Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimum error bound of signal reconstruction

In signal processing, reconstruction of a bandlimited signal from finite samples is complicated by the underdetermined nature of the problem and the unavoidable noise in the measurement. A sensitivity function was recently formulated assuming noise-free data, which provides point-wise information about reliability of the reconstructed signal before actual samples of the signal are taken. In this communication, the minimum error bound of signal reconstruction is derived assuming noisy data.
Differences in Light Interception in Grass Monocultures Predict Short-Term Competitive Outcomes under Productive Conditions

Due to its inherent asymmetry, competition for light is thought to cause loss of diversity from eutrophied systems. However, most of the work on this topic in grasslands has been phenomenological and has not measured light directly. We present the results of one of the few mechanistic experiments investigating the outcome of short-term competition using measurements of light interception from monocultures of five perennial grass species grown under fertilized and irrigated conditions. We found that the level of incident light intercepted by each species in monoculture, a direct measure of resource-reduction ability, was an excellent predictor of the relative competitive effect in pairwise mixtures. Competition for light was asymmetric in relation to differences in light intercepting ability. Our results are consistent with the idea that when light is a limiting resource, competition between species for this resource can be asymmetric, contributing to high dominance and low diversity.
Cymadothea trifolii, an obligate biotrophic leaf parasite of Trifolium, belongs to Mycosphaerellaceae as shown by nuclear ribosomal DNA analyses

The ascomycete Cymadothea trifolii, a member of the Dothideomycetes, is unique among obligate biotrophic fungi in its capability to only partially degrade the host cell wall and in forming an astonishingly intricate interaction apparatus (IA) in its own hyphae, while the attacked host plant cell is triggered to produce a membranous bubble opposite the IA. However, no sequence data are currently available for this species. Based on molecular phylogenetic results obtained from complete SSU and partial LSU data, we show that the genus Cymadothea belongs to the Mycosphaerellaceae (Capnodiales, Dothideomycetes). This is the first report of sequences obtained for an obligate biotrophic member of Mycosphaerellaceae.
Do Contractionary Monetary Policy Shocks Expand Shadow Banking?

Using vector autoregressive models with either constant or time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility for the United States, we find that a contractionary monetary policy shock has a persistent negative impact on the asset growth of commercial banks, but increases the asset growth of shadow banks and securitisation activity. To explain this ‘waterbed’ effect, we propose a standard New Keynesian model featuring both commercial and shadow banking, and we show that the model comes close to explaining the empirical results. Our findings cast doubt on the idea that monetary policy can usefully ‘get in all the cracks’ of the financial sector in a uniform way.
The Information Content of the Bond-Equity Yield Ratio: Better than a Random Walk?

Since the 1990’s run up in stock prices and subsequent crashes, the financial community has taken a dim view of the traditional valuation ratios and has instead turned its attention to a new valuation ratio: the Bond-Equity Yield Ratio (BEYR). In this paper we provide the first comprehensive, both in-sample and out-of-sample, statistical assessment of the fundamental short-term reversion dynamics of the BEYR towards its long-term mean. Using cointegrated VAR models, we show that the BEYR can depart from its longterm relationship for an extended period of time before reversion process finally brings it back to equilibrium. The out-of-sample forecasting analysis, based on both equally and superior predictive ability tests, shows that the cointegrated VAR model does not perform better than a naive random walk. As such, we cast doubt on the ability of the BEYR to predict monthly stock return.
Educational Recording Agency (ERA):facilitating online broadcast resource access through the ERA licence – final report

This research study has gathered evidence to support the Educational Recording Agency (ERA) in exploring possible ways to develop policies and approaches that could enhance teacher access to digital online resources. Existing studies show that many teachers across the United Kingdom (UK) already use video and audio clips with learners to support teaching and learning. Increasingly, however, use of these resources is encouraged and needed for learning purposes in home as well as in school situations; there are clear implications concerned with the management of these resources. Online audio-visual resources to support teachers are becoming increasingly accessible, not just in the UK, but in other countries worldwide. Audio-visual (AV) resources offer particular qualities and affordances that support teaching and learning, but it should be recognised that different resources can offer different values and qualities to meet more specific teacher needs.
The Confounding Effect of Class Size on the Validity of Object-Oriented Metrics

Much effort has been devoted to the development and empirical validation of object-oriented metrics. The empirical validations performed thus far would suggest that a core set of validated metrics is close to being identified. However, none of these studies allow for the potentially confounding effect of class size. We demonstrate a strong size confounding effect and question the results of previous object-oriented metrics validation studies. We first investigated whether there is a confounding effect of class size in validation studies of object-oriented metrics and show that, based on previous work, there is reason to believe that such an effect exists. We then describe a detailed empirical methodology for identifying those effects. Finally, we perform a study on a large C++ telecommunications framework to examine if size is really a confounder. This study considered the Chidamber and Kemerer metrics and a subset of the Lorenz and Kidd metrics. The dependent variable was the incidence of a fault attributable to a field failure (fault-proneness of a class). Our findings indicate that, before controlling for size, the results are very similar to previous studies. The metrics that are expected to be validated are indeed associated with fault-proneness.
Heterogeneous Trajectories of Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Diabetes: Findings from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA)

Background: Given the rapidly aging population and increasing diabetes prevalence in Korea and worldwide, maintaining optimal cognitive function is a concern in older adults with diabetes. This study aimed to identify heterogeneous trajectories of cognitive function in older adults with diabetes based on the Mini-Mental State Examination and characterize these trajectories. Methods: Study participants consisted of 672 community-dwelling Korean older adults with diabetes, and data were obtained from the population-based Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging from 2006 through 2016. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was employed to identify distinct trajectories of cognitive function in older adults with diabetes. Results: We found that older adults with diabetes followed five distinct cognitive function trajectories over 10 years: normal-maintained (41.5%), normal-declined (23.8%), mildly impaired-maintained (17.1%), mildly impaired-declined (11.2%), and severely impaired-declined (6.4%). Also, we found that age, gender, household income, and self-rated health status at baseline were associated with these trajectories. Conclusions: Our identification and characterization of heterogeneous cognitive function trajectories in older adults with diabetes have significant implications for developing tailored interventions to older adults with diabetes, specifically to whom at heightened risk for cognitive decline and consequent deterioration in essential diabetes self-management activities.
LAMP assay and rapid sample preparation method for on-site detection of flavescence dorée phytoplasma in grapevine

In Europe the most devastating phytoplasma associated with grapevine yellows (GY) diseases is a quarantine pest, flavescence dorée (FDp), from the 16SrV taxonomic group. The on-site detection of FDp with an affordable device would contribute to faster and more efficient decisions on the control measures for FDp. Therefore, a real-time isothermal LAMP assay for detection of FDp was validated according to the EPPO standards and MIQE guidelines. The LAMP assay was shown to be specific and extremely sensitive, because it detected FDp in all leaf samples that were determined to be FDp infected using quantitative real-time PCR. The whole procedure of sample preparation and testing was designed and optimized for on-site detection and can be completed in one hour. The homogenization procedure of the grapevine samples (leaf vein, flower or berry) was optimized to allow direct testing of crude homogenates with the LAMP assay, without the need for DNA extraction, and was shown to be extremely sensitive.
The Pricing Effects of Ambiguous Private Information

When private information is observed by ambiguity averse investors, asset prices may be informationally inefficient in rational expectations equilibrium. This inefficiency implies lower asset prices as uninformed investors require a premium to hold assets and higher return volatility relative to informationally efficient benchmarks. Moreover, asset returns are negatively skewed and may be leptokurtic. Inefficiency also leads to amplification in price of small changes in news, relative to informationally efficient benchmarks. Public information affects the nature of unrevealed private information and the informational inefficiency of prices. Asset prices may be lower (higher) with good (bad) public information.
Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems ( PACIS ) 2015 IT Governance as a Higher Order Capability

This paper utilises the resource-based view as a framework to examine the interactions between information technology (IT) governance, IT management and organisational information systems. Analysis of data collected from medium and large Australian organisations indicates that IT governance capabilities act to improve IT management capabilities which in turn improve the performance of organisational information systems, specifically future-oriented accounting information systems. We propose that these interactions represent the operation of an overarching organisational IT capability. Further analysis finds significant differences in the most effective combinations of IT governance and IT management mechanisms for organisations facing differing levels of environmental turbulence. This finding highlights the importance of utilising IT governance as a higher order organisational capability to reconfigure and align capabilities and resources in response to changing strategic requirements and environmental pressures.
Aerosol impacts on clouds and precipitation in eastern China: Results from bin and bulk microphysics

[1] Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a spectral-bin microphysics (“SBM”) and measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Mobile Facility field campaign in China (AMF-China), the authors examine aerosol indirect effects (AIE) in the typical cloud regimes of the warm and cold seasons in Southeast China: deep convective clouds (DCC) and stratus clouds (SC), respectively. Comparisons with a two-moment bulk microphysics (“Bulk”) are performed to gain insights for improving bulk schemes in estimating AIE in weather and climate simulations. For the first time, measurements of aerosol and cloud properties acquired in China are used to evaluate model simulations to better understand aerosol impact on clouds in the southeast of China. It is found that changes in cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration significantly change the timing of storms, the spatial and temporal distributions of precipitation, the frequency distribution of precipitation rate, as well as cloud base and top heights for the DCC, but not for the SC. Increasing CCN increases cloud droplet number (Nc) and mass concentrations, decreases raindrop number concentration, and delays the onset of precipitation. Compared with SBM, Bulk predicts much higher Ncand the opposite CCN effects on convection and heavy rain, stemming from the fixed CCN prescribed in Bulk. CCN have a significant effect on ice microphysical properties with SBM but not Bulk and different condensation/deposition freezing parameterizations employed could be the main reason. This study provided insights to further improve the bulk scheme to better account for aerosol-cloud interactions in regional and global climate simulations, which will be the focus for a follow-on paper.
Corporate Share Repurchases: What Role Do Stock Options Play?

This paper investigates how the growth of employee stock option programs has affected corporate payout policy. Given that earnings per share (EPS) is widely used in equity valuation, some corporations may opt to repurchase shares to avoid the dilution of EPS that may result from past stock option grants. Executives may also prefer distributing cash by repurchasing shares or retaining more earnings, as opposed to increasing dividends, to enhance the value of their own stock options. This paper tests the importance of these two hypotheses using both crosssectional and panel data on stock option programs. Employee stock options in general are associated with increased share repurchases and increased total payouts. Further, the positive relationship between options and share repurchases is stronger for firms with high stock returns (high stock returns lead to greater dilution of EPS from options). Analysis of panel data for a sample of large firms suggests that firms conduct an ongoing repurchase of shares over the life of an option that undoes much of the dilution to EPS that results from past stock option grants. Once total outstanding options are controlled for, there is no relationship between repurchases and the number of options held by upper management. However, the larger is the executives’ holding of stock options, the more apt the firm is to retain more earnings and curtail cash distributions. These findings are consistent with recent survey evidence regarding payout policy.
Monetary Policy Transmission under Zero Interest Rates: An Extended Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregression Approach

This paper attempts to explore monetary policy transmission under zero interest rates by explicitly incorporating the zero lower bound (ZLB) of nominal interest rates into the time-varying parameter structural vector autoregression model with stochastic volatility (TVP-VAR-ZLB). Nominal interest rates are modeled as censored variables with Tobit-type non-linearity and are incorporated into the TVP-VAR framework. For estimation, an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is constructed in the context of Bayesian inference. The model is applied to Japanese macroeconomic data, including the periods of the zero interest rates policy and the quantitative easing policy. The empirical results show that a dynamic relationship between monetary policy and macroeconomic variables operates through changes in medium-term interest rates rather than policy interest rates under the ZLB. However, the explicit consideration of the ZLB does not otherwise affect macroeconomic dynamics.
Title : Deep Brain Stimulation Reduces Neuronal Entropy in the MPTP-Primate Model of Parkinson ' s Disease Abbreviated title : DBS Reduces Neuronal Entropy

Deep Brain Stimulation Reduces Neuronal Entropy in the MPTP-Primate Model of Parkinson's Disease Abbreviated title: DBS Reduces Neuronal Entropy Authors & affiliations: Alan D. Dorval, Gary S. Russo, Takao Hashimoto, Weidong Xu, Warren M. Grill and Jerrold L. Vitek 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham NC 2 Department of Neuroscience, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland OH 3 Center for Neurological Diseases, Aizawa Hospital, Matsumoto, Japan Corresponding author: Alan D. Dorval Box 90281, FCIEMAS 1137 Dept. of Biomedical Engineering Duke University Durham, NC 27708 alan.dorval@duke.edu Number of figures: 8 Number of tables: 1 Number of pages: 33
Lead Phytochemicals for Anticancer Drug Development

Cancer is a serious concern at present. A large number of patients die each year due to cancer illnesses in spite of several interventions available. Development of an effective and side effects lacking anticancer therapy is the trending research direction in healthcare pharmacy. Chemical entities present in plants proved to be very potential in this regard. Bioactive phytochemicals are preferential as they pretend differentially on cancer cells only, without altering normal cells. Carcinogenesis is a complex process and includes multiple signaling events. Phytochemicals are pleiotropic in their function and target these events in multiple manners; hence they are most suitable candidate for anticancer drug development. Efforts are in progress to develop lead candidates from phytochemicals those can block or retard the growth of cancer without any side effect. Several phytochemicals manifest anticancer function in vitro and in vivo. This article deals with these lead phytomolecules with their action mechanisms on nuclear and cellular factors involved in carcinogenesis. Additionally, druggability parameters and clinical development of anticancer phytomolecules have also been discussed.
MODELS OF BINAURAL PERCEPTION

Introduction In this paper we would like to review some of the major trends of research in binaural modeling, particularly with regard to models based on the interaural cross-correlation of the auditory nerve response to the stimuli. The human binaural system has attracted the attention of auditory theorists since Lord Rayleigh's seminal investigations (Rayleigh, 1907). The " modern era " of binaural modeling can be said to have begun in 1948 with Jeffress's prescient paper suggesting a neural coincidence mechanism to detect interaural time difference. During that same year the original descriptions of the binaural masking-level difference were provided independently by Hirsh (1948) and Lick-lider (1948). A convenient starting point for this discussion is the classic review chapter of binaural models by Colburn and Durlach (1978). They described in detail models based on explicit detection of interaural differences (e. Carrier, 1970), models based on direct comparison of the amount of the " left-sided " and " right-sided " internal response to stimuli (e.g. models were developed primarily to describe results of experiments measuring binaural masking level differences (BMLDs). Domnitz and Colburn (1976) later demonstrated that, despite their apparent differences in structure, most of these models provide similar predictions for BMLDs measured with diotic maskers. In their summary, Colburn and Durlach (1978) noted that most of the contemporary models could be considered to be different implementations of the general structure shown in Fig. 1. This generic structure includes a series of peripheral processing steps including bandpass filtering and rectification, comparison of interaural timing information over a limited range of internal delays using a correlation or coincidence mechanism, consideration of interaural intensity differences of the outputs of monaural processors, and a subsequent decision-making mechanism. Since 1978, the basic structure described by Colburn and Durlach, and especially the cross-correlation mechanism used for the extraction of interaural timing information, has formed the basis of all subsequent models of binaural hearing. Other recent trends fostering the development of a broader theory of binaural perception include an increased reliance on computational (as opposed to analytical) approaches to predicting the phenomena, and efforts to make use of head-related transfer functions in attempts to understand the relative salience of the different available cues, and to mimic realistic sound fields using stimuli presented through headphones. At the same time, there has been increased attention paid to the development of models of more central physiological processing mechanisms, which may bear …
Building R&D Leadership and Credibility

OVERVIEW:Despite a consensus that R&D prowess is key to competitiveness, senior R&D managers often feel disenfranchised, cut off from opportunities to help their corporations manage technology for maximum advantage. IRI-sponsored interviews at 24 major corporations indicate that gaps often may exist between the type o f R&D leadership a company needs and the type it gets, and that R&D managers can close these gaps themselves by working to build their credibility with top managers. As exemplified by outstanding R&D leaders, best practices for building credibility include acting like a “technical businessman,” making R&D accountable to the corporation, and involving general managers in R&D decisions. The authors describe these practices in detail and offer guidelines for measuring leadership gaps and moving to close them.
Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 4G Suppresses Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay by Two Genetically Separable Mechanisms

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), which is best known for degrading mRNAs with premature termination codons (PTCs), is thought to be triggered by aberrant translation termination at stop codons located in an environment of the mRNP that is devoid of signals necessary for proper termination. In mammals, the cytoplasmic poly(A)-binding protein 1 (PABPC1) has been reported to promote correct termination and therewith antagonize NMD by interacting with the eukaryotic release factors 1 (eRF1) and 3 (eRF3). Using tethering assays in which proteins of interest are recruited as MS2 fusions to a NMD reporter transcript, we show that the three N-terminal RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) of PABPC1 are sufficient to antagonize NMD, while the eRF3-interacting C-terminal domain is dispensable. The RRM1-3 portion of PABPC1 interacts with eukaryotic initiation factor 4G (eIF4G) and tethering of eIF4G to the NMD reporter also suppresses NMD. We identified the interactions of the eIF4G N-terminus with PABPC1 and the eIF4G core domain with eIF3 as two genetically separable features that independently enable tethered eIF4G to inhibit NMD. Collectively, our results reveal a function of PABPC1, eIF4G and eIF3 in translation termination and NMD suppression, and they provide additional evidence for a tight coupling between translation termination and initiation.