Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finance and Financial Economics: A Debate About Common Sense and Illogical Models

This document tries to answer to a frequent question of students and clients: are Finance and Financial Economics the same thing? My answer is NO: I think that they are very different, although the terms are very often confused and many Finance professor positions in many Business Schools have been filled with Financial Economists.Two ways, among others, to see the differences: a) attend a class on “Finance for managers” taught by a sensible Finance professor and attend another taught by a “Financial Economist”; b) read a book on “Finance for managers” and another on “Financial Economics”. Financial Economics is a subject developed by economists whose main purpose is to elaborate “models” based on unrealistic assumptions. The conclusions and predictions of the “models” have very little to do with the real world: companies, financial markets, investors, managers… the most emblematic example is the CAPM.The most used word in the Nobel Prize lectures of Fama, Shiller, Hansen and Sharpe was “model” (513 times). This document contains facts and some opinions held by the author. I welcome comments (disagreements, errors, anecdotes…) that will help the readers and me to better differentiate between Finance and Financial Economics.
A Novel Approach to Improve Word Translations Extraction from Non-Parallel , Comparable Corpora

After an attempt at extracting translational equivalents from domain-specific comparable corpora of limited size, we propose in this paper an approach to prune translation alternatives. In particular, we rescore translation candidates in the target language by applying the same translation algorithm in the reverse direction and reranking them according to the harmonic mean score. After a preliminary investigation limited to identifying translations of most common words, we validated in this paper our proposed model on a larger scale, including less frequent terms in both corpora. The results show an improvement in precision of the top candidate translation. The translational equivalents obtained may then be used, e.g., for extending an existing medical lexicon as human translation aid or for query expansion and translation in cross-language information retrieval.
Induced micro lesion effect on cardinal motor features of Parkinson‘s: A study with iMER signals of subthalamic-nuclei deep brain stimulations (Electrode-Implantation) by DBS

Induced micro lesion effect ( mLE) on basic motor symptoms of Parkinson‘s showing good results with the intra operative micro electrode recordings (iMER) of subthalamic-nuclei (STN) signals (patterns or signatures of STN) all through deep brain stimulations (DBS). MER-induced mLE was computed based on the difference between tremor, rigidity, and Bradykinesia (akinesia) scores in the pre op off-state and intra op on state following MER prior to test stimulus. To study the induced micro lesion effect on cardinal motoric feature-manifestations (symptoms) of Parkinson‘s during the subthalamic nuclei deep brain stimulations by the intra operative microelectrode recordings. Clinical Relevance — stimulated intra operative microelectrode recordings micro lesion effect progressed the motor-manifestations of Parkinson‘s. However, uncorrelated by the electrodes employed for the period of the process. MER-induced mLE was computed based on the difference between tremor, akinesia/Bradykinesia, and rigidity scores in the pre operative OFF state and intra operative state prior to stimulus-test experiment subsequent with micro electrode recording The MLE scores were enhanced by circa ~ 22% on Brains left hemisphere (BLH) and by ~14% on Brains right hemisphere (BRH) from zero line, i.e., electrical base line (p0.05). Stimulated intra operative microelectrode recordings and mLE progressed the motor-manifestations of Parkinson‘s, yet, uncorrelated by the electrodes employed for the period of process. Keywords: Deep brain stimulation (DBS), Micro electrode recording (MER), Micro lesion effect (MLE), Parkinson? s disease (PD), Sub thalamic nuclei (STN).
Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media

The main aim of this study was to develop and investigate a typology of humor in audiovisual media. We identified 41 humor techniques, drawing on Berger's (1976, 1993) typology of humor in narratives, audience research on humor preferences, and an inductive analysis of humorous commercials. We analyzed the content of 319 humorous television commercials to investigate (a) whether and how humor techniques cluster into higher order humor categories and (b) which humor techniques and categories characterize commercials aimed at different audience groups. From principle components analysis, 7 categories of humor emerged: slapstick, clownish humor, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire, and parody. Our findings showed some marked differences in the humor techniques and categories in commercials aimed at different age and gender groups.
Design of Reliable Two-Way Relay Networks

In a two-way relay network, two terminals exchange information over a shared wireless halfduplex channel with the help of a relay. Due to its fundamental and practical importance, there has been an increasing interest in this channel. However, there has been little work that characterizes the fundamental tradeoff between the communication reliability and transmission rate across all signal-to-noise ratios. In this thesis, we consider amplify-and-forward (AF) two-way relaying due to its simplicity. We first derive the random coding error exponent (RCEE), capacity and cutoff rate for one-way Nakagami-m fading channels with AF relaying. Since the two-way relay channels (TWRC) can be considered as two parallel relay channels under perfect selfinterference cancellation, we extend the results of one-way relay channels to TWRC by considering the RCEE for the link in each direction. From the exponent expression, the capacity and cutoff rate for each link are also deduced. We then put forth the notion of the bottleneck error exponent, which is the worst exponent decay between the two links, to give us insight into the fundamental tradeoff between the rate pair and informationexchange reliability in the two-way relay network. As applications of the error exponent analysis to design a reliable AF two-way relay network, we present two optimal network resource allocations to maximize the bottleneck error exponent, namely: i) the optimal rate allocation under a sum-rate constraint and its closed-form quasi-optimal solution that requires only knowledge of the capacity and cutoff rate of each link; and ii) the optimal power allocation under a total power constraint, which is formulated as a quasi-convex optimization problem.
ACT-R 3 D : A 3 D Simulation Environment for Python ACT-R

In this paper I describe an implementation of a timesynchronous middleware for Python ACT-R and the opensource robotics simulator, MORSE (Echeverria et al., 2012; Echeverria, Lassabe, Degroote, & Lemaignan, 2011), an updated vision system, and an updated motor system, which I collectively call ACT-R 3D. A new vision system and a crude body-model robot was added to the MORSE system to facilitate modelling of affordance-based research on aperture passage (walking through apertures and rotating shoulders as needed). Initial experimental results of shoulder rotation are presented as a proof of concept
Assessing Cotton Genotypes for Resistance to Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Abstract Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) is a polyphagous species frequently associated with the presence of sooty mold and viruses lethal to plants. The purpose of this work was to characterize possible resistance categories of cotton genotypes against A. gossypii. Initially, a preliminary test was carried out with 78 genotypes, 15 of which were selected for infestation ability assays and the determination of the cumulative aphid-day rates. Posteriorly, these genotypes were also evaluated through antixenosis and antibiosis assays. The genotypes FM 910, FM 966 LL, Mocó, Gossypium hirsutum var. punctatum L. (Malvaceae), Variedade Reba = BTK-12, Deltapine, Hi-Bred, Acala 4–42, IAC PV010-1664, IAC 21, Reba B-50 PR and FMT 709 inhibited the aphid colonization. In the infestation ability assay, G. hirsutum punctatum, IAC PV010-1664 and Acala 4–42 were the least infested. In a multiple-choice assay, Deltapine Smooth Leaf and Variedade Reba = BTK-12 were significantly less infested, suggesting antixenosis. In the antibiosis assay, Gossypium arboreum L. (Malvaceae) 1 showed the lowest number of nymphs, number of nymphs per adult per day and, number of nymphs at 10 d after the birth of the first nymph in addition to reducing the reproductive period, nymphal survival, adult longevity and, developmental time. In the FM 910, the number of nymphs produced per day and, at 10 d after the birth of the first nymph decreased, which also indicated resistance. The results obtained here are unprecedented and can be explored in breeding programs to develop insect-resistant cotton cultivars.
Organochlorine Pesticides Removal by Pinus Bark Sorption

Pesticides belong to a chemical family that calls our attention because of its hazardous effects in the environment. The organochlorine pesticides were strongly used in the past, but their persistency and bioaccumulation make them an actual problem. Common wastewater treatment methods, like activated carbon sorption, mean expensive investment and operating costs. Pine bark is a wood industry byproduct and has a high affinity with hydrophobic compounds because of its organic composition. The aim of this work is to test the capability of this material to remove organochlorine pesticides from water solutions. This capability was quantified by studying the best operating conditions for pine bark fixed bed mini-columns, the yield of removal from spiked water solutions, and the saturation parameters. The yield of removal from spiked organochlorine water solutions ranging from 1 to 10 μg/L, was 97% on average, for heptachlor, aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, DDD, DDT, and DDE. Lindane could not be efficiently adsorbed .
Semiparametric Estimation of Index Coefficients

This paper gives a solution to the problem of estimating coefficients of index models, through the estimation of the density-weighted average derivative of a general regression function. A normalized version of the density-weighted average derivative can be estimated by certain linear instrumental variables coefficients. The estimators, based on sample analogies of the product moment representation of the average derivative, are constructed using nonparametric kernel estimators of the density of the regressors. Consistent estimators of the asymptotic variance-covariance matrices of the estimators are given, and a limited Monte Carlo simulation is used to study the practical performance of the procedures. Copyright 1989 by The Econometric Society.
The Effects of Normal Aging, Subjective Cognitive Decline, Mild Cognitive Impairment, or Alzheimer's Disease on Visual Search.

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been confirmed as an influencing factor of visual impairment, but potential concomitant effects on visual and cognitive performance are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To provide a new method for early screening of Alzheimer's disease and further explore the theoretical mechanism of the decline of whole visual and cognitive performance in AD. METHODS We studied 60 individuals without dementia as normal control (NC), 74 individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 60 individuals with amnesia mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and 75 patients with AD on a battery of tests designed to measure multiple aspects of basic and higher-order visual perception and cognition. All subjects performed on same visual and cognitive test batteries. RESULTS The results showed both of four groups, with the stimulus-presentation time being longer, the visual-search performance improved, and both the eye interest-area first fixation duration and the interest-area-fixation count increased. Particularly under the noise-masking condition, the AD group performed the worst at stimulus-presentation times between 300 and 900 ms. The aMCI group, but not the SCD group, performed worse than the NC group at the stimulus-presentation time of either 300 or 500 ms. The interest-area-fixation count was higher in all the patient groups than that in the NC group, and distinguishable between participants with AD and those with SCD or aMCI. CONCLUSION The visual-search performance combined with eye-movement tracking under the noise-masking condition can be used for distinguishing AD from normal aging, SCD, and aMCI.
FERMILAB-PUB-14-312-A Improving the Sensitivity of Gamma-Ray Telescopes to Dark Matter Annihilation in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

The Fermi-LAT collaboration has studied the gamma-ray emission from a stacked population of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and used this information to set constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross section. Interestingly, their analysis uncovered an excess with a test statistic (TS) of 8.7. If interpreted naively, this constitutes a 2. 95σ local excess (p-value=0.003), relative to the expectations of their background model. In order to further test this interpretation, the Fermi-LAT team studied a large number of blank sky locations and found TS>8.7 excesses to be more common than predicted by their background model, decreasing the significance of their dwarf excess to 2. 2σ (p-value=0.027). We argue that these TS>8.7 blank sky locations are largely the result of unresolved blazars, radio galaxies, and starforming galaxies, and show that multi-wavelength information can be used to reduce the degree to which such sources contaminate the otherwise blank sky. In particular, we show that masking regions of the sky that lie within 1◦ of sources contained in the BZCAT or CRATES catalogs reduces the fraction of blank sky locations with TS>8.7 by more than a factor of two. Taking such multi-wavelength information into account can enable experiments such as Fermi to better characterize their backgrounds and increase their sensitivity to dark matter in dwarf galaxies, the most important of which remain largely uncontaminated by unresolved point sources. We also note that for the range of dark matter masses and annihilation cross sections currently being tested by studies of dwarf spheroidal galaxies, simulations predict that Fermi should be able to detect a significant number of dark matter subhalos. These subhalos constitute a population of sub-threshold gamma-ray point sources and represent an irreducible background for searches for dark matter annihilation in dwarf galaxies.
Robust Actuarial Risk Analysis

This article investigates techniques for the assessment of model error in the context of insurance risk analysis. The methodology is based on finding robust estimates for actuarial quantities of interest, which are obtained by solving optimization problems over the unknown probabilistic models, with constraints capturing potential nonparametric misspecification of the true model. We demonstrate the solution techniques and the interpretations of these optimization problems, and illustrate several examples, including calculating loss probabilities and conditional value-at-risk.
Tilburg University Competition in Retail Electricity Markets

This paper examines a decade of retail competition in the Dutch electricity market and discusses market structure, regulation, and market performance. We find a proliferation of product variety, in particular by the introduction of quality-differentiated green-energy products. Product innovation could be a sign of a well-functioning market that caters to customer’s preferences, but it can also indicate a strategic product differentiation to soften price competition. Although slightly downward trending, gross retail margins remain relatively high, especially for green products. Price dispersion across retailers for identical products remains high, as also across products for a single retailer. We do not find evidence of asymmetric pass-through of wholesale costs. Overall, the retail market matured as evidenced by fewer consumer complaints and higher switching rates. A fairly intensive regulation of mature energy retail markets appears to be needed to create benefits for consumers.
Can We Classify an IoT Device using TCP Port Scan?

The explosion in the number of Internet-of-Things connecting to smart environments has increased the demand for obtaining visibility into these devices among network operators, black-box penetration testers, as well as cyber-attackers. More specifically, enterprise network operators need efficient tools to classify devices in operation for a better maintenance of their network assets, enforce device-specific policies, or quarantine vulnerable devices, thereby reducing the likelihood that they will be compromised. Recent works have advocated passive network monitoring techniques to classify these devices based on their characteristics. However, these techniques require special network infrastructures and powerful data analytics engines to monitor and classify connected devices based on their network behavioral profile. Also, active discovery methods are often limited to the number of devices due to various factors. This paper aims to discover whether an IoT can be classified using an active TCP port scan. First, we propose a technique to determine the type of an IoT device by probing its open TCP ports based on prior knowledge from a range of IoT devices. Then, we evaluate our method by applying to 19 distinct off-the-shelf consumer IoT devices from different vendors. Our preliminary results show that IoT devices can be identified and classified by a very lightweight network TCP scan.
Cross Sectional Study on Dietary and Life Style Pattern among Hypertensives in Rural field Practice area of a Medical College – Hyderabad

Background: Poor diet (high consumption of sugar, salt, saturated fat, etc) and unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity) have been identified as major risk factors of cardiovascular disease and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Hypertension is now one of the most common non-communicable diseases globally. It is one of the most leading causes of death due to cardiovascular diseases and stroke. More alarming, conservative estimates indicate that the global burden of hypertension will increase to more than 1.56 billion by 2025. Its prevalence is increasing in countries undergoing economic transition. Objective: To assess the prevalence of dietary and life style pattern among hypertensives in rural field practice area of Osmania Medical College. Methods: Data was collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire from a total of 250 people. Results: out of 250 study subjects 136 are males and 114 are females. Prevalence of Hypertension was found to be 72% . Statistical significance was observed between Hypertension and dietary pattern and life style. Conclusion: There is still need for increase in IEC and BCC activities in terms of awareness regarding risk factors of hypertension, complications and adherence to treatment.
Road Traffic Congestion and Crash Severity: Econometric Analysis Using Ordered Response Models

There is an ongoing debate among transport planners and safety policy makers as to whether there is any association between the level of traffic congestion and road safety. One can expect that the increased level of traffic congestion aids road safety and this is because average traffic speed is relatively low in a congested condition relative to an uncongested condition, which may result in less severe crashes. The relationship between congestion and safety may not be so straightforward, however, as there are a number of other factors such as traffic flow, driver characteristics, road geometry, and vehicle design affecting crash severity. Previous studies have employed count data models (either Poisson or negative binomials and their extensions) while developing a relationship between the frequency of traffic crashes and traffic flow or density (as a proxy for traffic congestion). The use of aggregated crash counts at a road segment level or at an area level with the proxy for congestion may obscure the actual relationship. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between the severity of road crashes and the level of traffic congestion using disaggregated crash records and a measure of traffic congestion while controlling for other contributory factors. Ordered response models such as ordered logit models, heterogeneous choice models, and generalized ordered logit (partially constrained) models suitable for both ordinal dependent variables and disaggregate crash data are used. Data on crashes, traffic characteristics (e.g., congestion, flow, and speed), and road geometry (e.g., curvature and gradient) were collected from the M25 London orbital motorway between 2003 and 2006. Our results suggest that the level of traffic congestion does not affect the severity of road crashes on the M25 motorway. The impact of traffic flow on the severity of crashes, however, shows an interesting result. All other factors included in the models also provide results consistent with existing studies.
The protein interaction network of the inherited central nervous system diseases reveals new gene candidates for molecularly unclassified myelin disorders

Mutations in numerous genes cause the inherited disorders of the white matter in the central nervous system. Interestingly, all these mutations ultimately affect myelin, even though the corresponding proteins are involved in dissimilar functions. To address this system-level issue, we assembled the myelin disease network (MDN), in which each node represents a protein (either the mutated protein or one of its interactors), while each edge linking two nodes represents the physical interaction between the two proteins. Compared with control random networks, the MDN contains more pairs of disease proteins, whose members are linked either directly or via one intermediate protein. Then, we surmised that the interactions might not only cluster proteins into functionally homogenous and distinct modules but also link the modules together. This way, even gene mutations arising in functionally distinct modules might propagate their effects to the other modules, thus accounting for a similar pathological outcome. We found, however, that concerning the function the modules are neither homogeneous nor distinct, mostly because many proteins participate in more than one biological process. Rather, our analysis defines a region of the interactome, where different processes intersect. Finally, we propose that many non-disease proteins in the network might be candidates for molecularly unclassified myelin disorders.