Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigating supervisory-level activity awareness displays for command and control operations

This paper describes a preliminary study that investigates new information visualization and data fusion concepts to help provide situation and activity awareness to mission commanders overseeing teams of unmanned vehicle operations engaged in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. These display concepts are based on the design concept of activity awareness – a design approach focused on improving planning and coordination in teamwork through intelligent sharing of group activity information. In order to begin evaluating how well these display concepts facilitate supervisory-level decision making, we conducted an exploratory laboratory user experiment. In the study, participants assumed the role of a mission commander overseeing a team of three unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators (played by members of the experiment team) who are each controlling three (simulated) UAVs. This paper presents results from this experiment and subsequent design revisions that were made in response to these study findings.
The Structure of the Small Annual Model

This volume contains a detailed description of the structure and sectoral properties of the Bank of Canada's Small Annual Model, SAM. The SAM model, constructed in the Research Department of the Bank, is designed for medium- to long-term simulation. It is small by econometric model standards; the version described in this report has 25 stochastic […]
Evershed Clouds as Precursors of Moving Magnetic Features around Sunspots

The relation between the Evershed flow and moving magnetic features (MMFs) is studied using high-cadence, simultaneous spectropolarimetric measurements of a sunspot in visible (630.2 nm) and near-infrared (1565 nm) lines. Doppler velocities, magnetograms, and total linear polarization maps are calculated from the observed Stokes profiles. We follow the temporal evolution of two Evershed clouds that move radially outward along the same penumbral filament. Eventually, the clouds cross the visible border of the spot and enter the moat region, where they become MMFs. The flux patch farther from the sunspot has the same polarity of the spot, while the MMF closer to it has opposite polarity and exhibits abnormal circular polarization profiles. Our results provide strong evidence that at least some MMFs are the continuation of the penumbral Evershed flow into the moat. This, in turn, suggests that MMFs are magnetically connected to sunspots.
Network slicing games: Enabling customization in multi-tenant networks

Network slicing to enable resource sharing among multiple tenants-network operators and/or services-is considered a key functionality for next generation mobile networks. This paper provides an analysis of a well-known model for resource sharing, the ‘share-constrained proportional allocation’ mechanism, to realize network slicing. This mechanism enables tenants to reap the performance benefits of sharing, while retaining the ability to customize their own users' allocation. This results in a network slicing game in which each tenant reacts to the user allocations of the other tenants so as to maximize its own utility. We show that, under appropriate conditions, the game associated with such strategic behavior converges to a Nash equilibrium. At the Nash equilibrium, a tenant always achieves the same, or better, performance than under a static partitioning of resources, hence providing the same level of protection as such static partitioning. We further analyze the efficiency and fairness of the resulting allocations, providing tight bounds for the price of anarchy and envy-freeness. Our analysis and extensive simulation results confirm that the mechanism provides a comprehensive practical solution to realize network slicing. Our theoretical results also fill a gap in the literature regarding the analysis of this resource allocation model under strategic players.
Coskewness and Conditional Asset Pricing

Post, Levy and van Vliet (2003) show that previous tests of the 3M-CAPM, including those reported by Harvey and Siddique (2000), fail to check whether the risk aversion condition is satisfied. We confirm that, within an unconditional 3M-CAPM, the gamma coefficient turns out to be insignificant when the risk aversion condition is imposed. However, using a conditional 3M-CAPM specification that allows for time-variation in the stochastic discount factor parameters, we find that the gamma premium estimate is indeed of a significant magnitude.
Meta-Analysis of Intra-Industry FDI Spillovers: Updated Evidence

Using 67 published and unpublished studies, we conduct a meta-analysis of the literature on intra-industry productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment. The combined significance test of individual t-statistics is inconclusive, but it is apparent that papers published in leading journals tend to report insignificant results. Meta-regression analysis confirms that cross-sectional and industry-level studies are likely to find relatively strong spillover effects and that the choice of the proxy for foreign presence is important. The pattern, however, seems to weaken over time. Evidence for publication selection bias was detected employing the funnel asymmetry test, and the spillover effect corrected for publication bias is not significantly different from zero.
Log-Periodogram Regression Of Time Series With Long Range Dependence

This paper discusses the use of fractional exponential models (Robinson (1990), Beran (1994)) to model the spectral density f(x) of a covariance stationary process when f(x) may be decomposed as f(x) = x ? 2d f (x), where f (x) is bounded and bounded away from zero. A form of log-periodogram regression technique is presented both in the parametric context (i.e. f (x) is a nite order exponential model in the sense of Bloommeld (1973)) and the semi-parametric context (f (x) is regarded as a nuisance parameter). Assuming gaussianity and additional conditions on the regularity of f (x) which seem mild, asymptotic normality of the parameter estimates in the parametric and the semi-parametric context is established. As a by-product, some improvements over the results presented by Robinson (1994) have been obtained for the large sample distribution of log-periodogram ordinates for Gaussian processes.
Recruitment of Language-, Emotion- and Speech-Timing Associated Brain Regions for Expressing Emotional Prosody: Investigation of Functional Neuroanatomy with fMRI

We aimed to progress understanding of prosodic emotion expression by establishing brain regions active when expressing specific emotions, those activated irrespective of the target emotion, and those whose activation intensity varied depending on individual performance. BOLD contrast data were acquired whilst participants spoke non-sense words in happy, angry or neutral tones, or performed jaw-movements. Emotion-specific analyses demonstrated that when expressing angry prosody, activated brain regions included the inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri, the insula, and the basal ganglia. When expressing happy prosody, the activated brain regions also included the superior temporal gyrus, insula, and basal ganglia, with additional activation in the anterior cingulate. Conjunction analysis confirmed that the superior temporal gyrus and basal ganglia were activated regardless of the specific emotion concerned. Nevertheless, disjunctive comparisons between the expression of angry and happy prosody established that anterior cingulate activity was significantly higher for angry prosody than for happy prosody production. Degree of inferior frontal gyrus activity correlated with the ability to express the target emotion through prosody. We conclude that expressing prosodic emotions (vs. neutral intonation) requires generic brain regions involved in comprehending numerous aspects of language, emotion-related processes such as experiencing emotions, and in the time-critical integration of speech information.
The Economics of Product Patents

This paper develops a model of product patents in which the patent changes the nature of market entry behavior rather than preventing entry entirely. The model incorporates three levels of action, namely, the innovator's patenting decision, the potential entrant's location decision, and possible court action. The analysis demonstrates how the characteristics of the patents system and the enforcement framework can influence rivals' variety choices and, thus, the market equilibrium. It also considers how the system can, in principle, be adjusted to improve social welfare. Copyright 1990 by American Economic Association.
An Ecological Approach to the Evolution of Organism Complexity

How evolution led to complex life is one of the great questions. This paper describes simulations that investigate the role of ecological interactions in the evolution of complexity. Webworld is a robust model of evolution in food webs. It is extended for variability of organism complexity under evolution. Statistical and network analysis indicates a clear tendency for complexification within the model, led by adaptations that initially disconnect the species from trophic interactions. This suggests a process where short term fitness is increased by less connection to the ecosystem, but long term fitness is insured by incorporation within the ecosystem. Certainly it suggests a greater role for ecosystems in the evolution of complexity.
Bled Econference Eintegration in Action Internet Users' Privacy Concerns and Attitudes towards Government Surveillance – an Exploratory Study of Cross- Cultural Differences between Italy and the United States

This study examines cross-cultural differences in individual's privacy concerns and attitudes towards government surveillance as related to e-commerce use for Italy and the United States. We argue that for both cultures the user's decision to make a purchase is influenced by privacy concerns, perceived need for security provided by the government and the balancing concerns for government intrusion. The empirical model was tested using LISREL structural equation modeling. To better understand the differences across the two cultures fro privacy perceptions and attitudes toward government, we incorporate dimensions from two of the most influential cultural theories – Hofstede's (2003) individualism/collectivism, and Fukuyama's (1995) theory of trust and social capital. The results support the hypotheses of the study in terms of direction and relative magnitude.
Neural Systems Supporting the Control of Affective and Cognitive Conflicts

Abstract Although many studies have examined the neural bases of controlling cognitive responses, the neural systems for controlling conflicts between competing affective responses remain unclear. To address the neural correlates of affective conflict and their relationship to cognitive conflict, the present study collected whole-brain fMRI data during two versions of the Eriksen flanker task. For these tasks, participants indicated either the valence (affective task) or the semantic category (cognitive task) of a central target word while ignoring flanking words that mapped onto either the same (congruent) or a different (incongruent) response as the target. Overall, contrasts of incongruent > congruent trials showed that bilateral dorsal ACC, posterior medial frontal cortex, and dorsolateral pFC were active during both kinds of conflict, whereas rostral medial pFC and left ventrolateral pFC were differentially active during affective or cognitive conflict, respectively. Individual difference analyses showed that separate regions of rostral cingulate/ventromedial pFC and left ventrolateral pFC were positively correlated with the magnitude of response time interference. Taken together, the findings that controlling affective and cognitive conflicts depends upon both common and distinct systems have important implications for understanding the organization of control systems in general and their potential dysfunction in clinical disorders.
A Chimera Analysis of Prestin Knock-Out Mice

A chimera is a genetic composite containing a unique mix of cells derived from more than one zygote. This mouse model allows one to learn how cells of contrasting genotype functionally interact in vivo. Here, we investigate the effect that different proportions of prestin-containing outer hair cells (OHC) have on cochlear amplification. To address this issue, we developed a prestin chimeric mouse in which both ROSA26 wild-type (WT) and prestin knock-out (KO) genotypes are present in a single cochlea. The WT ROSA26 mice express a cell marker, allowing one to identify cells originating from the WT genome. Examination of cochlear tissue indicated that prestin chimeric mice demonstrate a mosaic in which mutant and normal OHCs interleave along the cochlear partition, similar to all other chimeric mouse models. The anatomical distribution of prestin-containing OHCs was compared with physiological data including thresholds and tuning curves for the compound action potential (CAP) recorded in anesthetized mice. Analysis of these measures did not reveal mixed phenotypes in which the distribution of prestin-containing OHCs impacted sensitivity and frequency selectivity to different degrees. However, by reducing the number of prestin-containing OHCs, phenotypes intermediate between WT and KO response patterns were obtained. Accordingly, we demonstrate a proportional reduction in sensitivity and in the tip length of CAP tuning curves as the number of OHCs derived from the KO genome increases; i.e., genotype ratio and phenotype are closely related.
Osmotic Properties of Human Red Cells

The hematocrit method as a technique for determining red cell volume under anisotonic conditions has been reexamined and has been shown, with appropriate corrections for trapped plasma, to provide a true measure of cell volume. Cell volume changes in response to equilibration in anisotonic media were found to be much less than those predicted for an ideal osmometer; this anomalous behavior cannot be explained by solute leakage or by the changing osmotic coefficient of hemoglobin, but is quantitatively accounted for by the hypothesis that 20 per cent of intracellular water is bound to hemoglobin and is unavailable for participation in osmotic shifts.
Impact of Pay-for-Performance on Work Motivation of Sales Personnel: A Case of Information Media Firms

The usage of pay-for-performance for the management of human resources is constantly growing. However, estimations about the efficiency of applying this are contradictory. The current paper describes the reasons for the contradictory results, suggests an expectations theory based model as an appropriate framework for analysing the pay-for-performance as motivator and presents results of an empirical research about the effects of pay-for-performance on motivation.A reason for the contradictions lies in the fact that the pay-for-performance problems are based on different areas of research and its effectiveness depends primarily on management practices. Pay-for-performance is basically a stimulus, the purpose of which is to direct peopleA­s behaviour and influence their work motivation. Therefore, a prerequisite for creating and implementing effective pay-for-performance systems is using psychology and the principles about the mechanisms of human behaviour. The authors are of the opinion that one of such possibilities is a model based on expectations theory. The empirical research seeks to analyse the motivating effect of pay-for-performance on sales personnel and to study the role of pay-for-performance rates on motivation
Dynamically triggered star formation in giant molecular clouds

A Lagrangian, particle-based numerical method (tree-code gravity plus smoothed particle hydrodynamics) is used to simulate clump-clump collisions occurring within giant molecular clouds. The collisions examined are between 75-M⊙ clumps at a relative Mach number of M = 3. The clumps are modelled using isothermal spheres which are individually in stable equilibrium. The collisions form shock-compressed layers, out of which condense approximately coplanar protostellar discs of 7–60M⊙ mass and 500–1000 au radius. Binary and multiple systems are the usual final state. Lower mass objects are also produced, but commonly undergo disruption or merger. Such objects occasionally survive by being ejected via a three-body slingshot event resulting from an encounter with a binary system. The impact parameter b denotes how offset the clumps are from one another, with low values corresponding to near-head-on collisions, and high values corresponding to grazing collisions. Varying b alters the processes by which the protostellar systems form. At low b a single central disc forms initially, and is then spun up by an accretion flow, causing it to produce secondaries via rotational instabilities. At mid b the shocked layer which forms initially breaks up into fragments, and discs are then formed via fragment mergers. At large b single objects form within the compressed leading edge of each clump. These become unbound from each other as b is increased further. The effect of changing numerical factors is examined by (i) colliding clumps that have been re-oriented before the collision (thus altering the initial particle noise), and (ii) quadrupling the number of particles in each clump (thus increasing the resolution of the simulation). Both changes are found to affect the small-scale details of a collision, but leave the large-scale morphology largely unaltered. It is concluded that clump-clump collisions provide a natural mechanism by which multiple protostellar systems may form.
Is Mandatory Retirement Overrated? Evidence from the 1970s

In this paper we argue that mandatory retirement is only one aspect of a much broader system that influences an individual's retirement decision. We look at responses over time to variations in mandatory retirement rules faced by a sample of private-sector workers aged 62-64 in 1973. This is done within a model that specifically includes the economic incentives present in Social Security and pension systems. We find that the impact of a mandatory retirement rule on work is considerably smaller than a simple comparison of those with and without mandatory retirement would imply.
What Is the Impact of a Low Interest Rate Environment on Bank Profitability

The economic conditions and low interest rate environment of recent years have been challenging for banks that rely on a wide spread between long- and short-maturity yields to generate earnings. The authors’ analysis indicates that a low interest rate environment is associated with decreased profitability for banks, particularly for small institutions. However, the estimated negative effects on bank profits are economically small and are outweighed by the likely positive effects on profits of low interest rates boosting economic activity.
Exercise for the heart: signaling pathways

Physical exercise, a potent functional intervention in protecting against cardiovascular diseases, is a hot topic in recent years. Exercise has been shown to reduce cardiac risk factors, protect against myocardial damage, and increase cardiac function. This improves quality of life and decreases mortality and morbidity in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction, cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury, diabetic cardiomyopathy, cardiac aging, and pulmonary hypertension. The cellular adaptation to exercise can be associated with both endogenous and exogenous factors: 1) exercise induces cardiac growth via hypertrophy and renewal of cardiomyocytes, and 2) exercise induces endothelial progenitor cells to proliferate, migrate and differentiate into mature endothelial cells, giving rise to endothelial regeneration and angiogenesis. The cellular adaptations associated with exercise are due to the activation of several signaling pathways, in particular, the growth factor neuregulin1 (NRG1)-ErbB4-C/EBPβ and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1-PI3k-Akt signaling pathways. Of interest, microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) such as miR-222 also play a major role in the beneficial effects of exercise. Thus, exploring the mechanisms mediating exercise-induced benefits will be instrumental for devising new effective therapies against cardiovascular diseases.
Novel Strategy for Non-Targeted Isotope-Assisted Metabolomics by Means of Metabolic Turnover and Multivariate Analysis

Isotope-labeling is a useful technique for understanding cellular metabolism. Recent advances in metabolomics have extended the capability of isotope-assisted studies to reveal global metabolism. For instance, isotope-assisted metabolomics technology has enabled the mapping of a global metabolic network, estimation of flux at branch points of metabolic pathways, and assignment of elemental formulas to unknown metabolites. Furthermore, some data processing tools have been developed to apply these techniques to a non-targeted approach, which plays an important role in revealing unknown or unexpected metabolism. However, data collection and integration strategies for non-targeted isotope-assisted metabolomics have not been established. Therefore, a systematic approach is proposed to elucidate metabolic dynamics without targeting pathways by means of time-resolved isotope tracking, i.e., “metabolic turnover analysis”, as well as multivariate analysis. We applied this approach to study the metabolic dynamics in amino acid perturbation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In metabolic turnover analysis, 69 peaks including 35 unidentified peaks were investigated. Multivariate analysis of metabolic turnover successfully detected a pathway known to be inhibited by amino acid perturbation. In addition, our strategy enabled identification of unknown peaks putatively related to the perturbation.
Behavioral and clinical factors associated with depression among individuals with diabetes.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to determine the behavioral and clinical characteristics of diabetes that are associated with depression after controlling for potentially confounding variables. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A population-based mail survey was sent to patients with diabetes from nine primary care clinics of a health maintenance organization. The Patient Health Questionnaire was used to diagnose depression, and automated diagnostic, pharmacy, and laboratory data were used to measure diabetes treatment intensity, HbA(1c) levels, and diabetes complications. RESULTS Independent factors that were associated with a significantly higher likelihood of meeting criteria for major depression included younger age, female sex, less education, being unmarried, BMI > or = >30 kg/m(2), smoking, higher nondiabetic medical comorbidity, higher numbers of diabetes complications in men, treatment with insulin, and higher HbA(1c) levels in patients <65 years of age. Independent factors associated with a significantly higher likelihood of meeting criteria for minor depression included younger age, less education, non-Caucasian status, BMI > or = 30 kg/m(2), smoking, longer duration of diabetes, and a higher number of complications in older (> or = 65 years) patients. CONCLUSIONS Smoking and obesity were associated with a higher likelihood of meeting criteria for major and minor depression. Diabetes complications and elevated HbA(1c) were associated with major depression among demographic subgroups: complications among men and HbA(1c) among individuals <65 years of age. Older patients with a higher number of complications had an increased likelihood of minor depression.