Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term stability of spotted regions and the activity-induced Rossiter-McLaughlin effect on V889 Herculis - A synergy of photometry, radial velocity measurements, and Doppler imaging

Context. The young active G-dwarf star V889 Herculis (HD 171488) shows pronounced spots in Doppler images as well as large variations in photometry and radial velocity (RV) measurements. However, the lifetime and evolution of its active regions are not well known. Aims. We study the existence and stability of active regions on the star’s surface using complementary data and methods. Furthermore, we analyze the correlation of spot-induced RV variations and Doppler images. Methods. Photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy are used to examine stellar activity. A CLEAN-like Doppler imaging (DI) algorithm is used to derive surface reconstructions. We study high-precision RV curves to determine their modulation due to stellar activity in analogy to the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. To this end we develop a measure for the shift of a line’s center and compare it to RV measurements. Results. We show that large spotted regions are present on V889 Her for more than one year, remaining similar in their large scale structure and position. This applies to several time periods of our observations, which cover more than a decade. We use DI line profile reconstructions to identify the influence of long-lasting starspots on RV measurements. In this way we verify the RV curve’s agreement with our Doppler images. Based on long-term RV data we confirm V889 Her’s rotation period of 1.3371 ± 0.0002 days.
Clientelistic budget cycles: evidence from health policy in the Italian regions

ABSTRACT Political budget cycles (PBCs), namely the manipulation of taxation or government spending close to elections, are an enduring topic in the study of economic policy-making. While the literature explains their occurrence based on information asymmetries between incumbents and voters, we argue that a source of variation in the extent of PBCs is, via the effect of clientelism, the level of economic development. In jurisdictions where voters have few economic opportunities outside those provided by the government, they will be highly dependent on the incumbents for their income. The latter can thus use clientelistic tools, such as their control over employment in the public sector, for electoral purposes. This argument is assessed with a study of health personnel spending in the Italian regions.
Innovation and Power in Food Supply Chains: The Case of the Potato Sector in the UK

This paper deals with innovation in supply chains and discusses the effects that its organisation (e.g., bargaining power along the chain) might bring on innovation and ultimately to the sustainability of the chain. The analysis was carried out considering the case of the UK potato sector and by comparing three case studies: the first two consider the situation of a supply chain that sells fresh potatoes to retailers (one in South England and another in Scotland), whilst the third one consists of a supply chain that produces potatoes to be further processed. The results indicate that the supply chain leader plays an important role in both in the organisation of the chain and in the initialisation, management and success of the innovation
Inequality and Bi-Polarization in Socioeconomic Status and Health: Ordinal Approaches

Traditional indices of bi-dimensional inequality and polarization were developed for cardinal variables and cannot be used to quantify dispersion in ordinal measures of socioeconomic status and health. This paper develops two approaches to the measurement of inequality and bi-polarization using only ordinal information. An empirical illustration is given for 24 European Union countries in 2004-2006 and 2011. Results suggest that inequalities and bi-polarization in income and health are especially large in Estonia and Portugal, and that inequalities have significantly increased in recent years in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands, whereas bi-polarization significantly decreased in France, Portugal, and the UK.
Intercloud Directory and Exchange Protocol Detail Using XMPP and RDF

Working groups have proposed building a layered set of protocols to solve the Cloud Computing interoperability challenge called “Intercloud Protocols”. Instead of each cloud provider establishing connectivity with another cloud provider in a Point-to-Point manner resulting in the n2 complexity problem, Intercloud Directories and Exchanges will act as mediators for enabling connectivity and collaboration among disparate cloud providers. Point to Point protocols such as HTTP are not suitable beyond 1-to-1 models, therefore the discussions around many-to-many mechanisms have been proposed, including XMPP. This paper details the use of an XMPP mechanism for such mediation. On top of that, for the federation of the resources themselves, we define a resources catalog approach, using the Semantic Web Resource Definition Framework (RDF) along with a common Ontology of Cloud Computing Resources to work across a variety of heterogeneous cloud providers.
An Anisotropic Phong BRDF Model

Abstract We present a BRDF model that combines several advantages of the various empirical models currently in use. In particular, it has intuitive parameters, is anisotropic, conserves energy, is reciprocal, has an appropriate non-Lambertian diffuse term, and is well-suited for use in Monte Carlo renderers.
A simple mechanism for improving the throughput of reliable multicast

Single-rate reliable multicast protocols are known to have scalability problems in the presence of a large number of receivers because the sender cannot distinguish independent packet losses at different receivers from multiple packet losses at the same receiver. In the presence of a large number of receivers, the sender may perceive a large aggregate packet loss even if no individual receiver is highly congested. Consequently, the multicast session progresses at a much slower rate than its desired sending rate. In order to solve this problem, we argue for decoupling of the mechanisms to achieve congestion control and reliability in reliable multicast protocols, and present a very simple "loss notification"-based multicast congestion control mechanism that can be used to augment both ACK-based and NAK-based reliable multicast protocols and solve the independent packet loss problem. We illustrate the efficacy of our approach via simulations using the ns2 simulator.
A modified leaky integrator network for temporal pattern processing

A modified leaky integrator, that is, a neuron model that generates continuous output according to its activation history, is proposed for temporal pattern processing. A modified leaky integrator network is described, and its applicability to temporal pattern processing is discussed theoretically. The learning algorithm for the modified leaky integrator network is presented, and the efficiency in temporal pattern processing is shown through simulations. <<ETX>>
The Relationship between Genes, Personality Traits, and Political Interest

Political interest is one of the strongest predictors of individual political engagement, but little is known about the origins of this political orientation. The goal of this paper is to clarify the role that biological and psychological factors play in the formation of political interest. A series of recent studies in genetics have illustrated that political interest is heritable, and a series of recent studies in political science and psychology have demonstrated that personality traits, many of which are heritable, are related to political interest. In this paper, we make a number of contributions to the literature: (1) we replicate previous analyses showing that political interest and personality traits are heritable, (2) we demonstrate that personality traits are related to interest, and (3) we estimate the extent to which genetic factors account for the correlation between personality traits and political interest. Using two datasets on twins, we find evidence that genetic factors account for a large amount of the correlation between political interest and personality traits. This study provides a more nuanced picture of the biological and psychological bases of political orientations.
A Conceptual Model of e-Government Acceptance in Public Sector

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model for e-Government acceptance in public sector which is one of the least studied aspects of e-Government. The proposed model uses theories from technology acceptance and success and the diffusion of ICT-related innovations. It integrates constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the theoretical extension of the TAM (TAM2), the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), the Updated DeLone and McLean (D&M) IS Success Model, trust and risk literature, to explain and analyze the factors influencing public officers’ acceptance of e-Government services. The conceptual model, as well as providing a foundation for further empirical testing, will have some practical issue to government decision makers as it synthesizes much of the current research regarding to e-Government acceptance into a single model. It will have important policy and strategy implications for helping government in increasing public officers’ acceptance of e-Government usage.
Capital Asset Pricing Model: An application to the estimation of undivided real estate shares

The estimate of undivided and indivisible real estate shares, in relation to different building types represents, in practice application, a recurring underestimated by the professional appraisers. This problem requires finding a logical solution that can to rationalize the process the process of estimation of undivided shares, given that these shares are more difficult to sell and, consequently, there is a decrease of their market value. It follows that in this estimative case the problem can be lead, both in theoretical and practical terms, to assessment of specific real estate investment’s risk and how to convert the measure of risk into an expected return that can compensate it. In this framework, the proposed contribution aims to implement the Capital Asset Pricing Model with Penalized Spline Semiparametric Method in order to obtain an estimation algorithm that allows to rationalize the approach to the problem of estimation of undivided real estate shares using data easy to find.
Kurtosis Based Blind Source Extraction of Complex Noncircular Signals with Application in EEG Artifact Removal

An online blind extraction algorithm, suitable for the generality of complex-valued sources, both complex circular and noncircular, is introduced. This is achieved based on higher order statistics of latent sources, and using the deflation approach. The novelty of the proposed approach is that the cost function is designed so as to be robust to both circular and noncircular second order additive noise. The analysis is supported by simulations in both noise-free and noisy scenarios, and by practical example of conditioning of EEG signals for the removal of artifacts.
Diagnostic accuracy of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) for detecting major depression in pregnant and postnatal women: protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analyses

Introduction Studies of the diagnostic accuracy of depression screening tools often used data-driven methods to select optimal cut-offs. Typically, these studies report results from a small range of cut-off points around whatever cut-off score is identified as most accurate. When published data are combined in meta-analyses, estimates of accuracy for different cut-off points may be based on data from different studies, rather than data from all studies for each cut-off point. Thus, traditional meta-analyses may exaggerate accuracy estimates. Individual patient data (IPD) meta-analyses synthesise data from all studies for each cut-off score to obtain accuracy estimates. The 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is commonly recommended for depression screening in the perinatal period. The primary objective of this IPD meta-analysis is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of the EPDS to detect major depression among women during pregnancy and in the postpartum period across all potentially relevant cut-off scores, accounting for patient factors that may influence accuracy (age, pregnancy vs postpartum). Methods and analysis Data sources will include Medline, Medline In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Studies that include a diagnosis of major depression based on a validated structured or semistructured clinical interview administered within 2 weeks of (before or after) the administration of the EPDS will be included. Risk of bias will be assessed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Bivariate random-effects meta-analysis will be conducted for the full range of plausible cut-off values. Analyses will evaluate data from pregnancy and the postpartum period separately, as well as combining data from all women in a single model. Ethics and dissemination This study does not require ethics approval. Dissemination will include journal articles and presentations to policymakers, healthcare providers and researchers. Systematic review registration PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015024785.
Crisis management or crisis response system

Purpose – To offer a complexity‐informed framework for the design of an effective organizational crisis response system.Design/methodology/approach – A narrative analysis of the crisis response in a hotel chain facing a major food poisoning outbreak, seen from a complexity theory perspective. Data were collected through 17 in‐depth interviews of persons involved in the crisis response and through analysis of secondary data.Findings – The analysis identified weaknesses in the chain's crisis response and complexity theory provided a good theoretical foundation of the proposals to overcome them.Practical implications – Organizations should redefine the role of crisis management plans and crisis management teams. An effective crisis response should be viewed as a living (co‐evolving) system within the organization. By adopting complexity principles the organization can make this system far more effective.Originality/value – The paper is among the very few that deal with crisis management from a complexity per.
Essays on financial development and growth in Sub-Saharan African countries

This thesis investigates the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa for the period 1970-2005. The first chapter assesses three growth theories using panel data. The study lends empirical credence to the endogenous growth theory, but finds weak evidence for growthimpact of financial development in the region. The study suggests that financial development is important for economic growth in the presence of highly developed human capital and other institutional factors. The first essay finds growth-complementarity feature between financial development and human capital in the region. In the second empirical essay, the thesis investigates the determinants of financial development in the region. In particular, it analyses the impact of spatial externality on financial development in SSA for the period of 1970-2005 in a dynamic panel data framework that uses the Arellano and Bond GMM estimator. The findings of this chapter suggest that the financial system is geographically sensitive, and thus not immune to spatial externality. The findings suggest that spatial effects may include crowding-out of domestic credit market, enhancing competition among banks and promoting efficient resource allocation for overall economic growth. Finally, the third empirical essay investigates the relationship between finance and growth in a panel data framework. It suggests another channel by which this nexus can be analysed. The study uses a panel cointegration test to assess the long run relationship between finance and growth in the presence of spatial externality. The study finds empirical support for the demand-following hypothesis. It also indicates that there is a long run impact of spatial externality on financial development in particular and economic growth in general for the sample countries in the study. This chapter suggests a regional framework for the relationship between finance and growth.
Comparative Genomics of Ethanolamine Utilization

ABSTRACT Ethanolamine can be used as a source of carbon and nitrogen by phylogenetically diverse bacteria. Ethanolamine-ammonia lyase, the enzyme that breaks ethanolamine into acetaldehyde and ammonia, is encoded by the gene tandem eutBC. Despite extensive studies of ethanolamine utilization in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, much remains to be learned about EutBC structure and catalytic mechanism, about the evolutionary origin of ethanolamine utilization, and about regulatory links between the metabolism of ethanolamine itself and the ethanolamine-ammonia lyase cofactor adenosylcobalamin. We used computational analysis of sequences, structures, genome contexts, and phylogenies of ethanolamine-ammonia lyases to address these questions and to evaluate recent data-mining studies that have suggested an association between bacterial food poisoning and the diol utilization pathways. We found that EutBC evolution included recruitment of a TIM barrel and a Rossmann fold domain and their fusion to N-terminal α-helical domains to give EutB and EutC, respectively. This fusion was followed by recruitment and occasional loss of auxiliary ethanolamine utilization genes in Firmicutes and by several horizontal transfers, most notably from the firmicute stem to the Enterobacteriaceae and from Alphaproteobacteria to Actinobacteria. We identified a conserved DNA motif that likely represents the EutR-binding site and is shared by the ethanolamine and cobalamin operons in several enterobacterial species, suggesting a mechanism for coupling the biosyntheses of apoenzyme and cofactor in these species. Finally, we found that the food poisoning phenotype is associated with the structural components of metabolosome more strongly than with ethanolamine utilization genes or with paralogous propanediol utilization genes per se.
of Birmingham What causes IOR? Attention or perception? Manipulating cue and target luminance in either blocked or mixed condition

Inhibition of return (IOR) refers to the performance disadvantage when detecting a target presented at a previously cued location. The current paper contributes to the long-standing debate whether IOR is caused by attentional processing or perceptual processing. We present a series of four experiments which varied the cue luminance in mixed and blocked conditions. We hypothesized that if inhibition was initialized by an attentional process the size of IOR should not vary in the blocked condition as participants should be able to adapt to the level of cue luminance. However, if a perceptual process triggers inhibition both experimental manipulations should lead to varying levels of IOR. Indeed, we found evidence for the latter hypothesis. In addition, we also varied the target luminance in blocked and mixed condition. Both manipulations, cue luminance and target luminance, affected IOR in an additive fashion suggesting that the two stimuli affect human behaviour on different processing stages. ms IOR (p < 0.001) at SOA 800 ms. The same analyses were conducted for the dim cue conditions. The ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of SOA (F (1.88, 33.75) = 47.47, p < 0.001) and a validity × SOA interaction (F (3, 54) = 29.54, p < 0.01). The Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparison tests showed that there was a significant 22.16 ms facilitation effect (p < 0.001) at SOA 50 ms; a significant 26.78 ms IOR effect (p < 0.001) at SOA 500 ms and a significant 14.82 ms IOR effect (p < 0.01) at SOA
Coarse grained reconfigurable architectures in the past 25 years: Overview and classification

Reconfigurable architectures become more popular now general purpose compute performance does not increase as rapidly as before. Field programmable gate arrays are slowly moving into the direction of Coarse Grain Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRA) by adding DSP and other coarse grained IP blocks, general purpose processors become more heterogeneous and include sub-word parallelism and even some reconfigurable logic. In the past 25 years, several CGRAs have been published. In this paper an overview and classification of these architectures is presented. This work also provides a clear definition of CGRAs and identifies topics for future research which are key to unlock the full potential of CGRAs.
Foreign direct investment and the multinational enterprise

The multinational firm and its main vehicle, foreign direct investment, are key forces in economic globalization. Their importance to the world economy can be seen in the fact that since 1990 foreign direct investment has grown more rapidly than the world GDP and world trade. Despite this, the causes and consequences of multinational firm activity are little understood and until recently relatively unexamined in the theoretical literature. This CESifo volume fills this gap, examining the multinational enterprise (MNE) and foreign direct investment (FDI) from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. In the theoretical chapters, leading scholars take a wide range of modern analytical approaches--from new growth and trade theories to new economic geography, industrial organization, and game theory. Taking current theoretical work on MNE and FDI as a starting point and aiming to extend the existing theoretical framework, the contributors consider such topics as investment liberalization and firm location, tax competition, and welfare consequences of FDI and outsourcing. The empirical chapters test several of the key hypotheses of recent theoretical work on MNE and FDI, examining topics that include productivity effects on Italian MNEs, the different effects of outsourcing in Austria and Poland, location decisions of MNEs in the European Union, and other topics.
FBL2 Regulates Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) Metabolism by Promoting Ubiquitination-Dependent APP Degradation and Inhibition of APP Endocytosis

The ubiquitin–proteasome pathway is a major protein degradation pathway whose dysfunction is now widely accepted as a cause of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Here we demonstrate that the F-box and leucine rich repeat protein2 (FBL2), a component of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, regulates amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism through APP ubiquitination. FBL2 overexpression decreased the amount of secreted amyloid β (Aβ) peptides and sAPPβ, whereas FBL2 mRNA knockdown by siRNA increased these levels. FBL2 overexpression also decreased the amount of intracellular Aβ in Neuro2a cells stably expressing APP with Swedish mutation. FBL2 bound with APP specifically at its C-terminal fragment (CTF), which promoted APP/CTF ubiquitination. FBL2 overexpression also accelerated APP proteasome-dependent degradation and decreased APP protein localization in lipid rafts by inhibiting endocytosis. These effects were not observed in an F-box-deleted FBL2 mutant that does not participate in the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. Furthermore, a reduced insoluble Aβ and Aβ plaque burden was observed in the hippocampus of 7-month-old FBL2 transgenic mice crossed with double-transgenic mice harboring APPswe and PS1M146V transgenes. These findings indicate that FBL2 is a novel and dual regulator of APP metabolism through FBL2-dependent ubiquitination of APP.