-lysine binding, the ADA subcomplex demonstrated altered site-specific acetylation on free and nucleosomal H3, with H3K18ac being the most severely diminished. H3K18ac was also severely diminished on H3K14R, but not H3K23R, substrates in wild-type HAT reactions, further suggesting that Gcn5-catalyzed acetylation of H3K14 and bromodomain binding to H3K14ac are important steps preceding H3K18ac. In sum, this work details a previously uncharacterized cross-talk between the Gcn5 bromodomain “reader” function and enzymatic HAT activity that might ultimately affect gene expression. Future studies of how mutations in bromodomains or other histone post-translational modification readers can affect chromatin-templated enzymatic activities will yield unprecedented insight into a potential “histone/epigenetic code. ” MS data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001167.
Massive main sequence stars evolving at the Eddington limit

The evolution of massive stars even on the main sequence is not yet well understood. Due to the steep mass-luminosity relation, massive main sequence stars become very luminous. This brings their envelopes very close to the Eddington limit. We are analysing stellar evolutionary models in which the Eddington limit is reached and exceeded, and explore the rich diversity of physical phenomena which take place in their envelopes, and investigate their observational consequences. We use the grids of detailed stellar models by Brott et al. (2011) and Koehler et al. (2015), to investigate the envelope properties of core hydrogen burning massive stars. We find that at the stellar surface, the Eddington limit is almost never reached, even for stars up to 500 Msun. When an appropriate Eddington limit is defined locally in the stellar envelope, most stars more massive than 40 Msun actually exceed this limit, in particular in the partial ionization zones of iron, helium or hydrogen. While most models adjust their structure such that the local Eddington limit is exceeded at most by a few per cent, our most extreme models do so by a factor of more than seven. We find that the local violation of the Eddington limit has severe consequences for the envelope structure, as it leads to envelope inflation, convection, density inversions and possibly to pulsations. We find that all models with luminosities higher than 4*10^5 Lsun i.e. stars above 40 Msun show inflation, with a radius increase of up to a factor of about 40. We find that the hot edge of the S Dor variability region coincides with a line beyond which our models are inflated by more than a factor of two, indicating a possible connection between S Dor variability and inflation. Furthermore, our coolest models show highly inflated envelopes with masses of up to several solar masses, and appear to be candidates to produce major LBV eruptions.
Realizing savings from online reverse auctions

Discusses the savings that can result from online reverse auctions for the specific case of buyer‐designed machined parts. Distinguishes between gross and net savings, and highlights factors that can reduce the magnitude of anticipated savings. Determines that the savings actually achieved are less than that reported by suppliers of online auction services for the type of buyer‐designed production materials under consideration. Examines the root cause of why managers use online reverse auctions to reduce the price of purchased goods and services. Concludes that the root cause of online reverse auctions is local optimization of the business system along functional, managerial, or financial dimensions, which in turn perpetuates chronic underutilization of valuable internal and external resources.
Designing a K--12 computing curriculum: the questions

timing is unclear, but comments within a month or two would be most likely to fit with directives that might be received from CUPM. Regardless of the possibilities of revision, these reports provide a natural opening for expanded conversations between computing faculty and mathematicians/ statisticians. These reports highlight different needs for mathematics within various computing-related fields, and raise natural questions of what courses would work best in a particular institution. ACM and its sister organizations have published many recommendations, and the forthcoming revised recommendations from MAA's CUPM will provide similar guidance from the perspective of mathematics and statistics. ir Acknowledgments I extend many thanks to group members Douglas Baldwin of SUNY Geneseo and Daniel Kaplan of Macalester College for their many contributions to this project. Their time and effort in brainstorming, investigation, analysis, and writing were instrumental in guiding the work of this Program Study Group and creating the reports. Special thanks go to Douglas Baldwin and to Marge Coahran of the University of Toronto for their suggestions on clarifying and refining this column.
Knowledge management and public sector accountants : knowledge sharing process in the accountant general's department of Malaysia / Kalsom Salleh

Knowledge Management (KM) in an accounting organisation in developing countries has not yet received much attention in the research literature. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how accountants as professional intellects working in an accounting organisation perceived the importance of KM implementation factors in their organisation. The Accountant General's Department (AGD) of Malaysia is selected for an in-depth study of KM in a public sector accounting organisation. KM in this study is concerned with the flow of accounting information that takes place as part of the organisational process and generating value through knowledge flow for performance improvement.
Regles positionnelles iteratives, principe majoritaire et preferences unimodales

Sequential scoring rules are multi-stage social choice tules that work as follows: at each stage of the process, a score is computed for each alternative by taking into account its position in the individual preference rankings, and the alternative with the lowest score is eliminated. The current paper studies the ability of these rules for choosing the Condorcet winner (or the strong Condorcet winner) when individual preferences are single-peaked.
On Self-Organized Criticality of the East China AC–DC Power System—The Role of DC Transmission

In this paper, we aim to analyze the impact of dc transmission on self-organized criticality (SOC) of the East China power system (ECPS), which is a large-scale, ac-dc interconnected and classical receiving-end power system. To this end, a detailed ac-dc cascading failure analysis model is established to study the SOC of this system. In the proposed model, some important issues of dc transmission and several kinds of stochastic factors are considered. The corresponding algorithm realized on the platform of the PSS/E software is discussed as well. Simulation based on the 2010 East China ac-dc power system is performed and the following results are obtained: 1) the dc issues such as the operation modes and the control parameters have obvious effects on the SOC of the ac-dc system and 2) the risk of cascading failure and blackout can be decreased by deliberately choosing the dc operation modes and control parameters.
Inserting Convertible Arbitrage Funds in a Classical Portfolio:An Empirical Assessment

This study precisely analyses how the insertion of convertible arbitrage funds into a classical portfolio of stocks and bonds impacts the distribution of returns. We demonstrate that although convertible arbitrage funds are attractive in mean-variance terms, results are more controversial when skewness and kurtosis are taken into account. The efficient frontier analysis will overestimate the benefits from including convertible arbitrage funds in an investment portfolio because it does not take into account the lower skewness and the higher kurtosis that is obtained in most cases when convertible arbitrage funds are included. We also set out that portfolios of two funds allow the investor to attain a better efficient frontier compared to single funds or to portfolios containing more than two funds. Finally, we analysed the proportion of hedge funds to allocate to the portfolio. Our analysis indicates that a high allocation of the portfolio to convertible arbitrage funds allows the investor to obtain interesting returns both in terms of mean-variance analysis and in terms of skewness and kurtosis.
Film-Profile Engineered InGaZnO Thin-Film Transistors With Self-Aligned Bottom Gates

We propose and demonstrate a method which combines film profile engineering (FPE) and a procedure of forming self-aligned bottom gates (SABGs) to fabricate InGaZnO thin-film transistors (TFTs). In the scheme, an ingenious etching procedure was implemented to form the final bottom gate self-aligned to the upper hardmask structure. The fabricated SABG devices show greatly reduced OFF-state leakage as compared with nonself-aligned ones, attributing to the reduction of gate-to-source/drain overlap areas which lowers both parasitic capacitance and gate leakage current. These merits benefit the operation of circuits consisted of TFTs implemented with FPE.
Managing People in Organizations: Perspectives of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The business environment is highly intense and every corporate is seeking for strategies for survival and positioning the value proposition in a proper manner. Besides, the human factor is considered as vital in this regard. Properly selected, recruited, trained, motivated and performing individuals are a key asset for any organization regardless of the business sector. Thus the function of human resourcing is considered as imperative. Further, in the perspective of strategic, the HR department intends to develop HR plans and strategies which are aligning to the organizational strategic direction and the overall business strategy. Various tools and procedures need to be identified in order to execute the strategy. This review detailed about the importance of human resource management in recent business challenges and how the value depends on upon the effective execution of human resource framework. Pertaining empirical investigations have also used to illustrate the importance of managing people at work.