Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Price Discovery in Futures and Spot Commodity Markets in India

The study investigated the role of commodity futures market in performing the function of price discovery. The significance of price discovery depends upon a close relationship between futures and spot prices. The price linkage between futures market and spot market has been investigated using cointegration analysis. To perform the cointegration and error correction dynamics, this study used four futures and spot indices of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), Mumbai. The results show that futures and spot markets in MCX are cointegrated and sharing a long run relationship. There is a causality flow from futures markets towards spot markets indicating information flow from futures to spot markets. At the same time, there is also a reverse information flow happening in case of metals signifying price discovery in both futures and spot markets.
Characterizing Physically Transient Antennas

A physically transient (PT) antenna changes its properties over a predefined lifespan due to its time-varying dimension and shape. The PT antenna technology has attracted much attention in the areas of biomedical, environmental, and military applications. It is also a fundamental building block of transient communications, where certain components of the communication link are degradable. In this paper, we revisit the classical antenna figures-of-merit such as resonant frequency and input impedance, and propose a novel immersion-time-dependent description framework to characterize this class of antennas, taking into account their PT nature. Subsequently, we present the notions of average and outage antenna characteristics over all realizations of the random antenna degeneration process occurring in a solvent. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt in the open literature to quantify stochastically the properties of a PT antenna. Finally, we look into the specific application scenario of a degradable circular patch to demonstrate the principles and applicability of the proposed methodology. The analytical approach may also find important applications in the design and evaluation of other PT wireless devices and systems.
Calculating the Contribution of Zooxanthellae to Giant Clams Respiration Energy Requirements

Giant clams (Tridacnidae) are known to live in association with photosynthetic single cell dinoflagellate algae commonly called zooxanthellae. These algae which can be found in the mantle of the clams are capable of transferring part of their photosynthates which become an important source of energy to the host ( apart from filter feeding activity). In order to understand the basic biological processes of the giant clams , the contribution of zooxanthellae to the clam’s energy requirement need to be determined. This review describes how to calculate the contribution of zooxanthellae to the giant clam’s energy requirement for the respiration process.
Myocardial Fibrosis in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Volumetric Assessment of Late Enhancement Provided by Cardiac Computed Tomography

Introduction With subgroups of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) confers a 4% to 5% risk for adverse prognosis. Besides left-ventricular muscle mass (LV-MM) myocardial fibrosis (MF) assessable by late gadolinium enhancement in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) has been related to that. Myocardial fibrosis can also be demonstrated by late enhancement (LE) in late-enhanced multislice computed tomography (leMDCT). This analysis investigates leMDCT whether to enable quantification of LE load in terms of LE mass by percent LV-MM in HCM. Methods In a prospective validation study, we included 30 consecutive patients with HCM who underwent leMDCT (64 slice) and LGE-CMR (1.5 T). The leMDCT scan was performed 7 minutes after injection of iodine contrast (Iopromid). Endocardial and epicardial planimetry served for the assessment of LV-MM. Visually detectable LE was quantified using the manual quantification method resulting in LE by percent LV-MM (%LE). The LGE-CMR data served for validation. Results Mean (SD) age was 64.1 (13.9) years. Myocardial fibrosis prevalence was 63.3% (19/30 patients indentified by both leMDCT and LGE-CMR). In leMDCT, tissue density in LE areas compared with normal myocardium was higher (138.2 [23.9] HU vs 98.4 [16.5] HU, P < 0.001) but lower than in the LV cavity (138.2 [23.9] HU vs 169.2 [35.9] HU, P < 0.001). Late enhancement mass in leMDCT seemed to be 7.9 (8.5) g LE versus 8.6 [11] g LGE in CMR (P = 0.497, r = 0.95) resulting in a leMDCT/LGE-CMR relation of 1.2. Referring LE mass to LV-MM gave an LE proportion measured by leMDCT of 4 (3.9) %LE versus 3.9 (4.1) %LGE in LGE-CMR (r = 0.88, P = 0.75). Intraobserver/interobserver reliability of LE mass assessment showed an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99 and 0.97. Conclusions In patients with HCM, leMDCT provides volumetric assessment of LE mass—absolutely and by percent LV-MM.
Adaptive low-delay video streaming in heterogeneous wireless networks using MPRTP

As computationally powerful mobile devices with high-resolution screens have become ubiquitous, network operators are facing the problem of coping with the huge traffic load caused by various video streaming applications. One approach to mitigate the problem is to dynamically offload parts of the traffic to Wi-Fi networks that offer higher data rates at lower costs. Offloading can be performed in the most seamless way by deploying multi-path transport protocols that incorporate mechanisms to distribute the load over the available network interfaces. In the present work, we develop such mechanisms that allow to efficiently transmit a low-delay live video stream over multiple paths. We propose a cross-layer solution that operates on the transport and application layers. It consists of two components. The Sender-Side Path Scheduling component allows to use multiple network interfaces for concurrent transmission of video data in order to achieve bandwidth aggregation, and packets loss reduction. The Sender-Side Video Adaptation component dynamically adapts the video bit rate to the network conditions. The joint operation of these two components allows to increase the Quality of Experience of the user by providing a smooth playback at the best possible video quality level with a minimum of playback interruptions and corrupted video frames. In order to efficiently adapt the video quality to the network conditions, our proposed solution leverages Scalable Video Coding. We prototyped the proposed solution using the Multipath Real-Time Transport Protocol, and evaluated it w.r. t. the achieved Quality of Experience. We observed that it allows to reduce the amount of playback interruptions by up to 50%, as compared to two baseline approaches.
Estimating the Willingness to Pay for the Benefit of AES Using the Contingent Valuation Method

ABSTRACT This paper presents results of a contingent valuation study based on responses from household members living in Winterswijk, The Netherlands. The respondents are asked to report their preferences on a range of willingness to pay (WTP) for agri-environmental schemes (AES) provided by farmers. Estimated WTP based on both two-step Heckman selection and Tobit model is reported. Results indicate that the willingness to pay appears to depend positively on the level of trust and membership status of household members towards environmental organizations.
Performance of Machine Learning Classifiers for Indoor Person Localization With Capacitive Sensors

Accurate tagless indoor person localization is important for several applications, such as assisted living and health monitoring. Machine learning (ML) classifiers can effectively mitigate sensor data variability and noise due to deployment-specific environmental conditions. In this paper, we use experimental data from a capacitive sensor-based indoor human localization system in a 3m $\times3\text{m}$ room to comparatively analyze the performance of Weka collection ML classifiers. We compare the localization performance of the algorithms, its variation with the training set size, and the algorithm resource requirements for both training and inferring. The results show a large variance between algorithms, with the best accuracy, precision, and recall exceeding 93% and 0.05m average localization error.
Multiple Sources of Isotopic Variation in a Terrestrial Arthropod Community: Challenges for Disentangling Food Webs

Abstract Documenting trophic links in a food web has traditionally required complex exclusion experiments coupled with extraordinarily labor-intensive direct observations of predator foraging. Newer techniques such as stable isotope analysis (SIA) may facilitate relatively quick and accurate assessments of consumer feeding behavior. Ratios of N and C isotopes are thought to be useful for determining species’ trophic position (e.g., 1° consumer, 2° consumer, or omnivore) and their original carbon source (e.g., C3 or C4 plants; terrestrial or marine nutrients). Thus far, however, applications of stable isotopes to terrestrial arthropod food webs have suggested that high taxon-specific variation may undermine the effectiveness of this method. We applied stable isotope analysis to a pear orchard food web, in which biological control of a dominant pest, pear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola), involves primarily generalist arthropod predators with a high frequency of omnivory. We found multiple sources of isotopic variation in this food web, including differences among plant tissues; time, stage, and taxon-specific differences among herbivores (despite similar feeding modes); and high taxon-specific variation among predators (with no clear evidence of omnivory). Collectively, these multiple sources of isotopic variation blur our view of the structure of this food web. Idiosyncrasies in consumer trophic shifts make ad hoc application of SIA to even moderately complex food webs intractable. SIA may not be a generally applicable “quick and dirty” method for delineating terrestrial food web structure—not without calibration of specific consumer food trophic shifts.
Taming the IDE with fine-grained interaction data

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) lack effective support to browse complex relationships between source code elements. As a result, developers are often forced to exploit multiple user interface components at the same time, bringing the IDE into a complex, “chaotic” state. Keeping track of these relationships demands increased source code navigation and cognitive load, leading to productivity deficits documented in observational studies. Beyond small-scale studies, the amount and nature of the chaos experienced by developers in the wild is unclear, and more importantly it is unclear how to tame it. Based on a dataset of fine-grained interaction data, we propose several metrics to characterize and quantify the “level of chaos” of an IDE. Our results suggest that developers spend, on average, more than 30% of their time in a chaotic environment, and that this may affect their productivity. To support developers, we devise and evaluate simple strategies that automatically alter the UI of the IDE. We find that even simple strategies may considerably reduce the level of chaos both in terms of effective space occupancy and time spent in a chaotic environment.
To have a target debt ratio or not: what difference does it make?

The static tradeoff theory of capital structure predicts that firms aim to approach a target debt ratio. The theory provides several firm characteristics that determine this target ratio. In contrast, the pecking order model rejects a target debt ratio, because firms are expected to finance investments subsequently from (internal) equity, debt and (external) equity. A fundamental problem in empirical studies is that having a target debt ratio or not is unobservable from public data. We use survey evidence from 235 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) to discriminate static tradeoff firms from pecking order firms and relate the responses to public data. For the two sets of firms we estimate standard capital structure models and find that pecking order firms contaminate static tradeoff theory-based estimations.
Studies on the Chemopreventive Effect of Carnitine on Tumorigenesis In Vivo, Using Two Experimental Murine Models of Colon Cancer

Carnitine is known for its essential role in intermediary metabolism. In vitro studies suggest that its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are potentially beneficial toward cancer prevention. This study tested effects of carnitine on the development of colon cancer in vivo using 2 murine models: azoxymethane (AOM) treatment as a model of carcinogen-induced colon cancer and a genetically induced model using Apc Min/+ mice. AOM and Apc Min/+ mice divided into dietary groups varying in lipid content, with or without carnitine supplementation (0.08%). AOM-exposed mice on a high butterfat diet had significantly increased aberrant crypts (ACF) (9.3 ± 0.88 vs. 6.3 ± 0.65), and macroscopic tumors (3.8 ± 0.95 vs. 2.0 ± 0.25) compared to mice on a control diet. In AOM mice fed the high butterfat diet, carnitine supplementation inhibited ACF (4.9 ± 0.7 vs. 9.3 ± 0.88, P < 0.001), crypt multiciplicity (1.6 ± 0.08 vs. 1.92 ± 0.1, P < 0.01) and tumors (1.5 ± 0.38 vs. 3.8 ± 0.95, P < 0.001). Carnitine supplementation resulted in significantly increased tissue carnitine and acylcarnitine levels. Carnitine inhibited the development of precancerous lesions and macroscopic colonic tumors in AOM-treated mice. However, carnitine did not exert protective effects on intestinal tumors in Apc Min/+ mice.
Five to Four: Why do Bare Majorities Rule on Courts?

Courts, like the US Supreme Court, make important decisions about rights by voting and often the decision is determined by a bare majority. But the principle of majority-decision (MD) for courts has not been much reflected on. What justifies judges' reliance on MD? In democratic contexts, MD is usually defended either as (i) a way of reaching the objectively best decision or (ii) as a way of respecting the principle of political equality. Howerver, it is difficult to see how either of these arguments works for the judicial case. The only other argument is one of convenience, but that seems an odd basis for majoritarian authority on a court, given the momentousness of their decsiions and given that the role of courts is to check popular majorities. The paper reflects on these and other matters and concludes that, at the very least, defenders of judicial authority should be more tentative in their denunciatiions of democratic majoritarianism.
Joint User Grouping and Resource Allocation for Multi-User Dual Layer Beamforming in LTE-A

In TD-LTE-A system, dual layer beamforming is introduced to improve throughput of specific users with high SINRs. In order to solve the problem of resource allocation for multi-user dual layer beamforming, a low complexity joint user grouping and resource allocation algorithm is proposed in this letter. We first calculate priorities of all active users according to channel quality and then the resource block (RB) corresponding to the user with highest priority is decided. After that, other users allocated to the above RB are selected based on our proposed user grouping method which considers both inter-user interference and channel quality. The process repeats so that inter-user interference can be reduced and system throughput can be improved. Simulation results show that high system throughput can be realized with the proposed algorithm and the fairness requirement can also be satisfied.
Evaluating technologies for classification and prediction in medicine

Modern technologies promise to provide new ways of diagnosing disease, detecting subclinical disease, predicting prognosis, selecting patient specific treatment, identifying subjects at risk for disease, and so forth. Advances in genomics, proteomics and imaging modalities in particular hold great potential for assisting with classification/prediction in medicine. Before a classifier can be adopted for routine use in health care, its classification accuracy must be determined. Standards for evaluating new clinical classifiers however, lag far behind the well established standards that exist for evaluating new clinical treatments.
Large-Scale Open Innovation: Open Source vs. Patent Pools

The traditional view of innovation, which implies that companies innovate on their own, has been recently challenged by the 'open' innovation concept promoting the use of external knowledge. Collaboration between firms has always existed in one way or another, however, large-scale open innovation is now the next step for many companies. This article conducts a comparative analysis of the two largest open innovation structures: patent pools and open source. The issues of financial and non-financial benefits, appropriability, standards, cooperation, risks and feasibility are, in turn, discussed for each of the structures. Finally, a synthesis of the results is established and recommendations in regard to the adoption of these structures are given.
Early Inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase and Choline Acetyltransferase Activity in Herpes simplex Virus Type 1 Infection of PC12 Cells

Abstract: Early in the course of productive Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) infection of PC12 cells, activities of both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and choline acetyltransferase (CAT) fell. Studies using metabolic inhibitors and a temperature‐sensitive mutant of the virus suggested that the decline in activities of both enzymes was associated with events occurring early in the replicative cycle related to expression of the immediate‐early (α) group of viral polypeptides. HSV‐1 gene products thus may alter specialized cell functions well before the production of viral progeny and initiation of cell lysis. The early clinical manifestations of nervous system viral infection may reflect focal metabolic disturbance rather than, or in addition to, simple cell death.
Prenatal GABAB1 and GABAB2 receptors: Cellular and subcellular organelle localization in early fetal rat cortical neurons

γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)B receptors appear to influence developmental events, depending on whether they are found at a synapse or in extrasynaptic areas. Little, if anything, is known as to the cellular and subcellular localization of GABAB1 and GABAB2 receptors during early fetal development. We used Western blots, immunohistochemistry, and postembedding immunoelectronmicroscopy to investigate fetal rat brain expression and distribution of these receptor proteins. GABAB1 is expressed as early as gestational day (GD) 11.5 and 12.5, with immunoreactivity found in the all neuroepithelium, and a high expression in the mantel zone and the cortical area's plate; no immunolabeling for GABAB2 receptor was observed. Our immunogold studies define a pattern of early GABAB1 receptor protein in dendrite processes, endoplasmic reticulum, and axon terminals of the cortical neuroepithelium on GD 11.5. On GD 12.5, GABAB1 receptor immunogold was found in dendrite processes, spines and tree, axon terminals, mitochrondria, and intracellular organelles of the cortical neuroepithelium. No synapse formation was apparent as no synaptophysin could be found on either GD 11.5 or 12.5. We suggest that GABAB1 has a functional role in the early fetal brain during neuronal proliferation and migration, and that it is different from the established functional GABAB receptor. Synapse 60:557–566, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Four tasks of a robot-assisted autism spectrum disorder diagnostic protocol: First clinical tests

Notwithstanding intensive research and many scientific advances, diagnosing autism spectrum disorders remains a slow and tedious process. Due to the absence of any physiological tests, the outcome depends solely on the expertise of the clinician, which takes years to acquire. Complicating the matter further, research has shown that inter-rater reliability can be very low, even among experienced clinicians. As an attempt to facilitate the diagnostic process and make it more objective, this paper proposes a robot-assisted diagnostic protocol. The expected benefit of using a robot is twofold: the robot always performs its actions in a predictable and consistent way, and it can use its sensors to catch aspects of a child's behavior that a human examiner can miss. In this paper, we describe four tasks from the widely accepted ADOS protocol, that have been adapted to make them suitable for the Aldebaran Nao humanoid robot. These tasks include evaluating the child's response to being called by name, symbolic and functional imitation, joint attention and assessing the child's ability to simultaneously communicate on multiple channels. All four tasks have been implemented on the robot's onboard computer and are performed autonomously. As the main contribution of the paper, we present the results of the initial batch of four clinical trials of the proposed robot assisted diagnostic protocol, performed on a population of preschool children. The results of the robot's observations are benchmarked against the findings of experienced clinicians. Emphasis is placed on evaluating robot performance, in order to assess the feasibility of a robot eventually becoming an assistant in the diagnostic process. The obtained results indicate that the use of robots as autism diagnostic assistants is a promising approach, but much work remains to be done before they become useful diagnostic tools.
Post‐Siliconix Freeze‐Outs: Theory and Evidence

At approximately the same time that the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act increased the costs associated with being a public company, important Delaware case law created a difference in the standard of judicial review for the two basic methods of freezing out minority shareholders. While a freeze‐out executed as a statutory merger is subject to stringent “entire‐fairness” review, the Delaware Chancery Court held in In re Siliconix Shareholders Litigation that a freeze‐out executed as a tender offer is not. This paper presents the first systematic empirical evidence on post‐Siliconix freeze‐outs. Using a new database of all Delaware freeze‐outs executed in the 4 years after Siliconix was decided, I find that minority shareholders achieve significantly lower abnormal returns, on average, in tender‐offer freeze‐outs relative to merger freeze‐outs. I discuss the doctrinal and policy implications of these findings in a companion paper.