Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantifying and Modeling Long-Range Cross-Correlations in Multiple Time Series with Applications to World Stock Indices

We propose a modified time lag random matrix theory in order to study time-lag cross correlations in multiple time series. We apply the method to 48 world indices, one for each of 48 different countries. We find long-range power-law cross correlations in the absolute values of returns that quantify risk, and find that they decay much more slowly than cross correlations between the returns. The magnitude of the cross correlations constitutes "bad news" for international investment managers who may believe that risk is reduced by diversifying across countries. We find that when a market shock is transmitted around the world, the risk decays very slowly. We explain these time-lag cross correlations by introducing a global factor model (GFM) in which all index returns fluctuate in response to a single global factor. For each pair of individual time series of returns, the cross correlations between returns (or magnitudes) can be modeled with the autocorrelations of the global factor returns (or magnitudes). We estimate the global factor using principal component analysis, which minimizes the variance of the residuals after removing the global trend. Using random matrix theory, a significant fraction of the world index cross correlations can be explained by the global factor, which supports the utility of the GFM. We demonstrate applications of the GFM in forecasting risks at the world level, and in finding uncorrelated individual indices. We find ten indices that are practically uncorrelated with the global factor and with the remainder of the world indices, which is relevant information for world managers in reducing their portfolio risk. Finally, we argue that this general method can be applied to a wide range of phenomena in which time series are measured, ranging from seismology and physiology to atmospheric geophysics.
Tree based Analysis of Simple Recurrent Network Learning

In searching for a connectionist paradigm capable of natural language processing, many researchers have explored the Simple Recurrent Network (SRN) such as Elman(1990), Cleermance(1993), Reilly(1995) and Lawrence(1996). SRNs have a context layer that keeps track of the past hidden neuron activations and enables them to deal with sequential data. The events in Natural Language span time so SRNs are needed to deal with them. Among the various levels of language processing" a phonological level can be distinguished. The Phonology deals with phonemes or graphem~ the latter in the case when one works with orthographic word representations. The principles governing the combinations of these symbols is called phonotactics (Laver'1994). It is a good starting point for connectionist language analysis because there are not too many basic entities. The number of the symbols varies between 26 (for the Latin graphemes) and 50 "(for the phonemes). Recently. some experiments considering phonotactics modelling with SRNs have been carried out by Stoianov(1997), Rodd(1997). The neural network in Stoianov(1997) was trained to study the phonotactics of a large Dutch word corpus. This problem was implemented as an SRN learning task to predict the symbol following the left context given to the input layer so far. Words were applied to the network, symbol by symbol, which in turn were encoded orthogonally, that is, one node standing for one symbol (Fig. 1). An extra symbol ( '# ' ) was used as a delimiter. After the training, the network responded to the input with different neuron activations at the output layer; The more active a given output neuron is, the higher the probability is that it is a successor. The authors used a so-called optimal threshold method for establishing the threshold which determines the possible successors. This method was based on examining the network
Biochemical, Molecular, and Transcriptional Highlights of the Biosynthesis of an Effective Biosurfactant Produced by Bacillus safensis PHA3, a Petroleum-Dwelling Bacteria

Petroleum crude oil (PCO)-dwelling microorganisms have exceptional biological capabilities to tolerate the toxicity of petroleum contaminants and are therefore promising emulsifier and/or degraders of PCO. This study describes a set of PCO-inhabiting bacterial species, one of which, identified as Bacillus safensis PHA3, produces an efficient biosurfactant which was characterized as a glycolipid. Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, nuclear magnetic resonance, Thin layer chromatography, HPLC, and GC-MS analysis of the purified biosurfactant revealed that the extracted molecule under investigation is likely a mannolipid molecule with a hydrophilic part as mannose and a hydrophobic part as hexadecanoic acid (C16:0). The data reveal that: (i) PHA3 is a potential producer of biosurfactant (9.8 ± 0.5 mg mL-1); (ii) pre-adding 0.15% of the purified glycolipid enhanced the degradation of PCO by approximately 2.5-fold; (iii) the highest emulsifying activity of biosurfactant was found against the PCO and the lowest was against the naphthalene; (iv) the optimal PCO-emulsifying activity was found at 30–60°C, pH 8 and a high salinity. An orthologous gene encodes a putative β-diglucosyldiacylglycerol synthase (β-DGS) was identified in PHA3 and its transcripts were significantly up-regulated by exogenous PAHs, i.e., pyrene and benzo(e)pyrene but much less by mid-chain n-alkanes (ALKs) and fatty acids. Subsequently, the accumulation of β-DGS transcripts coincided with an optimal growth of bacteria and a maximal accumulation of the biosurfactant. Of particular interest, we found that PHA3 actively catalyzed the degradation of PAHs notably the pyrene and benzo(e)pyrene but was much less effective in the mono-terminal oxidation of ALKs. Such characteristics make Bacillus safensis PHA3 a promising model for enhanced microbial oil recovery and environmental remediation.
Evolutionary path planning for autonomous air vehicles using multi-resolution path representation

We introduce an evolutionary flight path planning algorithm capable of mapping paths for free-flying vehicles functioning under several aerodynamic constraints. An air-to-ground targeting scenario was selected to demonstrate the algorithm. The task of the path planner was to generate inputs flying a munition to a point where it could fire a projectile to eliminate a ground target. Vehicle flight constraints, path destination, and final orientation were optimized through fitness evaluation and iterative improvement of generations of candidate flight paths. Evolutionary operators comprised of one crossover operation and six mutation operators. Several cases for air-to-ground vehicle targeting have been successfully executed by the evolutionary flight path planning algorithm under challenging initial conditions. The results demonstrate that evolutionary optimization can achieve flight objectives for air vehicles without violating limits of the aircraft.
Quantum Algorithms for Matrix Products over Semirings

In this paper we construct quantum algorithms for matrix products over several algebraic structures called semirings, including the ( max , min )-matrix product, the distance matrix product and the Boolean matrix product. In particular, we obtain the following results. We construct a quantum algorithm computing the product of two n×n matrices over the ( max , min ) semiring with time complexity O(n 2.473). In comparison, the best known classical algorithm for the same problem has complexity O(n 2.687). As an application, we obtain a O(n 2.473)-time quantum algorithm for computing the all-pairs bottleneck paths of a graph with n vertices, while classically the best upper bound for this task is O(n 2.687). We construct a quantum algorithm computing the l most significant bits of each entry of the distance product of two n×n matrices in time O(20.64l n 2.46). In comparison, prior to the present work, the best known classical algorithm for the same problem had complexity O(2l n 2.69). Our techniques lead to further improvements for classical algorithms as well, reducing the classical complexity to O(20.96l n 2.69), which gives a sublinear dependency on 2l.
Object Tracking Using Adaptive Object Color Modeling

This paper presents an object tracking method based on the object and background color. A three dimensional feature vector is used to describe color feature (R, G, B) of each pixel. A quantized histogram of that feature value of pixels on the selected object and a quantized histogram of pixels from the neighborhood surrounding the object are developed. The RGB based joint probability density function of the selected object region and that of a neighborhood surrounding the object are used to separate object from background. An adaptive color model of separated object is developed to detect the object in subsequent frames while Mean-shift procedure is used to track the object. The proposed tracker is illustrated to be able to track the object and successfully resolve the problems caused by the camera movement and illumination change, rotation, shape deformation and 3D transformation of the target object.
Wambam: a case study in design for an electronic musical instrument for severely intellectually disabled users

This paper looks at the design process of the WamBam; a self-contained electronic hand-drum meant for music therapy sessions with severely intellectually disabled clients. Using co-reflection with four musical therapists and literature research, design guidelines related to this specific user-group and context are formed. This leads to a concept of which the most relevant aspects are discussed, before describing the user studies. Finally, the plan for the redesign is discussed. The WamBam has unique possibilities to deal with the low motor skills and cognitive abilities of severely intellectually disabled users while music therapists benefit from the greater versatility and portability of this design compared to other musical instruments. A prototype was tested with twenty users. Participants proved to be triggered positively by the WamBam, but three limiting usability issues were found. These issues were used as the fundamentals for a second prototype. Music therapists confirm the value of the WamBam for their practice.
Serum fatty acid levels, dietary style and coronary heart disease in three neighbouring areas in Japan: the Kumihama study

CHD mortality is extremely low in Japan, particularly in rural districts, when compared with that in Western countries. This has been partly attributed to the difference in dietary lifestyle. We investigated the factors influencing CHD mortality in a rural coastal district of Japan, comprising mercantile, farming, and fishing areas with distinct dietary habits. We prospectively examined the incidence of CHD from 1994 to 1998, as well as coronary risk factors and serum fatty acid concentrations. The incidence of angina pectoris was significantly (P=0·01) lower in the fishing area than in the mercantile and farming areas. Blood pressure, physical activity, prevalence of diabetes, serum levels of uric acid and HDL-cholesterol were similar between the three areas. Total- and LDL-cholesterol levels were significantly lower but the smoking rate was markedly higher in the fishing area than in the other two areas. Serum levels of saturated fatty acids and n−6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were lowest in the fishing area, but n−3 PUFA did not differ significantly. The n−6:n−3 PUFA ratio was lowest and eicosapentaenoic:arachidonic acid was highest in the fishing area. Although many previous studies have emphasized the beneficial effect of n−3 PUFA in preventing CHD, the present study indicated that a lower intake of n−6 PUFA and saturated fatty acids has an additional preventive effect on CHD even when the serum level of n−3 PUFA is high because of high dietary fish consumption.
Structural and functional MRI abnormalities of cerebellar cortex and nuclei in SCA 3 , SCA 6 and Friedreich ’ s ataxia

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 and Friedreich’s ataxia are common hereditary ataxias. Different patterns of atrophy of the cerebellar cortex are well known. Data on cerebellar nuclei are sparse. Whereas cerebellar nuclei have long been thought to be preserved in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, histology shows marked atrophy of the nuclei in Friedreich’s ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. In the present study susceptibility weighted imaging was used to assess atrophy of the cerebellar nuclei in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (n = 12, age range 41–76 years, five female), Friedreich’s ataxia (n = 12, age range 21–55 years, seven female), spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (n = 10, age range 34–67 years, three female), and ageand gender-matched controls (total n = 23, age range 22–75 years, 10 female). T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were used to calculate the volume of the cerebellum. In addition, ultra-high field functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed with optimized normalization methods to assess function of the cerebellar cortex and nuclei during simple hand movements. As expected, the volume of the cerebellum was markedly reduced in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, preserved in Friedreich’s ataxia, and mildy reduced in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. The volume of the cerebellar nuclei was reduced in the three patient groups compared to matched controls (P-values5 0.05; two-sample t-tests). Atrophy of the cerebellar nuclei was most pronounced in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6. On a functional level, hand-movement-related cerebellar activation was altered in all three disorders. Within the cerebellar cortex, functional magnetic resonance imaging signal was significantly reduced in spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 and Friedreich’s ataxia compared to matched controls (P-values50.001, bootstrap-corrected cluster-size threshold; two-sample t-tests). The difference missed significance in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. Within the cerebellar nuclei, reductions were significant when comparing spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 and Friedreich’s ataxia to matched controls (P5 0.01, bootstrap-corrected cluster-size threshold; two-sample t-tests). Susceptibility weighted imaging allowed depiction of atrophy of the cerebellar nuclei in patients with Friedreich’s ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. In spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, pathology was not restricted to the cerebellar cortex but also involved the cerebellar nuclei. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data, on the other hand, revealed that pathology in Friedreich’s ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 is not restricted to the cerebellar nuclei. There was functional involvement of the cerebellar cortex despite no or little structural changes.
Evaluation of Audio Watermark System Using Short Detection Time Frame

Assumed applications of copyright protection for music and synthesized voice are discussed. We developed a prototype audio watermark system combining the results of previous studies based on the patchwork algorithm, modifying the amplitude in the time-domain of voiced audio data, and using a reference signal. The results of experimental evaluation show that this our system can detect watermarks in a time frame as short as 2 s.
Brittleness of Bayesian inference and new Selberg formulas

The incorporation of priors in the Optimal Uncertainty Quantification (OUQ) framework \cite{OSSMO:2011} reveals brittleness in Bayesian inference; a model may share an arbitrarily large number of finite-dimensional marginals with, or be arbitrarily close (in Prokhorov or total variation metrics) to, the data-generating distribution and still make the largest possible prediction error after conditioning on an arbitrarily large number of samples. The initial purpose of this paper is to unwrap this brittleness mechanism by providing (i) a quantitative version of the Brittleness Theorem of \cite{BayesOUQ} and (ii) a detailed and comprehensive analysis of its application to the revealing example of estimating the mean of a random variable on the unit interval $[0,1]$ using priors that exactly capture the distribution of an arbitrarily large number of Hausdorff moments. However, in doing so, we discovered that the free parameter associated with Markov and Kre\u{\i}n's canonical representations of truncated Hausdorff moments generates reproducing kernel identities corresponding to reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces of polynomials. Furthermore, these reproducing identities lead to biorthogonal systems of Selberg integral formulas. This process of discovery appears to be generic: whereas Karlin and Shapley used Selberg's integral formula to first compute the volume of the Hausdorff moment space (the polytope defined by the first $n$ moments of a probability measure on the interval $[0,1]$), we observe that the computation of that volume along with higher order moments of the uniform measure on the moment space, using different finite-dimensional representations of subsets of the infinite-dimensional set of probability measures on $[0,1]$ representing the first $n$ moments, leads to families of equalities corresponding to classical and new Selberg identities.
Reassessing Contemporary Macroeconomics on Methodological Grounds A Weberian Approach

Through this paper I try to join the lively debate around mainstream economics with a view to calling attention to some methodological aspects. It is aimed at outlining an interpretation based on Max Weber’s traditional neoclassical methodology that can help us to find the adequate territory of abstract-idealized mainstream models. Special attention is paid to an assessment of the relationship between models and reality. It is argued here that scrutinizing this relationship should reach beyond the oversimplifying approach of empirical tests. Simultaneously, this assessment gives us a refined set of aspects by the application of which to contemporary macroeconomics some methodological breaks can also be highlighted. These breaches would not have been revealed by a linear narrative.
Why Are They Still Here , What ’ s Wrong With Them , and How Can We Fix Them ? 1 st

Mailing lists have existed since the early days of email and are still widely used today, even as more sophisticated online forums and social media websites proliferate. The simplicity of mailing lists can be seen as a reason for their endurance, a source of dissatisfaction, and an opportunity for improvement. Using a mixed-method approach, we study two community mailing lists in depth with interviews and surveys, and survey a broader spectrum of 28 lists. We report how members of the different communities use their mailing lists and their goals and desires for them. We explore why members prefer mailing lists to other group communication tools. But we also identify several tensions around mailing list usage that appear to contribute to dissatisfaction with them. We conclude with design implications that explore how to alleviate the tensions that we observe around mailing list usage.
Sea level anomalies control phytoplankton biomass in the Costa Rica Dome area

Satellite data show that chlorophyll‐a concentration (Chl‐a) in the northeastern tropical Pacific is well correlated with sea level anomaly (SLA). This correlation spans a wide spectrum of scales from large‐scale phenomena like ENSO to mesoscale cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies. Negative SLA (e.g. during La Niña events and in cyclonic eddies) is associated with the lifting of isopycnals in the nutricline and increased Chl‐a due to enhanced phytoplankton growth, while positive SLA (e.g. during El Niño events and in anticyclonic eddies) is associated with a deeper nutricline and reduced Chl‐a due to decreased phytoplankton growth. The coupling between SLA and Chl‐a anomaly in the Costa Rica Dome (CRD) area is tighter than has previously been recorded anywhere in the world ocean. 70% of the interannual variations in Chl‐a anomaly in the CRD area is explained by a combination of the positive and negative effects of SLA.
Game theory and pricing strategies for demand-side management in the smart grid

Demand-side management is an effective means to optimize resource utilization in the electricity grid. The smart grid can enable the utility company to shape the users consumption by adopting appropriate pricing strategies. Having received the price information, each user may independently schedule its appliances to minimize its electricity payment. In this paper, we consider a smart grid scenario with a single utility company and multiple users where the utility company adopts day-ahead pricing strategy. We formulate the problem as a binary linear programming problem. The simulation results show that users can reduce their bills by 25% using the proposed technique.
A new design methodology for passivity-based control of single- link flexible manipulators

This work presents a new methodology for the design of passivity-based controls as applied to single-link flexible arms. The objective is the end-point position control with effective vibration suppression. The control scheme consists of two nested control loops (named inner and outer loop) and a linear strain feedback to decouple the motor and the link dynamics. The controller design is based on the passivity relationship existing between the integral of the torque measured at the base of the arm (coupling torque) and the motor angle. The inner loop controls the motor position and the outer loop keeps the stability of the overall system to large changes in the robot payload and cancels the residual vibration. The control scheme design is validated both in simulation as well as in experiments.
The Practitioners of Web Information Architecture in Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper reports an investigation of the practice of web information architecture in small and medium enterprises. As information delivery via the web becomes a mainstream activity in all organisations, research and practical attention to Web IA remains focused on larger organisations and a new profession of information architect. The practice of web IA in SMEs has not been widely considered. This research collects the narratives of those who practice Web IA in the smaller enterprise and reveals that the dominant voice is that of a communication and marketing practitioner, rather than information professional. The outcomes of practice in this context suffer from a lack of knowledge and expertise
A hardware-accelerated novel IR system

AURA (Advanced Uncertain Reasoning Architecture) is a generic family of techniques and implementations intended for high-speed approximate search and match operations on large unstructured datasets. This paper continues the AURA II (Advanced Uncertain Reasoning Architecture) project's research into distributed binary Correlation Matrix Memory (CMM) based upon the PRESENCE (PaRallEl Structured Neural Computing Engine) hardware architecture [14]. Previous work has described how CMMs can be seamlessly implemented onto multiple hardware PRESENCE cards to accelerate core CMM operations. To demonstrate the system, this paper describes how a novel CMM-based information retrieval (IR) system, called MinerTaur, was implemented using multiple PRESENCE cards distributed across a cluster.
Coprocessing : Experience with CUMULVS and pV 3

Coprocessing involves running a visualization process concurrently with a simulation, and making intermediate simulation results visible during the course of the run. Through computational monitoring, a researcher can watch the progress of a run, perhaps ending the run if it looks unproductive. In this report, we experiment with applying two software packages designed to support computational monitoring to a parallel version of a code for water quality modeling.