Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The NATREX: an Alternative Approach Theory and Empirical Verifications

The research on equilibrium real exchange rate determination is still in progress. In the recent past the NATREX (NATural Real EXchange rate) approach by Jerome Stein and his co-authors has formulated a theoretical framework for the long-run natural real exchange rate. The model has satisfactorily undergone empirical verifications for several industrialised countries. In this paper we develop and estimate a NATREX model for the multilateral real exchange rate of the Italian lira. The theoretical model qualifies the original framework in order to take into account the peculiarities of the Italian experience in the period under examination (1976-1995). The estimation of the empirical model, a system of simultaneous nonlinear dynamic equations, is done via full information maximum likelihood, which constitutes an alternative approach to the NATREX “tradition”. Our estimates confirm the validity of the NATREX theory for the Italian economy. In particular, our in-sample simulations for the long-run equilibrium real exchange rate confirm the analysis of the real misalignment of the Italian lira made by the Bank of Italy. JEL classification number: F31, F41, F43, F47 Key words:equilibrium real exchange rate, real misalignment, NATREX
Experienced speeds of fixed Internet connections as drivers of customer bonds with their provider – An empirical study of consumers in Germany

Article history: Received: September 19, 2018 Received in revised format: September 20, 2018 Accepted: October 3, 2018 Available online: October 3, 2018 Management practitioners often assume that raises in the contractual absolute maximum bandwidth of Internet connections increase the attitudinal bonds of customers with their access provider. The present study challenges this perspective: In a sample of up to 752 German-speaking Internet users with a wireline Internet access at home, it explores two relative speed characteristics of broadband connections (customer quality experiences in terms of delivered transmission speeds (1) relative to the maximum downand upload bandwidths as per customer contract, and (2) relative to speeds emphasized in advertisements of a consumer’s access provider) as potential determinants of customer affinity with an access provider. Furthermore, correlations are analyzed between the frequency with which customers use speed tests to check the quality of their wireline Internet connection and their attitudinal bonds with their access provider. Multivariate regression analysis reveals that the impression that advertised wireline access bandwidths are exaggerated compared to the speeds actually delivered and – to a lesser extent – the perception that the contractual maximum speed is reached only in a low share of a customer’s Internet sessions significantly decrease customer satisfaction and significantly increase customer inclination to churn. The effects of the two speed assessments are not independent of one another: Perceived speed exaggerations in a provider’s ads impair customer bonds less (more) strongly if the experienced share of Internet sessions with speeds below the contractual maximum bandwidth is high (low). More frequent speed testing reduces customer bonding, especially in case that advertised speeds of a customer’s provider are experienced as overblown. © 2018 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada
Constraining rule-based dynamics with types

A generalised framework of site graphs is introduced in order to provide the first fully semantic definition of the side-effect-free core of the rule-based language Kappa. This formalisation allows the use of types either to confirm that a rule respects a certain invariant or to guide a restricted refinement process that allows us to constrain its run-time applicability.
Automated signature generation for polymorphic worms using substrings extraction and principal component analysis

Internet Security system has been largely threatened due to increase in Internet Worms at an alarming rate. Intrusion Detection System signature has been manually generated by security experts during their study on the network status after the release of a new worm. But it can take place after a significant loss of assets. In this research work, we are proposing an automatic method which will generate signature for detection of polymorphic worms. We will be applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for determining the important substrings that appears mostly and are pooled amongst the instances of polymorphic worms for using them as signatures. The results generated show the successful detection of polymorphic worms using zero false positives and low false negatives by the PCA.
Preparation and Evaluation of Diclofenac Sodium Tablet Coated with Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Film Using Hypromellose Acetate Succinate and Polymethacrylates for pH-Dependent, Modified Release Drug Delivery

Polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) film formed due to the electrostatic interaction between oppositely charged polyelectrolytes is of considerable interest because of their potential applications as both drug carriers and surface-modifying agents. In this study, in vitro studies were carried out on polyelectrolyte complexes formulated with Eudragit E (EE) and hypromellose acetate succinate (HPMCAS). The complexes of EE and HPMCAS were formulated by non-stoichiometric method. The prepared IPCs were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Diclofenac sodium (DS) tablets were prepared and were coated with polymer solution of HPMCAS and EE to achieve pH-dependent and sustained-release tablets. Tablets were evaluated for their physical characteristics and in vitro drug release. The results of pharmacokinetic studies in rabbits showed that the selected formulation (F6) exhibited a delayed peak plasma concentration and marked sustained-release effect of drug in the in vivo drug release in comparison with marketed tablet. The suitable combination of PEM film based on EE and HPMCAS demonstrated potential candidate for targeted release of DS in the lower part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
How to comprehensively describe a biometric update mechanisms for keystroke dynamics

Performance of biometric keystroke dynamics systems improve when using update mechanisms for the template. Generally, only the results are reported in literature but no description of how the results were achieved is presented. In this paper, we identify not only the parameters related to the update mechanism, but also the parameters for the testing of the update mechanism. For two selected update mechanisms, we will show that the performance of those mechanisms heavily depend on the used method for evaluation. For one of these update mechanisms the final FMR value varied from 12.85% to 53.60% depending on the evaluation method. This clearly shows that performance results on update mechanisms by themselves have no value unless the method of evaluation is described.
Visual Tracking Based on Color Kernel Densities of Spatial Awareness

We propose a kernel-density based scheme that incorporates the object colors with their spatial relevance to track the object in a video sequence. The object is modeled by the color probability density function across a set of pixel regions on the object, partitioned in terms of the base shapes such as the concentric annuli or polygons at the object centre. The probability density of the object is derived by applying the kernel density estimator region-wise to the pixels within such partitioned areas. This proposed object representation enables the independent processing of the color features while at the same time making the implicit use of location information without having to involve additional model parameters. Weighting factors are also introduced to differentiate the significance of the relative physical locations when measuring the similarity of two probability density functions, and this facilitates the tracking of the more robust object features. The located object is then finalized for its boundary deformation by demanding a neighborhood similarity in colors at the object pixels near the boundary. Our experimental results showed this method is effective at tracking a non-rigid object on a moving background.
Ovarian cancer stem-like cells with induced translineage-differentiation capacity and are suppressed by alkaline phosphatase inhibitor

Spheroid formation is one property of stem cells—such as embryo-derived or neural stem cells—that has been used for the enrichment of cancer stem-like cells (CSLCs). However, it is unclear whether CSLC-derived spheroids are heterogeneous or whether they share common embryonic stemness properties. Understanding these features might lead to novel therapeutic approaches. Ovarian carcinoma is a deadly disease of women. We identified two types of spheroids (SR1 and SR2) from ovarian cancer cell lines and patients' specimens according to their morphology. Both types expressed stemness markers and could self-renew and initiate tumors when a low number of cells were used. Only SR1 could differentiate into multiple-lineage cell types under specific induction conditions. SR1 spheroids could differentiate to SR2 spheroids through epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was highly expressed in SR1 spheroids, decreased in SR2 spheroids, and was absent in differentiated progenies in accordance with the loss of stemness properties. We verified that ALP can be a marker for ovarian CSLCs, and patients with greater ALP expression is related to advanced clinical stages and have a higher risk of recurrence and lower survival rate. The ALP inhibitor, levamisole, disrupted the self-renewal of ovarian CSLCs in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. In summary, this research provides a plastic ovarian cancer stem cell model and a new understanding of the cross-link between stem cells and cancers. This results show that ovarian CSLCs can be suppressed by levamisole. Our findings demonstrated that some ovarian CSLCs may restore ALP activity, and this suggests that inhibition of ALP activity may present a new opportunity for treatment of ovarian cancer.
Role of the Polarity Protein Scribble for Podocyte Differentiation and Maintenance

The kidney filter represents a unique assembly of podocyte epithelial cells that tightly enwrap the glomerular capillaries with their complex foot process network. While deficiency of the polarity proteins Crumbs and aPKC result in impaired podocyte foot process architecture, the function of basolateral polarity proteins for podocyte differentiation and maintenance remained unclear. Here we report, that Scribble is expressed in developing podocytes, where it translocates from the lateral aspects of immature podocytes to the basal cell membrane and foot processes of mature podocytes. Immunogold electron microscopy reveals membrane associated localisation of Scribble predominantly at the basolateral site of foot processes. To further study the role of Scribble for podocyte differentiation Scribbleflox/flox mice were generated by introducing loxP-sites into the Scribble introns 1 and 8 and these mice were crossed to NPHS2.Cre mice and Cre deleter mice. Podocyte-specific Scribble knockout mice develop normally and display no histological, ultrastructural or clinical abnormalities up to 12 months of age. In addition, no increased susceptibility to glomerular stress could be detected in these mice. In contrast, constitutive Scribble knockout animals die during embryonic development indicating the fundamental importance of Scribble for embryogenesis. Like in podocyte-specific Scribble knockout mice, the development of podocyte foot processes and the slit diaphragm was unaffected in kidney cultures from constitutive Scribble knockout animals. In summary these results indicate that basolateral polarity signaling via Scribble is dispensable for podocyte function, highlighting the unique feature of podocyte development with its significant apical membrane expansions being dominated by apical polarity complexes rather than by basolateral polarity signaling.
Real-Time Transcription and Separation of Drum Recordings Based on NMF Decomposition

This paper proposes a real-time capable method for transcribing and separating occurrences of single drum instruments in poly-phonic drum recordings. Both the detection and the decomposition are based on Non-Negative Matrix Factorization and can be implemented with very small systemic delay. We propose a simple modiﬁcation to the update rules that allows to capture time-dynamic spectral characteristics of the involved drum sounds. The method can be applied in music production and music education software. Performance results with respect to drum transcription are presented and discussed. The evaluation data-set consisting of annotated drum recordings is published for use in further studies in the ﬁeld.
Direct geocoding for generation of precise wide-area elevation models with ERS SAR data

An improved technique for generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEM), capable of dealing with full scene images (100x100 km) coming from an interferogram obtained with ERS satellite data is presented. Starting from an interferometric processor aimed to the geocoding of smaller areas, now we show the new improvements based on the use of a direct geocoding algorithm and Ground Control Points (GCP), in order to calibrate some imprecisions which appear in the case of very wide swaths. The direct geocoding algorithm is based on the transformation of phases directly into heights over a UTM grid, without an intermediate transformation of phases into heights in slant range. This technique provides more accurate results. A generated DEM of the test zone of Tarragona (Spain) and its error assessment are presented. Introduction A critical step in the interferometric process [3] is the transformation of unwrapped phases into geocoded heights. Several imprecisions in orbit generation, timing knowledge and geocoding can lead to significant height errors when we are working with wide areas. It is easy to observe false height slopes along the image during the process due to this imprecisions [1]. On the other hand, if we work with small areas these errors are more difficult to observe because their propagation is not so critical. Our goal in this paper is to present some techniques developed by our research group to obtain high quality DEM's (Digital Elevation Map) of small or wide images. Direct geocoding for generation of precise wide-area elevation models with ERS SAR data.
When Protests go Virtual: How Organizing Social Protest in Virtual Worlds Changes the Nature of Organizing

In this paper, we introduce a case study of social protest that has occurred in the virtual world Second Life. This case is a labor strike that occurred against IBM by Italian employees and a large European labor union. We begin with identifying the four key elements in the protest organizing process: Identifying Supporters, Organizing and Establishing Hierarchy, Getting the Word Out, and Building Solidarity/Establishing Social Networks. Next, we briefly examine how non-virtual technologies have changed the protest organizing process. Finally, we present our case data and illustrate how moving a protest to a fully virtual environment changes the organizing process. We conclude by asserting that three aspects fundamentally change protest organizing: entertainment, costs, and culture.
A study of SPT-term distribution of CSD numbers and its application for designing fixed-point linear phase FIR filters

The distribution of the signed-powers-of-two (SPT) terms of canonical signed digit (CSD) numbers is nonuniform. In this paper, the author shows an explicit representation of this distribution. Based on this distribution, an algorithm is proposed for designing fixed-point linear phase FIR filters with CSD coefficients. Design examples demonstrate that the algorithm can produce filters using fewer SPT terms than other methods.
The Complement Receptor C5aR Controls Acute Inflammation and Astrogliosis following Spinal Cord Injury

This study investigated the role of the complement activation fragment C5a in secondary pathology following contusive spinal cord injury (SCI). C5ar−/− mice, which lack the signaling receptor for C5a, displayed signs of improved locomotor recovery and reduced inflammation during the first week of SCI compared with wild-type mice. Intriguingly, the early signs of improved recovery in C5ar−/− mice deteriorated from day 14 onward, with absence of C5aR ultimately leading to poorer functional outcomes, larger lesion volumes, reduced myelin content, and more widespread inflammation at 35 d SCI. Pharmacological blockade of C5aR with a selective antagonist (C5aR-A) during the first 7 d after SCI improved recovery compared with vehicle-treated mice, and this phenotype was sustained up to 35 d after injury. Consistent with observations made in C5ar−/− mice, these improvements were, however, lost if C5aR-A administration was continued into the more chronic phase of SCI. Signaling through the C5a-C5aR axis thus appears injurious in the acute period but serves a protective and/or reparative role in the post-acute phase of SCI. Further experiments in bone marrow chimeric mice suggested that the dual and opposing roles of C5aR on SCI outcomes primarily relate to its expression on CNS-resident cells and not infiltrating leukocytes. Additional in vivo and in vitro studies provided direct evidence that C5aR signaling is required during the postacute phase for astrocyte hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and glial scar formation. Collectively, these findings highlight the complexity of the inflammatory response to SCI and emphasize the importance of optimizing the timing of therapeutic interventions.
Design patterns for efficient graph algorithms in MapReduce

Graphs are analyzed in many important contexts, including ranking search results based on the hyperlink structure of the world wide web, module detection of proteinprotein interaction networks, and privacy analysis of social networks. Many graphs of interest are difficult to analyze because of their large size, often spanning millions of vertices and billions of edges. As such, researchers have increasingly turned to distributed solutions. In particular, MapReduce has emerged as an enabling technology for large-scale graph processing. However, existing best practices for MapReduce graph algorithms have significant shortcomings that limit performance, especially with respect to partitioning, serializing, and distributing the graph. In this paper, we present three design patterns that address these issues and can be used to accelerate a large class of graph algorithms based on message passing, exemplified by PageRank. Experiments show that the application of our design patterns reduces the running time of PageRank on a web graph with 1.4 billion edges by 69%.
Coupling Gd-DTPA with a bispecific, recombinant protein anti-EGFR-iRGD complex improves tumor targeting in MRI

Recombinant anti-epidermal growth factor receptor-internalizing arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (anti-EGFR single-domain antibody fused with iRGD peptide) protein efficiently targets the EGFR extracellular domain and integrin αvβ/β5, and shows a high penetration into cells. Thus, this protein may improve penetration of conjugated drugs into the deep zone of gastric cancer multicellular 3D spheroids. In the present study, a novel tumor-targeting contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was developed, by coupling gadolinium-diethylene triamine pentaacetate (Gd-DTPA) with the bispecific recombinant anti-EGFR-iRGD protein. The anti-EGFR-iRGD protein was extracted from Escherichia coli and Gd was loaded onto the recombinant protein by chelation using DTPA anhydride. Single-targeting agent anti-EGFR-DTPA-Gd, which served as the control, was also prepared. The results of the present study showed that anti-EGFR-iRGD-DTPA-Gd exhibited no significant cyto toxicity to human gastric carcinoma cells (BGC-823) under the experimental conditions used. Compared with a conventional contrast agent (Magnevist), anti-EGFR-iRGD-DTPA-Gd showed higher T1 relaxivity (10.157/mM/sec at 3T) and better tumor-targeting ability. In addition, the signal intensity and the area under curve for the enhanced signal time in tumor, in vivo, were stronger than Gd-DTPA alone or the anti-EGFR-Gd control. Thus, Gd-labelled anti-EGFR-iRGD has potential as a tumor-targeting contrast agent for improved MRI.
Performance/Watt: the new server focus

Transaction processing has emerged as the killer application for commercial servers. Most servers are engaged in transactional workloads such as processing search requests, serving middleware, evaluating decisions, managing databases, and powering online commerce. Currently, commercial servers are built from one or more high-performance superscalar processors. However, commercial server applications exhibit high cache miss rates, large memory footprints, and low instruction level parallelism (ILP), which leads to poor utilization on traditional ILP-focused superscalar processors [11]. In addition, these ILP-focused processors have been primarily optimized to deliver maximum performance by employing high clock rates and large amounts of speculation. As a result, we are now at the point where the performance/Watt of subsequent generations of traditional ILP-focused processors on server workloads has been flat [4] or even decreasing. The lack of increase in processor performance/Watt, coupled with the continued decrease in server hardware acquisition costs and likely increases in future power and cooling costs is leading to a situation where total cost of server ownership will soon be predominately determined by power [4]. In this paper, we argue that attacking thread-level parallelism (TLP) via a large number of simple cores on a chip multiprocessor (CMP) leads to much better performance/Watt for server workloads. As a case study, we compare Sun's TLP-oriented Niagara processor against the ILP-oriented dual-core Pentium Extreme Edition from Intel, showing that the Niagara processor has a significant performance/Watt advantage for throughput-oriented server applications.
Monetary Policy, Trend Inflation and the Great Moderation: An Alternative Interpretation

With positive trend inflation, the Taylor principle is not enough to guarantee a determinate equilibrium. We provide new theoretical results on restoring determinacy in New Keynesian models with positive trend inflation and combine these with new empirical findings on the Federal Reserve’s reaction function before and after the Volcker disinflation to find that 1) while the Fed likely satisfied the Taylor principle in the pre-Volcker era, the US economy was still subject to self-fulfilling fluctuations in the 1970s, 2) the US economy moved from indeterminacy to determinacy during the Volcker disinflation, and 3) the switch from indeterminacy to determinacy was due to the changes in the Fed’s response to macroeconomic variables and the decline in trend inflation during the Volcker disinflation.