Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Exchange Rates Forecast Commodity Prices? A Reconsideration

Chen et al. (2010) report that for 'commodity currencies', the exchange rate predicts the country’s commodity index but not vice versa. The commodity currency hypothesis is consistent with the Engel and West (2005) exchange rate model if the fundamental is chosen to be the country’s key export prices and if the latter are exogenous to the exchange rate dynamics. In our view, however, commodity prices are essentially financial asset prices that are set in a forward-looking way, exactly like exchange rates. If both the exchange rate and the commodity prices are based on discounted future expectations, one should mostly observe contemporaneous correlations, not one-directional cross-predictability from one variable toward the other.Using three different data sets and various econometric techniques, we do find the contemporaneous correlations as predicted by the financial asset view of commodity prices. Cross-predictability, in contrast, seems to be only minor at best, not robust to plausible variations in the test design, and bi-directional rather than one-directional. The difference between Chen et al’s empirical findings and ours is to a large extent traceable to the presence of time-averaged prices in the commodity index data that they use. Price averaging induces spurious autocorrelation and predictability that disappears if one uses e.g. month’s-end prices. Some slip-ups in their test design seem to play an additional role too.
Dry season streamflow persistence in seasonal climates

Seasonally dry ecosystems exhibit periods of high water availability followed by extended intervals during which rainfall is negligible and streamflows decline. Eventually, such declining flows will fall below the minimum values required to support ecosystem functions or services. The time at which dry season flows drop below these minimum values (Q*), relative to the start of the dry season, is termed the “persistence time” ( TQ* ). The persistence time determines how long seasonal streams can support various human or ecological functions during the dry season. In this study, we extended recent work in the stochastic hydrology of seasonally dry climates to develop an analytical model for the probability distribution function (PDF) of the persistence time. The proposed model accurately captures the mean of the persistence time distribution, but underestimates its variance. We demonstrate that this underestimation arises in part due to correlation between the parameters used to describe the dry season recession, but that this correlation can be removed by rescaling the flow variables. The mean persistence time predictions form one example of the broader class of streamflow statistics known as crossing properties, which could feasibly be combined with simple ecological models to form a basis for rapid risk assessment under different climate or management scenarios.
Selection of Medium Components by Plackett-Burman Design for Cell Growth of a Newly Isolated Methylobacterium sp. WJ4

− We isolated a novel methylotrophic bacterium from soil collected in Dongducheon Environment Affairs Agency. The isolate was identified as Methylobacterium sp. WJ4 based on phylogenetic analysis. Plackett-Burman design was employed for screening eight parameters of nitrate mineral salts (NMS) medium for cell growth of a newly isolated Methylobacterium sp. WJ4 with experimental validation. Trace element solution and vitamin stock were found to affect cell growth, which can be further optimized for increased cell growth. This is the first report of screening parameters of NMS medium which affect cell growth of strain belonging to the genus Methylobacterium using Plackett-Burman design.
Fiscal Transparency and Capital Markets

Following several corporate accounting scandals, politicians and participants in the financial markets have opted for greater corporate transparency whereas people almost blindly trusted state authorities and their released information especially on fiscal data. This attitude changed in the aftermath of several crises in emerging market economies during the second half of the 1990s, which led the IMF to push for greater transparency of countries’ fiscal positions. This initiative has steadily been gaining support and Greece’s misreporting of fiscal data to Eurostat has revealed that a lack of fiscal transparency is not only a problem of low-income countries. Fiscal transparency can be defined as the openness about policy intentions, formulation, and implementation and is regarded as a key element of good governance. Despite strong empirical evidence, there are only few theoretical approaches to model the effects of fiscal transparency. Thus, after a short review of the relevant literature this paper tries to shed light on the underlying transmission mechanism of fiscal transparency with respect to financial markets. First, the bond spreads between countries are decomposed in three different components. In a second step, the default probability of a country is specified in more detail to allow for a deeper analysis of the effects of fiscal transparency on bond spreads. It will be shown that the variance of revisions to fiscal data following the reported first notifications to Eurostat can explain to a large extent past differences in bond spreads. This is due to the fact that more transparent countries are more prudent in their fiscal reporting and do not need to resort to the use of creative accounting. Thus, the more transparent the budget of a country, the lower is the likelihood of large revisions in the fiscal balances and the expected default probability decreases.
Targets for Monetary Policy in the Coming Year

MOST OBSERVERS would agree that the present state of the economy can be traced largely to the monetary policy pursued during the last few quarters, in particular the severe monetary squeeze of mid-1974. We see this policy as resulting from the pursuit of inappropriate targets framed in terms of monetary aggregates and "orderly markets"-since we disbelieve that policymakers intended to achieve 9 percent unemployment, so far off any target announced by the administration or sanctioned, even indirectly, by Congress. In order to avoid similar episodes in the coming difficult quarters, monetary policy should be aimed at explicitly stated targets for real output and employment, and at consistent targets for money income. The purpose of this paper is to propose appropriate real targets for the next two years and to examine their implications for monetary policy. In the light of the high unemployment of mid-1975, and of the importance of an orderly reduction of the current high rate of inflation, the aim proposed is to bring down the rate of unemployment over the next two years to
Intrinsic Work Values on Building Association of South-East Asian Nation’s Future Workforce: A Comparison of Three Nations

The aim of this study is to examine the intrinsic work values that were perceived by the university undergraduates in the three nations (Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia) to influence cooperative communication. These three nations are among the founders of Association of South-East Asian Nations in 1967 that represents half of the population of the region. Intrinsic work values are an important medium through which employee behaviour can be understood and managed. Previous research suggests that intrinsic work values influences cooperative communication; the relationships among these constructs, however, have not been portrayed explicitly in a theoretical model, nor have they been empirically tested. Therefore, it is important to identify the dimensionality of intrinsic work value in ASEAN future workforce and assess an empirical conceptual framework of the relationships between work values and cooperative communication. The study uses an ASEAN university’s student sample from three nations for comparative study. Using a simultaneous multiple regression analysis, the contribution of six intrinsic work values factors in creating cooperative communication in the three ASEAN nations was assessed. The findings show that intrinsic work values do impact upon cooperative communication for Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The paper draws attention to intrinsic work values of ASEAN university’s student who is considered as future employees in this region.
Speech Intelligibility and Marital Communication in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rapidly progressive neuromuscular disease, has a devastating impact not only on individuals diagnosed with ALS but also their spouses. Speech intelligibility, often compromised as a result of dysarthria, affects the couple’s ability to maintain effective, intimate communication. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the association between the deteriorating speech of persons with ALS (PALS) and couples’ perceptions of marital communication. There were two participant groups: (a) persons with ALS (PALS) and (b) their spouses. Data were collected over a 12-month period through the administration of objective and subjective measures. A review of the findings suggested a positive relation between declining speech intelligibility and a couple’s perception of marital communication. A holistic approach to communication intervention should be adopted for PALS, as communication as a means of facilitating and maintaining intimacy in the marital relationship is particularly pertinent to this population.
A Prospective Study to Analyse the Metabolic Effect of Metformin with Glimepiride on Type 2 Diabetic Patients of North India.

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a leading disease of developing countries and its incidence is increasing day by day. Among Oral Hypoglycemic agents, Metformin is still the best treatment choice for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Metformin is associated with improvements in lipoprotein metabolism, including decreases in LDL-C, fasting and postprandial TGs, and free fatty acids. Methods: This prospective study was carried out on Type 2 Diabetic patients attending the Diabetic clinic at Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College & Research Center, Moradabad. Only those patients were included who were not adequately controlled with a stable dose of metformin monotherapy. A total of 125 patients were enrolled in the study taking Glimepiride plus Metformin. The patients received therapy of metformin 500mg three times daily & glimepiride 5mg twice daily. Results : Out of the 125 patients enrolled in the study, only 82 patients completed the study. Out of 82 patients, 49 were males and 33 females. There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) of FPG as compared to baseline. The (PPBS) was reduced from 275.95 ±63.599 (mg/dl) to 167.04±27.084 (mg/dl) at 12 weeks and141.36±31.064(mg/dl) at 24 weeks (mg/dl). There was a significant reduction (p<0.05) of Hb1Ac, TC, TAG, LDL, VLDL, UA, SGOT as compared to baseline but no significant rise in HDL was seen as compared to baseline. Conclusion: Significant improvement in fasting blood sugar (FBS), Postprandial blood sugar (PPBS), Lipid profile and Glycosylated hemoglobin as compared to baseline.
Governance Matters: Universal Access to Water

Universal access to water is acknowledged as a fundamental human right which governments have to secure. To improve access to water, it has been argued that an important factor, if not the most important, is to strengthen water sector governance and reduce corruption. Looking at the relationship between governance indicators and access to water sources and controlling for various factors, our contribution fills a gap in proving empirically, for a cross-country analysis including 147 countries, that governance indeed matters. In particular, we add a nuance to the debate, showing that rural population is more vulnerable to weak governance.
Genetic Variability of Agronomic Traits of Low Nitrogen Tolerant Open-Pollinated Maize Accessions as Parents for Top-Cross Hybrids

Discrimination among parental accessions maintains the agronomic performance and purity of hybrids. Low nitrogen tolerant open-pollinated maize were screened for variation in agronomic characters, parents' identification and grouping using principal component and single linkage analyses, Pearson's correlation and bi-plot methods. The accessions were genetically distinct and diverse. BR9928-DMRSRLN proved intercrop-able and drought tolerant. LNTP-WC3, Sint-Marzoca-Larga and ART/98/SW5-OB were best pollen materials. Pairs of days to anthesis and silking, total number of leaves and ear height, leaf length or width and number of leaves below uppermost ear, veination index and leaf width, and shell and field weights can be improved simultaneously. First four PCs accounted for 80% variability. PC I had the strongest discriminating ability but insufficiently distinguished the accessions. First three PCs identified anthesis-silking-interval, plant height, number of veins, ear height, total number of leaves, leaf width, veination index, field and shell weights, days to anthesis and silking as discriminators. The accessions clustered into three. LNTP-YC6 and ILE-1OB flowered earlier; BR99TZL-Comp4DMSRSR and Sint-Marzoca-Larga yielded highest.
Personality Traits in Patients Affected with Flood - A Hospital Based Study

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry. Disasters not only have impact on the morbidity and mortality of the local population but also disrupt progress and destroy the outcome of developmental efforts over several years, often pushing nations’ quest for progress back by several decades. A typical pattern of mental, emotional, and physical response is observed in the majority of people after exposure to any disaster. The combination of cloud bursts, floods, and landslides triggered on 4th 5th and 6th September 2014 affected almost whole of Kashmir and some areas of Jammu as well. Research in this area can provide newer insights in prevention and management of patients who seem vulnerable in developing personality disorder. Aims: 1) To study socio demographic characteristics of patients affected with flood. 2) To study personality traits in these patients Methods and Materials: It was a cross-sectional observational study carried out in tertiary hospital in Srinagar. Patients affected with flood referred to psychiatry for opinion and willing to participate were included. Socio demographic details were obtained through self designed proforma. International personality disorder examination (IPDE) was used to diagnose personality traits in such patients. Results: Majority of the patients affected with flood (68%) were of young age group (15-27) years with male predominance (62%) were unmarried (38%) and belonged to Muslim (94%) Nuclear (58%) family. Histrionic personality (27%) was found to be personality traits in majority of the patients followed by dissocial personality (16%). Conclusion: Patient affected with flood at our setting had a distinctive pattern which was different from the norm.
Building a dataset for image steganography

Spontaneous ad hoc networks are distinguished by rapid deployment for a specific purpose, with no forward planning or pre-design in their topology. Often these networks will spring up through necessity whenever a network is required urgently but briefly. This may be in a disaster recovery setting, military uses where often the network is unplanned but the devices are pre-installed with security settings, educational networks or networks created as a one-off for a meeting such as in a business organisation. Generally, wireless networks pose problems for forensic investigators because of the open nature of the medium, but if logging procedures and preplanned connections are in place, past messages, including nefarious activity can often be easily traced through normal forensic practices. However, the often urgent nature of the spontaneous ad hoc communication requirements of these networks leads to the acceptance onto the network of anyone with a wireless device. Additionally, the identity of the network members, their location and the numbers within the network are all unknown. With no centre of control of the network, such as a central server or wireless access point, the ability to forensically reconstruct the network topology and trace a malicious message or other inappropriate or criminal activity would seem impossible. This research aims to demonstrate that forensic reconstruction is possible in these types of networks and the current research provides initial results for how forensic investigators can best undertake these investigations.
GREEN SYNTHESIS OF CALCIUM AND PHOSPHATE COMPOUNDS BY VARYING pH VALUE AND CA/P ATOMIC RATIO USING AQUEOUS PRECIPITATIONS

Using an aqueous synthesis with varying pH values and changing ion source of calcium-to-phosphorus atomic ratios to cla- rify precipitations was the purpose of this study. The precipitation procedures were processed in two ways; firstly, a pH range of 3.0 to 12.0 was controlled while the ion source of relative Ca/P ratio was kept at 2.0. Secondly, the reaction was kept alkaline with a pH of 12.0 and the value range of Ca/P ratios in the precursor ion-solutions was 1.0 to 3.0. The physicochemical properties were measured to characterize the various precipitates. Results showed that when the pH was varied, the morphology of the precipitates gradually changed to micrometer column-like shape under acidic condition and nano-scale globular-like shape in alkaline environments. By controlling the pH and Ca/P ratio of ion-sources in aqueous reactions, precipitates in biphasics of calcium carbonate/apatite and calcium hydroxide/apatite were obtained with nanometer-scale morphologies. The precipitation procedures that are used in the synthesis of the biphasics provide a simpler, safer, less expensive and more environmentally friendly than the co-precipitation by sintering processes.
Measuring Soil Water Content: A Review

Soil water content has an important impact on many fundamental biophysical processes. It affects the germination of seeds, plant growth and nutrition, microbial decomposition of the soil organic matter, nutrient transformations in the root zone, as well as heat and water transfer at the land–atmosphere interface. The quantification of SWC is necessary for different applications, ranging from large-scale calibration of global-scale climate models to field monitoring in agricultural and horticultural systems. In the former, knowledge of SWC is involved in the partitioning of solar radiation into latent and sensible heat, whereas in the latter, SWC measurements help optimize irrigation volumes and schedule, as well as plant nutrition. SWC is also a key variable in determining the rate of decomposition of the soil organic matter, which can affect, for example, the rate of soil respiration and soil carbon sequestration. Moreover, SWC plays a key role in the physicochemical transformation of fundamental nutrients (e.g., nitrogen), such as mineralization, volatilization, and nitrification. In recent decades, a variety of methodologies to measure SWC at different scales have been developed, which has greatly expanded the information available on theory and applications. Since there are a range of techniques based on different physical principles and a variety of available sensors, this review is not intended to provide an exhaustive scientific description of each method, but rather to provide guidance for field scientists and practitioners who are interested in measuring SWC. Specifically, my objective is to provide information and bibliographical sources that might help match the project objectives with the appropriate measurement method. Because of the multitude of private manufacturers developing and selling sensors, specific companies are not listed in the discussion. However, I have provided bibliographical and website references where it is possible to read reviews and comparisons of the various sensors and manufacturers available on the market today. In this review, the physical principles behind the different methods are described first, followed by the
The Efficacy of Thyrotropin Suppression Therapy in Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer after Total Thyroidectomy

Abstract Background: The aim of this prospective study was to assess the effect of the TSH suppression on both disease-free and overall survivals in patients with nonmetastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) after total thyroidectomy. Patients & Methods: One hundred and forty eight patients with pathologically proved operable differentiated thyroid carcinoma were enrolled in this prospective study. Levothyroxin (L-T4) therapy was started in doses according to treatment groups. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either postoperative TSH suppression therapy in group I (76 patients) or nonsuppression therapy in group II (72 patients). Results: During the period of follow up with a median 54 months, the disease-free survival for patients without TSH suppression therapy did not reach statistically significant difference comparing with those for patients with the suppression therapy (p=0.09). However, the difference was statistically significant for high-risk patients (p=0.04). On comparing both groups there was no statistically significant difference with regard to overall survival (p=0.17). The age of the patients more than 45 years, tumour size more than 4 cm and high-risk group were significant independent predictors for thyroid carcinoma-related relapse in univariate analysis. However, tumour size was the only significant factor in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Suppressive treatment with L-T4 therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma should be individualised and balanced against the adverse effects. TSH suppression is indicated in patients with high-risk disease or recurrent tumour. Normalisation of serum TSH is preferred for long-term treatment of disease-free elderly patients with DTC and comorbidities.
Controlling Mechanism of Molecular Orientation of Poly(3-alkylthiophene) in a Thin Film Revealed by Using pMAIRS

A face-on oriented thin film of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is suitable for an organic semiconductor layer in a photovoltaic device, and thus analysis of the film structure in terms of molecular orientation is crucial. Although the face-on film often has a poor crystallinity, diffraction techniques have long been employed for the structural analysis, and only very minor crystal parts have been discussed. In our previous study, P3HT was revealed to have a uniquely oriented structure even in an amorphous film by using p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (pMAIRS), which is powerful to analyze the molecular orientation, crystallinity, and the conjugation length of P3HT. With the best use of the potential of pMAIRS, in the present study, the controlling mechanism of the molecular orientation of P3HT correlated with the crystallinity in a spin-coated thin film is revealed. As a result, by employing a high-spin speed at 8000 rpm, a highly face-on oriented thin film having a very low cr.