Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Contemporary Central Banks Transparent About Economic Models and Objectives and What Difference Does it Make?

This paper documents the opaqueness of central banks about the economic models they use to choose policy but argues that this is largely due to the lack of consensus about the correct model of the economy within the economic profession. The latter is illustrated by contrasting three currently popular models of the transmission mechanism. Although the inflation targets of Western central banks are currently quite clear they tend to be hazy about their output targets and about whether they are strictor flexible inflation targeters (in Svensson's (1997) sense), and in the second case, how flexible. They are remarkably silent about the shape of their loss function in the entire range of output gaps. The second part of the paper first reviews the case for believing that at least some central banks are, given inflation, more averse to negative than to positive output gaps and then investigates the consequences of this asymmetry for average inflation. It is shown, for both an expactations augmented Phillips curve as well as for a New -Keynesian transmission mechanism, that in the presence of uncertainty about the upcoming state of the economy flexible inflation targeters with assymetric objectives induce an onflation bias even if their output target is the potential level. Furtehrmore the inflationary tendencies of policymakers who believe in sticky prices are stronger than of those who do not. But, provided prices are really in sticky, the economy is non neutral even in the long run, and the policies of the former also induce a higher level of output. The consequences of transparency about those mechanisms for credibility are evaluated.
Stochastic resonance of the visually evoked potential

Stochastic resonance refers to the enhancement of a signal by the addition of a small amount of noise and its degradation by a larger amount of noise. It occurs in a variety of physical systems including neuronal systems. However, its demonstration in neuronal systems has so far been limited to single-dimensional systems such as a single mechanoreceptor. We report here the existence of stochastic resonance in the visually evoked potential, a very high-dimensional neuronal system. @S1063-651X~99! 51203-8#
A systems perspective on the effective connectivity of overt speech production

The aim of this study was to provide a computational system model of effective connectivity in the human brain underlying overt speech production. Meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies and functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired during a verbal fluency task revealed a core network consisting of Brodmann's area (BA) 44 in Broca's region, anterior insula, basal ganglia, cerebellum, premotor cortex (PMC, BA 6) and primary motor cortex (M1, areas 4a/4p). Dynamic causal modelling (DCM) indicated the highest evidence for a system architecture featuring the insula in a serial position between BA 44 and two parallel nodes (cerebellum/basal ganglia), from which information converges onto the PMC and finally M1. Parameter inference revealed that effective connectivity from the insular relay into the cerebellum/basal ganglia is primarily task driven (preparation) while the output into the cortical motor system strongly depends on the actual word production rate (execution). DCM hence allowed not only a quantitative characterization of the human speech production network, but also the distinction of a preparatory and an executive subsystem within it. The proposed model of physiological integration during speech production may now serve as a reference for investigations into the neurobiology of pathological states such as dysarthria and apraxia of speech.
Twisted cyclic theory, equivariant KK-theory and KMS states

Abstract Given a C*-algebra A with a KMS weight for a circle action, we construct and compute a secondary invariant on the equivariant K-theory of the mapping cone of , both in terms of equivariant KK-theory and in terms of a semifinite spectral flow. This in particular puts the previously considered examples of Cuntz algebras [Carey, Phillips, Rennie, Twisted cyclic theory and the modular index theory of Cuntz algebras] and SU q (2) [Carey, Rennie, Tong, J. Geom. Phys. 59: 1431–1452, 2009] in a general framework. As a new example we consider the Araki–Woods III λ representations of the Fermion algebra.
User Assessment of Internet-Based Negotiation Support Systems: An Exploratory Study

The Web-based negotiation support system (NSS) Inspire has been used in experimental negotiations by over 2,000 students and professionals worldwide. Feedback from a survey conducted among the users shows that more than 80% would use a NSS similar to Inspire to prepare and practice negotiations and 61% would use such a system to conduct actual negotiations. In this article we present an assessment model for Internet-based systems (AMIS) to analyze factors that led to this attitude. The empirical results indicate that the intention to use a system in the future is strongly influenced by the users' assessment of the system. Furthermore, users differentiate between various components of a NSS, and analytical features are evaluated differently from communication features. In addition, actual outcomes of negotiations and the users' experience as well as national culture strongly influence system assessment. We conclude that (a) there is generally a relatively positive attitude towards new technologies such as Web-based NSS, (b) that user characteristics need to be considered to develop effective negotiation support, and (c) that acceptance of different features of a system can vary to a considerable extent for users having a different background.
Naturalizing negativity: how journalism textbooks justify crime, conflict, and “bad” news

ABSTRACT This critical analysis of U.S. journalism textbooks from 1894 to 2016 shows how texts across decades have (re)constructed a discourse of damage through news values emphasizing and rationalizing conflict and bad news. Findings are reported in the context of literature suggesting that negative news values foster a distorted sense of social relations, increase fear, and depress civic participation. Literature also indicates that non-journalists often view news through less conflict-oriented, and more value-laden, frames, suggesting that journalistic values are not natural or inevitable but subject to change. The discourse in journalism textbooks can be a key site for understanding and influencing journalism culture. Constructive alternatives to the dominant discourse are suggested.
Isolation Rearing Reduces Neuronal Excitability in Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells of Adolescent C57BL/6J Mice: Role of GABAergic Tonic Currents and Neurosteroids

Early-life exposure to stress, by impacting on a brain still under development, is considered a critical factor for the increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders and abuse of psychotropic substances during adulthood. As previously reported, rearing C57BL/6J weanling mice in social isolation (SI) from their peers for several weeks, a model of prolonged stress, is associated with a decreased plasma and brain levels of neuroactive steroids such as 3α,5α-THP, with a parallel up-regulation of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors (GABAAR) in dentate gyrus (DG) granule cells compared to group-housed (GH) mice. In the present study, together with the SI-induced decrease in plasma concentration of both progesterone and 3α,5α-THP, and an increase in THIP-stimulated GABAergic tonic currents, patch-clamp analysis of DG granule cells revealed a significant decrease in membrane input resistance and action potential (AP) firing rate, in SI compared to GH mice, suggesting that SI exerts an inhibitory action on neuronal excitability of these neurons. Voltage-clamp recordings of glutamatergic spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) revealed a SI-associated decrease in frequency as well as a shift from paired-pulse (PP) depression to PP facilitation (PPF) of evoked EPSCs, indicative of a reduced probability of glutamate release. Daily administration of progesterone during isolation reverted the changes in plasma 3α,5α-THP as well as in GABAergic tonic currents and neuronal excitability caused by SI, but it had only a limited effect on the changes in the probability of presynaptic glutamate release. Overall, the results obtained in this work, together with those previously published, indicate that exposure of mice to SI during adolescence reduces neuronal excitability of DG granule cells, an effect that may be linked to the increased GABAergic tonic currents as a consequence of the sustained decrease in plasma and hippocampal levels of neurosteroids. All these changes may be consistent with cognitive deficits observed in animals exposed to such type of prolonged stress.
On the Use of the Wirtinger Inequalities for Time-Delay Systems

The paper addresses the stability problem of linear time delay system. In the literature, the most popular approach to tackle this problem relies on the use of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals. Many results have proposed new functionals and techniques for deriving less and less conservative stability conditions. Nevertheless, all these approaches use the same trick, the well-known Jensen's inequality which generally induces some conservatism difficult to overcome. In light of those observations, we propose to reduce the conservatism of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals by introducing new classes of integral inequalities called Wirtinger inequalities. This integral type inequality is rstly shown to encompass Jensen's inequality and is then employed to derive new stability conditions. To this end, a slightly modi ed Lyapunov functional is proposed. Several examples illustrate the e ectiveness of our methodology.
Multiple lifestyle behaviours and overweight and obesity among children aged 9–11 years: results from the UK site of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the independent associations between multiple lifestyle behaviours (physical activity, sleep, screen time (ST) and diet) and overweight and obesity in UK children. The second objective was to compare body mass index (BMI) z-score between children who meet health guidelines for each lifestyle behaviour and those who do not and to explore the impact of interactions between lifestyle behaviours on BMI z-score. Design, setting and participants Cross-sectional study on children aged 9–11 years in the UK (n=374). Outcome measures Participants were classified as overweight or obese using the WHO BMI cut-points. Moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sleep duration were measured using an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer, whereas ST and dietary habits were assessed using questionnaires. Multilevel multiple logistic regression was employed to analyse associations between lifestyle behaviours and overweight/obesity. Participants were then categorised according to whether or not they met specific health criteria for MVPA, ST, sleep and diet. Multilevel multiple linear regression was used to compare these groupings on the outcome of BMI z-score and interactions were explored. Results MVPA and longer sleep duration were associated with lower odds of overweight or obesity, whereas ST and a healthy diet score were associated with increased odds of overweight/obesity. No association was found for an unhealthy diet score. Meeting MVPA guidelines was significantly associated with a lower BMI z-score in all models, and significant two-way interactions were observed for physical activity and sleep, ST and sleep, and physical activity and diet. Conclusions MVPA, sleep and ST are important lifestyle behaviours associated with overweight/obesity among children. More research is required to confirm the role of diet on adiposity and such work would benefit from objective assessment. Overall, this work suggests that strategies aimed at improving compliance with health guidelines are needed. Trial registration number: NCT01722500.
Transformations in the Visual Representation of a Figural Pattern

ABSTRACT Multiple representations of a given mathematical object/concept are one of the biggest difficulties encountered by students. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the use of visual representations in teaching and learning algebra. In this paper, we analyze the transformations from and to visual representations that were performed by 18 students (aged between 10 and 13) in a task designed to explore a figural pattern. The data were collected from an audio recording of the class, the students’ work, and the teacher’s notes about each lesson. The results confirm that visual representations are important. However, visual treatments of any kind of representation are decisive, since they give students other possibilities for seeing and understanding tasks, continuity and flexibility in their activities, and the ability to make conversions between representations. The creative realization of visual treatments is necessary, and the teacher has a significant role in helping students to learn how to do this.
Bounds of Riesz Transforms on $L^p$ Spaces for Second Order Elliptic Operators

Soit £ = -div (A(x)*) un operateur elliptique du second ordre a coefficients reels mesurables bornes symetriques sur R n ou sur un domaine a bord Lipschitzien, soumis a une condition au bord de type Dirichlet. Pour tout p > 2, nous obtenons une condition necessaire et suffisante pour que la transformee de *(£) - 1 / 2 soit bornee sur l'espace L P . A titre d'application, nous etablissons pour 1 < p < 3 + ∈, le caractere borne en norme L p des transformees de Riez d'operateurs a coefficients VMO sur les domaines a bord Lipschitzien. L'intervalle obtenu pour p est optimal. Nous etudions egalement si *(£) - 1 / 2 est borne dans les espaces L 2 a poids.
On speed control of induction motors

Espinosa and Ortega (1994) presented an output feedback globally stable speed tracking controller for induction motors. An important feature of the scheme is that it does not require state observers, thus reducing the computational burden, a critical limiting factor in physical implementations. The performance of the scheme is limited by the fact that the convergence rate of the speed tracking errors is determined by the natural mechanical damping of the motor. In this brief note the authors overcome this drawback and show that by simple linear filtering of the speed tracking error one can inject mechanical damping to the closed loop. This allows the authors to improve the transient performance of the scheme in position and speed tracking applications without significantly increasing the computational requirements, while preserving the global stability properties. Further, it is shown that if the inverter can be modelled as a current source and the desired speed is constant, the authors' passivity-based scheme exactly reduces to the well known indirect field-oriented control scheme, hence providing a solid theoretical foundation to this popular control strategy.
Variety of Power Sums and Divisors in the Moduli Space of Cubic Fourfolds

We show that a cubic fourfold F that is apolar to a Veronese surface has the property that its variety of power sums VSP(F,10) is singular along a K3 surface of genus 20. We prove that these cubics form a divisor in the moduli space of cubic fourfolds and that this divisor is not a Noether-Lefschetz divisor. We use this result to prove that there is no nontrivial Hodge correspondence between a very general cubic and its VSP.
Nonparametric Bootstrap Procedures for Predictive Inference Based on Recursive Estimation Schemes

Our objectives in this paper are twofold. First, we introduce block bootstrap techniques that are (first order) valid in recursive estimation frameworks. Thereafter, we present two examples where predictive accuracy tests are made operational using our new bootstrap procedures. In one application, we outline a consistent test for out-of-sample nonlinear Granger causality, and in the other we outline a test for selecting amongst multiple alternative forecasting models, all of which are possibly misspecified. More specifically, our examples extend the White (2000) reality check to the case of non vanishing parameter estimation error, and extend the integrated conditional moment tests of Bierens (1982, 1990) and Bierens and Ploberger (1997) to the case of out-of-sample prediction. In both examples, appropriate re-centering of the bootstrap score is required in order to ensure that the tests have asymptotically correct size, and the need for such re-centering is shown to arise quite naturally when testing hypotheses of predictive accuracy. In a Monte Carlo investigation, we compare the finite sample properties of our block bootstrap procedures with the parametric bootstrap due to Kilian (1999); all within the context of various encompassing and predictive accuracy tests. An empirical illustration is also discussed, in which it is found that unemployment appears to have nonlinear marginal predictive content for inflation.
Parameterising the Third Dredge-up in Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

Abstract We present new evolutionary sequences for low and intermediate mass stars (1−6M ⊙) for three different metallicities, Z = 0.02, 0.008, and 0.004. We evolve the models from the pre-main sequence to the thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch phase. We have two sequences of models for each mass, one which includes mass loss and one without mass loss. Typically 20 or more pulses have been followed for each model, allowing us to calculate the third dredge-up parameter for each case. Using the results from this large and homogeneous set of models, we present an approximate fit for the core mass at the first thermal pulse, M c 1, as well as for the third dredge-up efficiency parameter, λ, and the core mass at the first dredge-up episode, M c min, as a function of metallicity and total mass. We also examine the effect of a reduced envelope mass on the value of λ.
The outcomes of patients with severe dengue admitted to intensive care units

Abstract Outcomes of adult patients with dengue infections requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admissions remain unclear. We assessed the clinical manifestations and prognostic factors of patients critically ill with severe dengue. This retrospective study was done in a tertiary referral hospital with 96 adult ICU beds. All of the patients with laboratory-confirmed severe dengue infections and admitted to the ICU were enrolled between July 31 and November 31, 2015, during the large outbreak period. The medical records of all the recruited patients were reviewed for the following information: age, gender, clinical manifestations, disease severity scores, underlying conditions, laboratory examinations, and outcomes. The primary endpoint was to find the predictors of ICU mortality. During the study period, 4787 patients with dengue infections required ICU admission. One hundred forty-three (2.99%) were critically ill (mean age: 69.7 years). Hypertension (n = 90, 62.9%) and diabetes mellitus (n = 70, 49.0%) were the 2 most common underlying diseases. Eighty critically ill patients (55.9%) had cobacterial infections, and 33 had cobacteremia. The hematologic system failed most often, followed by thoracic and cardiovascular systems. Fever was the most common presentation (n = 112; 78.3%), followed by anorexia (n = 47; 32.9%) and abdominal pain (n = 46; 32.2%). Overall, 33 patients died (mortality rate: 23.1%). Multivariate analysis showed that ICU mortality was significantly associated with lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, lower platelet counts before ICU discharge, and more organ failures. The number of severe dengue patients who require ICU admission remains high. The mortality rate was associated with lower GCS scores, lower platelet counts, and more organ failures. In addition, more than half of the critically ill dengue patients had comorbid bacterial infections.
The Politics of Donations: Are Red Counties More Donative Than Blue Counties?

This article integrates parallel literatures about the determinants of redistribution across place. Using regression-based path analysis, we explore how tax burden mediates the relationship between political conditions and charitable contributions. Our analysis indicates that counties with a higher proportion of people voting Republican report higher charitable contributions, and tax burden partially mediates this relationship. However, the effect of political ideology on charitable contributions is nonlinear. As the proportion voting Republican in non-Republican-dominated counties increases, the predicted levels of charitable giving actually decreases. In contrast, as the proportion voting Republican increases in Republican-dominated counties, charitable contributions increase. Higher levels of political competition decrease charitable giving, again with partial mediation by tax burden. We also find that the “crowding in” effect of lower tax burdens on charitable giving only partially compensates for the loss of public revenue. Ultimately, total levels of redistribution—both private and government—are higher in Democratic-leaning counties.
Anaphylactic and Anaphylactoid Reactions Associated With Lepirudin in Patients With Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia

Background—Lepirudin (Refludan) is a hirudin derivative. It is a direct thrombin inhibitor obtained by recombinant technology from the medicinal leech and is approved for treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia complicated by thrombosis. Because 3 cases of fatal anaphylaxis possibly associated with use of lepirudin have been reported, we initiated an investigation of putative lepirudin-associated anaphylaxis. Methods and Results—Aided by the manufacturer (Schering AG, Berlin, Germany), we used the lepirudin study databases to identify all patients in whom possible anaphylaxis/severe allergy was recorded from 1994 to September 2002. The 26 possible cases identified were reviewed independently by 2 investigators. After excluding patients with mild skin reactions, reactions likely caused by concomitant medications, poorly documented cases, and reactions that did not correspond temporally with lepirudin use, there remained 9 patients judged to have had severe anaphylaxis in close temporal association with lepirudin. All reactions occurred within minutes of intravenous lepirudin administration, with 4 fatal outcomes (3 acute cardiorespiratory arrests, 1 hypotension-induced myocardial infarction). In these 4 cases, a previous uneventful treatment course with lepirudin was identified (1 to 12 weeks earlier). We recorded high-titer IgG-anti-lepirudin antibodies in an additional patient with anaphylaxis. Because lepirudin has been used in ≈35 000 patients, the risk of anaphylaxis is ≈0.015% (5 of 32 500) on first exposure and 0.16% (4 of 2500) in reexposed patients (7.5% estimated reexposures). Conclusion—Lepirudin can cause fatal anaphylaxis, particularly in patients who are treated within 3 months of a previous exposure. The overall risk/benefit assessment of lepirudin as a treatment for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia remains favorable.