Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Hybrid GRASP with Perturbations and Adaptive Path-Relinking for the Steiner Problem in Graphs

We propose and describe a hybrid GRASP with weight perturbations and adaptive path-relinking heuristic (HGP-PR) for the Steiner problem in graphs. In this multi-start approach, the greedy randomized construction phase of a GRASP is replaced by the combination of several construction heuristics with a weight perturbation strategy that combines intensiﬁcation and diver-siﬁcation elements, as in a strategic oscillation approach. The improvement phase circularly explores two diﬀerent local search strategies: the ﬁrst uses a node-based neighborhood for local search, while the second uses a key-path-based neighborhood. An adaptive path-relinking technique is applied to a set of elite solutions as a post-optimization strategy. Computational experiments on a large set of benchmark problems of three diﬀerent classes are reported. We ﬁrst illustrate the eﬀectiveness of preprocessing procedures for several classes of test problems. Next, we present computational results illustrating the contribution of each algorithmic feature to the robustness of the complete al-gorithm. Finally, we show that our algorithm outperforms other heuristics in the literature, obtaining consistently better or comparably good solutions for all classes of test problems.
A Proactive Approach to Neonates Born at 23 Weeks of Gestation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate in-hospital survival, survival without major morbidity, and neurodevelopmental impairment for neonates born at 23 weeks of gestation provided proactive, coordinated, and comprehensive perinatal and neonatal management. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a single, tertiary care center between 2004 and 2013. Enrollment was limited to mother–neonate dyads at 23 weeks of gestation who were provided a proactive approach defined as documented evidence of antenatal corticosteroid administration, willingness to provide cesarean delivery for fetal distress, and neonatal resuscitation and intensive care. Among survivors, major morbidities (predischarge) and neurodevelopmental assessments at corrected ages of 18–22 months were examined. RESULTS: Among 152 live births identified, 101 neonates received proactive care, of whom 60 (59%) survived to hospital discharge. Preterm premature rupture of membranes (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09–0.94), fetal growth restriction (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.03–0.89), delivery room cardiopulmonary resuscitation (OR 0.07, 95% CI 0.02–0.32), and prolonged intubation sequence (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05–0.45) were associated with lower neonatal survival. Among neonatal intensive care unit survivors, 62% had at least one major morbidity. Among 50 survivors with assessment at 18–22 months, six (12%) were unimpaired, 20 (40%) had mild impairment, and 24 (48%) had moderate or severe neurodevelopmental impairment. CONCLUSION: Proactive, interdisciplinary care enabled more than half of the neonates born at 23 weeks of gestation to survive, and approximately half of children evaluated at 18 months exhibited no or mild impairment. This information should be considered when providing prognostic advice to families with threatened preterm birth at 23 weeks of gestation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II
Access to Venture Capital and the Performance of Venture-Backed Start-Ups in Silicon Valley

This article examines start-ups' access to venture capital in Silicon Valley using a comprehensive database. The author finds that Silicon Valley consistently absorbs 20% to 26% of the total venture capital investment in the United States, and start-ups in this region benefit from the abundance of local venture capital. Venture-backed firms in Silicon Valley receive venture capital at a younger age and complete more rounds of financing. On one hand, this better access to capital makes start-ups in Silicon Valley more likely than start-ups elsewhere to complete initial public offerings and helps offset some of the negative effects of intense competition in the region. On the other hand, better access to venture capital is associated with a higher bankruptcy rate, possibly because competition for new ventures makes it more likely that poor business plans will get funding.
Optimal Portfolio Allocation Using Funds of Hedge Funds

This paper compares different methods of optimization for a portfolio allocation that includes funds of funds. Optimization consists of minimizing risk measured by one of the following proxies: normal Value at Risk (VaR), adjusted VaR (adjusted using the Cornish-Fisher expansion), weighted historical simulation VaR, and semi-deviation. Results indicate that compared to the other proxies of VaR, normal VaR tends to underestimate portfolio risk. Moreover funds of funds improve the risk-return profile of the portfolio. This last result is interesting since funds of hedge funds exhibit less of the individual hedge funds' biases reported in the literature.
Exploring the capital goods economy: complex product systems in the UK

Over the past decade, qualitative empirical research at the firm, project and industry levels has improved our understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of innovation in the high technology, high value capital goods or ‘complex product systems’ (CoPS) which underpin modern industrial activity. This paper describes the development of a new industrial classification system for CoPS which is able to estimate quantitative shares of production and value added accounted for by CoPS at the economy level. It is also able to provide insights into the capital, information technology and skill intensity of CoPS, as well as employment contributions. As an example, the method is applied to one major industrial economy, namely the UK. Through a comparison of CoPS with non-CoPS industries, the paper identifies some of the key factors which explain the different patterns of innovation between the two types of industrial activity. Although preliminary, the analysis shows that CoPS-based industries together represent a distinctive class of industrial activity. Based on the classification system provided, further research is underway to examine cross-country comparisons in both production and trade performance, through time.
The Finance-Growth Nexus

Recent cross-country studies suggest that finance and economic growth are significantly related. The characteristics and geographical scope of this relationship have become central to explain differences in economic development and financial exclusion. Two concepts are highly relevant in this context. First, financial deepening, which involves the development of traditional and non-traditional financial services in these territories. Second, bank dependence, which makes households and firms rely heavily on banks. Employing dynamic causality and panel data techniques on a sample of Spanish banks during 1993-9 we find that at a regional level, economic growth predicted financial deepening in this period. Regarding bank dependence, the bank-lending specialization appears to be a key issue in financing firms and households compared to other bank specializations.
Ultrasound speckle reduction using modified gabor filters

B-mode ultrasound images are characterized by speckle artifact, which may make the interpretation of images difficult. One widely used method for ultrasound speckle reduction is the split spectrum processing (SSP), but the use of one-dimensional (1-D), narrow-band filters makes the resultant image experience a significant resolution loss. In order to overcome this critical drawback, we propose a novel method for speckle reduction in ultrasound medical imaging, which uses a bank of wideband 2-D directive filters, based on modified Gabor functions. Each filter is applied to the 2-D radio-frequency (RF) data, resulting in a B-mode image filtered in a given direction. The compounding of the filters outputs give rise to a final image in which speckle is reduced and the structure is enhanced. We have denoted this method as directive filtering (DF). Because the proposed filters have effectively the same bandwidth as the original image, it is possible to avoid the resolution loss caused by the use of narrow-band filters, as with SSP. The tests were carried out with both simulated arid real clinical data. Using the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to quantify the amount of speckle of the ultrasound images, we have achieved an average SNR enhancement of 2.26 times with simulated data and 1.18 times with real clinical data
The Treatment of Interest and Financial Intermediaries in the National Accounts: The Old "Bundle" versus the New "Unbundle" Approach

As is widely recognized both in the literature and by the practitioners, the treatment of financial intermediaries has been one of the most controversial issues in national accounting. This has been so largely because no one up to now has been able to define the output of banks and other financial intermediaries. In the present paper, a theory of services in general and of financial services in particular is used to demonstrate that financial intermediaries produce at least six commodity type services. Furthermore, it is argued that in order to solve the banking imputation problem it is necessary to separate the theory of interest rates from the theory of financial services and examine the interdependence between them. The gross interest rate must be unbundled because it contains three distinct components. These are, first, the pure interest rate, which reflects payment for a factor‐type service; second, payments for six commodity‐type services, which reflect the output of financial intermediaries; and, third, payments for unilateral transfers. The new unbundled approach is contrasted to the old bundle approach used and/or advocated by standard economic theory, the SNA, Sunga and the Ruggleses. Furthermore, it is recommended that payments for the pure interest rate be considered as part of income of the paying enterprise or sector while payments for financial services by enterprises to other enterprises should be considered as intermediate purchases.
Strategic type, HRM and management development in Scottish firms

A survey of management development in 87 Scottish firms is reported. Data were obtained on firms' size, strategic type, and policies and practices for both human resource management and management development. A summated scale was derived to measure firms' human resource management policies and practices and factor analysis revealed a multi-dimensional structure in this. Discriminant analysis indicated that the first principal component of this scale, which corresponded to "soft" HRM models, and strategic type were both significant predictors of the development-status of firms. It was concluded that management development was predominantly a matter of strategic choice on the part of senior managers but that this did not operate unrestricted by structural factors.
Determinants of Contract Choice: The Use of Warrants to Compensate Underwriters of Seasoned Equity Issues

The issuer's decision to include warrants as compensation to underwriters is studied for a sample of 1,991 negotiated firm commitment issues of seasoned equity. Using a two-stage logit model to correct for self-selection bias, the authors find direct evidence that warrant compensation functions as a bond, substituting for reputational capital and enabling the underwriter to certify the issue price. To a lesser degree, the decision also is affected by regulations on underwriter compensation and on the use of underwriter warrants. Issuers' decisions are consistent with an objective of minimizing total underwriting cost, including cash compensation, warrants, and underpricing. Copyright 1996 by American Finance Association.
Viability of “second-life” use of electric and hybridelectric vehicle battery packs

In order for successful second-life implementation of Electric Vehicle (EV) battery packs, the viability of the intended second-life use must be ascertained based on a cost-benefit analysis and technical appraisal of the estimated condition of the available battery packs. This paper discusses the issues in measuring State-of-Health (SoH) and other battery condition metrics of a battery pack. Measurements on real-life battery packs sent for recycling are taken that demonstrate a typical 85% SoH; slightly higher than predicted by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). A model is introduced that can simulate the energy demand in a home/dwelling being met by a number of sources including mains (utility) power, photovoltaic generation (PV), and second-life battery storage. The model is applied to three scenarios using second-life battery storage, to create energy costs savings through time-shifting of energy using on-peak/off-peak electricity tariffs. For each scenario a cost-benefit analysis is produced, indicating that whilst energy costs savings can be achieved, excessive usage of the battery pack can cause the payback period of the capital investment to be longer than the predicted second-lifetime of the battery pack. However, the final scenario demonstrates that combining the battery pack with local generation, such as PV, yields cost savings that are significant at 75%, and the payback period is within the estimated lifetime of the battery pack.
Evaluating the search and matching model with sticky wages

Several authors have proposed staggered wage bargaining as a way to introduce sticky wages into search and matching models while preserving individual rationality. I evaluate the quantitative implications of such an approach. I feed through a series of estimated shocks from US data into a search and matching model with sticky prices and wages. I compare the implications of how the sticky wages enter into the hiring decision, and there seems to be a tradeoff between generating business cycle volatility and matching the lack of a long-run relationship between vacancy creation and inflation. With regard to wages, the sticky wage model unconditionally does a better job at matching wages than the flexible wage model.
The Ageing Workforce: Employers' Attitudes towards Older People

This article reports the results of a national postal survey of employers' attitudes and policies towards older workers supported by the ESRC. The survey's key findings are discussed in the context of the declining labour force participation of older people over the last twenty years and the recent turnaround in official and some employer attitudes towards this group. Findings of particular importance are those relating to the sectoral differences in employers' orientations towards older workers, such as the larger proportion of those in the production and construction than in the service sectors who were using early retirement schemes and the differences in strategic responses to the ageing workforce, with the service sector leading production, construction and manufacturing; the impact of employers' perceptions of older workers' lack of appropriate skills which, when coupled with figures illustrating the lack of access of older people to both official and employer training programmes, suggests a self-fulfilling prophecy; and the surprising support given by employers for anti-age discrimination legislation. Data from the survey are also used to test the model put forward by Atkinson (1989) suggesting that employers' policies develop incrementally. The article concludes by arguing that the educative approach favoured by the government is not likely to have a significant impact on the employment prospects of older workers. Therefore this group is likely to be increasingly confined to a choice between low-skill/low-wage jobs in the service sector or non-employment.
Chile's Criminal Law Reform: Enhancing Defendants' Rights and Citizen Security

Abstract Many democratic governments in Latin America have implemented broad judicial reforms, some of which are aimed at making criminal law and legal institutions more transparent and modern. Although such reforms are important for democratic development, scholars debate whether the reforms result in more rights for defendants and whether they jeopardize citizens' perceptions about security. Using two original datasets and a fixed-effects model, this study shows that groundbreaking criminal law reforms in Chile have improved certain aspects of defendants' rights by decreasing the number of individuals in pretrial detention. Chileans' perceptions about crime and violence in regions where the reforms were implemented also have improved. Chile's success appears to be due to the government's commitment to the reforms, as well as to concerted and consistent efforts by the police to fight crime. These results have implications for other countries implementing similar significant reforms.
Pricing Risk‐Adjusted Deposit Insurance: An Option‐Based Model

This paper presents a methodology for arriving at empirical estimates of deposit insurance premiums from market data by using isomorphic relationships betweeen equity and a call option, and insurance and a put option. The data utilizes the market value of equity to solve for the asset value and its volatility. Market perceptions of FDIC bailout policies are explicitly modeled so as to eliminate the bias in inverted values of assets and their volatility. Sensitivity analyses are performed to show that rank orderings based on premiums are robust to changes in specification, thus facilitating allocation of aggregate premium across banks. WHILE ECONOMISTS HAVE LONG argued in favor of risk-adjusted deposit insurance as both more equitable and more efficient than the current system of flatrate premiums, various recent developments have further contributed to an increasing dissatisfaction with the current system. First, both the banking industry and the government seem to be tending to the view that deregulation of the banking industry would be necessary in order to meet more sophisticated future demands on the industry as well as desirable as a policy means of stimulating greater competition among banks. Moreover, a sudden rise in the incidence of bank failures,1 and the vulnerability of the U.S. banks to the socalled international debt crisis have served to bring to the fore concern about the health of the banking industry. In the absence of deposit insurance, riskier banks will be able to attract deposits only at higher rates, and these higher costs of funding serve as built-in market-regulated incentives to limit excessive risk-taking by banks. As introduction of deposit insurance makes deposits equally risk-free across banks, these incentives disappear, and regulation and close supervision of the banking industry must necessarily replace them as deterrents to excessive risk-taking. Thus, when insurance is offered at a flat premium, regulation is designed to ensure that the risk posed to the insurer-both asset and financial risk-is appropriately uniform
Biophysical Model of Sinoatrial Node ’ s Bioelectrical Activity to Simulate Heart Rate Variability in Normal and Diabetic Patients

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a reliable and powerful tool for the assessment of sympathetic and parasympathetic functions of the autonomic system. Hence HRV is widely used as tool to monitor post myocardial-infarction patients and also diabetes subjects, because as a chronic side effect diabetes affects peripheral and autonomous nervous system. In order to determine how this HRV decreases in diabetic patients, we have developed a biophysical model based on neuroanatomical data about electrophysico-chemical mechanisms of sinoatrial node’s bioelectrical activity, involved in regulating heart-rate activity in healthy and diabetic subjects. In this biophysical model, the sinoatrial node is under the control of the sympathetic nervous system, represented by the adrenergic neuron. This neuron modulates the activities of sodium (Na ) and (K ) ionic channels, which are located on the membrane of sinoatrial cells. The model describes: a) the dynamics of propagation of the electric signal along the nerve pathway, b) the process of electrophysico-chemical coupling at the synaptic level, and c) changes in heart-rate as a result of decrease/increase in the frequency of discharges of the sinoatrial node. The model reproduces, quantitatively and qualitatively, the phenomenon of heart-rate variability in normal and diabetes subjects. Hence, our model is shown to provide representative simulation of the electrophysico-chemical mechanisms involved in hyperglycemia, that result in HRV decrease. The model can also be adapted to simulate the effects of antidiabetic drug therapy.
First-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions with Secret Reservation Prices

In this paper we consider a first-price sealed bid auction with a secret reservation price. Such auctions are used frequently in France to sell timber. Within the independent private values paradigm, we show that the equilibrium strategy of the seller is to choose a reservation price equal to his private value. We characterize the symmetric Bayesian equilibrium strategy for the buyers as the solution of a differential equation. We also show that a strategy of public reservation price is better for the seller than a strategy of secret reservation price. To evaluate the expected gain for the seller from moving from a secret to the optimal public reservation price, we estimate the model using data from an actual auction of timber. First, we solve the problem of identification of the underlying distributions of private values. Then we propose a two-step structural nonparametric estimation method to shed some lights on the shapes of these distributions. This is used to formulate and estimate a parsimonious and structural parametric model that reproduces the salient features of our nonparametric analysis.
Design of efficient triple-junction organic solar cell

Organic Photovoltaics have become a promising alternative to today's silicon-based technologies with the potential of providing low-cost, large-scale production. However, Organic Solar Cells (OSC) still suffer from lower efficiencies than their inorganic counterparts due to the narrow absorption band of single cell OSC. In this work, the performance of the several active materials available for OSCs has been analyzed in search of materials having complementary absorption band to obtain better light harvest and in turns efficient tandem OSC. For the performance analysis, an analytical model for the external voltage-dependent photocurrent in Bulk Heterojunction OSCs has been used, which incorporates exponential photon absorption, dissociation efficiency of bound electron-hole pairs (EHPs), carrier trapping, and carrier drift and diffusion in the photon absorption layer. Considering current matching, the optimized thickness of the individual cells has been obtained to design better performing double and triple-cell tandem OSCs. An efficiency of 8.29% has been obtained from a double-cell (junction) OSC by series connecting P3HT:PCBM (front cell) and pBBTDPP2:PCBM (back cell). A completely new low-bandgap (1.59 eV) material has been introduced as a middle cell to design a triple-junction(cell) tandem OSC which provided a PCE of about 14%, which is a great enhancement in PCE.
Computer-aided engineering (CAE) for system analysis

Computer-aided engineering (CAE) for systems analysis is needed to address conceptual and preliminary design for a broad class of products. System analysis encompasses many engineering disciplines and the associated CAE technology will play a key role in product development and design. Improved products can be designed by employing easy-to-use model building tools and sophisticated mathematical algorithms, which accurately predict performance and cost of future products. Lessons learned from CAD/CAM, particularly in the graphics and database management areas, combined with recent algorithm research, and supported with sufficiently powerful hardware will enable CAE systems to achieve marked productivity improvements. The authors describe their experience in computer-aided engineering for control system design. This discussion forms the basis of identifying future CAE needs and their realizations.