Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementing the Friedman Rule by a Government Loan Program: An Overlapping Generations Model

The welfare gains from adopting a zero nominal interest policy depend on the implementation details. Here I argue that implementing the Friedman rule by a government loan program may be better than implementing it by collecting taxes, even when lump sum taxes are possible. The government loan program will crowd out lending and borrowing and other money substitutes. Since money can be costlessly created the resources spent on creating money substitutes are a "social waste". Moving from an economy with strictly positive nominal interest rate to an economy with zero nominal interest rate will increase consumption by the amount of resources spent on lending and borrowing. But in general welfare will increase by more than that because consumption smoothing is better under zero nominal interest rate.
DESIGNING EFFICIENT AND SAFE MACHINERY SPACES FOR MERCHANT SHIPS : A HUMAN FACTORS APPROACH

INTRODUCTION In 1998, the IMO’s circular MSC/Circ.834, entitled “Guidelines for engine-room layout, design and arrangement” [1], set out the first principles for the integration of health, safety and ergonomics in the design and arrangement of the machinery spaces onboard ships. The circular’s main objectives are (1) to improve safety of machinery spaces and (2) to ensure the effectiveness of their operation.
Dynamic variable ordering for ordered binary decision diagrams

The ordered binary decision diagram (OBDD) has proven useful in many applications as an efficient data structure for representing and manipulating Boolean functions. A serious drawback of OBDD's is the need for application-specific heuristic algorithms to order the variables before processing. Further, for many problem instances in logic synthesis, the heuristic ordering algorithms which have been proposed are insufficient to allow OBDD operations to complete within a limited amount of memory. The paper proposes a solution to these problems based on having the OBDD package itself determine and maintain the variable order. This is done by periodically applying a minimization algorithm to reorder the variables of the OBDD to reduce its size. A new OBDD minimization algorithm, called the sifting algorithm, is proposed and appears especially effective in reducing the size of the OBDD. Experiments with dynamic variable ordering on the problem of forming the OBDD's for the primary outputs of a combinational circuit show that many computations complete using dynamic variable ordering when the same computation fails otherwise.
Efficient probability density balancing for supporting distributed knowledge discovery in large databases

For the data received online from a source with an unknown probability distribution, the question addressed in this article is how to efficiently partition it to smaller representative subsets (databases) and how to organize these data subsets in order to minimize the computational cost of the later data analysis. The proposed linear-time, online problem decomposition method achieves these objectives through balancing probability distributions of the individual disjoint data subsets, each aimed at approximating the original data-source distribution. Consequently, computationally efficient statistical data analysis and neural network modelling on data subsets fitting into a computer central memory will produce results similar to these obtained through a global, computationally infeasible data analysis. In addition, the proposed decomposition scheme enables for an effective distributed data analysis on a network of workstations.
Fuzzy Sampled-Data Control for Uncertain Vehicle Suspension Systems

This paper investigates the problem of sampled-data H∞ control of uncertain active suspension systems via fuzzy control approach. Our work focuses on designing state-feedback and output-feedback sampled-data controllers to guarantee the resulting closed-loop dynamical systems to be asymptotically stable and satisfy H∞ disturbance attenuation level and suspension performance constraints. Using Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model control method, T-S fuzzy models are established for uncertain vehicle active suspension systems considering the desired suspension performances. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the existence conditions of state-feedback and output-feedback sampled-data controllers are obtained by solving an optimization problem. Simulation results for active vehicle suspension systems with uncertainty are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Matching dominance: capture the semantics of dominance for multi-dimensional uncertain objects

The dominance operator plays an important role in a wide spectrum of multi-criteria decision making applications. Generally speaking, a dominance operator is a <i>partial order</i> on a set O of objects, and we say the dominance operator has the monotonic property regarding a family of ranking functions F if <i>o</i><sub>1</sub> <i>dominates</i> <i>o</i><sub>2</sub> implies <i>f</i>(<i>o</i><sub>1</sub>) ≥ <i>f</i>(<i>o</i><sub>2</sub>) for any ranking function <i>f</i> ∈ F and objects <i>o</i><sub>1</sub>, <i>o</i><sub>2</sub> ∈ O. The dominance operator on the multi-dimensional points is well defined, which has the monotonic property regarding any monotonic ranking (scoring) function. Due to the uncertain nature of data in many emerging applications, a variety of existing works have studied the semantics of ranking query on uncertain objects. However, the problem of dominance operator against multi-dimensional uncertain objects remains open. Although there are several attempts to propose dominance operator on multi-dimensional uncertain objects, none of them claims the monotonic property on these ranking approaches. Motivated by this, in this paper we propose a novel <i>matching</i> based <i>dominance</i> operator, namely <b>matching dominance</b>, to capture the semantics of the dominance for multi-dimensional uncertain objects so that the new dominance operator has the monotonic property regarding the monotonic <i>parameterized ranking</i> function, which can unify other popular ranking approaches for uncertain objects. Then we develop a layer indexing technique, Matching Dominance based Band (<b>MDB</b>), to facilitate the top <i>k</i> queries on multi-dimensional uncertain objects based on the <i>matching dominance</i> operator proposed in this paper. Efficient algorithms are proposed to compute the MDB index. Comprehensive experiments convincingly demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our indexing techniques.
C O ] 1 7 A pr 2 01 2 When does the K 4-free process stop ?

The K4-free process starts with the empty graph on n vertices and at each step adds a new edge chosen uniformly at random from all remaining edges that do not complete a copy of K4. Let G be the random maximal K4-free graph obtained at the end of the process. We show that for some positive constant C, with high probability as n → ∞, the maximum degree in G is at most Cn 5 √logn. This resolves a conjecture of Bohman and Keevash for the K4-free process and improves on previous bounds obtained by Bollobás and Riordan and by Osthus and Taraz. Combined with results of Bohman and Keevash this shows that with high probability G has Θ(n 5 √ logn) edges and is ‘nearly regular’, i.e., every vertex has degree Θ(n 5 √ logn). This answers a question of Erdős, Suen and Winkler for the K4-free process. We furthermore deduce an additional structural property: we show that whp the independence number of G is at least Ω(n(logn)/ log logn), which matches an upper bound obtained by Bohman up to a factor of Θ(log logn). Our analysis of the K4-free process also yields a new result in Ramsey theory: for a special case of a well-studied function introduced by Erdős and Rogers we slightly improve the best known upper bound.
Rlp7p is associated with 60S preribosomes, restricted to the granular component of the nucleolus, and required for pre-rRNA processing

Many analyses have examined subnucleolar structures in eukaryotic cells, but the relationship between morphological structures, pre-rRNA processing, and ribosomal particle assembly has remained unclear. Using a visual assay for export of the 60S ribosomal subunit, we isolated a ts-lethal mutation, rix9-1, which causes nucleolar accumulation of an Rpl25p-eGFP reporter construct. The mutation results in a single amino acid substitution (F176S) in Rlp7p, an essential nucleolar protein related to ribosomal protein Rpl7p. The rix9-1 (rlp7-1) mutation blocks the late pre-RNA cleavage at site C2 in ITS2, which separates the precursors to the 5.8S and 25S rRNAs. Consistent with this, synthesis of the mature 5.8S and 25S rRNAs was blocked in the rlp7-1 strain at nonpermissive temperature, whereas 18S rRNA synthesis continued. Moreover, pre-rRNA containing ITS2 accumulates in the nucleolus of rix9-1 cells as revealed by in situ hybridization. Finally, tagged Rlp7p was shown to associate with a pre-60S particle, and fluorescence microscopy and immuno-EM localized Rlp7p to a subregion of the nucleolus, which could be the granular component (GC). All together, these data suggest that pre-rRNA cleavage at site C2 specifically requires Rlp7p and occurs within pre-60S particles located in the GC region of the nucleolus.
Role of Rho GTPases and Rho‐GEFs in the regulation of cell shape and integrity in fission yeast

The Rho family of GTPases are highly conserved molecular switches that control some of the most fundamental processes of cell biology, including morphogenesis, vesicular transport, cell division and motility. Guanine nucleotide‐exchange factors (GEFs) are directly responsible for the activation of Rho‐family GTPases in response to extracellular stimuli. In fission yeast, there are seven Dbl‐related GEFs and they activate six Rho‐type GTPases within a particular spatio‐temporal context. The failure to do so might have consequences reflected in aberrant phenotypes and in some cases lead to cell death. In this review, we briefly summarize the role of Rho GTPases and Rho‐GEFs in the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity and cell integrity in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Requirement for VLA-4 and VLA-5 integrins in lymphoma cells binding to and migration beneath stromal cells in culture

Physical interaction between human lymphomas and murine bone marrow derived stromal cells were studied. Nalm-6 pre-B cells adhered to BMS2 stromal cells and subsequently migrated beneath them, while Ramos Burkitt lymphoma cells, adhered but did not migrate. Four mAbs were established against Nalm-6 cells, which were able to block initial adhesion of Nalm-6 cells. Two of them were directed against the alpha 4 chain of VLA-4, and other two recognized the beta 1 chain of VLA integrins. Therefore, the initial adhesion of Ramos and Nalm-6 cells to BMS2 was largely mediated by the VLA-4 integrin expressed on lymphocytes. The corresponding ligand on stromal cells appears to be VCAM-1, because antibodies against murine VCAM-1 blocked the adhesion. However, antibodies against the alpha chain of VLA-4 were not capable of blocking subsequent migration beneath stromal cells. In contrast, antibodies against the beta chain of VLA integrins blocked the migration beneath stromal cells as well as the initial adhesion. Because a common beta chain can be shared among integrins, the role of other VLA integrins in Nalm-6 cells migration was investigated. VLA-5 and VLA-6 as well as VLA-4 were expressed on Nalm-6 cells, but not on Ramos cells. Additional blocking experiments revealed that VLA-4 and VLA-5 are likely to work in concert to mediate the migration of Nalm-6 cells beneath stromal cells. Thus, particular VLA integrins appear to be responsible not only for lymphocyte adhesion but also for migration with respect to stromal cells. These findings may have implications for cell-cell interactions and directed migration of lymphocytes in bone marrow and other tissues.
StatsRef-Statistics Reference Online : Dynamic Predictions

Individualized risk prediction has become central in medicine, especially in the monitoring, screening and management of chronic diseases. Dynamic predictions consist of predictions that are based on information repeatedly collected over time and that can be updated (dynamically) as soon as new information becomes available. The so-called dynamic information typically includes biomarker measures and exposure records. The aim of this paper is to give a short overview about how dynamic predictions can be defined and computed, and how their predictive accuracy can be evaluated. References are provided to guide further reading about popular methods and examples.
Temperature Changes between Neighboring Days and Mortality in Summer: A Distributed Lag Non-Linear Time Series Analysis

Background Many studies have shown that high temperatures or heat waves were associated with mortality and morbidity. However, few studies have examined whether temperature changes between neighboring days have any significant impact on human health. Method A distributed lag non-linear model was employed to investigate the effect of temperature changes on mortality in summer during 2006–2010 in two subtropical Chinese cities. The temperature change was defined as the difference of the current day’s and the previous day’s mean temperature. Results We found non-linear effects of temperature changes between neighboring days in summer on mortality in both cities. Temperature increase was associated with increased mortality from non-accidental diseases and cardiovascular diseases, while temperature decrease had a protective effect on non-accidental mortality and cardiovascular mortality in both cities. Significant association between temperature changes and respiratory mortality was only found in Guangzhou. Conclusion This study suggests that temperature changes between neighboring days might be an alternative temperature indicator for studying temperature-mortality relationship.
A Bayesian Model of Multilingual Unsupervised Semantic Role Induction

We propose a Bayesian model of unsupervised semantic role induction in multiple languages, and use it to explore the usefulness of parallel corpora for this task. Our joint Bayesian model consists of individual models for each language plus additional latent variables that capture alignments between roles across languages. Because it is a generative Bayesian model, we can do evaluations in a variety of scenarios just by varying the inference procedure, without changing the model, thereby comparing the scenarios directly. We compare using only monolingual data, using a parallel corpus, using a parallel corpus with annotations in the other language, and using small amounts of annotation in the target language. We find that the biggest impact of adding a parallel corpus to training is actually the increase in mono-lingual data, with the alignments to another language resulting in small improvements, even with labeled data for the other language.
Interactive GPU-based Segmentation of Large Medical Volume Data with Level-Sets

Automatic or semi-automatic segmentation of anatomical structures in three-dimensional datasets is still an ambitious challenge in medical image computation. The scope of application contains visualization, diagnosis, and preplanning of operations. This paper presents a 3D GPUbased level-set solver for segmentation which focuses on segmenting and rendering large volumes. Neither the volume nor the level-set have to be resident on the GPU in their entirety. Only those parts of the volume which are relevant for computation are held in memory and are dynamically swapped in and out of GPU memory. The levelset solver is integrated in a high-quality GPU based ray caster.
SOCS3 Mediates Feedback Inhibition of the Leptin Receptor via Tyr985 *

During leptin signaling, each of the phosphorylated tyrosine residues on the long form of the leptin receptor (LRb) mediates distinct signals. Phosphorylated Tyr1138 binds STAT3 to mediate its tyrosine phosphorylation and transcriptional activation, while phosphorylated Tyr985 binds the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 and reportedly mediates both activation of ERK kinases and inhibition of LRb-mediated STAT3 activation. We show here that although mutation of Tyr985 does not alter STAT3 signaling by erythropoietin receptor-LRb (ELR) chimeras in transfected 293 cells at short times of stimulation, this mutation enhances STAT3 signaling at longer times of stimulation (>6 h). These data suggest that Tyr985 may mediate feedback inhibition of LRb signaling by an LRb-induced LRb inhibitor, such as SOCS3. Indeed, SOCS3 binds specifically to phosphorylated Tyr985 of LRb, and SOCS3 fails to inhibit transcription by ELR following mutation of Tyr985, suggesting that SOCS3 inhibits LRb signaling by binding to phosphorylated Tyr985. Additionally, overexpression of SOCS3, but not SHP-2, impairs ELR signaling, and the overexpression of SHP-2 blunts SOCS3-mediated inhibition of ELR signaling. Thus, our data suggest that in addition to mediating SHP-2 binding and ERK activation during acute stimulation, Tyr985 of LRb mediates feedback inhibition of LRb signaling by binding to LRb-induced SOCS3.
Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a New Adult Asthma Self-Management Program

The purpose of the research was to develop, implement, and evaluate a new adult asthma self-management program with a multidisciplinary perspective. Small groups of adults met for 2 hr for 7 consecutive weekly meetings. Participants were asked to practice asthma specific behaviors (including peak expiratory flow monitoring, avoidance/removal of asthma triggers, and controller medication adherence) and general lifestyle behaviors (including drinking water, practicing relaxation, washing hands, and exercising). Learner-centered teaching techniques such as interactive communication and social support were utilized to help participants practice self-management behaviors including problem-solving and goal-setting. Paired sample t-tests included statistically significant improvements in asthma knowledge, asthma specific quality of life (QOL), asthma specific behaviors such as peak flow monitoring and general life style behaviors such as frequency of daily exercise. These results provide evidence that this new adult asthma self-management program can lead to both knowledge acquisition and behavioral changes.
Public Service Media in the ‘ Network ’ Era A Comparison of Remits , Funding , and Debate in 17 Countries

This chapter presents findings from a recent comparative study on public service media and their regulation as regards their remit, funding, services and debate. Based on a literature review, the authors propose three ways in which the network paradigm can be useful for studying public service media: 1) to discuss how public service media embrace the internet, 2) to describe a more profound process of change affecting public service media, and 3) to locate public service media organisations in relation to national and international (stakeholder)-networks. Using this framework to (re-)interpret our findings enables a comparison of the ‘network era’ with its precursor, the ‘digital age’, and reveals starting points for further research.
Multi-camera tracking system in a large area case

A video tracking system raises a wide range of possibilities in today's society, particularly in security, monitoring, and robotics. The most important research in tracking systems is to discover and develop an available method and algorithm for tracking an object's motion. The objective of this paper is to propose a new method that combines a prediction method and particle filter to manage problems in a wide area of observation. The comparative study of the method is provided and its capabilities are evaluated.
An efficient algorithm to model dynamical system ’ s separatrix manifolds

Mathematical modelling is being applied in major disciplines, such as biology, medicine and social sciences and the aim of such models lies in the prediction of the temporal evolution of the considered quantities. The possible steady states of the system are completely determined by its parameters. However, it is possible that more steady states can originate from the same parameter set. In that case the outcome of such model depends on the initial condition. Therefore, it is important to assess the domain of attraction for each possible attractor. Here we focus on systems of two and three ordinary differential equations aimed at finding the basins of attraction of three different equilibria. For this purpose we have implemented several Matlab functions for the approximation of the points lying on the curves or on the surfaces determining the basins of attraction, obtained by a bisection algorithm, and for the graphical representation of such curves and surfaces. In particular our algorithm is general and robust enough so as to accommodate the three equilibria case as well as the particular case in which two of these equilibria coincide, improving the results obtained in [1, 2, 3]. Moreover, we approximate the curves and the surfaces with the implicit Partition of Unity method, using as local approximants the compactly supported Wendland’s functions, [4, 5].
The Intergenerational Transmission of Income in Switzerland: A Comparison between Natives and Immigrants

This paper analyses the intergenerational income mobility for natives and immigrants in Switzerland. An IV approach based on data from two different data sets is used. As there is no adequate data on fathers, I revert to information from a period that differs from actual fathers' work period. This methodological approach leads to a bias of the resulting intergenerational elasticity. Nevertheless, cross-national comparison of income mobility is still possible. A comparison across subgroups of the Swiss population shows strong differences between Swiss and immigrants. Compared to natives, immigrants are more immobile. Also, substantial heterogeneity is found across different ethnic groups. Using quantile regression, mobility for natives is found to be similar for all income quantiles. Among immigrants, mobility is higher at the lower as well as at the upper end of the income distribution. These patterns differ from previous results from other countries.
N A ] 2 3 Ju l 2 01 4 Scaling techniques for ǫ – subgradient projection methods ∗

The recent literature on first order methods for smooth optimization shows that significant improvements on the practical convergence behaviour can be achieved with variable stepsize and scaling for the gradient, making this class of algorithms attractive for a variety of relevant applications. In this paper we introduce a variable metric in the context of the ǫ-subgradient projection methods for nonsmooth, constrained, convex problems, in combination with two different stepsize selection strategies. We develop the theoretical convergence analysis of the proposed approach and we also discuss practical implementation issues, as the choice of the scaling matrix. In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the method, we consider a specific problem in the image restoration framework and we numerically evaluate the effects of a variable scaling and of the steplength selection strategy on the convergence behaviour.
An Observation on Database Buffering Performance Metrics

Database buffering normally assumes that a proper measure of performance is the number of pages transferred. This paper justifies that the number of I/O’s is the proper unit of measure. From this we derive a buffering policy that improves over known buffering policies for nested loop joins, we derive some buffering policies for hashing joins, and we make an observation about selections and query optimization.