Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short Rate Nonlinearities and Regime Switches

Using non-parametric estimation methods, various authors have shown distinct non-linearities in the drift and volatility function of the US short rate, which are inconsistent with standard affine term structure models. We document how a regime-switching model with state dependent transition probabilities between regimes can replicate the patterns found by the non-parametric studies. To do so, we use data from the UK and Germany in addition to US data and include term spreads in some of our models. We also examine the drift and volatility function of the term spread.
Tangible user interface laboratory: Teaching tangible interaction design in practice

Abstract Tangible interaction is an emerging field of human–computer interaction that links the digital and the physical worlds by embedding computation in physical artifacts and environments. This paper shares our experience teaching tangible interaction over the past 4 years in an interdisciplinary, project-based laboratory course at Tufts University. Although the course is offered through the Computer Science Department, it reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the field, merging product engineering practices with a design studio approach. With a diverse mix of students, this approach has fostered creativity and hands-on learning. Throughout the course students have created innovative interfaces that not only capture fundamental concepts of tangible interaction but also contribute novel techniques for supporting collaborative design. We discuss examples of student-created interfaces and illustrate the relationship between the methods employed in the course and the artifacts created. We also share our recommendations for implementing such a course in institutions with constraints similar to ours including a limited budget and minimal laboratory space.
The interplay between the anticipation and subsequent online processing of emotional stimuli as measured by pupillary dilatation: the role of cognitive reappraisal

Emotions can occur during an emotion-eliciting event, but they can also arise when anticipating the event. We used pupillary responses, as a measure of effortful cognitive processing, to test whether the anticipation of an emotional stimulus (positive and negative) influences the subsequent online processing of that emotional stimulus. Moreover, we tested whether individual differences in the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies are associated with pupillary responses during the anticipation and/or online processing of this emotional stimulus. Our results show that, both for positive and negative stimuli, pupillary diameter during the anticipation of emotion-eliciting events is inversely and strongly correlated to pupillary responses during the emotional image presentation. The variance in this temporal interplay between anticipation and online processing was related to individual differences in emotion regulation. Specifically, the results show that high reappraisal scores are related to larger pupil diameter during the anticipation which is related to smaller pupillary responses during the online processing of emotion-eliciting events. The habitual use of expressive suppression was not associated to pupillary responses in the anticipation and subsequent online processing of emotional stimuli. Taken together, the current data suggest (most strongly for individuals scoring high on the habitual use of reappraisal) that larger pupillary responses during the anticipation of an emotional stimulus are indicative of a sustained attentional set activation to prepare for an upcoming emotional stimulus, which subsequently directs a reduced need to cognitively process that emotional event. Hence, because the habitual use of reappraisal is known to have a positive influence on emotional well-being, the interplay between anticipation and online processing of emotional stimuli might be a significant marker of this well-being.
A Class-F CMOS Oscillator

An oscillator topology demonstrating an improved phase noise performance is proposed in this paper. It exploits the time-variant phase noise model with insights into the phase noise conversion mechanisms. The proposed oscillator is based on enforcing a pseudo-square voltage waveform around the LC tank by increasing the third-harmonic of the fundamental oscillation voltage through an additional impedance peak. This auxiliary impedance peak is realized by a transformer with moderately coupled resonating windings. As a result, the effective impulse sensitivity function (ISF) decreases thus reducing the oscillator's effective noise factor such that a significant improvement in the oscillator phase noise and power efficiency are achieved. A comprehensive study of circuit-to-phase-noise conversion mechanisms of different oscillators' structures shows the proposed class-F exhibits the lowest phase noise at the same tank's quality factor and supply voltage. The prototype of the class-F oscillator is implemented in TSMC 65-nm standard CMOS. It exhibits average phase noise of -136 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz offset from the carrier over 5.9-7.6 GHz tuning range with figure-of-merit of 192 dBc/Hz. The oscillator occupies 0.12 mm2 while drawing 12 mA from 1.25 V supply.
The Teacher Academic Buoyancy Scale: Is it possible to keep TABS on students' academic buoyancy?

Academic buoyancy (AB) is the ability to overcome minor academic setbacks. However, although it seems as though teachers would be well placed to comment on this characteristic in students, no teacher-report measure of AB exists. This study evaluates a teacher-report version of the widely used, student-report, Academic Buoyancy Scale (ABS). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unifactorial nature of the Teacher Academic Buoyancy Scale (TABS), and the scale showed excellent internal reliability. However, while there was some evidence for the criterion-related validity of the TABS, it showed very poor convergent validity with the ABS. It also correlated better with academic achievement than should theoretically be the case for a measure of AB. Further, AB estimates from the two measures were moderated by demographic characteristics: teachers rated girls and those not facing adversity as more buoyant, but the opposite was the case for self-reports. In sum, this study suggests a significant disjunction between teacher- and self-reports of AB, and that teacher estimates of AB are likely to be affected by salient, non-AB-related, student characteristics.
The Influence of Self-Efficacy on Satisfaction and Work-Related Performance

Previous studies show that there is an influence of self-efficacy on task performance. However, there is not much research that relates those variables with job satisfaction and task performance. Therefore, this research aims to know the influence of self-efficacy on satisfaction, work perception, and task performance. The population in this study are the employees. The total sample is 69 employees with purposive sampling technique. Data analysis of this study is a partial least squares approach (PLS). The result shows that there is a significant positive effect of self-efficacy on satisfaction and employeeÂ’s job perception that impact on the work-related performance. The results of this study recommend that the self-efficacy improves satisfaction and work perception.
Granzyme B Cleaves Decorin, Biglycan and Soluble Betaglycan, Releasing Active Transforming Growth Factor-β1

Objective Granzyme B (GrB) is a pro-apoptotic serine protease that contributes to immune-mediated target cell apoptosis. However, during inflammation, GrB accumulates in the extracellular space, retains its activity, and is capable of cleaving extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Recent studies have implicated a pathogenic extracellular role for GrB in cardiovascular disease, yet the pathophysiological consequences of extracellular GrB activity remain largely unknown. The objective of this study was to identify proteoglycan (PG) substrates of GrB and examine the ability of GrB to release PG-sequestered TGF-β1 into the extracellular milieu. Methods/Results Three extracellular GrB PG substrates were identified; decorin, biglycan and betaglycan. As all of these PGs sequester active TGF-β1, cytokine release assays were conducted to establish if GrB-mediated PG cleavage induced TGF-β1 release. Our data confirmed that GrB liberated TGF-β1 from all three substrates as well as from endogenous ECM and this process was inhibited by the GrB inhibitor 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin. The released TGF-β1 retained its activity as indicated by the induction of SMAD-3 phosphorylation in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells. Conclusion In addition to contributing to ECM degradation and the loss of tissue structural integrity in vivo, increased extracellular GrB activity is also capable of inducing the release of active TGF-β1 from PGs.
A Sentinel-1 based hot-spot analysis: landslide mapping in north-western Italy

ABSTRACT The 6-days repeatability of Sentinel-1 constellation allows building up an interferometric stack with unprecedented velocity. Easily updatable hot-spot analyses, frequently repeated following the update of Sentinel-1 images, represent very useful tools for MTInSAR (Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data analysis. Mountain regions are a challenging environment for interferometric analyses because of their climatic, morphological and land cover characteristics. In this context, MTInSAR data can retrieve reliable information over wide areas, with high cost-benefits ratio and where the installation of ground-based devices is not feasible. Considering the well-known limitations of interferometric techniques (such as fast motions or temporal and spatial decorrelation), hot-spot analyses are a viable solution for semi-automatic ground movements extraction over mountain regions. In this work, we present an example of a hot-spot analysis applied to a large stack of MTInSAR products generated by means of SqueeSAR technique over an alpine region (Valle d’Aosta, north-western Italy). The obtained outputs allow detecting 277 moving areas connected to landslides and mass wasting processes in general. These products are intended to be implemented in the landslide risk management chain of the region, focusing on landslide state of activity definition and landslide mapping.
SemEval-2014 Task 9: Sentiment Analysis in Twitter

We describe the Sentiment Analysis in Twitter task, ran as part of SemEval-2014. It is a continuation of the last year’s task that ran successfully as part of SemEval2013. As in 2013, this was the most popular SemEval task; a total of 46 teams contributed 27 submissions for subtask A (21 teams) and 50 submissions for subtask B (44 teams). This year, we introduced three new test sets: (i) regular tweets, (ii) sarcastic tweets, and (iii) LiveJournal sentences. We further tested on (iv) 2013 tweets, and (v) 2013 SMS messages. The highest F1score on (i) was achieved by NRC-Canada at 86.63 for subtask A and by TeamX at 70.96 for subtask B.
History and the Global Ecology of Squamate Reptiles

The structure of communities may be largely a result of evolutionary changes that occurred many millions of years ago. We explore the historical ecology of squamates (lizards and snakes), identify historically derived differences among clades, and examine how this history has affected present‐day squamate assemblages globally. A dietary shift occurred in the evolutionary history of squamates. Iguanian diets contain large proportions of ants, other hymenopterans, and beetles, whereas these are minor prey in scleroglossan lizards. A preponderance of termites, grasshoppers, spiders, and insect larvae in their diets suggests that scleroglossan lizards harvest higher energy prey or avoid prey containing noxious chemicals. The success of this dietary shift is suggested by dominance of scleroglossans in lizard assemblages throughout the world. One scleroglossan clade, Autarchoglossa, combined an advanced vomeronasal chemosensory system with jaw prehension and increased activity levels. We suggest these traits provided them a competitive advantage during the day in terrestrial habitats. Iguanians and gekkotans shifted to elevated microhabitats historically, and gekkotans shifted activity to nighttime. These historically derived niche differences are apparent in extant lizard assemblages and account for some observed structure. These patterns occur in a variety of habitats at both regional and local levels throughout the world.
The Nematicidal Effect of Camellia Seed Cake on Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne javanica of Banana

Suppression of root-knot nematodes is crucially important for maintaining the worldwide development of the banana industry. Growing concerns about human and environmental safety have led to the withdrawal of commonly used nematicides and soil fumigants, thus motivating the development of alternative nematode management strategies. In this study, Meloidogyne javanica was isolated, and the nematicidal effect of Camellia seed cake on this pest was investigated. The results showed that in dish experiments, Camellia seed cake extracts under low concentration (2 g/L) showed a strong nematicidal effect. After treatment for 72 h, the eggs of M. javanica were gradually dissolved, and the intestine of the juveniles gradually became indistinct. Nematicidal compounds, including saponins identified by HPLC-ESI-MS and 8 types of volatile compounds identified by GC-MS, exhibited effective nematicidal activities, especially 4-methylphenol. The pot experiments demonstrated that the application of Camellia seed cake suppressed M. javanica, and promoted the banana plant growth. This study explored an effective nematicidal agent for application in soil and revealed its potential mechanism of nematode suppression.
DWARF TILLER1, a WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Transcription Factor, Is Required for Tiller Growth in Rice

Unlike many wild grasses, domesticated rice cultivars have uniform culm height and panicle size among tillers and the main shoot, which is an important trait for grain yield. However, the genetic basis of this trait remains unknown. Here, we report that DWARF TILLER1 (DWT1) controls the developmental uniformity of the main shoot and tillers in rice (Oryza sativa). Most dwt1 mutant plants develop main shoots with normal height and larger panicles, but dwarf tillers bearing smaller panicles compared with those of the wild type. In addition, dwt1 tillers have shorter internodes with fewer and un-elongated cells compared with the wild type, indicating that DWT1 affects cell division and cell elongation. Map-based cloning revealed that DWT1 encodes a WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factor homologous to the Arabidopsis WOX8 and WOX9. The DWT1 gene is highly expressed in young panicles, but undetectable in the internodes, suggesting that DWT1 expression is spatially or temporally separated from its effect on the internode growth. Transcriptomic analysis revealed altered expression of genes involved in cell division and cell elongation, cytokinin/gibberellin homeostasis and signaling in dwt1 shorter internodes. Moreover, the non-elongating internodes of dwt1 are insensitive to exogenous gibberellin (GA) treatment, and some of the slender rice1 (slr1) dwt1 double mutant exhibits defective internodes similar to the dwt1 single mutant, suggesting that the DWT1 activity in the internode elongation is directly or indirectly associated with GA signaling. This study reveals a genetic pathway synchronizing the development of tillers and the main shoot, and a new function of WOX genes in balancing branch growth in rice.
Resonant tank and transformer design in series resonant converter

The objective of this paper is to establish the industrial design procedure of the resonant tank components and HF transformer in series-resonant converter or inverter. Based on the analysis of the main operation principles of the resonant tank and HF transformer, an industrial design process of these components is given by considering the design requirements which is acquired via the simulation; utilizing the aforementioned components, a 1 KW series-resonant inverter prototype has been constructed, and the validity of the design procedure has been proved via the experimental results.
Angry birds of passage – migrant rights networks and counter-hegemonic resistance to global migration discourses

ABSTRACT The past decade has seen the emergence of a global migration governance architecture. But while – unlike other ‘objects’ of global governance – migrants are able to speak for themselves, only limited participatory space has been reserved for them in global processes. In reaction to this glaring democratic deficit, migrant organizations try to challenge and bring about change in the nascent global migration regime. Drawing from neo-Gramscian approaches, this paper analyses the various political spaces where a cluster of migrant rights organizations and ‘networks of networks’ express and organize resistance and counter-hegemonic discourses to the current paradigms within global migration governance. Particularly, this article focuses on two spaces of organizing: the International Assembly of Migrants and Refugees (IAMR), held by the International Migrants Alliance (IMA), and the Churches Witnessing With Migrants (CWWM) wherein temporary labour migrants, often referred to as ‘birds of passage’, form a large part of their constituency.
STRAIN-RATE SENSITIVE BEHAVIOR OF CEMENT PASTE AND MORTAR IN COMPRESSION

The strain-rate sensitivity of the cement paste and mortar constituents of concrete is studied experimentally. Saturated cement paste and mortar specimens are loaded in compression to 15,000 microstrains, 27 to 29 days after casting, using strain rates ranging from 0.3 to 300,000 microstrains/sec. Water-cement ratios of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 are used. Strain-rate sensitivity of the material is measured in terms of the initial elastic moduli, maximum stress, and corresponding strain. The initial elastic moduli and the strength of cement paste and mortar increase by 7% and 15%, respectively, with each order of magnitude increase in strain rate. The strain at the maximum stress is the greatest for the lowest strain rate. With an increase in strain rate, the strain at the maximum stress first decreases and then increases.
Zoledronic acid inhibits macrophage SOCS3 expression and enhances cytokine production

Suppressor of cytokine signaling‐3 (SOCS3) has multiple functions including inhibition of Janus kinase (Jak) activity, regulation of protein degradation, and suppression of cytokine signaling. SOCS3 modulates macrophage response to cytokines such as IL‐6 and leptin that are systemically induced in obesity. Obesity is a suspected risk factor for SOCS3‐related pathology such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease as well as zoledronic acid (ZA)‐induced osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ). Thus, understanding the ability of bisphosphonates to modulate SOCS3 is necessary to qualify their contribution to these disorders. ONJ occurs in up to 10% of patients using intravenous bisphosphonates and has an unknown pathogenesis that may be linked to decreased bone turnover, altered vascularity, bacterial invasion, and compromised wound healing. Given the increased risk of ONJ with obesity and importance of macrophages in wound healing, we hypothesized that amino‐bisphosphonates could contribute to the pathogenesis of ONJ by regulating macrophage responses to cytokines such as leptin and IL‐6. We report that ZA is a novel inhibitor of SOCS3 in primary macrophages and human ONJ biopsy specimens. Inhibition of SOCS3 by ZA resulted in significant increases in IL‐6 production. SOCS3 transcription is regulated by nuclear accumulation of phosphorylated‐Stat3 (P‐Stat3). We found that ZA decreased phosphorylation of Stat3 in a mevalonate‐pathway dependent manner. However, restoration of P‐Stat3 was not sufficient to correct SOCS3 inhibition. We propose that disruption of macrophage SOCS3 expression by amino‐bisphosphonates such as ZA may be a novel contributor to inflammatory phenotypes in obesity and the pathogenesis of ONJ. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 3364–3372, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Gating signal generator for multiphase voltage source inverters using space vector PWM

This work systematically analyzes space vector pulse-width modulation (PWM) for a multiphase voltage source inverter (VSI). The instantaneous output voltages of the VSI, which are called space vectors, can be classified according to the switching states of the VSI. By applying the eigen-space decomposition of the system matrix, the n-phase VSI control problem can be solved analytically. This analysis leads to a switching strategy that uses the fewest space vectors and minimum total conduction time. This yields a maximum linear modulation index and minimum switching number. The analysis reveals that the implementation of the modulator needs only adders and comparators and the computation complexity is independent of the phase number. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Youth perspectives on parents’ involvement in residential care in Israel

Summary This exploratory study deals with biological parents’ involvement in residential placement in Israel from the point of view of 79 youth who left care. It presents youth’s retrospectives on their parents’ involvement in care and the degree to which the placement staff involved parents in reality. The youth functioning while in care and after leaving were also examined according to their parents’ involvement. Findings Results show that only a quarter of the youth reported that staff involved their parents on a regular basis. T-tests and chi square tests showed significant differences in functioning between young adults with high and low parental involvement. Youth whose parents were more involved had better educational achievement in care and after and reported significantly lower involvement in risky behaviors than those with lower parental involvement. However, no group differences were found regarding outcomes in adjustment to military service and financial status. Applications The findings emphasize the gaps in parental involvement in care by staff and the potential contribution of engaging biological parents in the lives of their children while in care and toward emancipation.
Fractal Weyl law for open quantum chaotic maps

We study the semiclassical quantization of Poincar\'e maps arising in scattering problems with fractal hyperbolic trapped sets. The main application is the proof of a fractal Weyl upper bound for the number of resonances/scattering poles in small domains near the real axis. This result encompasses the case of several convex (hard) obstacles satisfying a no-eclipse condition.
USING MARTINGALE RESIDUALS TO ASSESS GOODNESS-OF-FIT FOR SAMPLED RISK SET DATA ⁄

Standard use of Cox’s regression model and other relative risk regression models for censored survival data requires collection of covariate information on all individuals under study even when only a small fraction of them die or get diseased. For such situations risk set sampling designs ofier useful alternatives. For cohort data, methods based on martingale residuals are useful for assessing the flt of a model. Here we introduce grouped martingale residual processes for sampled risk set data, and show that plots of these processes provide a useful tool for checking model-flt. Further we study the large sample properties of the grouped martingale residual processes, and use these to derive a formal goodness-of-flt test to go along with the plots. The methods are illustrated using data on lung cancer deaths in a cohort of uranium miners.