Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short Volatility Strategies: Identification, Measurement, and Risk Management

Many investors demand position transparency from hedge fund managers in the belief that more information is better than less. However, certain hedge fund strategies create synthetic investment positions that resemble a short put option, and these positions are not revealed by position transparency. Specifically, event-driven hedge funds and merger arbitrage hedge funds have significant exposure to volatility events. We identify and measure this short volatility exposure, providing the transparency that is lacking from position disclosure. In addition we examine ways to manage this short volatility risk.
Empirical Study on Online Shopping Perceived Risk

Perceived risk is becoming more and more important in explaining consumer purchasing behavior.This paper explores the relationship between perceived risk and its antecedents and outcomes,proposes and validates the structural equation model of website influencing factors—perceived risk—online shopping intention.Empirical study shows that convenience of website negatively affects service risk,authenticity of website negatively affects performance risk and security of website negatively affects privacy risk.Service risk,performance risk and privacy risk negatively affect online shopping intention.
Sur la realisation des modules instables

In this article, we give some conditions on the structure of an unstable module, which are satisfied whenever this module is the reduced cohomology of a space or a spectrum. First, we study the structure of the sub-modules ofs ˜ H ∗ (B(Z/2) ⊕d ; Z/2), i.e., the unstable modules whose nilpotent filtration has length 1. Next, we generalise this result to unstable modules whose nilpotent filtration has a finite length, and which verify an additional condition. The result says that under certain hypotheses, the reduced cohomology of a space or a spectrum does not have arbitrary large gaps in its structure. This result is obtained by applying Adams' theorem on the Hopf invariant and the classification of the injective unstable modules.
Protectionism on the rise? Modernization of EU public procurement rules during the economic crisis

Maarten Meulenbelt, Partner in charge of public procurement in a leading Brussels law firm Sidley LLP, explains in Chapter 6 how the development of open and well-functioning competition between companies during the public purchasing processes aims at reducing prices and guaranteeing better services for Europe’s citizens. While discriminatory technical standards have been pushed back and the protection of bidders improved over the years, the Barroso II Commission engaged in what may be described as the fourth major modernization of EU’s public procurement rules. The scope of the rules have been expanded by encouraging procurement to achieve wider policy goals, including innovation, employment, environmental protection, and sustainable production (with some extraterritorial effects). During the times of an economic down-turn, however, such expansions seem to merit particular vigilance. The risk of national policies with wider policy goals being used for protectionist purposes appears evident. The national governments are under pressure to spend taxpayers’ money in a way that benefits local companies and local labour. The questions do not limit themselves to intra-EU situations, but expand also to EU’s international trade relations as the EU attempts to improve the market access of EU companies to third countries in the context of the WTO’s Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).
Service costs for severe personality disorder at a special hospital.

BACKGROUND Much attention has been given to the reform of services for people with personality disorder in the UK, yet little is known of the cost of existing services, particularly in secure forensic settings. Existing cost estimates almost always rely on aggregate estimates of the cost of care rather than individual-level costing, but the latter is necessary for the economic evaluation of new services. METHOD This paper uses a new instrument for recording service use in secure forensic settings to report the service use and care package costs of 16 patients being considered for the dangerous and severe personality disorder programme in the Personality Disorder Directorate at Rampton, a high secure hospital in Nottinghamshire, UK. RESULTS The mean cost over a six-month period was 65,545 UK pounds (approximately 131,000 pounds per annum) but there was considerable variation within this figure, with a range of 59,119 to 82,709 UK pounds. CONCLUSIONS Aggregate costs for individuals in secure hospital settings hide substantial variation between individuals. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of estimating the cost of individual care packages in a secure forensic setting.
OWLS in flight: online writing labs for distance learning

The online writing lab (or OWL) has emerged in the past decade as a major use of technology for the student; however, rarely does it serve the distance learner. The paper considers: (1) the needs of distance learners for academic support systems, (2) the failure of these services to be extended to technology-dependent students, and (3) the advantage of technology-mediated writing tutorials over face-to face tutorials. This topic demonstrates one instance in which technology-mediated instruction is advantageous, not compensatory, for distance students. It feeds a major concern (writing competence) in many schools as seen in remedial programs and Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives.
A Novel Sub-20V Power MOSFET with Improved On-Resistance and Threshold Variation

In this paper, a novel planar power MOSFET using ion implantation to form the body and JFET regions is presented. The novel device is compared with conventional planar VDMOS devices. The specific on-resistance is reduced by 32% due to the reduction in JFET resistance. The standard deviation of the threshold voltage is reduced from 36 to 10 mV, because the channel region of the novel device is uniformly doped by using ion implantation. The gate-drain charge density is similar, and there is a 28% reduction in the figure-of-merit. The breakdown and threshold voltages of the novel device are 14 and 0.57 V, respectively.
ADDITIVES IN OUR FOOD SUPPLY

For a civilization to flourish, it must, in some way, establish and maintain control over the environment in which it exists. One of the major factors in the environment is food. Food has always been a determinant of civilization. The first need mankind had to satisfy, even before shelter, protection and defenses, was his need for food. Eight thousand years ago, Neolithic man was able to develop the arts of masonry, pottery, and weaving only after he had become a food cultivator rather than a hunter and food gatherer. But mankind had to move a step further before his culture could truly begin the long march to civilization. For farming alone did not remove all of the uncertainties of a food supply. Insecurity of weather, agricultural pests and diseases and,most of all, the lack of a stable distribution system and an inability to store food against the future still kept man locked to the soil, existing from year to year with no sense of future security. More importantly, this sustenance level of food production could not permit any significant number of people to do anything but produce food. The first step to modify this situation was in the area of crop improvement. Plant varieties such as wheat and barley, foods that were readily stored and transported, were developed not by pure chance alone but, conceivably, as a means of protecting against future famines and freeing man’s mind from the drudgery of the soil. The introduction of processing techniques such as drying and baking were also important contributions to the process of increasing storage life, permitting development of reserves and allowing transportation of food over significant distances. The discovery that the addition of several chemical materials such as salt or vinegar would also permit longer storage and better distribution was one of the most significant contributions to this process. The result of these developments in storage and distribution was the rise of the great civilization of the past, for when all men did not have to raise food for individual needs, when only a part of the population was required to maintain a consistent food supply, the remainder were free to use their minds for other purposes, to congregate, interact, and found cities. Thus, early in his existence on this planet, man had learned a fundamental rule of reciprocity still in existence today: as man is able to control the production, storage, and distribution of foods, so is he able to enhance the arts and sciences. And as he advances the arts and sciences, so is he able to control better his food supply by improving the production, storage, and distribution of foods. The capacity to produce “surplus” food and to store and transport it, and the need to supply increasing “urban” populations led to the development of and increasing dependence on a third party in the food chain, intermediate
Do Raw Milk Sales Help or Harm Local Dairy Economies: The Case of Vermont H.125

In June of 2009, the Vermont legislature passed H.125, a bill which expanded the sale of unpasteurized milk in Vermont. The purpose of the legislation was to allow farmers to sell larger quantities of unpasteurized milk while simultaneously creating new sanitary production, marketing and consumer education standards. The legislation stated that Vermont’s current unpasteurized milk laws limit economic development, and that farmers can sell unpasteurized milk for $5.00 to $10.00 per gallon, representing an economic opportunity for farmers in these times of severe economic challenges for so many dairy farmers.
Family Firm's Governance Mechanism and Cash Holdings

In the paper, we examine the relationships between corporate governance mechanism and cash holdings to determine whether family firms with lower agency costs have smaller cash holdings, compared with non-family firms. We find that family firms are more inclined to haver smaller cash holdings, whereas non-family firms lead to entrenched managers having more cash holdings. Foreign investors are found to have no impact on the firm's cash holdings.
Ethical Problems of Advertising Agency Executives

Abstract A mail survey reports on ethical problems faced by 330 advertising agency executives. The most frequently cited difficult ethical problem is “treating clients fairly. ” Creating honest advertisements and representing clients whose products or services are unhealthy OT not needed were also frequently mentioned. Many agency executives reported that such ethical problems affect both their performance and their relationships with co-workers.
Mycobacterium ulcerans in wild animals.

Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, or Buruli ulcer, is the third most frequent mycobacterial disease in humans, often causing serious deformities and disability. The disease is most closely associated with tropical wetlands, especially in west and central Africa. Most investigators believe that the aetiological agent proliferates in mud beneath stagnant waters. Modes of transmission may involve direct contact with the contaminated environment, aerosols from water surfaces, and water-dwelling fauna (e.g. insects). Person-to-person transmission is rare. Trauma at the site of skin contamination by M. ulcerans appears to play an important role in initiating disease. Once introduced into the skin or subcutaneous tissue, M. ulcerans multiplies and produces a toxin that causes necrosis. However, the type of disease induced varies from a localised nodule or ulcer, to widespread ulcerative or non-ulcerative disease and osteomyelitis. Although culture of M. ulcerans from a patient was first reported in 1948, attempts to culture the mycobacterium from many specimens of flora and fauna have been unsuccessful. Failure to cultivate this organism from nature may be attributable to inadequate sampling, conditions of transport, decontamination and culture of this fastidious heat-sensitive organism, and to a long generation time relative to that of other environmental mycobacteria. Nevertheless, recent molecular studies using specific primers have revealed M. ulcerans in water, mud, fish and insects. Although no natural reservoir has been found, the possibility that M. ulcerans may colonise microfauna such as free-living amoebae has not been investigated. The host range of experimental infection by M. ulcerans includes lizards, amphibians, chick embryos, possums, armadillos, rats, mice and cattle. Natural infections have been observed only in Australia, in koalas, ringtail possums and a captive alpaca. The lesions were clinically identical to those observed in humans. Mycobacterium ulcerans infection is a rapidly re-emerging disease in some developing tropical countries. The re-emergence may be related to environmental and socioeconomic factors, for example, deforestation leading to increased flooding, and population expansion without improved agricultural techniques, thus putting more people at risk. Eradication of diseases related to these factors is difficult. Whether wild animals have a role in transmission is an important question that, to date, has been virtually unexplored. To address this question, surveys of wild animals are urgently required in those areas in which Buruli ulcer is endemic.
Functional vs. Traditional Analysis in Biomechanical Gait Data: An Alternative Statistical Approach

Abstract In human motion studies, discrete points such as peak or average kinematic values are commonly selected to test hypotheses. The purpose of this study was to describe a functional data analysis and describe the advantages of using functional data analyses when compared with a traditional analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach. Nineteen healthy participants (age: 22 ± 2 yrs, body height: 1.7 ± 0.1 m, body mass: 73 ± 16 kg) walked under two different conditions: control and pain+effusion. Pain+effusion was induced by injection of sterile saline into the joint capsule and hypertonic saline into the infrapatellar fat pad. Sagittal-plane ankle, knee, and hip joint kinematics were recorded and compared following injections using 2×2 mixed model ANOVAs and FANOVAs. The results of ANOVAs detected a condition × time interaction for the peak ankle (F1,18 = 8.56, p = 0.01) and hip joint angle (F1,18 = 5.77, p = 0.03), but did not for the knee joint angle (F1,18 = 0.36, p = 0.56). The functional data analysis, however, found several differences at initial contact (ankle and knee joint), in the mid-stance (each joint) and at toe off (ankle). Although a traditional ANOVA is often appropriate for discrete or summary data, in biomechanical applications, the functional data analysis could be a beneficial alternative. When using the functional data analysis approach, a researcher can (1) evaluate the entire data as a function, and (2) detect the location and magnitude of differences within the evaluated function.
Gen Y’s, Italians’ and Americans’ perception of cashmere: Sustainable, somehow luxurious and comes from … goats

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand and compare Generation Y’s knowledge and perceptions of cashmere as a luxurious fibre. Design/methodology/approach – Dual qualitative-quantitative approach, comprising interviews with cashmere farmers and suppliers plus a structured questionnaire completed by 334 young Italians and Americans. Data were analysed statistically for comparison and interpretation. Findings – Interviews confirmed the literature and provided insights why cashmere is “branded” as luxurious; e.g. comes from combing the undercoat of cashmere goats thus it is rare, expensive, very warm, light, and soft. Quantitative analysis showed: the majority (+85 per cent) of the young Italians and Americans perceive cashmere fibre as luxurious and expensive, although statistically Americans participants perceive it as more luxurious and more expensive. For example, 75 per cent Italian, 85 per cent Americans think it is expensive, (µ=2.914/4 and µ=3.156/4, respectively). Americans do not perce.
The Determinants of the Asymmetric Power Effects in the context of Public-Private Partnership negotiation (PPP): theoretical Analysis and basic assumptions

The principal aim of this paper is to present the problematic of the asymmetric power effect on public-private partnership. To do this we have mixed the works on PPP and those focusing on asymmetric power on commercial negotiation. This methodology allows us to determine the theoretical variables (in the form of hypothesis) which can be linked to the asymmetric power effect, on PPP negotiation.
Efficient 5G Small Cell Planning With eMBMS for Optimal Demand Response in Smart Grids

Smart Grids (SGs) are emerging cyber-physical systems, equipped with sophisticated communication and information technologies, for efficient and large-scale power supply and management. SGs demand advanced communication technologies between energy providers and consumers, for enabling a control-feedback loop, by using time-dependent pricing. In this paper, we propose an efficient planning of 5G small cells, with evolved multimedia broadcast and multicast communication, between aggregators (small cells) and SG consumers, for efficient demand-response (DR) programs. After pointing out that optimal multicast scheduling and radio resource management problem is NP-complete, we propose two different solutions, based on dynamic programming (DP) and greedy heuristics, for minimizing the energy cost for DR customers. We also analyze the performance of SG user capacity for 5G single cell multicast and multicast broadcast single frequency network. Extensive OPNET simulation results, over actual energy data and real wireless trace, demonstrate that our proposed 5G small cell planning and multicast solutions are capable of reducing energy production cost by <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$30\%$</tex-math></inline-formula>, with up to <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$35\%$</tex-math></inline-formula> shift in peak energy load, low latency and packet drop.
Explaining why employee‐customer orientation influences customers' perceptions of the service encounter

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine why employee‐level customer orientation (CO) influences the customer experience in a service setting.Design/methodology/approach – Given the dyadic nature of the study, a two‐way sample design was used which integrated employee responses with customer responses. A total of 186 employees and 1,117 customers participated in the study. The data was aggregated at the employee level of analysis.Findings – The study found that job satisfaction and employee commitment mediated the relationship between employee‐level CO and a customer's perception of interaction quality. Additionally, interaction quality is shown to be positively related to customer satisfaction.Research limitations/implications – Although the design of the research utilized data from both customers and employees from several restaurant outlets in the USA, all the restaurants belonged to one chain (reflecting a single corporate culture), and thus it may be difficult to generalize the results.Origi.
Option Pricing using Machine Learning techniques

Financial markets oﬀer high amount of incentive for correctly forecasting diﬀerent asset classes. Using the forecasted values, one can price the value of assets and strategic decisions can be made to make short-term or long-term capital gains. Due to the inherently noisy and non-linear nature of market indices, drawing a forecast of the markets’ behaviour becomes a challenging task. Various statistical predictors have been proposed and used with varying results. This study adapts non-parametric machine learning techniques like Support Vector Regression, Hierarchical Kernel Learning and Multi-Task Learning to Option Pricing scenario and compares its pricing performance over parametric Black-Scholes model for S&P CNX Nifty index call options. The empirical analysis has shown promising results for diﬀerent machine learning approaches.
Design of NCL gates with the ASCEnD flow

Silicon technologies advances brought the possibility of integrating billions of transistors in a die. However, as transistors get smaller, some of the aspects that were negligible in previous technologies emerge as difficulties for the design in current and future technology nodes. In this context, fully synchronous circuits are harder to be built, as timing closure constraints become difficult to be met, and the asynchronous paradigm gains interest in the research community for its ability to cope with current technologies issues. AS-CEnD was proposed as a standard cell library for supporting standard-cell based design of asynchronous circuits and comprises a design flow for asynchronous components. This work presents the use of the ASCEnD flow to design NCL gates, which enable design improvement opportunities for some asynchronous templates. A total of 14 different NCL gates were designed at the layout level and had their electrical behavior characterized. As a result, electrical and physical models of these gates are now part of the ASCEnD library.
The value‐relevance of corporate reputation during the financial crisis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the value‐relevance of corporate reputation during times of crisis. The paper seeks to extend the view beyond the traditional focus on the cognitive component of reputation, shed light on its affective component, and integrate the perceptions of different stakeholder groups.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses two large‐scale surveys, one from before and one from after the financial crisis year of 2008, to ascertain the reputation evaluations of the largest publicly listed corporations in Germany. The paper employs a model augmented with standard accounting variables (i.e. sales, return on assets, etc.) to analyse the link between corporate reputation as noted by different stakeholder groups and future firm value.Findings – Even though corporations are not able to elude the overall negative impact of an economic crisis, the magnitude of influence depends on the individual firm dynamics as related to the firm's reputation. In particular, firm value .
Using Online Surveys in Vietnam

Although online surveys have become an important quantitative research method throughout the world, thanks to their relative low cost and high speed, their application in marketing research in emerging countries is still limited due to infrastructure and sociocultural barriers. This exploratory study assesses the potential for the deployment and use in the South-East Asian emerging country of Vietnam. Results suggest that the potential use of online surveys for marketing research in Vietnam is at the moment limited to companies, and to young and high-income social classes. All things being equal, the conditions necessary for online surveys to be successfully used in a country such as Vietnam are still five to seven years in the future. The paper discusses the difficulties in applying this survey method, and gives recommendations on how to adapt the online surveys method for use in present-day Vietnam.