Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Improved Stacking Framework for Predicting Stock Price Index Direction

Stock price index is an essential component of financial systems and indicates the economic performance in the national level. Even small improvements in its predictive performance can be very profitable and meaningful. This paper proposes an improved Stacking framework which contains multiple layers for predicting whether the stock price index will increase or decrease with respect to the price prevailing some time earlier, if necessary, a month. Support Vector Machines (SVM), Neural Networks (NN), ElasticNet-logistic regression (ENLR), Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) are stacked as base classifiers in the first layer. Instead of cross-validation, we deploy a more appropriate approach called timeslice grid search method, to select the optimal hyper-parameters and generate the Stacking features simultaneously. For the purpose of comparison and transparency, three meta classifiers which fuse the information of base classifiers and original data are implemented in the second layer, based on the algorithms ENLR,RF and XGBoost. In the last layer, majority vote method is used to ensemble these three meta classifiers. The results indicate that our model (namely Meta.MV) provide betterand more stable prediction performance compared to the single classifiers or even the state-of-the-art classifiers such as RF and XGBoost in terms of accuracy, kappa statistic and AUC value, and prediction performance improves as the layer rises due to the increased information content of model fusion. Our findings provide an integrated Stacking framework in the financial area.
Hur kan legitimitet förmedlas via ett företags VD-brev?

The purpose of this study is to gain an increased understanding of the popular and voluntary section “Letter of the CEO” in the annual reports. To answer the issue of the study, how can legitimacy mediate through a company’s CEO letter, 18 “Letters of the CEO” from one business case has been studied. By using the legitimacy theory, the empirical evidence has been analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. The business case is a well-known company that follows the Swedish guidelines within accounting. The conclusion of the study indicates that CEO-letters from the business case can mediate that they create, maintain and possibly to repair legitimacy. The study contributes with an increased knowledge of the section “Letters of the CEO” by the concepts from the legitimacy theory.
What Are the Early Sport and Play Experiences of Elite New Zealand Hockey Players From Rural and Regional Communities

ii List of figures vii List of tables viii Attestation of authorship ix Acknowledgements x Ethical Approval xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Background to the research 1 1.2 Context of the research 2 1.2. 1 What defines a rural or regional athlete? 3 1.2. 2 Why Hockey? 3 1.3 Methodology and methods 4 1.4 Aims of the research 4 1.5 Structure of the thesis 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review 6 2.
Quantifying changes in global health inequality: the Gini and Slope Inequality Indices applied to the Global Burden of Disease data, 1990–2017

Background The major shifts in the global burden of disease over the past decades are well documented, but how these shifts have affected global inequalities in health remains an underexplored topic. We applied comprehensive inequality measures to data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Methods Between-country relative inequality was measured by the population-weighted Gini Index, between-country absolute inequality was calculated using the population-weighted Slope Inequality Index (SII). Both were applied to country-level GBD data on age-standardised disability-adjusted life years. Findings Absolute global health inequality measured by the SII fell notably between 1990 (0.68) and 2017 (0.42), mainly driven by a decrease of disease burden due to communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases (CMNN). By contrast, relative inequality remained essentially unchanged from 0.21 to 0.19 (1990–2017), with a peak of 0.23 (2000–2008). The main driver for the increase of relative inequality 1990–2008 was the HIV epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Relative inequality increased 1990–2017 within each of the three main cause groups: CMNNs; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); and injuries. Conclusions Despite considerable reductions in disease burden in 1990–2017 and absolute health inequality between countries, absolute and relative international health inequality remain high. The limited reduction of relative inequality has been largely due to shifts in disease burden from CMNNs and injuries to NCDs. If progress in the reduction of health inequalities is to be sustained beyond the global epidemiological transition, the fight against CMNNs and injuries must be joined by increased efforts for NCDs.
Inclusion scolaire et mise en place d’un accompagnement médico-psychologique précoce pour les enfants présentant un Trouble du Spectre de l’Autisme

L’inclusion scolaire des enfants en situation de handicap devient une priorite des politiques educatives. Les enfants ayant un Trouble du Spectre de l’Autisme (TSA) sont donc concernes par ces transformations. Cette these qui s’inscrit dans le champ de la psychopathologie developpementale poursuit un double objectif. D’une part, il s’agit d’analyser les trajectoires developpementales d’enfants ayant un TSA scolarises dans le cadre d’un dispositif innovant d’inclusion (etude 1). D’autre part, il s’agit d’evaluer les effets de deux interventions de mediation par les pairs, appliquees dans le cadre de la theorie socio-constructiviste du developpement, et mises en œuvre en situation de jeu symbolique (etude 2) ou de travail sur une tablette numerique (etude 3). Au total, 18 enfants ayant un TSA et 26 au developpement typique ont pris part a cette these. Apres deux ans de suivi longitudinal, les resultats de l’etude 1 montrent que les enfants ayant un TSA progressent sur le plan du developpement cognitif et socio-communicatif, et ce malgre une importante variabilite interindividuelle. L’ampleur des progres realises par les enfants est associee a plusieurs facteurs tels que l’âge chronologique, le niveau de fonctionnement intellectuel non-verbal et le niveau de langage. Les resultats des etudes 2 et 3, quant a eux, montrent que d’entrainer les enfants typiques a interagir avec leurs camarades ayant un TSA peut avoir des effets benefiques sur les competences socio-communicatives de ces derniers. Chez tous les enfants typiques, une augmentation du nombre de conduites de tutelle est egalement observee suite a la mise en œuvre de l’intervention. Cela ouvre des perspectives prometteuses en termes de pratiques educatives susceptibles d’etre mises en œuvre en milieu scolaire pour favoriser l’inclusion des eleves ayant un TSA.
Gatekeeping Fake News Discourses on Mainstream Media Versus Social Media

This study analyzes mainstream media (MSM) coverage of fake news discourse and compares it with social networking sites (SNS) users who reference the term “fakenews” in their tweets. The study employs computational methods by analyzing over 8 million tweets and 1,350 news stories using topic modeling. Building on the theory of (networked) gatekeeping and Herman and Chomsky’s propaganda model, the results show that SNS users follow networked gatekeeping practices by mostly associating fake news references to the alleged bias of MSM. On the other hand, MSM coverage tends to link fake news to SNS’s negative role in spreading misinformation. I argue here that there is a networked flak activity on Twitter which is defined as a collective negative response to MSM in order to discipline it, change its tone and editorial stance, or undermine the public’s trust in it.
Explorando Propriedades do Roteamento na Internet para a Localização de Diferenciação de Tráfego

A neutralidade da rede preconiza uma rede sem discriminação de tráfego, independente de origem, destino e ou conteúdo. Apesar de existirem diversas soluções para a detecção de diferenciação de tráfego (DT), há uma lacuna em termos da localização efetiva do ponto da rede onde a DT ocorre. Neste trabalho, propomos uma solução para a detecção e localização de DT, que tira proveito das propriedades do roteamento na Internet entre Sistemas Autônomos. A estratégia explora diferenças e semelhanças dos caminhos entre os pontos de medição. As premissas acerca do roteamento na Internet foram verificadas através de experimentos executados no PlanetLab. A acurácia e eficiência da proposta foi avaliada por meio de simulação.
Iterative Decision Feedback Equalization Using Online Prediction

In this article, a new category of soft-input soft-output (SISO) minimum-mean square error (MMSE) finite-impulse response (FIR) decision feedback equalizers (DFEs) with iteration-wise static filters (i.e. iteration variant) is investigated. It has been recently shown that SISO MMSE DFE with dynamic filters (i.e. time-varying) reaches very attractive operating points for high-data rate applications, when compared to alternative turbo-equalizers of the same category, thanks to sequential estimation of data symbols. However the dependence of filters on the feedback incurs high amount of latency and computational costs, hence SISO MMSE DFEs with static filters provide an attractive alternative for computational complexity-performance trade-off. However, the latter category of receivers faces a fundamental design issue on the estimation of the decision feedback reliability for filter computation. To address this issue, a novel approach to decision feedback reliability estimation through online prediction is proposed and applied for SISO FIR DFE with either a posteriori probability (APP) or expectation propagation (EP) based soft feedback. This novel method for filter computation is shown to improve detection performance compared to previously known alternative methods, and finite-length and asymptotic analysis show that DFE with static filters still remains well-suited for high-spectral efficiency applications.
Do Migrants Facilitate Internationalization? A Review of the Literature

How migration relates to internationalization has been a prominent question in international economics for a long time and its relevance for policy has increased with the amplified political focus on migration. But the role of migration for internationalization is not as obvious as the standard theory suggests, and tightening migration could have unexpected consequences for both developing and developed countries. In this paper we review and discuss over 100 papers published about migrants’ role in international trade and foreign direct investment, from pioneering country-level studies to nascent firm-level studies that utilize employer-employee data. To our knowledge, this is the first paper offering a wide-ranging review of the different strands of theory on the relationship between migration and internationalization, as well as new empirical findings. Although the evidence suggests that migration can facilitate internationalization, we also note substantial gaps and inconsistencies in the extant literature. The aim of this paper is to encourage future research and assist policymakers in their efforts to promote internationalization, and better understand the economic effects of changes in migration policy.
Consumer Profiling with Data Requirements: Structure and Policy Implications

We consider a model where a monopolist can profile consumers in order to price discriminate among them, and consumers can take costly actions to protect their identities and make the profiling technology less effective. A novel aspect of the model consists in the profiling technology: the signal that the monopolist gets about a consumer’s willingness‐to‐pay can be made more accurate either by having more consumers revealing their identities, or by spending larger amounts of money (e.g., on third‐party complementary data or data analytics capabilities). We show that both consumer surplus and social welfare are convex in the ability of consumers to conceal their identities. The interest of this result stems from the fact that consumers’ concealing cost can be interpreted as a policy tool: a stricter privacy law would make the concealing cost lower, and vice‐versa. Consequently, a policymaker who promotes total welfare should either make data protection very easy or very costly. The right direction of data regulations depends on data requirements. In particular, a higher (lower) data requirement is an instance when more (less) consumers are needed to achieve the same signal precision. We show that a strict data privacy law is preferable under a high data requirement so that firms are less likely to invest in profiling inefficiently, whereas there is less concern with little or no data regulations under a low data requirement. We also discuss when greater data protection may be beneficial to the firm.
Relacje turystyki i sportu w aspekcie organizacji nauki o turystyce

Abstrakt: Szczegółowym celem artykułu jest podjęcie dyskusji nad wzajemnymi relacjami turystyki i sportu, a w szerszym kontekście zwrócenie uwagi na, być może nadmierne, poszerzanie przedmiotu zainteresowań turystyki jako nauki. W tak wyznaczonym zakresie rozważań autor podejmuje dyskusję nad turystyką jako aktywnością społeczną, a także nad przedmiotem zainteresowań konceptualnych i badawczych. Pytania badawcze stanowiące drogowskaz dociekań intelektualnych sprowadzają się do kwestii, czy turystyka ma obszary wspólne z szeroko rozumianym sportem? Jeśli tak jest to czy aktywność w tych obszarach jest nadal aktywnością turystyczną? Czy też należy wyłączyć tego rodzaju aktywność „sportowo-turystyczną” z dyskursu na temat przedmiotu zainteresowania turystyki jako dyscypliny naukowej ze względu na jej inny niż turystyczny charakter? Literatura przedmiotu wskazuje, iż pewna grupa aktywności człowieka leży na pograniczu poczynań turystycznych i sportowych. Autor stawia tezę, iż pomiędzy tymi dwoma polami aktywności społecznej rozciąga się strefa buforowa w postaci działalności odkrywczej/ poznawczej wychodzącej poza turystykę i sport. Aktywność turystyczna i sportowa różnią się między sobą.
The issue of bullwhip-effect evaluating in supply chain management

Background: This article deals with the quantitative evaluation of the bullwhip effect in supply chains. A literature review was carried out and it was revealed that there is no general approach to quantifying the bullwhip effect. In the article, a more precise concept of the bullwhip effect is proposed from the point of view of the naturalscientific approach. Methods: A methodology for quantifying the bullwhip effect as a coefficient of linear regression was developed, characterising the dependence on the location of a link in supply chains, which can be used to adjust its operational work. Results: The stability of the proposed model is confirmed by the results of its implementation in production in several sectors of the economy, distinguished by the number of units and number of study periods, which demonstrates its potential for use in the distribution system. Conclusions: The main reason for the existence of the bullwhip effect is the unreliability of forecasts, which ultimately reduces the efficiency of inventory planning in supply chains and extensive logistics systems. Reducing the negative impact of the bullwhip effect can be achieved by using more advanced forecasting models and the quantitative assessment method used in this study, to adjust reserve stocks in supply chain links.
The Impact of Unemployment on Economic Growth in China

Economic growth which is considered as one of the best indicator of measuring the robustness of every economy is essential in understanding its relationship with unemployment which is an important macroeconomic indicator that reflects the incompetence of any economy to make full use of its human resources. Hence, a macro-economic secondary and time series data was extracted from the World Development Indicator (WDI) for the period of 1991-2018 in China. In conducting the econometric analysis of the study, both the Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test and Phillips Perron Test were employed to test and confirm the stationary level of the variables of study; the Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) cointegration and the ARDL Bounds test were employed to test for the short-run and the long-run cointegration of the variables of study since both variable were stationary at first difference I (1). The finding of the study reveals that there are negative short-run and a long-run relationship between unemployment and economic growth. However, Granger causality Test also reveals that both unemployment and economic growth do not impact each other.
A Longitudinal Analysis on the Feasibility of Iris Recognition Performance for Infants 0-2 Years Old

Author: Hutchison, Torrey, L. MS Institution: Purdue University Degree Received: August 2018 Title: A Longitudinal Analysis on the Feasibility of Iris Recognition Performance for Infants 0-2 Years Old Committee Chair: Stephen Elliott The focus of this study was to longitudinally evaluate iris recognition for infants between the ages of 0 to 2 years old. Image quality metrics of infant and adult irises acquired on the same iris camera were compared. Matching performance was evaluated for four groups, infants 0 to 6 months, 7 to 12 months, 13 to 24 months, and adults. A mixed linear regression model was used to determine if infants’ genuine similarity scores changed over time. This study found that image quality metrics were different between infants and adults but in the older group, (13 to 24 months old) the image quality metric scores were more likely to be similar to adults. Infants 0 to 6 months old had worse performance at an FMR of 0.01% than infants 7 to 12 months, 13 to 24 months, and adults.
On the ‘Disclosure Initiative – Principles of Disclosure’: The EAA Financial Reporting Standards Committee’s View

Abstract This paper summarises the contents of a comment letter produced by a working group of 12 academics in response to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) Discussion Paper on principles of disclosure. The comment letter was submitted by the Financial Reporting Standards Committee (FRSC) of the European Accounting Association (EAA). The work includes reviews of relevant academic literature of areas related to the various questions posed by the IASB in the Discussion Paper, including the ‘disclosure problem’ and the objective of the project, the suggested principles of effective communication, the roles of the primary financial statements and notes, the location of information and the use of performance measures. The paper also discusses the disclosure of accounting policies, the objectives of centralised disclosure, and the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board staff’s approach to disclosure.
Worldwide diffusion of solar photovoltaic panels and the role of state incentive: perspectives based on diffusion models

The main goal of this thesis is to use the diffusion models to improve our understanding of SPP markets, with special focus on (a) identifying the main determinants of the diffusion of solar photovoltaic panels worldwide, particularly the role played so far by public incentives, (b) characterising the scale and temporal profiles of the major domestic shocks in SPP markets which mostly occurred after 2007, (c) discussing the resulting perspectives, and the involved role of public policies, for the future development of the market. Chapter 1 is introductory and preparatory for subsequent ones and pinpoints that (a) the presence of shocks is an intrinsic and often dominating feature of energy markets, thereby motivating the use of tools as the GBM, (b) only a few countries have developed long-term energy plans towards which to manage consistently their short-medium term policies, (c) the concept of energy framework was useful to indicated a number of commonalities among countries. The main findings of Chapter 2 were the following: i) essentially everywhere the effectiveness of media communication proved negligible, ii) the early phase where the growth of the market was completely sustained by internal communication only, iii) major changes in the market adoption curves have occurred in the form of massive positive shocks which took place between 2006 and 2016 possibly following incentive measures in the various states, iv) inspection of the parameter estimates describing the temporal pattern of the shocks showed a lack of temporal persistence of the effects of incentive as well as a sharp trade-off between intensity and persistence of the actions. The results of Chapter 3 show that the SPP residential market in UK suffers not only the structural difficulties of this sector, but also the possible perception of relative penalisation suffered by late cohorts of adopters compared to the past cohorts who benefited higher rates of FIT. In the commercial and utility sectors the imitation rate is higher which might be explained by the fact that firms make more rational decisions based on economic factors rather than being led by perceptions.
What makes vocational training programs in schools work?: a study of New South Wales and Queensland schools

This project investigated the views of various stakeholder groups in relation to school-based vocational education and training (VET) programs (that is, any VET subject or course taken by a senior secondary student while enrolled in Years 11 and 12 at school) in ten New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland schools over a three-year period, from 2000 to 2002. In particular, it examined the objectives and expected outcomes of VET in Schools programs for four stakeholder groups: students; school VET coordinators; trainers; and employers. The research found that, at a broad level, the two main objectives of these school-based VET programs - facilitating the transition between school and work, and providing a highly skilled workforce - were common to governments, schools and other training organisations, students, and employers. There was, however, considerable diversity at the local level in the implementation of the school-based VET programs. The approach to VET was influenced by factors as diverse as government policies, resources available within a school or community, parental perceptions, and the strength of community networks.
How do network characteristics influence network managers’ choice of strategies?

ABSTRACT As indicated in the research on networks over the past 10 years, network management strategies are very important for achieving results in governance networks. But what characteristics influence the deployment of network management strategies? Using quantitative data on network managers in environmental projects at the local level, this paper looks at three important network characteristics (network size, degree of hierarchy, and conflict level) and assesses their influence on three categories of network management strategies: connecting, exploring, and arranging. The results show that, for network managers, more hierarchy leads to a stronger likelihood of choosing connecting; a larger network size leads to more exploring and arranging; and more conflict correlates with less use of connecting and exploring. IMPACT Public sector managers have to deal with the complexities of the networks they encounter when they want to solve issues. The authors’ research indicates that larger networks with more and a greater variety of actors need to be addressed by using more different network management strategies. A dilemma of the paper’s findings is that more conflict in the network was correlated with employing fewer network management strategies. But, of course, the conflict itself and the need to address the policy problem ask for more intensified managerial effort, taking time and attention to really solve the conflict. This paper offers some possible ways out.