Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Experimental Analysis of a Medium-Frequency Transformer for Solid-State Transformer Applications

Within a solid-state transformer, the isolated dc–dc converter and in particular its medium-frequency transformer are one of the critical components, as it provides the required isolation between primary and secondary sides and the voltage conversion typically necessary for the operation of the system. A comprehensive optimization procedure is required to find a transformer design that maximizes power density and efficiency within the available degrees of freedom while complying with material limits, such as temperature, flux density, and dielectric strength as well as outer dimension limits. This paper presents an optimization routine and its underlying loss and thermal models, which are used to design a 166 kW/20 kHz transformer prototype achieving 99.4% efficiency at a power density of 44 kW/dm3. Extensive measurements are performed on the constructed prototype in order to measure core and winding losses and to investigate the current distribution within the litz wire and the flux sharing between the cores.
Hemodynamic Response to Hemodialysis With Ultrafiltration Rate Profiles Either Gradually Decreasing or Gradually Increasing.

Hemodialysis (HD) is usually performed with the gradually decreasing ultrafiltration rate (UFR) profile (dUFR). The aim of the present study was to compare the hemodynamic response to HD with the dUFR to that of HD with the gradually increasing UFR profile (iUFR). The study population included 10 patients (three women, mean age: 28 ± 8 years) undergoing maintenance HD who had reached dry weight without taking antihypertensive medications. Each patient received (in random order) one HD session with the dUFR and another with the iUFR (both with 3 h total UFR = 2200 mL). Hemodynamic response was evaluated with a brachial blood pressure (BP) monitor, echocardiogram and Portapres to measure digital BP, heart rate, cardiac output, stroke volume, and peripheral resistance. Mean values were compared at each HD hour during the first 3 h of a 4-h HD session. The HD characteristics, including Kt/V, were similar for both UFR profiles. Relative blood volume decreased more gradually and linearly with the iUFR. Hemodynamic variables were not significantly different between the two profiles, but brachial BP was more stable with the iUFR. Digital diastolic BP increased with both profiles. Peripheral resistance increased with both profiles, and tended to increase more with the iUFR. Echocardiographic variables changed similarly during the HD session with both profiles. In conclusion, these two UFR profiles are similar in most hemodynamic variables. The statistical equivalence of both profiles suggests that either could be prescribed based on the clinical characteristics of the patient.
Uses of flow cytometry in virology

This article reviews some of the published applications of flow cytometry for in vitro and in vivo detection and enumeration of virus-infected cells. Sample preparation, fixation, and permeabilization techniques for a number of virus-cell systems are evaluated. The use of flow cytometry for multiparameter analysis of virus-cell interactions for simian virus 40, herpes simplex viruses, human cytomegalovirus, and human immunodeficiency virus and its use for determining the effect of antiviral compounds on these virus-infected cells are reviewed. This is followed by a brief description of the use of flow cytometry for the analysis of several virus-infected cell systems, including blue tongue virus, hepatitis C virus, avian reticuloendotheliosis virus, African swine fever virus, woodchuck hepatitis virus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, feline leukemia virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus, and Friend murine leukemia virus. Finally, the use of flow cytometry for the rapid diagnosis of human cytomegalovirus and human immunodeficiency virus in peripheral blood cells of acutely infected patients and the use of this technology to monitor patients on antiviral therapy are reviewed. Future prospects for the rapid diagnosis of in vivo viral and bacterial infections by flow cytometry are discussed.
The captive or the broker? Explaining public agency-interest group interactions

The literature offers individually valid yet collectively inconsistent hypotheses concerning the nature of public agencies' responsiveness to interest groups. This article analyzes the nature of this responsiveness by examining the brokerage potential of public agencies among interest groups. Such a brokerage potential is hypothesized to follow from agencies' preferences for policy goods as well as the tendency of interest groups to seek access to public agencies. It combines analyses of agencies' demand for policy goods with interest groups preferences for seeking access to specific policy venues. The analyses are based on survey data of national civil servants and interest groups in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. The findings suggest that both strategic preferences as well as organizational routines positively correlate with a brokerage potential while interaction patterns within and with the organizational environment of public agencies can constrain their brokerage potential in several distinct ways. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Geographic disparities in well being and fiscal expenditures in Thailand: 2000 vs. 2009

This article investigates (1) the extent to which the differences in the standard of living between regions in Thailand are due to differences in the returns to characteristics or differences in the characteristics themselves; and (2) whether the current allocation of fiscal expenditures by the central authorities is related to the main determinants of spatial disparities in welfare among the provinces. The analysis reveals that the lower level of welfare in the rural areas within any given region is primarily because of differences in characteristics of the population in rural vs. urban areas. Differences in returns generally account for the most part of the welfare differences between urban areas of different regions and Bangkok or rural areas of other regions compared with the rural northeast. The analysis of fiscal expenditures and their relation to welfare disparities suggests that there are many opportunities to improve the role of fiscal expenditure allocation by the central government as an instrument of addressing the needs of the provinces in terms of low returns.
An Integrated Strategy for Launching a New Product in the Biotech Industry

The scope of this paper is to propose an integrated strategy to support the decision process of a semiconductor company interested in entering a new market and launching a new product in the biotech industry. The complexity of the environment and the high numbers of factors involved, leads to the conclusion that the traditional tools and models of the strategic management are not enough to analyse fully the market and to elaborate a winning strategy. For this reason an integrated approach is developed, which is able to combine elements coming from different perspectives through the introduction of new ones. The proposed approach is then applied to a real situation.
Estimation of annual coincident peak demand and load curves based on statistical analysis and typical load data

The estimation of annual coincident peak demand has traditionally been performed by different empirical methods. Research shows that if the customer loads are normally distributed the total load can be computed by a method using statistical analysis and typical load cues for each class of customer. In order to use this method the different customers must be classified and typical load profiles must be measured for each of them. A method which combines typical load curves and statistical methods is described. The authors show how this method generates other important parameters which even small utilities need in network planning and for other purposes related to the situation in Norway with the new Energy Act that will promote free market trade and a common carrier principle. The method can be used both to calculate total peak demand in a total network, and for special calculations for each customer group. The users of the method will benefit when making network calculations, in power demand forecasting, tariff calculations, general least cost utility planning, and for demand side management studies. >
Does Adverse Selection Affect Bid-Ask Spreads for Options‘

This study examines two different option markets to test whether differences in the level of adverse selection faced by market makers affect the size of bid–ask spreads. The data are from bank‐issued options that trade on EuWax, where market makers face little adverse selection and traditional options that trade on EuRex. The results support the hypothesis that the adverse selection component of the bid–ask spread is important, as options on EuWax have lower bid–ask spreads than comparable options on EuRex. The results show that the adverse selection component represents at least half of the overall bid–ask spreads on the traditional EuRex. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:417–437, 2008
Visionary leadership, management, and high performing work units : an analysis of workers' perceptions

VISIONARY LEADERSHIP, MT^AGEMENT, AND HIGH PERFORMING WORK UNITS: AN ANALYSIS OF WORKERS' PERCEPTIONS MAY 1988 MADELYN JESSICA STONER-ZEMEL , B.S., INDIANA UNIVERSITY M.S., SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Ed.D. , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Directed by: Professor Donald K. Carew This study represents one of the first attempts to quantify the relationships among traditional management , visionary leadership , and high (peak) performing work units. The study examined leadership from two theoretical constructs: traditional management, which describes relationship-oriented and task-oriented behaviors, and visionary leadership, which describes behaviors associated with the articulation of a vision in which members of the organization enroll. Using workers' perceptions, the study compared traditional managerial skills and visionary leadership with indicators typical of peak performing organizations. The study also examined the interaction of managerial and visionary leadership in relation to perceptions of peak performance of the work unit. Data were obtained from 395 employees of a large private-sector business who rated their immediate superiors using three leadership instruments: The Leader Behavior Analysis , the Leader Behavior Questionnaire , and the Leadership Practices Inventory . They also rated
A service sector classification scheme using economic data

Using economic data, this paper recreates a previously published service industry classification scheme that was derived using discursive data from interviews with industry experts. It triangulates the earlier results using a different methodology, and extends earlier classification schemes in a comprehensive, objective way. A principal component analysis of six sector parameter sets from a regression analysis of a productivity data set covering 14 countries produces three sector factors, the ‘capital type’, the ‘innovation type’ and the ‘quality type’, which form the basis of the classification scheme. A high degree of conformity is found between this and the previously published discursive-based scheme.
Intima‐media thickness at different arterial segments in pediatric type 1 diabetes patients and its relationship with advanced glycation end products

Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) are at risk for premature atherosclerosis (AS), which has its origin in childhood. Carotid intima‐media thickness (IMT) is an established surrogate marker for subclinical AS in adults. The first macroscopically detectable AS changes, however, begin in the abdominal aorta. Advanced glycation end products (AGE) predict microvascular complications in diabetes.
A semiparametric estimation of liquidity effects on option pricing

Abstract. This paper proposes a semiparametric option pricing model with liquidity, as proxied by the relative bid-ask spread. A nonparametric volatility function with liquidity costs as an explanatory variable is estimated using the Symmetrized Nearest Neighbors (SNN) estimator rather than the traditional kernel estimator. The SNN estimator is particularly suitable for the characteristics of option data in financial markets. Moreover, we propose a natural extension of the univariate bandwidth parameter optimal estimation to the multivariate case. A statistical design to test competing option pricing models which takes into account the lack of independence between them is also presented. The in-sample performance of the model turns out to be statistically favorable relative to the competing model without liquidity. Also, an additional experiment is performed within sample, but with just a subsample of options not employed in the nonparametric estimation of the implied volatility function being priced. The results are also favorable to our semiparametic theoretical option pricing model with liquidity. However, the out-of-sample performance is quite disappointing regardless of what option pricing model is employed in the estimation.
Importance of management accounting in new technology-based firms in Sweden - analysis of environmental and strategic variables

The focus of this paper is on the importance of management accounting in small high-tech firms. The study uses data from a sample of 183 small New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) in Sweden, gathered from a postal questionnaire. There are a couple of environmental variables that have influenced new technology-based firms. We argue that, together with the strategic variables, they mainly determine the importance of management accounting practices in the firm. Previous research has identified technology as one of the most important factors. The structural model indicates no significant relationships between innovation and development orientation, and the importance of management accounting. Rather, there appears to be greater emphasis on dynamic hostility, price and cost hostility and aggressive competition that appear to be of particular importance to management accounting in new technology-based firms.
Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering EAM potential for magnesium from quantum mechanical forces

We have developed an empirical EAM potential for magnesium by fitting to ab initio forces (the ‘force matching’ method) and experimental data. The database includes many different structures, including bulk, cluster, liquid and several defect structures. The potential fit to the forces database, which has 2201 forces generated using a local orbital pseudopotential method, is good. This new EAM potential gives good results for various bulk structural properties.
Physiological signal denoising with variational mode decomposition and weighted reconstruction after DWT thresholding

We describe a method for physiological signal denoising based on the variational mode decomposition (VMD), the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and constrained least squares (CLS) optimization. First, the noisy signal is decomposed into a sum of variational mode functions (VMFs) by VMD. Next, the DWT thresholding technique is applied to each VMF for denoising. Then, a weighted sum of the denoised VMFs is performed after weight estimation by CLS. The summation ignores the residue. This approach is compared to others based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and DWT thresholding of the obtained intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and residue, followed by the unweighted summation of the results. The comparisons were performed with two EEG signals from the left and right cortex of a rat, and one ECG signal from a human subject. Using the signal-to-noise ratio and mean squared error as performance metrics, the results show strong evidence of the superiority of the VMD-DWT-CLS approach over the standard EMD-DWT. It is concluded that using CLS in the final reconstruction stage and ignoring the residue may bring significant improvement to the denoising process.
Combining adjusted and unadjusted findings in mixed research synthesis.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Finding ways to incorporate disparate types of evidence into research syntheses has the potential to build a better evidence base for clinical practice and policy. Yet conducting such mixed research synthesis studies is challenging. Researchers have to determine whether and how to use adjusted and unadjusted quantitative findings in combination with each other and with qualitative findings. METHODS Among quantitative findings, adjustment for confounding, either via study design or statistical analysis, can be a considerable source of heterogeneity. Yet there is no consensus about the best way to synthesize findings resulting from different methods for addressing confounding. When synthesizing qualitative and quantitative findings, additional considerations include determining whether findings are amenable to synthesis by aggregation or configuration, which, in turn, depends on the degree of interpretive transformation of findings. RESULTS Qualitative survey findings appear similar in form to unadjusted or minimally adjusted quantitative findings and, when addressing the same relationship, can be summed. More interpreted qualitative findings appear similar in form to adjusted findings found in, for example, structural equation models specifying the relationship among a host of latent variables. An option for synthesis of conceptually similar models is reciprocal translation. CONCLUSIONS These decisions will ultimately be judged on the meaningfulness of their results to practice or policy.
An integrated BSC‐AHP approach for supply chain management evaluation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated balanced scorecard (BSC) analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach for supply chain management (SCM) evaluation. It aims to measure SCM performance from the following four perspectives: finance, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth.Design/methodology/approach – The BSC is developed in the paper based on an extensive review of literature on SCM performance measures, supported by AHP analysis.Findings – The paper develops a BSC for SCM evaluation and proposes a method to prioritize the different performance levels in any organization using AHP methodology. It also suggests from the view of different decision levels and overall performance measurement that is the best BSC perspective.Practical implications – The integrated BSC‐AHP methodology developed in this paper provides useful guidance for practical managers in evaluation and measuring of SCM in a balanced way.Originality/value – This paper proposes a balanced perf.
Birth spacing and sibling inequality: asymmetric information within the family.

This paper formulates a dynamic model of birth spacing incorporating uncertainty about (and heterogeneity in) birth outcomes and joint production to assess how the spacing of children responds to exogenous "shocks" in birth outcomes. Estimation technics are developed that use assumptions about the constraints on the information available to parental decision-makers associated with the sequential nature of childbearing ignored in static models of intra-household behavior. Section 1 examines the technology of birth spacing and its consequences for the level and distribution of child outcomes and resources. In section 2 the model compares alternative estimation technics. In section 3 data from a probability sample of US white married couples are used to describe intrafamily variation in birth outcomes and spacing and to test for heterogeneity bias. The results in section 4 suggest that across-family heterogeneity bias may be less important than within-family heterogeneity bias in estimates of the effects of birth order and timing patterns of births on health. Results from family fixed effect of sibling models of child quality determination that ignore intrafamily substitution may be misleading. Section 5 estimates how birth outcome endowments and information on gender are used to estimate how differences in them affect subsequent birth timing decisions and sibling inequality. Results suggest that 1) the birth of 1st born children tends to be delayed among families with high-income husbands highly educated parents superior health endowment or high tastes for health investments; 2) the proximity of the birth of the 2nd child to that of the 1st child is a positive function of the quality of the 1st born and 3) the spacing and existence of a 3rd child is significantly related to the birth outcomes sex composition and sex ordering of the 1st and 2nd children.
Multilayer classification of web pages using random forest and semi-supervised latent dirichlet allocation

The classification of web pages content is essential to many information retrieval tasks. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for a multilayer soft classification. Our approach is based on the connection between the semi-supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and the Random Forest classifier. We compute with LDA the distribution of topics in each document and use the results to train the Random Forest classifier. The trained classifier is then able to categorize each web document in different layers of the categories hierarchy. We have applied our methodology on a collected data set from dmoz and have obtained satisfactory results.
Essays on pricing electricity and electricity derivatives in deregulated markets

ESSAYS ON PRICING ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRICITY DERIVATIVES IN DEREGULATED MARKETS Julia Popova This dissertation is composed of four essays on the behavior of wholesale electricity prices and their derivatives. The first essay provides an empirical model that takes into account the spatial features of a transmission network on the electricity market. The spatial structure of the transmission grid plays a key role in determining electricity prices, but it has not been incorporated into previous empirical models. The econometric model in this essay incorporates a simple representation of the transmission system into a spatial panel data model of electricity prices, and also accounts for the effect of dynamic transmission system constraints on electricity market integration. Empirical results using PJM data confirm the existence of spatial patterns in electricity prices and show that spatial correlation diminishes as transmission lines become more congested. The second essay develops and empirically tests a model of the influence of natural gas storage inventories on the electricity forward premium. I link a model of the effect of gas storage constraints on the higher moments of the distribution of electricity prices to a model of the effect of those moments on the forward premium. Empirical results using PJM data support the model’s predictions that gas storage inventories sharply reduce the electricity forward premium when demand for electricity is high and space-heating demand for gas is low. The third essay examines the efficiency of PJM electricity markets. A market is efficient if prices reflect all relevant information, so that prices follow a random walk. The hypothesis of random walk is examined using empirical tests, including the Portmanteau, Augmented Dickey-Fuller, KPSS, and multiple variance ratio tests. The results are mixed though evidence of some level of market efficiency is found. The last essay investigates the possibility that previous researchers have drawn spurious conclusions based on classical unit root tests incorrectly applied to wholesale electricity prices. It is well known that electricity prices exhibit both cyclicity and high volatility which varies through time. Results indicate that heterogeneity in unconditional variance – which is not detected by classical unit root tests – may contribute to the appearance of non-stationarity.