Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Monetary Policy in a Financially Fragile Economy

This paper studies optimal monetary policy in an economy where firms rely heavily on external funds to finance operational costs. In the model, financial contracts are subject to agency problems and firms can possibly default on borrowed funds. Financial frictions have two separate effects on the model. First, they introduce an indirect cost channel to the monetary transmission mechanism. Second, they exacerbate the welfare costs of output gap fluctuations. The indirect cost channel implies that a given reduction in inflation can be achieved with a smaller output loss. This effect encourages the policy maker to emphasize inflation stabilization. At the same time, agency costs also make output gap fluctuations more costly in terms of economic welfare. This second effect encourages the policy maker to place more emphasis on output gap stabilization. Whether the optimal policy requires greater inflation stabilization or output gap stabilization depends on the balance of these two effects. Under a reasonable parametrization, the first effect dominates the second and the optimizing policy maker adopts a stricter anti-inflationary stance.
EpsA is an essential gene in exopolysaccharide production in L actobacillus johnsonii FI9785

Lactobacillus johnsonii FI9785 has an eps gene cluster which is required for the biosynthesis of homopolymeric exopolysaccharides (EPS)‐1 and heteropolymeric EPS‐2 as a capsular layer. The first gene of the cluster, epsA, is the putative transcriptional regulator. In this study we showed the crucial role of epsA in EPS biosynthesis by demonstrating that deletion of epsA resulted in complete loss of both EPS‐1 and EPS‐2 on the cell surface. Plasmid complementation of the epsA gene fully restored EPS production, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. Furthermore, this complementation resulted in a twofold increase in the expression levels of this gene, which almost doubled amounts of EPS production in comparison with the wild‐type strain. Analysis of EPS by NMR showed an increased ratio of the heteropolysaccharide to homopolysaccharide in the complemented strain and allowed identification of the acetylated residue in EPS‐2 as the (1,4)‐linked βGlcp unit, with the acetyl group located at O‐6. These findings indicate that epsA is a positive regulator of EPS production and that EPS production can be manipulated by altering its expression.
Sliding mode thermal control system for Space Station Furnace Facility

The Space Station Furnace Facility (SSFF) provides the necessary core systems to operate various material processing furnaces. The Thermal Control System (TCS) is defined as one of the core systems and its function is to collect excess heat from furnaces and to provide precise cold temperature control of components and of certain furnace zones. Physical interconnection of parallel thermal control subsystems through a common pump implies the description of the whole TCS by coupled nonlinear differential equations in flow and pressure. The paper formulates the system equations and develops the sliding mode controllers that cause the interconnected subsystems to operate in the local sliding modes, resulting In control system invariance to interaction disturbances. The desired decoupled flow rate profile tracking is achieved by optimization of the focal linear sliding mode equations. Extensive digital simulation results are presented to show the flow rate tracking robustness and invariance to plant nonlinearities and variations of the pump pressure supplied to the controlled subsystems. <<ETX>>
Performance of AQM Routers in the Presence of New TCP Variants

In this paper, we study the performance of active queue management algorithms for packet queueing in Internet routers in the presence of new versions of the TCP congestion control mechanism. In particular, we compare the performance of tail drop, adaptive RED, AVQ, PI, REM and AN-AQM queueing in four TCP cases: (i) the classic New Reno protocol, (ii) the Sack protocol, (iii) the Fack protocol, (iv) the Cubic protocol. Apparently, the application of Fack and Cubic versions of TCP have (with some exceptions) minor impact on the basic performance characteristics (throughput and delay) of the router's queueing mechanism. However, application of Cubic TCP has often a positive impact on the stability of the router's queue size. As for the inter-flow fairness for different TCPs, the results are not univocal - both fairness improvement and degradation can be observed depending on the network congestion level.
Stock Market Risk in the Financial Crisis

In this paper, we look at the effect of the financial crisis from an angle overlooked to date in the finance literature by investigating composition effects arising from the financial crisis. A composition effect is a change in the market risk of a sector that is caused not by a direct change in that sector but by a change in another sector that affects the composition of the stock market. In the paper we investigate the pre and during crisis market risk of the industrial, banking and utilities sectors. Amongst other results, we find a positive relationship across the G12 countries between the increase in the market risk of industrials during the crisis and both the pre-crisis market risk of the banking sector and the scale of the systemic crisis in a country. The six G12 countries that experienced a major systematic banking crisis are amongst the seven countries with the largest increases in the market risk for industrials. Results drawn from our detailed analysis using US data are consistent with these findings. Finally, we show how the results add to our understanding of the linkages between the financial and real sector and conclude that composition effects of the financial crisis could have a significant chilling effect on investment in industrials, which is in addition to the effect of other linkages already documented.
Simulation of semi-Markov processes and Markov chains ordered in level crossing

In this paper we address the simulation of stochastic processes ordered in level crossing, where, as proposed by Irle and Gani, X is slower in level crossing than Y if it takes X stochastically longer than Y to exceed any given level. This ordering has immediate applications to the analysis of first-passage times, which are important for detailed performance analysis of distributed computer and communication systems, like the response time of an Internet search-engine query. We provide algorithms for the simulation of level crossing ordered discrete time Markov chains, semi-Markov processes, and continuous time Markov chains under conditions derived recently.
Hemoglobin A1c May Be an Inadequate Diagnostic Tool for Diabetes Mellitus in Anemic Subjects

Background Recently, a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level of 6.5% has been determined to be a criterion for diabetes mellitus (DM), and it is a widely used marker for the diagnosis of DM. However, HbA1c may be influenced by a number of factors. Anemia is one of the most prevalent diseases with an influence on HbA1c; however, its effect on HbA1c varies based on the variable pathophysiology of anemia. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of anemia on HbA1c levels. Methods Anemic subjects (n=112) and age- and sex-matched controls (n=217) who were drug naive and suspected of having DM were enrolled. The subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test and HbA1c simultaneously. We compared mean HbA1c and its sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing DM between each subgroup. Results Clinical characteristics were found to be similar between each subgroup. Also, when glucose levels were within the normal range, the difference in mean HbA1c was not significant (P=0.580). However, when plasma glucose levels were above the diagnostic cutoff for prediabetes and DM, the mean HbA1c of the anemic subgroup was modestly higher than in the nonanemic group. The specificity of HbA1c for diagnosis of DM was significantly lower in the anemic subgroup (P<0.05). Conclusion These results suggest that the diagnostic significance of HbA1c might be limited in anemic patients.
ABMA+: lightweight and efficient algorithm for HTTP adaptive streaming

Currently exploited adaptive video streaming algorithms mainly focus on maximizing video representation while they usually not assess the risk of video freezing and not care about the influence of video representation switching. We propose a new Adaptation & Buffer Management Algorithm, called ABMA+, which selects video representation based on the predicted probability of video freezing. The algorithm continuously estimates segment download time characteristics and use the pre-computed playout buffer map to select the maximum video representation which guarantee smooth content playout. Our algorithm, thanks to the buffer map, avoids heavy online computation so it could be widely deployed on different terminals. The performed simulation and trial experiments confirm the efficiency of our approach.
Influence of Rapeseed Meal on Growth Performance, Blood Profiles, Nutrient Digestibility and Economic Benefit of Growing-finishing Pigs

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of dietary rapeseed meal (RSM) on growth performance, blood profiles, nutrient digestibility and economic benefit of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 120 growing pigs ([Yorkshire×Landrace] ×Duroc) with an initial body weight (BW) 29.94±0.06 kg were used in this experiment. Pigs were randomly allotted into 1 of 5 treatments in a randomized complete block design and 6 replicates with 4 pigs per pen. Treatments were divided by dietary RSM supplementation levels (0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, or 12%) in growing-finishing diets. A linear decrease (p<0.05) of BW and average daily gain (ADG) were observed at 13th wk of finishing and overall periods of pigs. Additionally, gain-to-feed ratio (G/F) tended to decrease by dietary RSM supplementation in growing-finishing diets (linear, p = 0.07 and quadratic, p = 0.08). Concentrations of serum triiodothyronine and thyroxine were not influenced by dietary RSM treatments whereas thyroid gland and liver weight were increased at 13th wk of finishing period (linear, p<0.05; p<0.01) by increasing dietary RSM supplementation level. In blood profiles, serum total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were not differed by dietary treatments at 13th wk of finishing period whereas concentration of serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol was affected by the supplementation level of RSM, resulting in a linear RSM level responses (p<0.05). Serum blood urea nitrogen concentration tended to decrease (linear, p = 0.07; p = 0.08) at 6th wk of growing and 13th wk of finishing periods and digestibility of dry matter tended to decrease by dietary RSM (linear, p = 0.09). Crude protein, crude fat and nitrogen retention, whereas, were not affected by dietary RSM supplementation level. In the economic analysis, feed cost per weight gain was numerically decreased when RSM was provided up to 9%. Consequently, RSM could be supplemented to growing-finishing diets up to 9% (3.07 μmol/g Gls) without detrimental effects on growth performance of growing-finishing pigs.
Keratinocytes Differentiation of Simian Virus 40-infected Human-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on the O Effects of 12-Updated Version

We have studied the effects of the tumor promoter 12-Otetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on the differentiation of hu man epidermal keratinocytes infected by the oncogenic virus Simian Virus 40. The cells in monolayers exposed to a concen tration of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate as low as 5 x 1CT'Â°M redistributed into dense patches within 48 hr. This morphological change was accompanied by a 10to 30-fold increase in the production of cells cytochemically stained by orange G:acid fuchsin indicating keratinization and a 2to 3fold increase in the exfoliation of cornified envelope-bearing cells. The induced cellular differentiation occurred in parallel with an inhibition of cell growth. The biologically inactive con gener 4tt-phorbol-12,13-didecanoate at equimolar concentra tions did not affect the growth or differentiation of these cells. Binding studies using [3H]12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-ace tate revealed a binding site with characteristics similar to those found for other cell types (Kd = 17 nw; 1.25 x 105 available
‘Winner-take-all’ competition among real and illusory words

‘Winner-take-all’ networks are an important theoretical construct in visual neuroscience. An implication of winner-take-all networks is that a stimulus that wins the competition for selection receives maximal activation and will be consciously perceived, even when selection was incorrect. In this study, competition was induced between physically presented (‘real’) and self-constructed (‘illusory’) words. Semantic activation was probed by recording event-related potential responses to a downstream target word. The results showed that only words reported by participants triggered a spread of activation in the semantic system, whereas non-reported words failed to prime the target. Both effects were independent of whether the potential primes were ‘real’ or ‘illusory’. Our findings indicate that neural ‘winner-take-all’ networks extend to the processing of lexical units.
KCCA for different level precision in content-based image retrieval

We use kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis to learn a semantic representation of web images and their associated text. In the application we look at two approaches of retrieving images based only on their content from a text query. The semantic space provides a common representation and enables a comparison between the text and image. We compare the approaches against a standard cross-representation retrieval technique known as the Generalised Vector Space Model.
A disc-wind model with correct crossing of all magnetohydrodynamic critical surfaces

The classical Blandford & Payne model for the magneto-centrifugal acceleration and collimation of a disc-wind is revisited and refined. In the original model, the gas is cold and the solution is everywhere subfast magnetosonic. In the present model the plasma has a finite temperature and the self-consistent solution of the MHD equations starts with a subslow magnetosonic speed which subsequently crosses all critical points, at the slow magnetosonic, Alfven and fast magnetosonic separatrix surfaces. The superfast magnetosonic solution thus satisfies MHD causality. Downstream of the fast magnetosonic critical point the poloidal streamlines overfocus towards the axis and the solution is terminated. The validity of the model to disc winds associated with young stellar objects is briefly discussed.
Shopping and Word-of-Mouth Intentions on Social Media

Social Media has been gaining popularity worldwide over the last years at an increasingly growing rate. Motivated by this fact, firms are piloting different approaches of promoting their products and services to consumers in order to capitalize on the prominence of such websites. However, there is much debate in the academic and business community about the potential of social media as a platform for marketing and commerce, and the viable strategies that could constitute them as a possible solution for future ventures. Research to date has been growing, with only a limited number of studies exploring the business potential of social media. The aim of this research is to elucidate how specific aspects of social media websites foster user intention to browse products, and the effect that this has in shaping purchasing and information sharing intentions. Utilitarian and Hedonic motivation theory provides the theoretical background on which we segregate the factors that contribute to product browsing on social media websites. Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis is performed on data obtained from 165 social media users to test our research model. Outcomes indicate that specific aspects trigger Utilitarian (Convenience and Product Selection) and Hedonic (Idea and Adventure) motivations which in sequence impact user intention to browse products on such mediums. Finally, browsing intention is linked in a significantly positive manner with purchasing and word-of-mouth intention.
Investigation of Primary Students' Opinions about Using Performance Assessment in Science and Technology Course with Respect to the Different Variables.

The aim of study is to investigate opinions of primary students about using performance assessment in science and technology course with respect to the different variables. This study was carried out fall semester of 2012 with 1810 students who educated primary schools in three different provinces of northeast in Turkey. Survey methodology was used in this study. Data was gathered with a questionnaire which was developed and provided to reliability and validity by Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 13, Issue 2, Article 7, p.2 (Dec., 2012) Mustafa METİN Investigation of primary students’ opinions about using performance assessment in science and technology course with respect to the different variables Copyright (C) 2012 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 13, Issue 2, Article 7 (Dec., 2012). All Rights Reserved. researcher. As a result of this study, it was determined that students have positive opinions about using performance assessment and portfolio in science and technology course. Although it was found significant difference (p<0.05) between grade level and all sub-scale of questionnaire, no significant difference were found (p>0.05) between gender and students’ opinions about using performance assessment expect POSP sub-scale. In addition to there are significant difference (p<0.05) between graduation type of students’ mother, fathers and students opinions about using performance assessment in science and technology course.
Upon Accounting for the Impact of Isoenzyme Loss, Gene Deletion Costs Anticorrelate with Their Evolutionary Rates

System-level metabolic network models enable the computation of growth and metabolic phenotypes from an organism’s genome. In particular, flux balance approaches have been used to estimate the contribution of individual metabolic genes to organismal fitness, offering the opportunity to test whether such contributions carry information about the evolutionary pressure on the corresponding genes. Previous failure to identify the expected negative correlation between such computed gene-loss cost and sequence-derived evolutionary rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been ascribed to a real biological gap between a gene’s fitness contribution to an organism “here and now” and the same gene’s historical importance as evidenced by its accumulated mutations over millions of years of evolution. Here we show that this negative correlation does exist, and can be exposed by revisiting a broadly employed assumption of flux balance models. In particular, we introduce a new metric that we call “function-loss cost”, which estimates the cost of a gene loss event as the total potential functional impairment caused by that loss. This new metric displays significant negative correlation with evolutionary rate, across several thousand minimal environments. We demonstrate that the improvement gained using function-loss cost over gene-loss cost is explained by replacing the base assumption that isoenzymes provide unlimited capacity for backup with the assumption that isoenzymes are completely non-redundant. We further show that this change of the assumption regarding isoenzymes increases the recall of epistatic interactions predicted by the flux balance model at the cost of a reduction in the precision of the predictions. In addition to suggesting that the gene-to-reaction mapping in genome-scale flux balance models should be used with caution, our analysis provides new evidence that evolutionary gene importance captures much more than strict essentiality.
Loading Capacity and Deformation Characteristics of Tailings Based on a Fractal Geometrical Analysis of the Particle Microstructure

Abstract: The failure of a tailing dam occurs due to damage to the particles’ micro-structure. Understanding the deformation characteristics of the particle’ micro-structure is important for understanding the mechanics of instability in tailing dams. In our study, a series of experiments was conducted using a testing apparatus for micro-mechanics and the deformation of tailings from the Huangcaoping tailing pond, Sichuan Province, China to investigate the loading capacity, micro-structure and deformation features of tailing particles. The latter two were analyzed quantitatively using concepts from fractal geometry. The results demonstrate that: (1) the structural loading capacity of tailings increases first and then decreases slightly with increasing particle size; (2) the particle micro-structure of the four tailing samples from the Huangcaoping tailing pond is described in terms of the fractal dimension based on the perimeter and area ( D -value), which is between 1.288 and 1.533; (3) as the axial stress increases, the
Hand hygiene knowledge among undergraduate medical students in Junagadh, Gujarat, India

Background: Hand hygiene is now regarded as one of the most important element of infection control activities. Medical students in their clinical training phase throng the healthcare facilities and can potentially transmit infections besides being the healthcare providers of future when their pattern of training will reflect on their infection control practices. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the knowledge of undergraduate medical students regarding hand hygiene practices.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out and data was collected by using “WHO hand hygiene knowledge questionnaire for health care workers” among 2nd M.B. B.S medical students at Junagadh. Knowledge was graded as good, moderate or poor based on the total number of correct answers.Results: Total 123 students participated in the study. There were 65 (53%) females and 58 (47%) were males. The mean hand hygiene knowledge score (out of 25) was 15.05 (SD: ±2.37, 95% CI: 14.63-15.48). Majority of the participants (76%) had moderate knowledge of hand hygiene practices.Conclusions: In the present study majority of the students had not received formal training regarding hand hygiene practices. Majority of the students had moderate knowledge of hand hygiene. Incorporation of teaching and training of hand hygiene practice in the undergraduate teaching during the initial study years is the need of the hour to prevent further emergence of antimicrobial resistance and health care associated infections.
Information-Driven Organization of Visual Receptive Fields

By using information theory to reduce the state space of sensor arrays, such as receptive fields, for AI decision making we offer an adaptive algorithm without classical biases of hand coded approaches. This paper presents a way to build an acyclic directed graph to organize the sensor inputs of a visual receptive field. The Information Distance Metric is used to repeatedly select two sensors, which contain the most information about each other. Those are then encoded to a single variable, of equal alphabet size, with a deterministic mapping function that aims to create maximal entropy while maintaining a low information distance to the original sensors. The resulting tree determines which sensors are fused to reduce the input data while maintaining a maximum of information. The structure adapts to different environments of input images by encoding groups of preferred line structures or creating a higher resolution for areas with simulated movement. These effects are created without prior assumptions about the sensor statistics or the spatial configuration of the receptive field, and are cheap to compute since only pair-wise informational comparison of sensors is used.