Guidance or Interference? Augmented Feedback Benefits Bimanual Coordination Even After Removal

Chiou S-C, Chang EC. Guidance or Interference? Augmented Feedback Benefits Bimanual Coordination Even After Removal. Presented at the 10th Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (APCV), Takamatsu, Japan

Executive orders are not a viable route around political gridlock

In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama told Congress that if they continued to obstruct rather than act, he would move forward wherever he could without them. One avenue for such initiatives could be the increased use of executive orders; however, it is unclear if the president can actually wield true power in this way. Using data on executive orders from 1947-2003, Fang-Yi Chiou and Lawrence S. Rothenberg examine whether and how the president’s supposedly independent actions are constrained by outside forces. They conclude the president cannot achieve true additional power through unilateral action and executive orders are unlikely to provide a means to work around a gridlocked political process

Hedging strategies with financial derivatives on pulp & paper industry : a quantitative study

This work studies the hedging policies of 42 pulp and paper companies in 2014. My focus is on the use of financial derivatives as a hedging strategy to mitigate the commodity risk exposure. Theories of hedging based on market imperfections show that hedging should increase firm´s value by reducing expected taxes, probability of financial distress and the agency costs of debt and equity. To provide evidence on these hypotheses, I collected detailed financial information of the firms included in the sample, to develop two econometric models capable of giving consistent insights, in order to infer which firm´s characteristics are associated to the theoretical hedging incentives and if consequently this hedging decision is connected to higher firm value within this industry. The data suggest that hedger firms have less coverage of fixed claims and have a higher percentage of managerial ownership comparing to the non-hedger firms. Furthermore, I found evidence that there is no advantage for larger firms within this industry to develop hedging strategies to mitigate their commodity risk exposure, not giving support to the argument of economies in scale in hedging. There is also no support for the hedging tax incentive, rejecting the theoretical background that firms hedge in response to tax schedule convexity. Using Tobin´s Q as an approximation for firm value, I found evidence that firms with more growth opportunities in their investment set and with lower levels of debt have higher Tobin´s Q ratios. However, I found evidence that hedging commodity risk within this industry with financial derivatives does not seem to be a value-enhancing strategy for firms

Arithmetic Operations in Multi-Valued Logic

This paper presents arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction and multiplications in Modulo-4 arithmetic, and also addition, multiplication in Galois field, using multi-valued logic (MVL). Quaternary to binary and binary to quaternary converters are designed using down literal circuits. Negation in modular arithmetic is designed with only one gate. Logic design of each operation is achieved by reducing the terms using Karnaugh diagrams, keeping minimum number of gates and depth of net in to consideration. Quaternary multiplier circuit is proposed to achieve required optimization. Simulation result of each operation is shown separately using Hspice.Comment: 12 Pages, VLSICS Journal 201

Principal-principal conflicts: Is it a big problem in ASEAN 4 markets?

This paper examines the issue of principal-principal (PP) conflicts in large public listed companies in four ASEAN countries. The PP conflicts are regarded as a major problem in emerging markets and have attracted considerable attention. The percentage of cash dividend of total assets is used to measure the expropriation depicted in PP conflicts. A sample of companies with total assets of US$1 billion are filtered to select those with single/multiple block holders of shareholdings concentration equal to or greater than five percent. A regression model is estimated with PP conflicts as the dependent variable. The findings confirm the existence of PP conflicts, suggesting that large shareholders do expropriate company wealth by paying higher cash dividends. This expropriation occurs through agency perspective and makes it apparent that PP conflicts are a major problem in ASEAN markets

Antibacterial and cytotoxic properties of isoprenoids from the red sea soft coral, Lobophytum sp

Purpose: To evaluate the antibacterial and cytotoxic activities of the secondary metabolites of Lobophytum sp.Methods: Maceration with methanol: chloroform (1:1) was applied to extract the coral material. Chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques were employed for fractionation, isolation and elucidation of pure compounds. Antibacterial activities were performed by well diffusion method against three Gram-positive and four Gram-negative bacteria. Brine shrimp lethality test was employed to predict toxicity, while antitumor activity were tested by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method against Ehrlich carcinoma cells.Results: Four sesquiterpenes, one cembranoid type diterpenes and two steroids were isolated. 1 exhibited significant antibacterial activity against four tested bacteria (P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, S. epidermis, and S. pneumonia) with MIC value of 15 μg/mL. Moreover, 1 showed high diameter zone of inhibition ranging from 16 - 18 mm against test bacteria. Compounds 4 and 5 displayed moderate antibacterial activity against all test bacteria with inhibition zone diameter (IZD) ranging from 11 – 15 mm and MIC values of 30 μg/mL. 2, 3, 6 and 7 exhibited weak antibacterial activity (IZD, 7 - 11 mm; MIC ≥ 30 μg/mL). In addition, only diterpene compound (4) showed high toxicity against A. Salina and antitumor activity against Erhlich carcinoma cells with the LD50 of 25 and 50 μg/mL, respectively.Conclusion: This study reveals the strong antibacterial activity of sesquiterpene alismol (1) and the potential antibacterial and antitumor activity of cembranoid type diterpene, cembrene A (4).Keywords: Soft coral, Lobophytum sp., Red Sea, Antibacterial, Cytotoxicity, Sesquiterpene Alismol, Cembranoid, Diterpene, Cembren

ADR Characteristics and Performance in International and Global Indexes

This study looks at the characteristics and performance of ADRs in international and global indexes. We find that ADRs in EAFE are tilted toward three common factors: giant cap, high dividend yield, and U.K. stocks. In terms of risk-adjusted performance, we find that ADRs provide inefficient diversification for US investors, as tradeoffs of return and risk are better with portfolio combinations of the S&P500 and the S&P Global 700, as compared with portfolio combinations of the S&P500 and an ADR breakout of the Global 700. Our findings on ADR characteristics are consistent with prior research, while our performance findings are inconsistent with prior research which points to ADR portfolio efficiency

A First Stochastic General Framework to Model the Project Finance Cash Flows under Monopolistic Situations

The main aim of this work is to model the cash flows and cost dynamics for a Project Finance. Large scale capital-intensive projects usually require substantial investments up front and only generate revenues to cover their costs in the long term. The abandonment flexibility affects each project independently. This is the only one that we consider in this study and it is quite different from the idea to abandon due to a common (specific) catastrophic event. This option is exercised under those situations of expected costs to completion higher than the expected cash flow, that is, during the investment period in the development phase. Including this flexibility in project finance is the same as valuing a project with an implicit American put option.Project Finance, Cash Flows, Stochastic, Real Options

Language awareness in language education

Included bibliographical references.Selected papers originally presented at the International Language in Education Conference held at the University of Hong Kong, 14-16 December, 1994.published_or_final_versionCh.7 Towards a critical competence Chew, Phyllis G.L. Chew, Phyllis G.L. 103Ch.14 Oral miscue analysis for Chinese readers reading in Chinese Chern, Chiou-lan Chern, Chiou-lan 215Ch.9 Investigating the oral fluency of 15 EFL teachers: a quantitative approach revisited Lam, Wendy Y.K. Lam, Wendy Y.K. 133Ch.12 First language literacy and second language reading Parry, Kate Parry, Kate 181Ch.8 When does a carrot become a stick? Changing attitudes and English language proficiency of Hong Kong student teachers Crew, Vernon Crew, Vernon 117Ch.11 Self-assessment of pronunciation by Chinese tertiary students Jones, Rodney H. Jones, Rodney H. 169Ch.4 Grammatical terminology: is there a student/ teacher gap? Berry, Roger Berry, Roger 51Ch.5 Hong Kong learners and English words: the formal- semantic gap McNeil, Arthur McNeil, Arthur 69Ch.13 A theoretical framework for teaching Chinese- English/English-Chinese translation to tertiary students: the use of 'foreign translation theories' for 'domestic' purposes through S.E.A.S. Ngan, Heltan Ngan, Heltan Kong, Judy Kong, Judy 199Ch.6 Exponents of repair and other interactional features in small group work Martyn, Elaine Martyn, Elaine 87Introduction Nunan, David Nunan, David Berry, Roger Berry, Roger Berry, Vivien Berry, Vivien iCh.10 Coherence rating: what goes on in the raters' minds? Wong, Grace Wong, Grace 149Ch.1 How aware should language aware teachers and learners be? Carter, Ronald Carter, Ronald 1Ch.2 Using thematic organisation for evaluating school children's written narratives Ghadessy, Mohsen Ghadessy, Mohsen 17Ch.3 Why 'often' isn't 'always' Allison, Desmond Allison, Desmond 3

Association of Intraocular Pressure With Human Immunodeficiency Virus

PURPOSE: Prior studies have shown an association between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and reduced intraocular pressures (IOP). The purpose of this study was to determine if patients with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) had any difference in their IOP compared with patients without HIV or with HIV who are not on HAART. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. METHODS: We included 400 patients from our academic eye center between 2000 and 2016. Group 1 (G1) consisted of patients with HIV on HAART (n = 176), Group 2 (G2) consisted of patients with HIV who were not on HAART (n = 48), and Group 3 (G3) consisted of controls without HIV (n = 176). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare mean IOP values. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were performed to assess factors impacting IOP. Difference in IOP was the primary outcome being measured. RESULTS: The mean IOPs in mm Hg were 13.7 +/- 5.1 (G1), 13.1 +/- 3.6 (G2), and 17.3 +/- 3.8 (G3), P \u3c .01. In regression modeling, having a CD4 count CONCLUSIONS: Absolute CD4 counts may play a role in IOP fluctuations. This association was found in patients with HIV regardless of whether patients were on HAART