Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MINIMUM GUARANTEED PAYMENTS AND COSTLY CANCELLATION RIGHTS: A STOPPING GAME PERSPECTIVE

We consider the valuation and optimal exercise policy of a δ‐penalty minimum guaranteed payment option in the case where the value of the underlying dividend‐paying asset follows a linear diffusion. We characterize both the value and optimal exercise policy of the considered game option explicitly and demonstrate that increased volatility increases the value of the option and postpones exercise by expanding the continuation region where exercising is suboptimal. An interesting and natural implication of this finding is that the value of the embedded cancellation rights of the issuer increase as volatility increases.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR RADIO FREQUENCY ENERGY HARVESTING DEVICES

Radio Frequency Energy harvesting is a research topic of increasing interest, related to sustainability, which could become a promising alternative to existing energy resources. The paper will show all the activities addressed to design a wideband system to recover wideband energy from electromagnetic sources present in the environment. The main idea is to develop battery-free wireless sensors able to capture the available energy into the mentioned bandwidth. The flnal goal is to realize self-powered Wireless Networks based on Ultra Lower Power | ULP sensors minimizing the need of dedicated batteries. This last feature is particularly attractive in difierent kind of applications, ranging from military to civil cases. A flrst system prototype is shown and discussed. Conclusion follows.
The ARM9 family-high performance microprocessors for embedded applications

Portable applications such as mobile phones, pagers, and PDAs are continually growing in sophistication. This places an increasing burden on the embedded microprocessor to provide high performance while retaining low power consumption and small die size. The ARM7TDMI microprocessor has been highly successful in these application areas. However, as products grow in complexity more processing power is required while the expectation on battery life also increases. This has lead to the introduction of the ARM9 family, a range of high performance low power embedded microprocessors targeted at next generation embedded applications. This paper focuses on the implementation of 2 members of the ARM9 family, the ARM9TDMI integer core and the ARM940T cached processor. These offer performance in excess of 150 MIPS while retaining low power consumption. The evolution from the ARM7 to the ARM9 microarchitecture is described and the tradeoffs between low power consumption and high performance discussed.
Faces of Poverty: Portraits of Women and Children on Welfare

Faces of Poverty dispels the misconceptions and myths about welfare and the welfare population that have clouded the true picture of poverty in America. At a time when welfare has become a hotly debated political issue, Faces of Poverty gives us the facts. The debate surrounding welfare will continue as each of the 50 states struggles to reform their welfare programs, and this debate will turn on the public's perception of the welfare population. Berrick offers insight into each of the reforms under consideration and starkly demonstrates their implications for poor women and children. She provides a window into these women's lives, brilliantly portraying their hopes and fears and their struggle to live with dignity.
A 27,000-D core of the Dictyostelium 34,000-D protein retains Ca(2+)- regulated actin cross-linking but lacks bundling activity

Actin cross-linking proteins are important for formation of isotropic F- actin networks and anisotropic bundles of filaments in the cytoplasm of eucaryotic cells. A 34,000-D protein from the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum mediates formation of actin bundles in vitro, and is specifically incorporated into filopodia. The actin cross- linking activity of this protein is inhibited by the presence of micromolar calcium. A 27,000-D fragment obtained by digestion with alpha-chymotrypsin lacks the amino-terminal six amino acids and the carboxyl-terminal 7,000 D of the intact polypeptide. The 27,000-D fragment retains F-actin binding activity assessed by cosedimentation assays and by 125I-[F-actin] blot overlay technique, F-actin cross- linking activity as assessed by viscometry, and calcium binding activity. Ultrastructural analyses indicate that the 27,000-D fragment is deficient in the bundling activity characteristic of the intact 34,000-D protein. Actin filaments are aggregated into microdomains but not bundle in the presence of the 27,000-D fragment. A polarized light scattering assay was used to demonstrate that the 34,000-D protein increases the orientational correlation among F-actin filaments. The 27,000-D fragment does not increase the orientation of the actin filaments as assessed by this technique. A terminal segment(s) of the 34,000-D protein, lacking in the 27,000-D fragment, contributes significantly to the ability to cross-link actin filaments into bundles.
Can Conditional Grants Attract Better Students: Evidence from Chinese Normal Universities

One recent policy tend to improve teacher quality is providing conditional grants to trainees in teacher colleges and commit them to working in disadvantaged areas upon graduation. Yet little is known whether such policies attract better trainees. This paper evaluates a conditional grant program in Chinese teachers' colleges, which commits students to teaching in their home province. Using a triple difference method, we find that teaching majors obtain better students due to the conditional grants. Exploring the heterogeneous treatment effects across regions, the policy effects not only increase as the costs of living during college decrease, but are larger in provinces with larger shares of disadvantaged students – i.e. rural, female, rural female, and with more siblings. These results suggest that the Chinese free teacher education program successfully attracts high quality students into the teaching force, and these high quality teacher trainees are likely to be credit constrained.
Multiple Locus Variable number of tandem repeat Analysis: A molecular genotyping tool for Paenibacillus larvae

American Foulbrood, caused by Paenibacillus larvae, is the most severe bacterial disease of honey bees (Apis mellifera). To perform genotyping of P. larvae in an epidemiological context, there is a need of a fast and cheap method with a high resolution. Here, we propose Multiple Locus Variable number of tandem repeat Analysis (MLVA). MLVA has been used for typing a collection of 209 P. larvae strains from which 23 different MLVA types could be identified. Moreover, the developed methodology not only permits the identification of the four Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) genotypes, but allows also a discriminatory subdivision of the most dominant ERIC type I and ERIC type II genotypes. A biogeographical study has been conducted showing a significant correlation between MLVA genotype and the geographical region where it was isolated.
The effect of added pollutant along a river on the pollutant concentration described by one –dimensional advection diffusion equation

Abstract: Analytical solutions are obtained, by using Laplace transformation method , for one dimensional advection –diffusion equation with variable coefficients in a longitudinal finite initially pollutant concentration free domain . Two cases for the boundary conditions, are studied . The first is the case of uniform continuous input condition and the second is the case of input condition of increasing nature . By writing the equations in the dimensionless form , the five physical parameters controlling the pollutant concentration is reduced to only two dimensionless parameters the dimensionless added pollutant concentration 1 R and the dimensionless dispersion
Millimeter Observations and Modeling of the AB Aurigae System

We present the results of millimeter observations and a suitable chemical and radiative transfer model of the AB Aurigae (HD 31293) circumstellar disk and surrounding envelope. The integral molecular content of this system is studied by observing CO, C18O, CS, HCO+, DCO+, H2CO, HCN, HNC, and SiO rotational lines with the IRAM 30 m antenna, while the disk is mapped in the HCO+ (1-0) transition with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Using a flared disk model with a vertical temperature gradient and an isothermal spherical envelope model with a shadowed midplane and two unshielded cones together with a gas-grain chemical network, time-dependent abundances of observationally important molecules are calculated. Then a two-dimensional non-LTE line radiative transfer code is applied to compute excitation temperatures of several rotational transitions of HCO+, CO, C18O, and CS molecules. We synthesize the HCO+ (1-0) interferometric map along with single-dish CO (2-1), C18O (2-1), HCO+ (1-0), HCO+ (3-2), CS (2-1), and CS (5-4) spectra and compare them with the observations. Our disk model successfully reproduces observed interferometric HCO+ (1-0) data, thereby constraining the following disk properties: (1) the inclination angle i = 17 deg, (2) the position angle ϕ = 80° ± 30°, (3) the size Rout = 400 ± 200 AU, (4) the mass Mdisk = 1.3 × 10-2 M☉ (with a factor of ~7 uncertainty), and (5) that the disk is in Keplerian rotation. Furthermore, indirect evidence for a local inhomogeneity of the envelope at ≳600 AU is found. The single-dish spectra are synthesized for three different cases, namely, for the disk model, for the envelope model, and for their combination. An overall reasonable agreement between all modeled and acquired line intensities, widths, and profiles is achieved for the latter model, with the exception of the CS (5-4) data that require the presence of high-density clumpy structures in the model. This allows us to constrain the physical structure of the AB Aur inner envelope: (1) its mass-average temperature is about 35 ± 14 K; (2) the density goes inversely down with the radius, ρ ∝ r-1.0±0.3, starting from an initial value n0 ≈ 3.9 × 105 cm-3 at 400 AU; and (3) the mass of the shielded region within 2200 AU is about 4 × 10-3 M☉ (the latter two quantities are uncertain by a factor of ~7). In addition, evolutionary nature and lifetime for dispersal of the AB Aur system and Herbig Ae/Be systems in general are discussed.
Drum sound classification in polyphonic audio recordings using localized sound models

This paper deals with automatic percussion classification in polyphonic audio recordings, focusing on kick, snare and cymbal sounds. We present a feature-based sound modeling approach that combines general, prior knowledge about the sound characteristics of percussion instrument families (general models) with on-the-fly acquired knowledge of recording-specific sounds (localized models). This way, high classification accuracy can be obtained with remarkably simple sound models. The accuracy is on average around 20% higher than with general models alone.
Polyhedral convex cones for computing feasible grasping regions from vision

This paper presents a method to compute a feasible region for grasping unknown objects using visual features. The method is divided into two separate sections: candidates grasp generation and testing of the feasible region of grasping by constructing a set of constraints for each candidate grasps. From visual features, the algorithm examines at least one possible candidate grasp region around the object's boundary for each available finger and selects the optimal grasping points on it, relative to some criteria for optimality. An experimental environment was developed to test this method.
Persistence of innovation in Dutch manufacturing : is it spurious?

This paper studies the persistence of innovation and the dynamics of innovation output in Dutch manufacturing using firm data from three waves of the Community Innovation Surveys (CIS), pertaining to the periods 1994-1996, 1996-1998, and 1998-2000. We estimate by maximum likelihood a dynamic panel data type 2 tobit model accounting for individual effects and handling the initial conditions problem. We find that there is no evidence of true persistence in achieving technological product or process innovations, while past shares of innovative sales condition, albeit to a small extent, current shares of innovative sales.
VALIDITY AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF 2 NEW QUALITY-OF-LIFE INSTRUMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH EPILEPSY *

This article summarizes 2 presentations made at a Special Interest Group session (“Quality of Life and Outcomes: New QOL Instruments for Children and Adults with Epilepsy”) of the 56th Annual American Epilepsy Society meeting. One presenter described his group’s recent evaluation of the content validity of various health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) measures and the subsequent development of a 20-item patient-oriented outcomes assessment tool called the Epilepsy Foundation of America (EFA) Concerns Index. The EFA Concerns Index has now been validated as an accurate gauge of patient-oriented concerns and it has recently been compared with other HRQOL instruments to document postsurgical improvement. The other presenters described their efforts in developing and validating an HRQOL that was specific to the pediatric epilepsy population. The psychometric properties and the clinical sensitivity of this new instrument, called the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire, have now been validated in the Australian population and the American validation has been published in abstract form. The instrument has also been used to show that the presence of intellectual deficit independently depresses HRQOL outcomes and that there are syndrome-specific effects of epilepsy on quality of life. As these and similarly improved tools for measuring quality of life in epilepsy are developed, validated, and then applied in clinical research, the clinician’s ability to determine which interventions provide the best range of outcomes will improve. (Adv Stud Med. 2003;3(7B):S684-S690)
Current Gain of 4H-SiC Bipolar Transistors Including the Effect of Interface States

The current gain (b) of 4H-SiC BJTs as function of collector current (IC) has been investigated by DC and pulsed measurements and by device simulations. A measured monotonic increase of b with IC agrees well with simulations using a constant distribution of interface states at the 4H-SiC/SiO2 interface along the etched side-wall of the base-emitter junction. Simulations using only bulk recombination, on the other hand, are in poor agreement with the measurements. The interface states degrade the simulated current gain by combined effects of localized recombination and trapped charge that influence the surface potential. Additionally, bandgap narrowing has a significant impact by reducing the peak current gain by about 50 % in simulations.
University of Birmingham Characterization of intracellular palladium nanoparticles synthesized by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and Bacillus benzeovorans

Early studies have focused on the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles within the periplasmic layer or on the outer membrane of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and on the S-layer protein of Bacillus sphaericus . However, it has remained unclear whether the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles also takes place in the bacterial cell cytoplasm. This study reports the use of high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy with a high-angle annular dark ﬁeld detector and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry attachment to investigate the intracellular synthesis of palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs). We show the intracellular synthesis of Pd NPs within cells of two anaerobic strains of D. desulfuricans and an aerobic strain of B. benzeovorans using hydrogen and formate as electron donors. The Pd nanoparticles were small and largely monodispersed, between 0.2 and 8 nm, occasionally from 9 to 12 nm with occasional larger nanoparticles. With D. desulfuricans NCIMB 8307 (but not D . desulfuricans NCIMB 8326) and with B. benzeovorans NCIMB 12555, the NPs were larger when made at the expense of formate, co-localizing with phosphate in the latter, and were crystalline, but were amorphous when made with H 2, with no phosphorus association. The intracellular Pd nanoparticles weremainly icosahedrons with surfaces comprising {111} facets and about 5 % distortion when compared with that of bulk palladium. The particles were in the cell cytoplasm than the cell wall, outer membrane, or periplasm. We provide new evidence for synthesis of palladium nanoparticles within the cytoplasm of bacteria, which were conﬁrmed to maintain cellular integrity during this synthesis.
Function words in rhythmic optimisation

The complex interplay between rhythm and word order has only rarely beenaddressed in linguistics. For many scholars, it might even be questionable,whether there is any interaction. Following Hayes (1995), we assume that therhythmic ﬂow of a sentence depends on the equal distribution of stressed andunstressed syllables and we will argue that the spoken form of a sentencedepends, among other factors, on rhythm. Furthermore, we will present ev-idence that rhythmic principles govern word order in speech which leads tothe proposal that rhythm is a syntactic constraint.We will present three case studies, one concerning pronouns, one concerningauxiliary verbs and one concerning prepositional adverbs in German withwhich we explore several aspects of this claim. In particular, we will showthat function words play a crucial role in the organisation of the rhythmic ﬂowin speech. It affects their phonetic shape as well as their syntactic position.Linguistic rhythm is manifested by the regular succession of stressed and un-stressed syllables (Liberman & Prince, 1977). The location of main stress ina word is lexically determined in German, but there are some common andpredictable trends and stress is thus part of the word’s phonology (Kiparsky,1966; Wiese, 1996; Fery, 2000; Hall, 2000). The lexicon is quite heteroge-´neous in this respect: lexical items may vary in number of syllables as wellas in the location of word stress. Therefore, rhythmic regularity is never au-tomatically given for a sentence by just concatenating words. If rhythmicregularity is actively sought after, it has to be produced on the ﬂy for everysentence or utterance.The rhythm in a phonological phrase may be adjusted in two ways, bothof which result in an even distribution of stressed and unstressed syllables(Prince, 1983; Nespor & Vogel, 1986; Halle & Vergnaud, 1987; Selkirk,1984; Hayes, 1995). In one case a syllable which is weakly stressed is givena stronger stress under embedding, and in the other case a syllable which isstrongly stressed is given a weaker stress under embedding. Often, the twoprocesses occur in combination. A typical example is the German phrase“Universit´ at P¨ otsdam”, in which` Universitat¨ is stressed on the ﬁrst syllablewhereas it would be stressed on the last syllable in isolation (with the ﬁrstsyllable receiving secondary stress). These processes do not inﬂuence the word order, though. An example ofa rhythmic word order change comes from English and has been given by
A NOTE ON BARKER POLYNOMIALS

We call the polynomial a Barker polynomial of degree n-1 if each aj ∈{-1, 1} and Properties of Barker polynomials were studied by Turyn and Storer thoroughly in the early sixties, and by Saffari in the late eighties. In the last few years P. Borwein and his collaborators revived interest in the study of Barker polynomials (Barker codes, Barker sequences). In this paper we give a new proof of the fact that there is no Barker polynomial of even degree greater than 12, and hence Barker sequences of odd length greater than 13 do not exist. This is intimately tied to irreducibility questions and proved as a consequence of the following new result. Theorem.Ifn ≔ 2m + 1 > 13andwhere eachbj ∈{-1, 0, 1}for even values of j, each bj is an integer divisible by 4 for odd values of j, then there is no polynomialsuch that, whereanddenotes the collection of all polynomials of degree 2m with each of their coefficients in {-1, 1}. A clever usage of Newton's identities plays a central role in our elegant proof.
Does Aid Work for the Poor

This paper econometrically examines the impact of aid on the well-being of population sub-groups within 48 developing countries. This is a radical departure from previous empirical research of aid effectiveness at the country level, which has looked mainly at the relationship between aid and national aggregates, per capita GDP growth in particular. A specific concern of the paper is the impact of aid on the wealth, education and health of the poorest. Results indicate that while aid improves the wellbeing of the poorest groups, it is the richer groups that benefit the most.
BENEFITS OF SYSTEMS INTEGRATION: QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE?

Systems integration has a slow rate of diffusion and adoption. This is partly due to users and practitioners scepticism on its actual benefits. This paper is based on the findings of a survey conducted in Malaysian public sector IT community. The paper starts with a definition of systems integration and a description on how the study was conducted. This is followed with a depiction on the state of systems integration in the Malaysian public sector, and a discussion on the benefits of systems integration as perceived by the respondents. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on the qualitative and quantitative benefits of systems integration.
Consequences of Cas9 cleavage in the chromosome of Escherichia coli

The RNA-guided Cas9 nuclease from CRISPR-Cas systems has emerged as a powerful biotechnological tool. The specificity of Cas9 can be reprogrammed to cleave desired sequences in a cell's chromosome simply by changing the sequence of a small guide RNA. Unlike in most eukaryotes, Cas9 cleavage in the chromosome of bacteria has been reported to kill the cell. However, the mechanism of cell death remains to be investigated. Bacteria mainly rely on homologous recombination (HR) with sister chromosomes to repair double strand breaks. Here, we show that the simultaneous cleavage of all copies of the Escherichia coli chromosome at the same position cannot be repaired, leading to cell death. However, inefficient cleavage can be tolerated through continuous repair by the HR pathway. In order to kill cells reliably, HR can be blocked using the Mu phage Gam protein. Finally, the introduction of the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway from Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not able to rescue the cells from Cas9-mediated killing, but did introduce small deletions at a low frequency. This work provides a better understanding of the consequences of Cas9 cleavage in bacterial chromosomes which will be instrumental in the development of future CRISPR tools.