Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Global Dynamic Carbon Abatement

I investigate the optimal distribution of greenhouse gas emission reductions over time and between regions. Chichilnisky and Heal (1994) and Sandmo (2006) have shown that optimal marginal abatement costs should differ between different countries if no lump-sum transfers between those countries are possible. I extend their static result to a dynamic stock externality, so that it can be applied to climate change. I then use the integrated assessment model FUND to compute optimal marginal carbon abatement costs schedules for sixteen world regions for the next century. I find that if lump-sum transfers are not possible, rich countries should mitigate more and poor countries less. Ruling out lump-sum transfers has an ambiguous effect on optimal global emission reductions: under standard assumptions about inequality aversion, optimal emission reductions are lower if lump-sum transfers between countries are ruled out. In a sensitivity analysis, I assume a more inequality-averse decision maker. In this scenario, optimal emission reductions are larger when lump-sum transfers are ruled out.
Gasoline demand, pricing policy and social welfare in the Islamic Republic of Iran

This study estimates the gasoline demand function for the Islamic Republic of Iran, using the structural time series model over the period 1968-2002, and uses it to estimate the change in social welfare for 2003 and 2004, of a higher gasoline price policy. It is found that short- and long-run demand price elasticities are inelastic, although the response is greater in the long run. Hence, social welfare is estimated to fall because of the higher gasoline price (ceteris paribus). However, allowing all variables in the model to change, social welfare is estimated to increase since the changes in the other variables more than compensate for the negative effects of the policy.
Poincare mapping for detecting abnormal dynamics of cardiac repolarization

This article concentrates on analysis of subtle ECG signal features associated with characteristic temporal variations in the repolarization phase of cardiac electrical activation (i.e., variations that are embedded within the T-wave). These variations are termed T-wave alternans (TWA) to connote larger similarity between T-wave shapes in every other beat than that in the adjacent beats that occur during regular heart rhythm of an increased rate. In an early work the concept of associating TWA with period-doubling bifurcation of the cardiac oscillator has been put forward and demonstrated on canine ECG traces. In this article we extend this idea and use it for quantification of TWA in human ECGs recorded from postinfarction patients. The purpose of this work is to show that: a statistically significant correlation exists for the analyzed ECGs between the TWA level computed by means of an inter-cycle synchronized sampling technique known as Poincare mapping (PM) and a widely used Fourier spectrum (FS) method, and that the PM method outperforms the widely used FS method for TWA analysis in a number of ways.
Differential phase shifters using composite right/left handed transmission line

Three types of differential phase shifters using composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) are presented. Type 1 uses two CRLH-TLs. Type 2 uses a CRLH-TL combined with a conventional delay TL and the differential phase is designed at the medium operating frequency. Type 3 is the same as type 2 except that the differential phase is designed both at the lower and upper operating frequencies. Design methods for the three types phase shifters are given. From simulated results, it can be seen that type 1 is hard to work out of radiation area and types 2 and 3 can be easily designed to work out of radiation area. Compared with type 2, type 3 has a better broadband phase response.
Design and evaluation of a P300-ERP based BCI system for real-time control of a mobile robot

With the development of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems people with motor disabilities are able to control external devices using their thoughts. To control a device through BCI, brain activities of the user must be accurately translated to meaningful commands and a design of appropiate BCI paradigms play important roles in such tasks. This work presents a design and evaluation of a BCI system that is based on P300 Event-Related Potentials (ERP) in order to control a mobile robot platform into four directions (left, right, front, back). The ultimate goal of this research is to provide convienient way of controlling a mobile robot as an assistive home technology for disabled people. Low cost EPOC Emotiv headset was used in the BCI system to acquire brain signals with a Jaguar 4x4 Wheel robot as a control platform. We discuss a set of signal processing steps employed in detail and the utility of a regularized logistic regression classifier to detect visual stimuli induced P300 ERPs and, to control the Jaguar robot.
Maternal Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Reduces Placental Oxidative Stress and Increases Fetal and Placental Growth in the Rat1

ABSTRACT Placental oxidative stress plays a key role in the pathophysiology of several placenta-related disorders including intrauterine growth restriction. Oxidative stress occurs when accumulation of reactive oxygen species damages DNA, proteins, and lipids, an outcome normally limited by antioxidant defenses. Dietary supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) may limit oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant capacity, but n-3 PUFAs are also highly susceptible to lipid peroxidation; so n-3 PUFA supplementation is potentially harmful. Here we examined the effect of n-3 PUFAs on placental oxidative stress and on placental and fetal growth in the rat. We also investigated whether diet-induced changes in maternal plasma fatty acid profiles are associated with comparable changes in placental and fetal tissues. Rats were fed either standard or high n-3 PUFA diets from Day 1 of pregnancy, and tissues were collected on Day 17 or 22 (term = Day 23). Dietary supplementation with n-3 PUFAs increased fetal (6%) and placental (12%) weights at Day 22, the latter attributable primarily to growth of the labyrinth zone (LZ). Increased LZ weight was accompanied by reduced LZ F2-isoprostanes (by 31% and 11% at Days 17 and 22, respectively), a marker of oxidative damage. Maternal plasma PUFA profiles were altered by dietary fatty acid intake and were strongly predictive of corresponding profiles in placental and fetal tissues. Our data indicate that n-3 PUFA supplementation reduces placental oxidative stress and enhances placental and fetal growth. Moreover, fatty acid profiles in the mother, placenta, and fetus are highly dependent on dietary fatty acid intake.
Evaluation of Non-linearity in MIR Spectroscopic Data for Compressed Learning

Mid-Infrared (MIR) spectroscopy has emerged as the most economically viable technology to determine milk values as well as to identify a set of animal phenotypes related to health, feeding, well-being and environment. However, Fourier transform-MIR spectra incurs a significant amount of redundant data. This creates critical issues such as increased learning complexity while performing Fog and Cloud based data analytics in smart farming. These issues can be resolved through data compression using unsupervisory techniques like PCA, and perform analytics in the compressed-domain i.e. without decompressing. Compression algorithms should preserve non-linearity of MIRS data (if exists), since emerging advanced learning algorithms can improve their prediction accuracy. This study has investigated the non-linearity between the feature variables in the measurement-domain as well as in two compressed domains using standard Linear PCA and Kernel PCA. Also, the non-linearity between the feature variables and the commonly used target milk quality parameters (Protein, Lactose, Fat) has been analyzed. The study evaluates the prediction accuracy using PLS and LS-SVM respectively as linear and nonlinear predictive models.
Realization of a new-style fingerprint recognition system based on DSP

A new-style fingerprint recognition system which is based on DSP and RF-card is proposed in this paper. The new system adopts the way of comparing the new captured fingerprint image to the fingerprint characteristics which can be read from the RF-card. The matching time is much shorter than former embedded system which used to compare the captured fingerprint image to each fingerprintpsilas characteristics which are stored in flash memory or other memory. In addition, a Power Switch Module, which can automatic switch the ways of power supply between wall adapter and batteries, is proposed in this paper. The new fingerprint recognition system has the characteristics of low power, low cost and high performance.
Design and structural evaluation of a lower limb passive exoskeleton

Many applications require a human being to lift heavy weights which can be a strain on their backs. The idea behind Exoskeleton limbs is to distribute the carried weight on several humanoid legs so that the strain on the human body can be considerably decreased. The research presented in this paper is a fully actuated light weight Exoskeleton, controlled passively by the motion of the human leg. This paper focuses on Stress and Deformation analysis done on various components of the Exoskeleton to determine optimum materials for construction and whether the design is suitable to be worn by a human. Results indicate that this design reduces the stress and deformation on critical parts of the structure while providing a light weight solution. Calibration of position and force measurement sensors are also presented in the paper.
Statistical Cost Analysis of the Existing North Dakota Country Elevator Industry

The grain elevator industry is an essential and integrated part of the marketing system in North Dakota. A more efficient marketing system can benefit society either in the form of increasing producer income through higher grain prices, reducing consumer expenditures through lower retail prices, or both. The grain marketing system also is currently moving through a period of change brought on by a larger supply of grain, proposed branch line abandonment and deregulated rail rates. The purpose of this study was to analyze the cost characteristics of the elevator industry and determine the relative efficiency and existence of economies of size during the 1978-79 period. A statistical costing method was used to empirically analyze the cost structure of the country elevator system as it existed during that period. Few elevators were found to be operating near the minimum average cost. Decreasing average total costs were apparent within the elevator industry indicating the existence of economies of size. Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute Report No.43
Comparison of Descemet-On Versus Descemet-Off Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty

Purpose: To determine the effect of retained donor Descemet membrane (DMs) on visual outcomes, contrast sensitivity (CS), higher-order aberrations (HOAs), and central graft thickness after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) using the big-bubble technique. Methods: In this retrospective comparative study, keratoconic eyes undergoing a DALK using the big-bubble technique were enrolled. A bared DM was achieved in all cases. A donor cornea without (group 1; 48 eyes) or with (group 2; 22 eyes) DM was sutured to the recipient bed. The 2 groups were compared in terms of best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, keratometric astigmatism, refractive error, CS, HOAs, and central graft thickness at least 3 months after complete suture removal. Additionally, the rate of postoperative pseudoanterior chamber formation was compared between the study groups. Results: The mean follow-up duration was 23.2 ± 6.9 months in group 1 and 26.5 ± 6.5 months in group 2 (P = 0.61). The postoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity was 0.18 ± 0.08 logMAR and 0.24 ± 0.30 logMAR, respectively (P = 0.36). The 2 groups had comparable postoperative keratometric astigmatism, spherical equivalent refraction, and HOAs. In terms of CS, however, group 1 demonstrated better results at a low spatial frequency. The mean postoperative central graft thickness was greater in group 2 (589.8 ± 34.5 &mgr;m) than in group 1 (523.6 ± 63.0 &mgr;m; P < 0.001). A pseudoanterior chamber developed in 3 eyes of group 1 and in 2 eyes of group 2 (P = 0.23). All cases were successfully managed by giving an intracameral air injection. Conclusions: DALK performed using the big-bubble technique for keratoconus may give better results in terms of CS if a donor cornea without DM is transplanted.
Over-optimism and entry and exit from self-employment

This article develops a conceptual framework for addressing the relationship between over-optimism and entry into, and survival in, self-employed business ownership. Previous research has rarely examined over-optimism and the dynamics of business ownership. Using a large-scale British longitudinal survey, the relationship between over-optimism and self-employment transitions is investigated. The results show that over-optimism is associated with higher transition into business ownership. However, over-optimism at the point of entry is also associated with lower rates of subsequent duration in business ownership, despite the possibility that exits may be slowed by threshold inertia and non-financial motives for remaining self-employed.
Asset Pricing Implications of Demographic Change

An overlapping generations model featuring stochastic birth and death rates is solved in general equilibrium. I provide sufficient conditions for the interest rate to be decreasing in the birth rate and increasing in the death rate. If preferences are recursive, demographic uncertainty is priced in financial markets, and the equity premium is higher during periods characterized by a high birth rate and low mortality than in times of a low birth and high death rate. Demographic changes explain substantial parts of the time variation in the real interest rate, equity premium and conditional stock price volatility.
THE DISCOURSE OF EMPOWERMENT: A DIALOGICAL SELF THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE INTERFACE OF PERSON AND INSTITUTION IN SOCIAL SERVICE SETTINGS

The use of 'I' and 'we' was analysed in a single case study of a conversation between a child welfare professional and a client. Such conversations are ambiguous situations because although child care workers assume a caring attitude, at the same time they have to operate within a coercive frame. This study shows that child-care workers play a sophisticated game, alternately adopting dialogical positions that are either contiguous or different from that of the client. The argument proposed is that both in external and in internal dialogues, common ground must be reached before change resulting from conflicting I-positions can occur. For that reason, beside I-positions, we-positions play a crucial role in achieving the desired changes that in child welfare interventions. Both professional and client use these presentations to strengthen their communicative position. The same presentations may come about in the interactions between community psychologist and communities, when communities may change their positions in response to professional interventions, making explicit the tension between commonalities and differences. The challenge for agents of change is to look for common ground with clients in order to restore disturbed relations between groups or individuals and society. Ever since the end of the 19th century, institutions in the field of education, health and welfare have assumed a growing role in the tuning of societal norms concerning citizenship and the individual practices of citizens. Child welfare is a social institution that aims to adjust troubled behaviour to societal norms. According to Jacques Donzelot (1979), so called 'psy-professionals' (Ingleby, 1985) played a crucial role in the rise of a social domain ('le social') between the private and the public. Until the 20 th century, public interference in the private life of citizens was the prerogative of churches and civil foundations of the wealthy bourgeoisie. Governmental initiatives to support and preserve social and cultural order were limited to penal legislation. In West European countries, as increasingly more private initiatives were undertaken and new social laws on (child) labour and social security came into effect, a complex of interventions based on private and state enterprise developed.
Capital mobility and growth: Evidence from Greece

A standard argument of the advocates of unrestricted capital flows is that they boost a small country’s growth by increasing the efficiency of the allocated capital. In this paper I examine the nexus between capital flows and real growth for the Greek economy during the period 1980-2000. Such a positive link is not confirmed by the analysis either for total capital flows or flows concerning exclusively Foreign Direct Investments which are considered as stable and in general valuable. These results are robust to both of estimation methods employed (Granger Causality test and OLS regressions) and pass stringent extreme bound analysis criteria (EBA). The findings of this paper support the notion that capital account liberalization is not panacea for the economic development of small open economies.
Elasticities in AIDS Models

In the literature, a variety of approaches have been used to calculate demand elasticities in almost ideal demand system (AIDS) models of demand. It is common to estimate the linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) instead of the AIDS. When the LA/AIDS is estimated, all of the previously reported approaches to compute elasticities are theoretically incorrect. This paper presents correct formulas for LA/AIDS elasticities and illustrates the potential errors from using incorrect computing formulas.
Closed-loop inverse kinematics algorithm for constrained flexible manipulators under gravity

This work deals with the inverse kinematics problem for a flexible robot manipulator under gravity in contact with a stiff surface. This problem consists of finding the joint and deflection variables for a given tip position and constraint force. The solution algorithm is based on the well-known closed-loop inverse kinematics (CLIK) scheme, using the Jacobian transpose, developed for rigid manipulators. The Jacobian employed in the algorithm is obtained by correcting the equivalent rigid manipulator Jacobian with two terms that account for the static deflections due to gravity and contact force, respectively. The algorithm is tested in a number of case studies on a planar two-link arm. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The U.S. Government’s Social Cost of Carbon Estimates after Their First Two Years: Pathways for Improvement

Abstract In 2010, the U.S. government adopted its first consistent estimates of the social cost of carbon (SCC) for government-wide use in regulatory cost-benefit analysis. Here, the authors examine a number of limitations of the estimates identified in the U.S. government report and elsewhere and review recent advances that could pave the way for improvements. The authors consider in turn socio-economic scenarios, treatment of physical climate response, damage estimates, ways of incorporating risk aversion, and consistency between SCC estimates and broader climate policy.
Human Capital Inequality and Economic Growth: Some New Evidence

This paper provides new measures of human capital inequality for a broad panel of countries. Taking attainment levels from Barro and Lee (2001), we compute Gini coefficients and the distribution of education by quintiles for 108 countries over five-year intervals from 1960 to 2000. Using this new cross-country data on human capital inequality two main conclusions are obtained. First, most countries in the world have tended to reduce the inequality in human capital distribution. Second, human capital inequality measures provide more robust results than income inequality measures in the estimation of standard growth and investment equations.
Drosophila homeodomain protein Nkx6 coordinates motoneuron subtype identity and axonogenesis

The regulatory networks acting in individual neurons to control their stereotyped differentiation, connectivity, and function are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that homeodomain protein Nkx6 is a key member of the genetic network of transcription factors that specifies neuronal fates in Drosophila. Nkx6 collaborates with the homeodomain protein Hb9 to specify ventrally projecting motoneuron fate and to repress dorsally projecting motoneuron fate. While Nkx6 acts in parallel with hb9 to regulate motoneuron fate, we find that Nkx6 plays a distinct role to promote axonogenesis, as axon growth of Nkx6-positive motoneurons is severely compromised in Nkx6 mutant embryos. Furthermore, Nkx6 is necessary for the expression of the neural adhesion molecule Fasciclin III in Nkx6-positive motoneurons. Thus, this work demonstrates that Nkx6 acts in a specific neuronal population to link neuronal subtype identity to neuronal morphology and connectivity.
Shareholder Activism and Earnings Management Incentives: An Empirical Examination of Shareholder Proposals in the United States

In this article, we investigate the effect of shareholder activism on earnings management. Using a US sample of shareholder pay‐for‐performance proposals sponsored by institutional investors, we find that when compared to control firms, firms targeted by shareholder proposals have a greater magnitude of discretionary accruals (DA) in their reported earnings. In addition, we find that the likelihood of meeting or beating earnings benchmarks through the use of DA is higher for targeted firms whose managers have job security concerns due to the firms’ inferior stock performance in the past or have plans to sell company stock. Our results are consistent with the notion that pay‐for‐performance proposals have unintended consequences by introducing or exacerbating incentives to manage earnings for short‐term gains. The results also indicate that, for financial reporting, the short‐termism effect may dominate the alignment and/or disciplinary effect of shareholder monitoring.
Genetical tuning of a capacitorless current-mode bandpass biquad based on single-stage CMOS OTA

A genetical tuning scheme, implemented in MATLAB with the cooperation of HSPICE, is utilized to tune a capacitorless current-mode bandpass biquad employing a simple plusmn1.5V single-stage CMOS OTA, which is based on the AMSpsilas 0.35 mu CMOS process. The abilities of biquad, indicating the feasibility of such requirements, are examine through the extreme bias conditions. The very complex estimation of a practical transfer function is no longer needed, as the fitness of each chromosome is calculated based on the frequency response generated by HSPICE. Therefore, if a feasible requirement is assigned, a quite errorless solution is likely to be obtained.
Assessment of Stapes Mobility by Use of a Newly Developed Piezoelectric Ceramic Device

A piezoelectric device was developed for assessment of stapes mobility during middle ear surgery. The device comprises a pair of ceramic bimorph elements: one for activation of the stapes and the other to pick up the vibration as an electric output, which varies in accordance with the stapes mobility, ie, the inverse of the cochlear input impedance (Zsc). The device is compact and easily manipulated even in the narrow surgical field of the ear. However, the measuring range is restricted to between 1 and 10 kHz. Measurement of Zsc was conducted with this device in 5 ears of 5 dogs. The mean magnitude of Zsc increased with frequency in the range from 1 to 10 kHz: 0.95 megohm at 1 kHz and 8.8 megohms at 10 kHz. After fixation of the stapes with dental cement, the magnitude increased to more than 10 megohms, except at 1 kHz. The results suggest that the device is useful in detecting decreases in stapes mobility in patients with chronic otitis media.