Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Behaviour of Income Velocity in Tanzania 1967-94

Tanzania's rapid expansion in domestic credit since the late 1960s has resulted in an increasing growth in money supply. This was given particular significance in the structural adjustment programme adopted in 1982 and the three-year economic recovery programme of 1986, commonly referred to as ERP-I, which was extended to ERP-II, also referred to as economic and social action programme.
Evolutionary programming with cloning and adaptive cost function applied to multi-user DS-CDMA systems

A new utilization form for the evolutionary programming (EP) algorithm applied to multi-user DS-CDMA (direct sequence code division multiple access) systems in a synchronous AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) channel is proposed. In order to find the maximum likelihood (ML) solution, the variance matrix for the generation of new candidates was expressed as a function of the following parameters: E/sub b//N/sub 0/; near-far ratio (NFR); cost function (fitness value). A cloning strategy procedure was introduced where the best vectors with the bit-candidates were cloned, reducing drastically the required time for the algorithm convergence to the single user bound (SuB) performance. An improvement in the convergence process was obtained using a parallel interference canceller with soft decision (SD-PIC) for initial vector generation.
On the capacity of write-unidirectional memories with nonperiodic codes

Write-unidirectional memories (WUMs) were introduced by Willems, Vinck, and Borden as an information-theoretic model for storing and updating information on a rewritable medium with the writing constraints: During the odd (resp., even) cycles of updating information, the encoder can only write 1's (resp., 0's) in selected bit positions of WUMs, and not change the contents of other positions. In this correspondence, motivated by the research works of Wolf, Wyner, Ziv, and Ko/spl uml/rner on write-once memories (WOMs), we study the problem of how to reuse a WUM for fixed T successive cycles with nonperiodic codes (i.e., all coding strategies are permitted for every cycle). For the situation where the encoder knows and the decoder does not know the previous content of the memory, we determine the zero-error capacity region, the average capacity, and the maximum total number of information bits stored in the WUM for fixed T successive cycles. Motivated by the research works of Heegard on WOMs with symmetric input noise, we introduce two models of WUMs with symmetric or asymmetric input noise. By using /spl epsiv/-error as performance criterion, we extend the above results for WUMs to the two models of WUMs with symmetric or asymmetric input noise.
Analysis of Parallel Algorithms for Matrix Chain Product and Matrix Powers on Distributed Memory Systems

Given N matrices A<sub>1</sub>, A<sub>2,</sub>. ,A<sub>N</sub> of size NtimesN, the matrix chain product problem is to compute A<sub>1</sub>timesA<sub>2</sub>times.timesA<sub>N</sub>. Given an NtimesN matrix A, the matrix powers problem is to calculate the first N powers of A, that is, A, A<sup>2</sup>, A<sup>3</sup>,. , A<sup>N</sup>. We solve the two problems on distributed memory systems (DMSs) with p processors that can support one-to-one communications in T(p) time. Assume that the fastest sequential matrix multiplication algorithm has time complexity O(N<sup>alpha</sup>), where the currently best value of a is less than 2.3755. Let p be arbitrarily chosen in the range 1lesplesN<sup>alpha+1</sup>/(log N)<sup>2</sup>. We show that the two problems can be solved by a DMS with p processors in T<sub>chain</sub>(N,p)=O((N<sup>alpha+1</sup>/p)+T(p))((N<sup>2(2+1/alpha</sup>/p<sup>2/alpha</sup>)(log+p/N)<sup>1-2/alpha</sup>+log+((p log N)/N<sup>alpha</sup>)) and T<sub>power</sub> (N,p)=O(N<sup>alpha+1</sup>/p+T(p)((N<sup>2(1+1/alpha)</sup>/p<sup>2/alpha</sup>)(log+p/2 log N)<sup>1-2/alpha</sup>+(log N)<sup>2</sup>))) times, respectively, where the function log+ is defined as follows: log+ x=log x if xges1 and log+ x=1 if 0<x<1. We also give instantiations of the above results on several typical DMSs and show that computing matrix chain product and matrix powers are fully scalable on distributed memory parallel computers (DMPCs), highly scalable on DMSs with hypercubic networks, and not highly scalable on DMSs with mesh and torus networks.
Concurrence en contrats, anti-sélection et structure d'information

This paper generalizes the work of Rothschild and Stiglitz [1976], and is dealing with a game where two principals compete for an agent, when the agent has private information. The studied game has an efficient equilibrium, when the payoff of the principal does not depend on private information. Competition in markets with asymmetric information does not always imply loss of efficiency. An explain in terms of type of uncertainty is proposed.
Recurrent Residual Learning for Sequence Classification

In this paper, we explore the possibility of leveraging Residual Networks (ResNet), a powerful structure in constructing extremely deep neural network for image understanding, to improve recurrent neural networks (RNN) for modeling sequential data. We show that for sequence classiﬁcation tasks, incorporating residual connections into recurrent structures yields similar accuracy to Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) RNN with much fewer model parameters. In addition, we propose two novel models which combine the best of both residual learning and LSTM. Experiments show that the new models signiﬁcantly outperform LSTM.
Characterization and Source Apportionment of PM2.5 in an Urban Environment in Beijing

Daily 24-hour PM2.5 samples were collected continuously from January 1 to December 31, 2010. Elemental concentrations from Al to Pb were obtained using particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method. This was the first full year continuous daily PM2.5 elemental composition dataset in Beijing. Source apportionment analysis was conducted on this dataset using the positive matrix factorization method. Seven sources and their contributions to the total PM2.5 mass were identified and quantified. These include secondary sulphur– 13.8 μg/m 3 , 26.5%; vehicle exhaust– 8.9 μg/m 3 , 17.1%; fossil fuel combustion– 8.3 μg/m 3 , 16%; road dust– 6.6 μg/m 3 , 12.7%; biomass burning– 5.8 μg/m 3 , 11.2%; soil dust– 5.4 μg/m 3 , 10.4%; and metal processing– 3.1 μg/m 3 , 6.0%. Fugitive dusts (including soil dust and road dust) showed the highest contribution of 20.7 μg/m 3 in the spring, doubling those in other seasons. On the contrary, contributions of the combustion source types (including biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion) were significantly higher in the fall (14.2 μg/m 3 ) and in the winter (24.5 μg/m 3 ) compared to those in the spring and summer (9.6 and 8.0 μg/m 3 , respectively). Secondary sulphur contributed the most in the summer while vehicle exhaust and metal processing sources did not show any clear seasonal pattern. The different seasonal highs and lows from different sources compensated each other. This explains the very small seasonal variations (< 20%) in the total PM2.5.
Management in Networks: On multi-actor decision making

1. The Rise of Multi-Actor Networks 2. Networks and Decision-Making Processes 3. Strategies in Networks: The Essence 4. Strategies: A Comparison between Project-Based and Process-Based Change 5. Trust and Rules of the Game in Networks 6. Hybrid Strategies: The Role of Command and Control in Networks 7. The Hybrid Organization: Hierarchy, Networks and Accountability 8. Finally, Two Objections to the Network Approach
iLOG : an Artificial Intelligence Framework for Automatic Metadata Generation for Online Learning Objects

We present a framework for the automatic tagging of learning objects (LOs) with empirical usage metadata. The framework involves real-time tracking of each user sessions (an LO wrapper), offline data mining to identify key attributes or patterns on how the LOs have been used as well as characteristics of the users (MetaGen), and the selection of these findings as metadata. Mechanisms used in the data mining include data imputation, association rule mining, and feature selection via an ensemble of clustering algorithms. This paper describes the methodology of the automation in meta-tagging, presents the results on the evaluation and validation of the algorithms, and discusses the metadata found and the implications of such in improving student pedagogy. Our implementation of the Intelligent Learning Object Guide (iLOG) was used to collect interaction data of over 200 students’ interactions with eight LOs in introductory computer science topics. We show that iLOG successfully tracks student interactions that can be used to automate the creation of meaningful empirical usage metadata using real-world usage and student outcomes.
The Neutrality of Market Neutral Funds

Using an original database of 634 market neutral hedge funds, this study formally analyse the market neutrality of market neutral funds which are particular in the hedge fund universe. One of the basic objective of these funds is to provide positive returns completely independently of the market conditions. We start by analysing this neutrality using various market neutral indices before focusing on individual fund return figures using the decile classification suggested by Carhart (1997). Finally, an analysis based on ex-post beta helps us understanding our previous results. We perform this analysis over the global January 1993-December 2002 period as well as on bull and bear markets periods.
The ANKK1/DRD2 locus is a genomic substrate for affective priming and recognition of angry faces

Ankyrin repeat and kinase domain containing I (ANKK1) and dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) genes have been associated with psychopathic traits in clinical samples. On the other hand, individuals high in psychopathy show reduced affective priming and deficits in facial expression recognition. We have hypothesized that these emotion‐related cognitive phenomena are associated with TaqIA (rs18000497) SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) of the ANKK1 gene and with C957T (rs6277) SNP of the DRD2 gene.
Interferometric estimation of three-dimensional ice-flow using ascending and descending passes

Satellite radar interferometry (SRI) provides an important new tool for determining ice-flow velocity. Interferometric measurements made from a single-track direction are sensitive only to a single component of the three-component velocity vector. Observations from along three different track directions would allow the full velocity vector to be determined. A north/south-looking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) could provide these observations over large portions of the globe, but not over large areas of the polar ice sheets. The authors develop and demonstrate a technique that allows the three-component velocity vector to be estimated from data acquired along two track directions (ascending and descending) under a surface-parallel flow assumption. This technique requires that there are accurate estimates of the surface slope, which are also determined interferometrically. To demonstrate the technique, the authors estimate the three-component velocity field for the Ryder Glacier, Greenland. Their results are promising, although they do not have yet ground-truth data with which to determine the accuracy of their estimates.
Poverty Alleviation Through Access to Education: Can E-Learning Deliver?

Access to education has long been considered an important vehicle for poverty alleviation and tremendous efforts (national as well as international) have been made to broaden such access in LDCs. The ICT revolution in the past decade has greatly facilitated such efforts as education can now be provided to millions living in inaccessible (rural, mountainous, or landlocked) areas at the click of a mouse and at a relatively low cost without compromising quality. The webbased mode of education, popularly known as “e-learning”, has the capacity to make the acquisition of human capital cheaper and easier in poverty-ridden LDCs. Also, e-learning eliminates the human capital ‘bootstrapping problem’ by guaranteeing ‘just-in-time’ training of a superior quality at employees’ fingertips (literally and metaphorically! ) It also has the potential to help reduce poverty by empowerment of the socially disadvantaged and less privileged in society including lower-income groups, the handicapped, sick and disabled (particularly those with writing, speaking and hearing impairments), members of ethnic minority groups, and women affected by cultural and religious prejudice. This is possible largely because, as this paper argues, physical location or ability is not critical for successful e-learning. The authors canvass all of these issues before proposing a new model for the optimal level of education in developing countries.
Life Satisfaction and the Pursuit of Happiness on Twitter

Life satisfaction refers to a somewhat stable cognitive assessment of one’s own life. Life satisfaction is an important component of subjective well being, the scientific term for happiness. The other component is affect: the balance between the presence of positive and negative emotions in daily life. While affect has been studied using social media datasets (particularly from Twitter), life satisfaction has received little to no attention. Here, we examine trends in posts about life satisfaction from a two-year sample of Twitter data. We apply a surveillance methodology to extract expressions of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction with life. A noteworthy result is that consistent with their definitions trends in life satisfaction posts are immune to external events (political, seasonal etc.) unlike affect trends reported by previous researchers. Comparing users we find differences between satisfied and dissatisfied users in several linguistic, psychosocial and other features. For example the latter post more tweets expressing anger, anxiety, depression, sadness and on death. We also study users who change their status over time from satisfied with life to dissatisfied or vice versa. Noteworthy is that the psychosocial tweet features of users who change from satisfied to dissatisfied are quite different from those who stay satisfied over time. Overall, the observations we make are consistent with intuition and consistent with observations in the social science research. This research contributes to the study of the subjective well being of individuals through social media.
Hypovitaminosis D and its association with lifestyle factors

Objectives: The present study was designed to determine the serum vitamin D levels and their relation with demographic features and life style factors in young adults. Methods: It was an analytical cross-sectional study on 88 subjects aged 18–40 years. Relevant information about physical activity, job place, duration of sun exposure, educational status and socioeconomic conditions was obtained. Serum levels of 25-OH vitamin D were measured by ELISA. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: Mean serum vitamin D level was 8.44±0.49 (Range: 1.00–21.08) ng/ml in participants. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 98.86% of the population. Mean vitamin D levels were significantly lower in females (p=0.0001), physically less active (p=0.006), indoor job holders (p=0.0001), less sun exposed (p=0.001), highly educated (p=0.020) and high socioeconomic status (p=0.007) bearing and in subjects having relatively fair skin complexion (p=0.041). Conclusions: Serum vitamin D levels of study population were below normal and were associated with female gender, less physical activity, indoor jobs, less sun exposure, higher education and higher socioeconomic class and relatively fair skin complexion.
Dredge-up and Envelope Burning in Intermediate-Mass Giants of Very Low Metallicity

The evolution of intermediate-mass stars at very low metallicity during their final thermal pulse asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is studied in detail. As representative examples, models with initial masses of 4 and 5 M☉ and with a metallicity of Z = 0.0001 ([Fe/H] ~ -2.3) are discussed. The one-dimensional stellar structure and evolution model includes time- and depth-dependent overshooting motivated by hydrodynamic simulations, as well as a full nuclear network and time-dependent mixing. Particular attention is given to high time and space resolution to avoid numerical artifacts related to third dredge-up and hot bottom burning predictions. The model calculations predict very efficient third dredge-up that mixes the envelope with the entire intershell layer or a large fraction thereof and in some cases penetrates into the C/O core below the He shell. In all cases primary oxygen is mixed into the envelope. The models predict efficient envelope burning during the interpulse phase. Depending on the envelope-burning temperature, oxygen is destroyed to varying degrees. The combined effect of dredge-up and envelope burning does not lead to any significant oxygen depletion in any of the cases considered in this study. The large dredge-up efficiency in our model is closely related to the particular properties of the H shell during the dredge-up phase in low-metallicity very metal-poor stars, which is followed here over many thermal pulses. During the dredge-up phase, the temperature just below the convective boundary is large enough for protons to burn vigorously when they are brought into the C-rich environment below the convection boundary by the time- and depth-dependent overshooting. H-burning luminosities of 105 to ~2 × 106 L☉ are generated. C, and to lesser degree O, is transformed into N in this dredge-up overshooting layer and enters the envelope. The global effect on the CNO abundance is similar to that of hot bottom burning. If the overshoot efficiency is larger, then dredge-up H burning causes a further increase in the dredge-up efficiency. After some thermal pulses, the dredge-up proceeds through the He shell and into the CO core beneath. Then neutrons may not be released from 13C in radiative conditions during the interpulse phase because of the scarcity of α-particles for the 13C(α,n)16O reactions. Conditions for the s-process are discussed qualitatively. The abundance evolution of H, He, C, N, O, and Na is described. Finally, the model predictions for sodium and oxygen are compared with observed abundances. The notion that massive AGB stars are the origin of the O-Na abundance anticorrelation in globular cluster giants is not consistent with the model predictions of this study. The abundance of the C-rich extremely metal-poor binaries LP 625-44, CS 29497-030, and HE 0024-2523 is discussed.
Asymptomatic isolated microscopic haematuria: long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND Evidence to support current diagnostic and management approaches to asymptomatic haematuria is lacking and based on short-term clinical observation. AIM To ascertain the natural history and long-term outcome of asymptomatic and isolated haematuria, and to determine the clinical correlates of adverse renal events. DESIGN Prospective observational referral-based study. METHODS We evaluated 90 consecutive patients with isolated microscopic haematuria, first seen between 1985 and 1996 at an out-patient nephrology clinic. We defined adverse renal events as the development of proteinuria (> 0.5 g/24 h) on two consecutive occasions, development of hypertension, or impaired renal function characterized by glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2) for 3 months or more. RESULTS There were 24 males and 66 females, median follow-up 5.2 years (total 442 patient-years). Mean age at presentation was 39 +/- 13 years. Fifteen (17%) had complete resolution of microscopic haematuria. One (1%) had transitional cell carcinoma of urinary bladder 20 months after initial presentation. Twelve (13%) developed hypertension, and 10 (11%) proteinuria. Only one developed chronic renal failure, 2.3 years after initial presentation. Altogether, 16 (19%) developed at least one adverse event, after a mean 42 months. Neither history of renal biopsy nor histological diagnosis of glomerular disease was predictive of renal events. Three independent variables were predictive of adverse renal events: baseline proteinuria (RR per 0.1 g/day 2.04; 95%CI 1.13-3.68; p = 0.018); MDRD-estimated GFR at presentation (RR per 10 ml/min/1.73 m(2) decrement 2.01; 95%CI 1.09-3.71; p = 0.025); and baseline serum urate (RR per 100 micromol/l 1.02; 95%CI 1.01-1.03; p = 0.009). DISCUSSION Asymptomatic microscopic haematuria can lead to adverse renal events, and warrants nephrologist evaluation and regular follow-up. Its isolated microscopic haematuria is closely related to early hints of chronic kidney disease, such as low-grade proteinuria and renal insufficiency, as well as hyperuricaemia.
Measuring the Willingness to Pay for Fresh Water Cave Diving

Fresh water springs are unique natural resources that are contained within public lands across the United States. Natural resource management on public lands generates many interesting policy issues as the competing goals of conservation, recreational opportunity provision, and revenue generation often clash. As demand for recreational cave diving sites increases, the paper provides natural resource site managers with the first statistical estimate of divers’ willingness to pay to dive fresh water cave and cavern systems. Using a contingent valuation model approach and correcting for hypothetical bias, we find that divers’ median willingness to pay for cave diving opportunities at the site of interest is approximately $68 per dive. Model results also provide evidence of diver sensitivity with respect to scope as individuals are willing to pay more for dives that are higher in quality. Key Words: Contingent Valuation Model; Willingness to Pay; Cave Diving; Scope Sensitivity
Explaining Movements in the Norwegian Exchange Rate

This issue of Norges Bank's Occasional Papers contains a number of signed articles written by employees of Norges Bank, which use different approaches and methods to look at factors that may help us to understand movements in the exchange rate. The analyses were carried out in Norges Bank in 2002 and preliminary results were presented at a seminar for the Ministry of Finance and Statistics Norway on 7 February 2003.
Trypanosoma cruzi induces edematogenic responses in mice and invades cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells in vitro by activating distinct kinin receptor subtypes (B1/B2)

Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan that causes Chagas' heart disease, invades endothelial cells in vitro by activating the B2 kinin receptor (B2R). Here, we demonstrate that mice infected with trypomastigotes develop potent edema after treatment with the angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) (or kininase II) inhibitor captopril. Experiments performed with specific kinin receptor (B2R/B1R) antagonists and knockout mice revealed that the early‐phase (3‐h) edema is mediated by the constitutive B2R, whereas the late‐phase (24‐h) response depends on stimulation of the up‐regulated B1R. Given previous evidence that parasite invasion of cells expressing B2R is potentiated by captopril, we investigated the prerequisites for in vitro infection of Chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing either B1R or B2R, human umbilical vein endothelial cells activated by lipopolysaccharide, and neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Our results indicate that captopril potentiates parasite invasion regardless of the kinin (B2/B1) activation pathways, whereas DL‐2‐mercaptomethyl‐3‐guanidino‐ethylthiopropanoic acid (MGTA), an inhibitor of kininase I (carboxypeptidase M/N), selectively decreases parasite infectivity for B1R‐expressing cells. These data suggest that formation of the B1R agonist, i.e., [des‐Arg] kinins, critically depends on the processing action of kininase I, here proposed as a potential pathogenesis cofactor. Collectively, our data suggest that fluctuations in the levels of kininases may modulate parasite infectivity and pathological outcome in Chagas' disease.