Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Level Set Approach for Computing Discontinuous Solutions of a Class of Hamilton-Jacobi Equations

We introduce two types of finite difference methods to compute the Lsolution [15] and the proper viscosity solution [14] recently proposed by the second author for semi-discontinuous solutions to a class of Hamilton-Jacobi equations. By regarding the graph of the solution as the zero level curve of a continuous function in one dimension higher, we can treat the corresponding level set equation using the viscosity theory introduced by Crandall and Lions [7]. However, we need to pay special attention both analytically and numerically to prevent the zero level curve from overturning so that it can be interpreted as the graph of a function. We demonstrate our Lax-Friedrichs type numerical methods for computing the L-solution using its original level set formulation. In addition, we couple our numerical methods with a singular diffusive term which is essential to computing solutions to a more general class of HJ equations that includes conservation laws. With this singular viscosity, our numerical methods do not require the divergence structure of equations and do apply to more general equations developing shocks other than conservation laws. These numerical methods are generalized to higher order accuracy using WENO Local Lax-Friedrichs methods [22]. We verify that our numerical solutions approximate the proper viscosity solutions of [14]. Finally, since the solution of scalar conservation law equations can be Research supported by ONR N00014-97-1-0027, DARPA/NSF VIP grant NSF DMS 9615854 and ARO DAAG 55-98-1-0323 yDepartment of Mathematics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, email:ytsai@math.ucla. edu zDepartment of Mathematics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan, email: giga@math.sci.hokudai.ac. jp xDepartment of Mathematics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, email:sjo@math.ucla. edu
Degenerations of Prym varieties

Let $(C,\iota)$ be a stable curve with an involution. Following a classical construction one can define its Prym variety $P$, which in this case turns out to be a semiabelian group variety and usually not complete. In this paper we study the question whether there are ``good'' compactifications of $P$ in analogy to compactified Jacobians. The answer to this question depends on whether we consider degenerations of principally polarized Prym varieties or degenerations with the induced (non-principal) polarization. We describe degeneration data of such degenerations. The main application of our theory lies in the case of degenerations of principally polarized Prym varieties where we ask whether such a degeneration depends on a given one-parameter family containing $(C,\iota)$ or not. This allows us to determine the indeterminacy locus of the Prym map.
Long-Run Volatility Dependencies in Intraday Data and Mixture of Normal Distributions

In this paper, we study the behaviour of the long memory in the return volatility using highfrequency data on the Deutschemark-US dollar. In particular, we provide evidence of the overestimation of the long memory when we do not take into account the presence of jumps (outliers) in the series. After filtering the series from its seasonal pattern, and by using a mixture of normal distributions, the long memory parameter is found to be constant across different sampling frequencies, reduced (compared to the normal distribution) but still significant.
Effect of losses and dispersion on the focusing properties of left‐handed media

By means of an analysis of the field radiated by a point source placed in front of an infinite left‐handed slab, the effect off losses and dispersion on the focusing properties of continuous left‐handed media are analyzed. It is shown that subwavelength focusing of point‐like quasi‐monochromatic sources can be achieved by using physical left‐handed slabs, provided some conditions are fulfilled. These conditions are qualitative and quantitatively analyzed. Numerical examples that show the accuracy of this analysis are provided. Finally, the proposed electromagnetic analysis and the geometrical Veselago's demonstration of over‐wavelength focusing by left‐handed slabs are found to be mutually consistent. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 41: 290–294, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20119
Chinese Financial Liberalization

Chinese economic policies have been viewed as models for developing countries because of China's remarkable economic growth rate since 1978. This success is attributable primarily to various sound economic plans. They include economic reforms such as different economic zones, provision of government incentive packages that promote exports, opening up the economy to foreign investors for joint ventures and investment, and the restructuring of numerous unprofitable state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Fairness in communication for omniscience

We consider the problem of how to fairly distribute the minimum sum-rate among the users in communication for omniscience (CO). We formulate a problem of minimizing a weighted quadratic function over a submodular base polyhedron which contains all achievable rate vectors, or transmission strategies, for CO that have the same sum-rate. By solving it, we can determine the rate vector that optimizes the Jain's fairness measure, a more commonly used fairness index than the Shapley value in communications engineering. We show that the optimizer is a lexicographically optimal (lex-optimal) base and can be determined by a decomposition algorithm (DA) that is based on submodular function minimization (SFM) algorithm and completes in strongly polynomial time. We prove that the lex-optimal minimum sum-rate strategy for CO can be determined by finding the lex-optimal base in each user subset in the fundamental partition and the complexity can be reduced accordingly.
Water Permeability of Asymmetric Planar Lipid Bilayers

To understand how plasma membranes may limit water flux, we have modeled the apical membrane of MDCK type 1 cells. Previous experiments demonstrated that liposomes designed to mimic the inner and outer leaflet of this membrane exhibited 18-fold lower water permeation for outer leaflet lipids than inner leaflet lipids (Hill, W.G., and M.L. Zeidel. 2000. J. Biol. Chem. 275:30176–30185), confirming that the outer leaflet is the primary barrier to permeation. If leaflets in a bilayer resist permeation independently, the following equation estimates single leaflet permeabilities: 1/PAB = 1/PA + 1/PB (Eq. l), where PAB is the permeability of a bilayer composed of leaflets A and B, PA is the permeability of leaflet A, and PB is the permeability of leaflet B. Using for the MDCK leaflet–specific liposomes gives an estimated value for the osmotic water permeability (Pf) of 4.6 × 10−4 cm/s (at 25°C) that correlated well with experimentally measured values in intact cells. We have now constructed both symmetric and asymmetric planar lipid bilayers that model the MDCK apical membrane. Water permeability across these bilayers was monitored in the immediate membrane vicinity using a Na+-sensitive scanning microelectrode and an osmotic gradient induced by addition of urea. The near-membrane concentration distribution of solute was used to calculate the velocity of water flow (Pohl, P., S.M. Saparov, and Y.N. Antonenko. 1997. Biophys. J. 72:1711–1718). At 36°C, Pf was 3.44 ± 0.35 × 10−3 cm/s for symmetrical inner leaflet membranes and 3.40 ± 0.34 × 10−4 cm/s for symmetrical exofacial membranes. From , the estimated permeability of an asymmetric membrane is 6.2 × 10−4 cm/s. Water permeability measured for the asymmetric planar bilayer was 6.7 ± 0.7 × 10−4 cm/s, which is within 10% of the calculated value. Direct experimental measurement of Pf for an asymmetric planar membrane confirms that leaflets in a bilayer offer independent and additive resistances to water permeation and validates the use of .
On the Market-Neutrality of Optimal Pairs-Trading Strategies

We consider the problem of optimal investment in a market with two cointegrated stocks and an agent with CRRA utility. We extend the findings of Liu and Timmermann [The Review of Financial Studies, 26(4):1048-1086, 2013] by paying special attention to when/if the associated stochastic control problem is well-posed and providing a verification result. Our new findings lead to a sharp well-posedness condition which is, surprisingly, also the necessary and sufficient condition for the optimal investment to be market-neutral (i.e. having offsetting long/short positions in the stocks). Hence, we provide a theoretical justification for market-neutral pairs-trading which, despite having a strong practical relevance, has been lacking a theoretical ground.
Representation Results & Algorithms for Deep Feedforward Networks

Despite the fact that parameter optimization for deep feedforward neural networks is highly non-convex, generic gradient methods remain the dominant approach in practice. In part, this is because our understanding of the functions represented by such networks (as compared with simpler flat networks) is still quite limited. This note presents a new representation result for deep neural networks, establishing a family of classification problems for which any flat network requires exponentially more nodes than an appropriately designed deep network. It then develops a layer-wise training algorithm that is able to efficiently learn these compact deep networks from labeled data. In general, the algorithm recovers a perfect classifier whenever the data has no noise, and it performs well on benchmark datasets.
Accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities (SFAS No. 133)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of firms using derivatives applying Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 133. It aims to measure the magnitude of cumulative effects of changes in accounting principle from the income statement in the year of adoption, market reaction to earnings announcements, and key financial ratios effects.Design/methodology/approach – Search of the Compustat Industrial database for firms reporting a cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle in their annual income statements for fiscal years ending after 15 June, 2000. We then examine the impact of firms using derivatives applying SFAS No. 133.Findings – The sampled firms reported an absolute cumulative effect on income of $6.8 billion, 65 per cent of which was negative. Significant negative unexpected returns were observed around earnings announcement dates. Abnormal returns correlated with the cumulative effect, rather than with change in earnings per share from operations, sh.
An Efficient Switched Capacitor Buck-Boost Voltage Regulator

ACKNOWLEDGMENT Many people have contributed to the development of this thesis over the last two years. First and foremost I would like to thank my advisors, Dr. Un-Ku Moon and Dr. Gábor Temes, for supporting this research and for providing an environment in which it has been possible to freely pursue independent avenues of thought. Their foresight, intuition, and integrity have been a constant and dependable guide throughout this entire work. I would also like to acknowledge the other members of my committee, Roger Traylor and Dr. Prasad Tadepalli for taking the time and serving on my defense committee. I would like to thank National Semiconductor Corp., Grass Valley for supporting this work. I thank all the people at National Semiconductor for making my summer fun and educational. I would like to thank Bill McIntyre for helping and guiding me throughout my stay at National. I firmly believe that the work environment makes the greater part of the learning experience and for this I would like to thank my colleagues in the Analog Group. I owe many thanks to José Silva for helping with the tools, software, and measurements, Ryan for his thesis, Dr. Mustafa Keskin for his advise on modeling, Brandon for inspiration on organization, Dong-Young , Anurag for being my golf partner, Jacob, Dan, David, Xuesheng and Pavan for the long insightful discussions. Mohana, Prashanth, Manu and Raghu for the friendly and educational environment. I also thank Ragini for her friendship, encouragement and making my MS fun. I am greatly indebted to all the teachers in my life including the first and the most important ones, my parents. My parents have been my role models since the early stages of my life. Without their, love, support, understanding, encouragement and sacrifices I wouldn't be here. I am thankful to my sister and brother-in-law, for always being there for me, for their love, support and constant phone calls. Last but not the least, my deepest gratitude and love belongs to my wife Neeraja, for her love, support and superhuman patience.
Capacity Pooling and Cost Sharing among Independent Firms in the Presence of Congestion

We analyze the benet of production/service capacity pooling for a set of independent rms. Firms have the choice of either operating their own production/service facilities or investing in a facility that is shared. Facilities are modeled as queueing systems with nite service rates. Firms decide on capacity levels (the service rate) to minimize delay costs and capacity investment costs subject to service level constraints. If rms decide to operate a shared facility they must also decide on a scheme for sharing the costs. We formulate the problem as a cooperative game and identify a cost allocation that is in the core. The allocation rule charges every rm the cost of capacity for which it is directly responsible, its own delay cost, and a fraction of buer capacity cost that is consistent with its contribution to this cost. In settings where we relax some assumptions in our original problem, we show that capacity pooling may not always be benecial. We also examine the impact of having one of the rms, instead of a neutral central decision maker, be responsible for making the capacity investment decision for the pooled system.
Kenya: overview of corruption and anti-corruption

The economy of Bangladesh has soared in recent decades, and the country will graduate in 2026 from a Least Developed Country (LDC) to a developing country after 45 years. It has already achieved lower-middle income status, and despite challenges from COVID-19, will become uppermiddle income soon. However, anti-corruption efforts have faltered in recent years due to politicisation and crackdowns on activists.
Managing oil palm landscapes: A seven-country survey of the modern palm oil industry in Southeast Asia, Latin America and West Africa

This study comprises a review of oil palm development and management across landscapes in the tropics. Seven countries have been selected for detailed analysis using surveys of the current literature, mainly spanning the last fifteen years. Indonesia and Malaysia are the obvious leaders in terms of area planted and levels of production and export, but also in literature generated on social and environmental challenges. In Latin America, Colombia is the dominant producer with oil palm expanding in disparate landscapes with a strong focus on palm oil-based biodiesel; and small-scale growers and companies in Peru and Brazil offer contrasting ways of inserting oil palm into the Amazon. Nigeria and Cameroon represent African nations with traditional groves and old plantations in which foreign ‘land grabs’ to establish new oil palm have recently occurred.The literature surveys have been conducted in English and complemented with literature in local languages (Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese and French), and where possible have also included fieldwork. Four major themes are used to structure the argument and maintain a comparative approach. They are: 1) the influence of oil palm expansion in economic development and land use change, especially deforestation; 2) the role of government policies and corporate strategies in shaping oil palm development; 3) the business models commonly used, especially plantations and various types of smallholders, either assisted or independent; and 4) ongoing initiatives towards more sustainable and inclusive oil palm production. This study shows that oil palm development is heavily entrenched in local and national political economies and responses for advancing towards more sustainable oil palm have to look beyond oil palm as a sector and a commodity.
Hepatocyte growth factor/MET in cancer progression and biomarker discovery

Signaling driven by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and MET receptor facilitates conspicuous biological responses such as epithelial cell migration, 3‐D morphogenesis, and survival. The dynamic migration and promotion of cell survival induced by MET activation are bases for invasion–metastasis and resistance, respectively, against targeted drugs in cancers. Recent studies indicated that MET in tumor‐derived exosomes facilitates metastatic niche formation and metastasis in malignant melanoma. In lung cancer, gene amplification‐induced MET activation and ligand‐dependent MET activation in an autocrine/paracrine manner are causes for resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitors. Hepatocyte growth factor secreted in the tumor microenvironment contributes to the innate and acquired resistance to RAF inhibitors. Changes in serum/plasma HGF, soluble MET (sMET), and phospho‐MET have been confirmed to be associated with disease progression, metastasis, therapy response, and survival. Higher serum/plasma HGF levels are associated with therapy resistance and/or metastasis, while lower HGF levels are associated with progression‐free survival and overall survival after treatment with targeted drugs in lung cancer, gastric cancer, colon cancer, and malignant melanoma. Urinary sMET levels in patients with bladder cancer are higher than those in patients without bladder cancer and associated with disease progression. Some of the multi‐kinase inhibitors that target MET have received regulatory approval, whereas none of the selective HGF‐MET inhibitors have shown efficacy in phase III clinical trials. Validation of the HGF‐MET pathway as a critical driver in cancer development/progression and utilization of appropriate biomarkers are key to development and approval of HGF‐MET inhibitors for clinical use.
Reconstructing professionalism in university teaching : teachers and learners in action

AcknowledgementsNotes on contributorsPrefacePart one: Towards a new professionalism in university teachingMapping our higher education projectsAction research for equity in teaching and learningCollaboration with/in a community of practicePart two: Teachers and learners in actionIntroducing a mentoring programmeUsing debates in developing students' critical thinkingEngaging a large first year classMeasuring performancesome alternative indicatorsDesigning a new courseLearning independently through project workPart three: Endings and beginningsReconstructing professionalism in university teachingdoing other/wiseIndex.
Measles Virus Preferentially Transduces the Basolateral Surface of Well-Differentiated Human Airway Epithelia

ABSTRACT Measles virus (MV) is typically spread by aerosol droplets and enters via the respiratory tract. The progression of MV infection has been widely studied; yet, the pathway for virus entry in polarized human airway epithelia has not been investigated. Herein we report the use of a replication-competent Edmonston vaccine strain of MV expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (MV-eGFP) to infect primary cultures of well-differentiated human airway epithelia. Previous studies with polarized Caco-2 cells (intestine-derived human epithelia) and MDCK cells (kidney-derived canine epithelia) demonstrated that MV primarily infected and exited the apical surface. In striking contrast, our results indicate that MV preferentially transduces human airway cells from the basolateral surface; however, virus release remains in an apical direction. When MV-eGFP was applied apically or basolaterally to primary cultures of airway epithelia, discrete foci of eGFP expression appeared and grew; however, the cell layer integrity was maintained for the duration of the study (7 days). Interestingly, utilizing immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, we observed widespread expression of the receptor for the vaccine strain of MV (CD46) at greatest abundance on the apical surface of the differentiated human airway epithelia as well as in human tracheal tissue sections. These data suggest that the progression of MV infection through the respiratory epithelium may involve pathways other than direct binding and entry through the apical surface of airway epithelia.
Correlations among Predawn Leaf, Midday Leaf, and Midday Stem Water Potential and their Correlations with other Measures of Soil and Plant Water Status in Vitis vinifera

A study was conducted to compare three measurements of determining water status of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) in the field. Predawn leaf water potential (ΨPD), midday leaf water potential (Ψl), and midday stem water potential (Ψstem) were measured on 'Chardonnay' and 'Cabernet Sauvignon' grapevines grown in Napa Valley, California late in the 1999 growing season. Both cultivars had been irrigated weekly at various fractions (0, 0.5, and 1.0 for 'Chardonnay' and 0, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.5 for 'Cabernet') of estimated vineyard evapotranspiration (ETc) from approximately anthesis up to the dates of measurements. Predawn water potential measurements were taken beginning at 0330 HR and completed before sunrise. Midday Ψl and Ψstem measurements were taken only between 1230 and 1330 HR. In addition, net CO2 assimilation rates (A) and stomatal conductance to water vapor (gs) were also measured at midday. Soil water content (SWC) was measured in the 'Chardonnay' vineyard using a neutron probe. Values obtained for ΨPD, Ψl, and Ψstem in this study ranged from about -0.05 to -0.8, -0.7 to -1.8, and -0.5 to -1.6 MPa, respectively. All three measurements of vine water status were highly correlated with one another. Linear regression analysis of Ψl and Ψstem versus ΨPD resulted in r 2 values of 0.88 and 0.85, respectively. A similar analysis of Ψl as a function of Ψstem resulted in an r 2 of 0.92. In the 'Chardonnay' vineyard, all three methods of estimating vine water status were significantly (P < 0.01) correlated with SWC and applied amounts of water. Lastly, ΨPD, Ψl, and Ψstem were all linearly correlated with measurements of A and gs at midday. Under the conditions of this study, ΨPD, Ψl, and Ψstem represent equally viable methods of assessing the water status of these grapevines. They were all correlated similarly with the amount of water in the soil profile and leaf gas exchange as well as with one another. vine YPD among three watering treatments but no differences in Ψl were found when measured at 1000 and 1600 HR. They concluded that ΨPD better reflected soil water availability than Ψl. van Zyl (1987) concluded that ΨPD detected the onset of water stress in grapevines earlier and more accurately than Ψl.