Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quark Mass Dependence of the QCD Critical End Point in the Strong Coupling Limit

Strong coupling lattice QCD in the dual representation allows to study the full $\mu$-$T$ phase diagram, due to the mildness of the finite density sign problem. Such simulations have been performed in the chiral limit, both at finite $N_t$ and in the continuous time limit. Here we extend the phase diagram to finite quark masses, with an emphasis on the low temperature first order transition. We present our results on the quark mass dependence of the critical end point and the first order line obtained by Monte Carlo via the worm algorithm.
Valuing Water Supply Reliability with Sensitivity Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to calculate the expected reliability benefits of alternative water supplies that are less vulnerable to disruption than the current composition of supplies, especially those regions which rely on imported surface water. Expected reliability benefits are measured using estimates of welfare losses under various levels of supply disruption, the probability of each level disruption, and on consumption forecasts over the life of proposed alternative supplies. TO consider uncertainty in reliability benefits, we run sensitivity analyses to value reliability under different discount rates, the elasticities of demand, water supply disruption levels, and corresponding probability distributions of disruption.
The Interventions of the European Central Bank: Effects, Effectiveness, and Policy Implications

We analyze the effectiveness of the foreign exchange market interventions conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the fall of 2000 to support the external stability of the euro. To this end, in a first step different channels through which interventions may influence exchange rate dynamics are discussed. In a second step, a review of the existing empirical literature on the effectiveness of central bank interventions is used as the basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the ECB's intervention policy. Against this background, high-frequency exchange-rate data are used to examine the effects of the interventions. We present evidence that the interventions only had a very short-term impact on the exchange rate path with no medium-term effects. All in all, our results suggest that the ECB's intervention policy was not effective.
The influence of moisture content variation on the withdrawal capacity of self-tapping screws

Due to high axial load-bearing capacity and economical application without pre-drilling, self-tapping screws are widely used in modern timber constructions nowadays. Their withdrawal behaviour, as one mechanism to be verified according to EN 1995-1-1 (2004), is discernibly influenced by the timber member and its moisture content. In case of increase of moisture content above 12 %, test results indicate a significant decrease in withdrawal capacity, which is actually not considered in design procedure. In our paper, we thus concentrate on these experimental studies, carried out in the frame of two research projects. Furthermore, we discuss two models developed for design procedure as well as for data assessment covering a large bandwidth of moisture content and compare them with results from previous investigations.
Entrepreneurial Finance Meets Organizational Reality: Comparing Investment Practices and Performance of Corporate and Independent Venture Capitalists

This paper investigates the effect of compensation of corporate personnel on their investment in new technologies. We focus on a specific corporate activity, namely corporate venture capital (CVC), describing minority equity investment by established-firms in entrepreneurial ventures. The setting offers an opportunity to compare corporate investors to investment experts, the independent venture capitalists (IVCs). On average, we observe a performance gap between corporate investors and their independent counterparts. Interestingly, the performance gap is sensitive to CVCs' compensation scheme: it is the largest when CVC personnel are awarded performance pay. Not only do we study the association between incentives and performance but we also document a direct relationship between incentives and the actions managers undertake. For example, we observe disparity between the number of participants in venture capital syndicates that involve a corporate investor, and those that consist solely of IVCs. The disparity shrinks substantially, however, for a subset of CVCs that compensate their personnel using performance pay. We find a parallel pattern when analyzing the relationship between compensation and another investment practice, staging of investment. To conclude, the paper investigates the three elements of the principal-agent framework, thus providing direct evidence that compensation schemes (incentives) shape investment practices (managerial action), and ultimately investorsi¦ outcome (performance).
The Shape of Aggregate Production Functions: Evidence from Estimates of the World Technology Frontier

The article provides multifaceted evidence on the shape of the aggregate country-level production function, derived from the World Technology Frontier, estimated on the basis of annual data on inputs and output in 19 highly developed OECD countries in the period 1970–2004. A comparison of its estimates based on Data Envelopment Analysis and Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Analysis uncovers a number of significant discrepancies between the nonparametric estimates of the frontier and the Cobb–Douglas and translog production functions in terms of implied efficiency levels, partial elasticities, and returns-to-scale properties. Furthermore, the two latter characteristics as well as elasticities of substitution are found to differ markedly across countries and time, providing strong evidence against the constant-returns-to-scale (CRS) Cobb–Douglas specification, frequently used in related literature. We also find notable departures from perfect substitutability between unskilled and skilled labor, consistent with the hypotheses of skill-biased technical change and capital–skill complementarity. In the Appendix, as a corollary from our results, we have also conducted a series of development accounting and growth accounting exercises.
Variable-free semantics and ﬂexible grammars for anaphora

Jacobson (1999) proposes an account of anaphora that eschews variables and variable assignments, instead treating pronouns as identity functions and extending functional application with operations that pass up and close oﬀ anaphoric dependencies. I review the central aspects of Jacobson’s variable-free semantics, counterpoising it with standard accounts of anaphora. I discuss conceptual and empirical virtues of Jacobson’s theory, and some shortcomings. I sketch an alternative compositional implementation of variable-free semantics that draws on certain design features of the standard account, connect this approach to the computer science concept of ‘applicative functors’ (and thereby to frameworks as varied as alternative semantics and continuations), and clarify which of the variable-free theory’s properties should be regarded as proprietary, and which can be easily repurposed into a theory with variables.
tests to complement assessment-programmes

Today s health sciences educational programmes have to deal with a growing and changing amount of knowledge. It is becoming increasingly important for students to be able to use and manage knowledge. We suggest incorporating open-book tests in assessment programmes to meet these changes. This view on the use of open-book tests is discussed and the influence on test quality is examined. To cope with the growing amount of medical knowledge, we have divided the body of knowledge into core knowledge, which students must know without need for references, and backup knowledge, which students need to understand and use properly with the help of references if so desired. As a result, all tests consist of a subtest for reproduction and understanding of core knowledge (a closed-book test) and a subtest for the ability to understand and manage backup knowledge (an open-book test). Statistical data from 14 such double-subtest exams for first and second-year students were analyzed for two cohorts (N = 435 and N = 449) with multilevel analysis, in accordance with generalizability theory. The reliability of the open and closed-book sections of the separate tests varied between 0.712 and 0.850. The open-book items reduce reliability somewhat. The estimated disattenuated correlation was 0.960 and 0.937 for cohorts 1 and 2 respectively. It is concluded that the use of open-book items with closed-book items slightly decreases test reliability but the overall index is acceptable. In addition, open and closed-book sections are strongly positively related. Therefore, open-book tests could be helpful in complementing today s assessment programmes.
TRIGGERING COLLAPSE OF THE PRESOLAR DENSE CLOUD CORE AND INJECTING SHORT-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES WITH A SHOCK WAVE. IV. EFFECTS OF ROTATIONAL AXIS ORIENTATION

Both astronomical observations of the interaction of Type II supernova remnants (SNRs) with dense interstellar clouds as well as cosmochemical studies of the abundances of daughter products of short-lived radioisotopes (SLRIs) formed by supernova nucleosynthesis support the hypothesis that the Solar System's SLRIs may have been derived from a supernova. This paper continues a series devoted to examining whether or not such a shock wave could have triggered the dynamical collapse of a dense, presolar cloud core and simultaneously injected sufficient abundances of SLRIs to explain the cosmochemical evidence. Here, we examine the effects of shock waves striking clouds whose spin axes are oriented perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the direction of propagation of the shock front. The models start with 2.2 M ⊙ ? > cloud cores and shock speeds of 20 or 40 km s−1. Central protostars and protoplanetary disks form in all models, although with their disk spin axes aligned somewhat randomly. The disks derive most of their angular momentum not from the initial cloud rotation, but from the Rayleigh-Taylor fingers that also inject shock wave SLRIs. Injection efficiencies, fi, the fraction of the incident shock wave material injected into the collapsing cloud core, are ∼0.04–0.1 in these models, similar to when the rotation axis is parallel to the shock propagation direction. Evidently, altering the rotation axis orientation has only a minor effect on the outcome, strengthening the case for this scenario as an explanation for the Solar System's SLRIs.
UC Merced Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

We study active human visuo-locomotive experience in every-day navigation from the viewpoints of environmental familiarity, embodied reorientation, and (sensorimotor) spatial up-date. Following a naturalistic, in situ, embodied multimodal behaviour analysis method, we conclude that familiar users rely on environmental cues as a navigation-aid and exhibit proactive decision-making, whereas unfamiliar users rely on manifest cues, are late in decision-making, and show no sign of sensorimotor spatial update. Qualitative analysis reveals that both groups are able to sketch-map their route and consider path integration: i.e., conscious spatial representation updating was possible but not preferred during active navigation. Overall, the experimental task did not trigger automatic or reﬂex-like spatial updating, as subjects preferred strategies involving memory of perceptual cues and available manifest cues instead of relying on motor simulation and continuous spatial update. Rooted in the behavioural outcomes, we also position applications in computational modelling of navigation within cognitive technologies for architectural design synthesis.
Physical and societal statistics for a century of snow-avalanche hazards on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (1910-2010)

The analysis of historical avalanche data is important when developing accurate hazard maps. The record of snow-avalanche disasters on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands is incomplete, due to the historical division into periods of Japanese and Russian rule. Here we combine and analyze data from Japanese and Russian sources to reconstruct a continuous record of avalanche catastrophes in the region from 1910 to 2010. Despite the relatively small scale of the majority of catastrophic avalanches, with a total vertical drop 238 injuries have occurred in 275 incidents over a 100 year period (two-thirds of those killed were Japanese). This death toll is higher than that in Canada, New Zealand or Iceland, or non-recreational fatalities in France. A wave of avalanche disasters (1930s–60s) following intense colonization of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands is evident. Although this ‘wave’ could be considered a local issue of the past, many presently developing countries may face similar situations. The fatality rate has decreased over time, due to social factors, and differs from that of any other region, in its absence of deaths through recreational activities. Although in recent years the fatality rate is lower than that of Iceland or the USA, the per capita avalanche casualty rate on Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands remains among the highest in the world.
Growth Options as Determinants of Skewness

We add to the explanatory theory of skewness by showing how real options generate convexity of payoffs and skewness of returns. We show empirically that real growth options are significant, positive, and robust determinants of idiosyncratic skewness over and above previously reported determinants. Moreover, we provide evidence that the part of the expected idiosyncratic skewness that is generated by growth options has a negative return premium. These results suggest a behaviourally rational transmission mechanism from real growth options to stock returns through observable enhanced skewness and lottery type features.
Spatially-resolved star formation histories of CALIFA galaxies: Implications for galaxy formation

Support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, through projects AYA2016-77846-P, AYA2014-57490-P, AYA2010-15081, and Junta de Andalucia FQ1580, AYA2010-22111-C03-03, AYA2010-10904E, AYA2013-42227P, RyC-2011-09461, AYA2013-47742-C4-3-P, EU SELGIFS exchange programme FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES-612701, CONACYT-125180, DGAPA-IA100815, and PAPIIT-DGAPA-IA101217. We also thank the Viabilidad, Diseno, Acceso y Mejora funding program, ICTS-2009-10, for funding the data acquisition of this project. A.L. d.A. , E.A.D.L. and R.C. F. thanks for the hospitality of the IAA and the support of CNPq. R.G. D. acknowledges the support of CNPq (Brazil) through Programa Ciencia sem Fronteiras (401452/2012-3). C.J.W. acknowledges support through the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant 303912.
Comparing the Effectiveness of Machine Learning Algorithms in Classifying Google Alerts about Distributed Denial of Service

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are attempts to make computer or network resources unavailable to its intended users. They cause firms and other organizations significant economic and reputational harm and have risen in frequency and strength over the course of the past years. In order to contribute to the understanding of DDoS attacks, this study explores machine learning as a tool to classify Google alerts about DDoS. I try to answer which machine learning algorithms can improve and simplify the process of retrieving news reporting a DDoS event. Several machine learning algorithms are tested on a dataset and compared in terms of effectiveness. I find the multinomial Naive Bayes algorithm with the bag of words model to be the most effective out of the ones I tested. Furthermore, I explore some applications for the Word2vec algorithm to provide information about semantic features of DDoS related Google alerts.
Why have R&D-intensive industries in Japan experienced a recent decline in performance? Evidence from panel data of listed firms in Japanese R&D-intensive industries

Previous studies show that the rate of return on research and development (R&D) capital is high. However, R&D-intensive industries in Japan have recently experienced a decline in performance. This study estimates the rate of return on R&D capital and physical capital as well as total factor productivity (TFP) to solve this puzzle. The rate of return is properly estimated applying the methods, which deal with simultaneity bias issues. After Japan entered the “lost decade”, the rate of return on R&D capital dropped significantly, while the rate on physical capital did not. This trend cannot be found by the methods without considering the issues, typically used in previous studies. The slowdown of TFP growth occurs coincidentally with a declining rate of return on R&D capital, which suggests the importance of innovations that enable effective use of R&D capital. Considering the trends, the declining rate of return on R&D capital along with the slowdown of TFP growth are the main causes of the low performance of recent R&D-intensive industries. The results of this paper also offer suggestions on economic policies and growth strategies.
TIMBER RECOVERY FROM PRUNED PINUS RADIATA BUTT LOGS AT MANGATU: EFFECT OF LOG SWEEP

Sixty 5.5-m pruned butt logs, from two managed stands of Pinus radiata D. Don in Mangatu State Forest, were selected on the basis of three size classes and three sweep categories. All logs were sawn to 25-mm boards using a standard conversion procedure in a single-band sawmill at Rotorua. The produce was graded according to commercial grades and provisional Clear and Clearcutting grade classifications. Conversion factors increased with increasing log size and decreased with increasing sweep. A change in the sweep : diameter ratio (deviation : small-end diameter (s.e.d.)) of 0.1 was associated with an average drop in timber recovery of about 5%. Straight logs (average s.e.d. = 390 mm) yielded 45% of the out­ turn in Clear grades compared to 34% and 28% for moderately swept (average sweep 16 mm/m) and severely swept (30 mm/m) logs respectively. Increasing sweep also caused a marked reduction in the recovery of Clearcuttings longer than 3 m. Regression equations linking log characteristics and grade outturn indicated that only the higher grades can be predicted on an individual log basis with any degree of confidence. The most significant log variables were small-end diameter, defect core diameter, sweep, and taper.
Corporate R&D and the performance of foodprocessing firms: Evidence from Europe, Japan and North America

This paper investigates the impact of corporate research and development (R&D) on firm performance in the foodprocessing industry. We apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with two step bootstrapping using a corporate data for 307 food-processing firms from the EU, US, Canada and Japan for the period 1991–2009. The estimates suggest that R&D has a positive effect on the firms’ performance, with marginal gains decreasing in the R&D level as well as the performance differences are detected across regions and food sectors. R&D investments in food processing can deliver productivity gains, beyond the high-tech sectors generally favoured by innovation policy.
Bonds vs. Equities: Information for Investment

We provide robust empirical evidence that uncovers the reason for the observed closer relationship between the bond market versus the equity market and the macroeconomy. Our results indicate that the tight bond market-macroeconomy link is not due to differences in the investor base, but instead to the unique transformations of asset volatility and leverage that credit spreads and equity volatility represent. We focus on the investment channel. Using firm-level data, we find that the sensitivity of investment to equity volatility is highly significant, but changes sign in the cross section of firms depending on their distance to default. This sign change confounds aggregate inference. We rationalize these findings using a simple structural model of credit risk and investment with debt overhang.
Stochastic Theory of Relativistic Particles Moving in a Quantum Field: II. Scalar Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac-Langevin Equation, Radiation Reaction and Vacuum Fluctuations

We apply the open systems concept and the influence functional formalism introduced in Paper I to establish a stochastic theory of relativistic moving spinless particles in a quantum scalar field. The stochastic regime resting between the quantum and semi-classical captures the statistical mechanical attributes of the full theory. Applying the particlecentric world-line quantization formulation to the quantum field theory of scalar QED we derive a time-dependent (scalar) Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac (ALD) equation and show that it is the correct semiclassical limit for nonlinear particle-field systems without the need of making the dipole or non-relativistic approximations. Progressing to the stochastic regime, we derive multiparticle time-dependent ALD-Langevin equations for nonlinearly coupled particle-field systems. With these equations we show how to address time-dependent dissipation/noise/renormalization in the semiclassical and stochastic limits of QED. We clarify the relation of radiation reaction, quantum dissipation and vacuum fluctuations and the role that initial conditions may play in producing non-Lorentz invariant noise. We emphasize the fundamental role of decoherence in reaching the semiclassical limit, which also suggests the correct way to think about the issues of runaway solutions and preacceleration from the presence of third derivative terms in the ALD equation. We show that the semiclassical self-consistent solutions obtained in this way are “paradox” and pathology free both technically and conceptually. This self-consistent treatment serves as a new platform for investigations into problems related to relativistic moving charges.
Mobile/Social Media Use for Political Purposes Among Migrant Laborers in Singapore

ABSTRACT Political participation has generally been evaluated among civic resident populations using the indices of voting and campaign participation. However, migrants’ engagement with politics in their home country has become increasingly virtual with the advent of mobile/social media, suggesting a need to go beyond traditional theorizations. This article tries to understand how affordances of new media are leveraged by migrants with different political orientations as they engaged politically with their homeland. Two contexts were identified to understand their transnational political exchanges: (a) elections in homeland India, and (b) the backdrop of various civil society movements. In-depth interviews were conducted among 31 Indian migrants in Singapore with diverse political ideologies and linguistic backgrounds. Calling, messaging, sharing of news stories/posts, and commenting were the most commonly used mobile affordances. Social constructivist tradition in technology appropriation found support in the way respondents tested the affordances of mobile/social media before adding them to their usage repertoire. Due to limited political entitlements and lack of leeway in work schedules, no goal-oriented use of communication technologies was made. Political discussion hardly led to political action—such as demonstrations or public speeches—in the host country.