bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A smoothing spline model for multimodal and skewed circular responses: Applications in meteorology and oceanography
Authors: Hassanzadeh Fatemeh 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe analysis of circular data is the main subject in many disciplines, such as meteorology and oceanography. In this article, we introduce a new multimodal skew‐circular model as an extension of the circular beta distribution. We propose a truncated power smoothing spline for modeling the skewness parameter and identifying significant factors of the asymmetry. A Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme is provided to perform statistical inference from a Bayesian perspective. Then, the performance of our modeling methodology to analyze specific circular responses is assessed through several simulation studies. To illustrate the usefulness of the new model in practical applications, we analyze measurements on the wind and wave directions in Norway. We also fit various regression models to show that the cubic smoothing spline approach performs better than competitive models in practical applications. Findings, based on prediction values, confirm that the proposed model can reasonably fit multimodal skewed‐circular responses.
Individual differences in extinction learning predict weight loss after treatment: A pilot study
Authors: van den Akker Karolien , Schyns Ghislaine , Jansen Anita 
Published: August 2020

AbstractLearning theorists suggest extinction learning to be a central mechanism in weight loss success; however, empirical studies are scarce. In this pilot study, it was examined whether individual differences in extinction learning predict outcome after weight loss treatment. Overweight and obese individuals first completed a laboratory conditioning task in which individual differences in extinction learning were assessed. Next, they were randomised to one of two weight loss interventions: cue exposure therapy (CET), which is considered the clinical analogue of laboratory extinction, or a control lifestyle intervention. In line with expectations, better extinction learning in the laboratory task was associated with more weight loss at both post‐treatment (CET only) and follow‐up (both interventions) measurements. In contrast, two other indices of treatment success (reduction in overeating expectancies and ad libitum food intake during a laboratory taste test) showed no associations with pre‐treatment extinction learning. It is suggested that extinction learning may be a core mechanism underlying weight loss success, and hence, an important target for new obesity interventions.
Integration of Internet of Things and blockchain toward portability and low‐energy consumption
Authors: Maitra Sudip , Yanambaka Venkata P. , Puthal Deepak , Abdelgawad Ahmed , Yelamarthi Kumar 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe modern era of information and technology leverages connectivity and information sharing for enhancing applications and reducing human intervention. The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) in almost all aspects of modern life raises major challenges of security and privacy in health care services and the pharmaceutical industry. Blockchain has emerged as a secure technology in a trustless network without central governance. The inherent attributes it provides can solve the security and privacy challenges related to IoT and extend its capabilities. However, traditional instances of Blockchain are not suited for the IoT environment for reasons such as computationally expensive consensus process. Proof of authentication is a lightweight consensus algorithm that can be implemented in the IoT environment. This paper presents an IoT‐friendly Blockchain scheme implemented to evaluate the feasibility of medical supply and drug transportation to aid security and mitigate privacy issues which are fault‐tolerant, transparent, and traceable. The proof of concept implementation on portable single board computer demonstrates proof of authentication consensus algorithm executed with block validation and block addition in 30 and 40 ms while consuming 45 and 60mJ, respectively. Additionally, the network performance of the proposed architecture was presented and evaluated in the application context.
Synergistic fire‐retardancy properties of melamine coated ammonium poly(phosphate) in combination with rod‐like mineral filler attapulgite for polymer‐modified bitumen roofing membranes
Authors: Ullah Saif , Mindykowski Pierrick Anthony , Leisted Rolff Ripke , Chernyy Sergey , Tordrup Sie Woldum , Jomaas Grunde , Almdal Kristoffer 
Published: August 2020

SummaryA novel intumescent (carbonization, acid donor and foaming) fire retardant that mimics carbon nanotubes was introduced into bitumen roofing and characterized using cone calorimetry as the main analytical tool. The experimental results indicate that 18% (by mass) attapulgite mineral (ATTP) mixed with base bitumen decreased the peak heat release rate per unit area (pHRRPUA) by 10%. Further, incorporation of melamine coated ammonium polyphosphate (MAPP) decreased the pHRRPUA by 52% and a mixture of these (3:1, ATTP:MAPP) decreased the pHRRPUA by 25% as compared to adding CaCO3 as a filler. The residual mass loss after the cone test was also improved with up to 3%. The indication of a positive synergistic flame retardant effect of the ATTP‐MAPP mixture is supported by thermogravimetric analysis. The addition of this rod‐like mineral improved the general fire retardant properties of the base bitumen and increased the viscosity. Therefore, the polymer‐modified bitumen with both fire retardant and rheological properties (providing mechanical strength) is a promising novel approach in the design of bitumen roofing membranes.
Lead and cadmium biosorption from milk by Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356
Authors: Massoud Ramona , Khosravi‐Darani Kianoush , Sharifan Anoosheh , Asadi GholamHassan , Zoghi Allaleh 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe food and water contamination with heavy metals is increasing due to the environmental pollutions. Lead and cadmium are the toxic heavy metals for humans that can be found in air, soil, water, and even food. Lactic acid bacteria have the ability to remove and diminish the level of heavy metals. In this study, Lactobacillus acidophilus was used to remove lead and cadmium in milk and the capability of this valuable bacterium in biosorption of these metals low concentrations (µg/L or ppb) in milk was evaluated. First, the variables on lead and cadmium removal by this bacterium have been studied by Plackett–Burman design. Then, the bioremoval process was optimized and the three main factors, the bacterium concentration, contact time, and the initial heavy metal concentration were chosen by using a central composite design. The optimum lead and cadmium bioremoval yield of 80% and 75% were observed, respectively, at 1 × 1012 CFU of L. acidophilus in milk at the 4th day and the initial ion concentration of 100 µg/L. The 3D plots analysis showed the interaction effects on metal biosorption. This study showed that L. acidophilus is a natural effective biosorbent for lead and cadmium removal from milk.
Trifluoromethylated 3‐(Pyrazol‐1‐yl)propanamide (PPA) Ligands
Authors: Liebing Phil , Edelmann Frank T. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe new PPA ligands 3‐[5‐methyl‐3‐(trifluoromethyl)‐1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl]propanamide (CF3MePPA; 3) and 3‐[3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)‐1H‐pyrazol‐1‐yl]propanamide ((CF3)2PPA; 4) were synthesized by Aza‐Michael addition of the specific pyrazole derivatives to acrylamide. Both products were characterized by elemental analyses, IR and NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. X‐Ray structure determination of 3 revealed the presence of a one‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded structure in the solid state. The ligating ability of the new ligands towards PdCl2 was studied, showing that 3 behaves similar to Me2PPA and reacts cleanly with PdCl2 to afford the sparingly soluble complex PdCl2(CF3MePPA‐κN)2. By contrast, the donor ability of pyrazolyl group in 4 was found to be considerably reduced, thus resulting in the formation of the unusual complex PdCl2{(CF3)2PPA‐κN}{(CF3)2PPA‐κO}.
Influence of thermal pressure and temperature profile approximations in thermohydrodynamic analysis of surface‐textured noncircular journal bearing
Authors: B Bhasker , Seetharamaiah N. , Ramesh Babu P. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe present study aims to study the thermohydrodynamic performance of noncircular journal bearings lubricated with multigrade oil. Experimental investigations are carried out on phosphorous bronze hydrodynamic journal bearing with a surface textured at different loading conditions with multigrade oil (MAK 2T oil) as lubricant at different constant rotational speeds (i.e., 1000–4000 rpm) for studying the dynamic characteristics. The journal‐bearing's thermodynamic behavior is analyzed by simplifying modified Reynolds and energy equations to obtain surface‐textured bearing performance characteristics, such as load‐carrying capacity, mass flow rate, and power loss. The noncircular bearings suggest several design parameters, such as a tilt angle for designers. By considering thermal effects for MAK 2T oil lubricant, the requirements of a specific application can be fulfilled.
Hillslopes in humid‐tropical climates aren't always wet: Implications for hydrologic response and landslide initiation in Puerto Rico
Authors: Thomas Matthew A. , Mirus Benjamin B. , Smith Joel B. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe devastating impacts of the widespread flooding and landsliding in Puerto Rico following the September 2017 landfall of Hurricane Maria highlight the increasingly extreme atmospheric disturbances and enhanced hazard potential in mountainous humid‐tropical climate zones. Long‐standing conceptual models for hydrologically driven hazards in Puerto Rico posit that hillslope soils remain wet throughout the year, and therefore, that antecedent soil wetness imposes a negligible effect on hazard potential. Our post‐Maria in situ hillslope hydrologic observations, however, indicate that while some slopes remain wet throughout the year, others exhibit appreciable seasonal and intra‐storm subsurface drainage. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of hydro‐meteorological (soil wetness and rainfall) versus intensity‐duration (rainfall only) hillslope hydrologic response thresholds that identify the onset of positive pore‐water pressure, a predisposing factor for widespread slope instability in this region. Our analyses also consider the role of soil‐water storage and infiltration rates on runoff generation, which are relevant factors for flooding hazards. We found that the hydro‐meteorological thresholds outperformed intensity‐duration thresholds for a seasonally wet, coarse‐grained soil, although they did not outperform intensity‐duration thresholds for a perennially wet, fine‐grained soil. These end‐member soils types may also produce radically different stormflow responses, with subsurface flow being more common for the coarse‐grained soils underlain by intrusive rocks versus infiltration excess and/or saturation excess for the fine‐grained soils underlain by volcaniclastic rocks. We conclude that variability in soil‐hydraulic properties, as opposed to climate zone, is the dominant factor that controls runoff generation mechanisms and modulates the relative importance of antecedent soil wetness for our hillslope hydrologic response thresholds.
Inequality and financial development: Evidence from selected MENA region countries
Authors: Selim Passant M. B. , Güngör Hasan 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe paper investigates the impact of financial development on income inequality for selected 11 MENA region countries over the period 1990 to 2015. Pooled Mean Group Estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panels is implemented to examine the relationship between the variables. Furthermore, we employed panel cointegration to test for the existence of a long‐run relationship between the variables. The findings shows a significant linear long‐run negative relationship between financial development and income inequality. The outcomes are in consistency with the inequality‐narrowing hypothesis by Banerjee and Newman (1993), Galor and Zeria (1993) and Mookherjee and Ray (2003). Thus we conclude that financial development is an important determinant for inequality reduction for these countries.
Commodity prices and the Brazilian real exchange rate
Authors: Souza Rodrigo da Silva , de Mattos Leonardo B. , de Lima João E. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractA well documented stylized fact in commodity‐exporting countries is the robust relationship between commodity prices and real exchange rates. However, empirical evidences of factors that affect the strength of the commodity price‐real exchange rate connection remain inconclusive. In this paper, we investigate how structural and financial factors affect the relationship between world commodity prices and the Brazilian real exchange rate during the floating exchange rate regime. The key results show that the strength of the real exchange rate response to real commodity price fluctuations depends on the trade openness in the long run and on the country risk in the short run. Our findings provide important insights for the appropriated design of foreign exchange policy in Brazil.
A study on volatility spurious almost integration effect: A threshold realized GARCH approach
Authors: Xu Dinghai 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper investigates the “spurious almost integration” effect of volatility under a threshold GARCH structure with realized volatility measures. To closely examine the effect, the realized persistence of volatility is proposed to be used as a threshold trigger for volatility regimes. Under the threshold framework, general closed‐form solutions of moment conditions are derived, which provide a convenient way to theoretically examine the “spurious almost integration” effect and its associated impacts. We find that introducing the volatility persistence‐driven threshold can capture regime‐specific characteristics well. It performs better than the traditional GARCH‐type models in terms of both in‐sample fitting and out‐of‐sample forecasting. Based on our Monte Carlo and empirical results, in general we find that overlooking the relatively low‐persistence regime(s) could lead to some misleading conclusions.
A Bayesian panel stochastic volatility measure of financial stability
Authors: Mamatzakis Emmanuel C. , Tsionas Mike G. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractWe propose to model financial stability, opting for an alternative bank profit function whose volatility is measured within a framework of panel stochastic volatility. Within this model financial stability and volatility are latent variables. To observe financial stability and volatility we employ Bayesian inference procedures organized around Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) technique and particle filtering. We do so in a single stage that controls also for non‐linearities, while we also allow for some key bank and country‐specific variables to impact upon financial stability and volatility. Thus, we provide a new measure of financial stability by country, over time and also at a global level. In an empirical application, we derive financial stability indexes for a plethora of countries, as well as the global financial stability index that acts as an early warning index. Our results suggest that the financial cycle is subject to non‐linearities. We argue that the global financial system should closely monitor large, systemic, banks as key to support financial stability.
The role of institutional infrastructures in financial inclusion‐growth relations: Evidence from SSA
Authors: Ajide Kazeem B. , Alimi Olorunfemi Y. , Asongu Simplice A. , Raheem Ibrahim D. 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper investigates the role of institutional infrastructures in the financial inclusion‐growth nexus for a panel of 20 countries in sub‐Sahara Africa (SSA). Employing the System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), the following insightful outcomes are established. First, while there is an unrestricted positive impact of physical access to ATMs and ICT measures of financial inclusion on SSA's growth, only the former was found significant. Second, the four institutional components via economic, political, institutional and general governances were also found to be growth‐spurring. Lastly, countries with low levels of real per capita income are catching=up with other countries with high levels of real income per capita. The empirical evidence of some negative net effects and insignificant marginal impacts are indications that imperfections in the financial markets are sometimes employed to the disadvantage of the poor. On the whole, we established positive effects on growth for the most part. The positive effects are evident because the governance indicators complement financial inclusion in reducing pecuniary constraints hindering credit access and allocation to the poor that deteriorate growth.
The news effects on exchange rate returns and volatility: Evidence from Pakistan
Authors: Jabeen Munazza , Rashid Abdul , Ihsan Hajra 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis article explores the effects of macroeconomic news on Pak rupee's exchange rates. For this purpose, it employs GARCH models by using real‐time data on macroeconomic news and exchange rates. The results exhibit that daily Pak rupee exchange rates dynamics are linked to macroeconomic fundamentals. Both foreign and domestic macroeconomic news announcements significantly affect Pak rupee exchange rates. The exchange rate returns and volatility of Pak rupee immediately adjust to most of the foreign and domestic macroeconomic news. Most of the US and PAK domestic macroeconomic news immediately affect PKR/USD exchange rates as compared to the effect of other foreign and domestic macroeconomic news on other Pak rupee exchange rates. Finally, the article shows that Pak rupee exchange rate returns and their volatilities are responsive to foreign and domestic macroeconomic news announcements with different magnitudes for all the currency pairs. These findings suggest that the behaviour of PAK rupee exchange rate appears to be consistent with the models of exchange rate determination and the monetary authority's reaction function.
Did equity returns and volatilities change after the 2016 Trump election victory?
Authors: Yavas Burhan F. , Dedi Lidija , Škrinjarić Tihana 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis paper investigates the reaction of equity markets to the 2016 US presidential elections in Canada, China, Mexico and Russia, and their interaction with the US market. This objective is carried out by studying the magnitude and direction of return and volatility transmission across the major stock indices of these countries. Daily data provided by Exchange Traded Funds, (ETFs) as well as country stock indices are utilized 2 years before and 2 years after the November 2016 elections. We use the VECH specification of the multivariate GARCH model. The results indicate the existence of significant co‐movement of returns although some important differences before and after the elections are noted. Lagged values of the US returns significantly affect all other market returns in the pre‐election period, but not in the post‐election period. There is also evidence of volatility spillovers. Implications such as diversification opportunities for investors are discussed and the critical importance of understanding the transmission process between markets for risk management and economic policy are indicated.
Does bankruptcy filing always mean contagion? Evidence from industry rivals
Authors: Krzeczewska Olga , Pastusiak Radosław 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThe main aim of the paper is to explore the intra‐industry effects of a bankruptcy filing on the capital market and to analyse the predomination of either competitive or contagion effect. The article is based on the assumption that the bankruptcy filing of the company affects the stock returns of its industry competitors and that the competitive effect dominates. The event study method is employed to assess the effect on the valuation of announcing and non‐announcing firms. The empirical study is conducted on the example of stock‐listed companies in Poland, where bankruptcy proceedings are not aimed at preserving the firm in distress. Averaged results suggest that the bankruptcy filing has a positive short‐term effect on the valuation of industry competitors in the sample, which indicates the competitive effect. However, looking at results broken down by industries there is no robust evidence of the effect. Only one sector experiences short‐lived positive investors' reaction.
The Oil Price‐Macroeconomic fundamentals nexus for emerging market economies: Evidence from a wavelet analysis
Authors: Tiwari Aviral Kumar , Raheem Ibrahim D. , Bozoklu Seref , Hammoudeh Shawkat 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis study uses the (partial) cross wavelet analysis and the phase difference to decompose the time frequency effects of oil prices on major aggregate macroeconomic fundamentals (real effective exchange rate index, interest rate yield spread and stock market index) of emerging market economies, aiming to discern the direction of the lead–lag relationship between these variables at different time scales over the period December 1987 to April 2017. Our results suggest that there is a strong coherence between oil prices and the individual components of the macroeconomic fundamentals at higher frequencies (0–1 years) in those economies. The phase difference analysis shows that the variables move within the phase for the widths of higher frequency bands (1–2 and 2–4 years), but it is difficult to ascertain the leading/lagging variables. As a robustness check, the results of the conditional analysis extend the significance of the coherency to 1–2 years. However, the phase difference of the robustness check indicates that oil prices and the macroeconomic fundamentals only move within the phase at lower frequency band widths (4–8 and 8–16 years). The existence of the time‐varying comovement between the oil price and the aggregate macroeconomic fundamentals across heterogeneous time frequencies indicates that investors making decisions about their portfolio compositions and policy makers adjusting various economic stabilization schemes for greater stability should take account of varying frequency bands.
Does reputation matter for firm risk in developing country?
Authors: Brahmana Rayenda K. , You Hui‐Wei , Lau Evan 
Published: August 2020

AbstractThis research examines the effect of corporate reputation for firm risk in a developing country for a sample of 256 Indonesia firms for the period 2011–2015. Using two‐step generalized method of moments approach, this research documents five important findings: (a) firm with higher reputation exhibits lower total risk (stock return volatility) and lower tail risk, yet, no significant effect on default risk; (b) Firms with high leverage use reputation effect for less total risk, tail risk, and default risk; (c) Firms with low leverage only enjoy the reputation effect on less total risk, but no reputation effect on tail risk and default risk; (d) Firms with high profitability utilize reputation to reduce the tail risk and default risk; and (f) firm with low profitability has less tail risk when their reputation is high. This evidence contributes to the literature by uncovering important and previously unidentified determinants of risk, namely, reputation. It offers an insight to stakeholders that reputation does matter.