Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agricultural Commodity Futures and Risk Management: Evidence from NMCE

The paper aims to study the market efficiency, unbiasedness among seventeen agricultural commodities futures contracts traded at National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India ltd. (NMCE). The paper uses a two step approach by first testing long run relationship using Johansen's cointegration approach and subsequently, the dynamic OLS approach proposed by Stock and Watson (1993) was used to estimate the coefficients in the cointegration equation, followed by Wald test to test the statistical significance of each coefficient. The Wald chi-square test statistics indicate that futures markets are not efficient in predicting the future ready prices. The results also testify the fact that the futures contracts are not perfect hedge against the variations in ready prices. The results have important implications on the previous research done on the same issue which have simply tested the efficiency on the basis of cointegration results, ignoring the restrictions on cointegrating vectors may result in incorrect assessment of price discovery and risk management functions of commodity exchanges. Further, the results also urge for further reforms in the agricultural commodity futures through increasing awareness, wider participation, better infrastructure etc. so as to make futures market more efficient in the long run and perform their role of price discovery and risk management more efficiently and effectively.
Incarcerated women develop a nutrition and fitness program: participatory research.

PURPOSE Women in prison throughout the world experience higher rates of mental and physical illness compared with the general population and compared with men in prison. The paper finds no published studies that report on men or women in prison engaging in participatory health research to address their concerns about nutrition and fitness. The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot nutrition and fitness program, which resulted from a unique prison participatory health research project. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Women in prison designed, led, and evaluated a six-week pilot fitness program in a minimum/medium security women's prison. Pre- and post-program assessments included a self-administered questionnaire and body measures. Open-ended questionnaire responses illuminated the quantitative findings. FINDINGS Sixteen women in prison completed the program evaluation. Weight, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and chest measurements decreased, and energy, sleep, and stress levels improved by the end of the program. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS As a component of a participatory research project, incarcerated women designed and led a nutrition and fitness program, which resulted in improved body measures and self-reported health benefits. ORIGINALITY VALUE: Incarceration provides opportunities to engage women in designing their own health programs with consequent potential long-term "healing" benefits.
E-ACSL, a Runtime Verification Tool for Safety and Security of C Programs (tool paper)

This tool paper presents E-ACSL , a runtime veriﬁcation tool for C programs capable of checking a broad range of safety and security properties expressed using a formal spec-iﬁcation language. E-ACSL consumes a C program annotated with formal speciﬁcations and generates a new C program that behaves similarly to the original if the formal properties are satisﬁed, or aborts its execution whenever a property does not hold. This paper presents an overview of E-ACSL and its speciﬁcation language.
Experimental study on multi-baseline POLSAR scattering component decomposition

Scattering component decomposition techniques for POLSAR data are powerful tool for the POLSAR data analysis. The three component decomposition technique is the one of the major technique among them. However, the algorithm requires several assumptions to solve the problem because of the lack of independent observables. To overcome this difficulty, we have proposed the multi-baseline POLSAR scattering component decomposition technique which utilizes the concept of the MUSIC algorithm with spatial smoothing preprocessing (SSP) scheme. However resolution performance depends on the decorrelation performance by the SSP. In this report, we propose several enhanced schemes for the SSP, and show some experimental results to show their performance.
Non-fragile control for fuzzy bilinear systems

The Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy bilinear system is known to be a great tool of describing physical systems and represents a wide class of nonlinear systems. Hence, its control design is important. In practical control systems, there are chances that malfunction in actuator happens and an uncertain value of the control input may be applied. To avoid such cases, controller gain variations should be considered in the control design. In this paper, non-fragile control design, which takes care of uncertainty in control gain, for the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy bilinear systems with time-varying delay, is proposed. Conditions for the solvability of the non-fragile control are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs).
The Georgia Voter Identification Requirement: Is it a Form of Voter Disenfranchisement?

ii Acknowledgements.iv List of Tables.x List of Figures.xi Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Statement of the Problem.1 Voter Photo Identification Requirements.2 Purpose of Study.5 Significance of Study.6 Organization of Dissertation.6 Chapter 2: Literature Review.9 Legislation.9 Emancipation Proclamation.9 13th Amendment.10 14th Amendment.11 15th Amendment.14 19th Amendment.15 24th Amendment.16 Voting Rights Act of 1965.17 Section Two of the VRA of 1965.22 Section Five of the VRA of 1965.23 The Black Experience: Race and Electoral Discrimination.26 Racism.27 Chapter 3: Georgia.31 Political Culture and Voting Rights.31 Political Culture.31 Voting in Georgia.33 Voting Demographics of Georgia.35 Voting Trends by Race and Gender.36 Chapter 4: Methodology.38 Introduction.38 Research Questions.39 Qualitative Research Method.39 Case Study.41 Policy Analysis.42 Chapter 5: Findings.46 Problem: Georgia Photo Voter Identification Requirement.49 Benefits and Burdens.51 Benefits.52 Burdens.55 Target Populations: John Tanner and Hans von Spakovsky in Cahoots.60 John Tanner.62
Solar Power Wires Based on Organic Photovoltaic Materials

Organic photovoltaics in a flexible wire format has potential advantages that are described in this paper. A wire format requires long-distance transport of current that can be achieved only with conventional metals, thus eliminating the use of transparent oxide semiconductors. A phase-separated, photovoltaic layer, comprising a conducting polymer and a fullerene derivative, is coated onto a thin metal wire. A second wire, coated with a silver film, serving as the counter electrode, is wrapped around the first wire. Both wires are encased in a transparent polymer cladding. Incident light is focused by the cladding onto to the photovoltaic layer even when it is completely shadowed by the counter electrode. Efficiency values of the wires range from 2.79% to 3.27%.
Sensitive Angiogenesis Imaging of Orthotopic Bladder Tumors in Mice Using a Selective Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent Containing VEGF121/rGel

Objectives:To investigate the efficiency of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents employing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF121)/rGel conjugated MnFe2O4 nanocrystals for imaging of neovasculature using a bladder tumor model. Materials and Methods:VEGF121/rGel was conjugated to MnFe2O4 nanoparticles (MNPs). The targeting efficiency and detection capability of the VEGF121/rGel-MNPs were investigated in both KDR-deficient (253JB-V) and KDR-overexpressing (PAE/KDR) cells using MRI. The internalization of VEGF121/rGel-MNPs into cells was confirmed by electron microscopy. Their phosphorylation ability and cytotoxicity were compared with unconjugated VEGF121/rGel. The orthotopic tumor mice were established by implanting low KDR-expressing 253JB-V cells into the bladder dome. After tail-vein injection of VEGF121/rGel-MNPs, the MR signal enhancement of intratumoral vessels by VEGF121/rGel-MNPs was observed and inhibition test using VEGF121 was also conducted. Ex vivo MR imaging of tumor tissue, and a fluorescence immunostaining study was also performed. Results:The water-soluble VEGF121/rGel-MNPs (44.5 ± 1.2 nm) were stably suspended in the biologic media and exhibited a high relaxivity coefficient (423 mM−1s−1). They demonstrated sufficient targeting capability against KDR-overexpressing PAE/KDR cells, as confirmed by dose-dependent MR images and VEGF121 inhibition tests. The phosphorylation activity of KDR and cytotoxicity of VEGF121/rGel-MNPs were evaluated. VEGF121/rGel-MNPs successfully targeted the tumor and provided accurate anatomic details through (i) acquisition of clear neoangiogenic vascular distributions and (ii) obvious enhancement of the MR signal in T2*-weighted images. Immunostaining and blocking studies demonstrated the specific targeting ability of VEGF121/rGel-MNPs toward intratumoral angiogenesis. Conclusions:Synthesized VEGF121/rGel-MNPs as targeted MR imaging contrast agents can be specifically delivered to tumors and bind to KDR-expressing angiogenic tumor vessels.
An Analysis of the Development of Audit Fees in Malta

This paper seeks to assess the development of the pricing of statutory audits in Malta over time, with a view of changes in its determinants, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and other potentially significant events. The findings reveal that there seems to be a general difficulty in realigning the audit fee in response to variations in its drivers, with a degree of price rigidity or stickiness being attributed to elements of imperfect competition and imperfect information in the market. The study also suggests the prevalence of implicit contracts between audit firms other than the Big 4 and their audit clients in order to mitigate the increase in audit fees expected since the recent GFC from 2008. Such behavior needs to be studied more deeply to understand its pervasiveness across other microstates.
Block-coil dipole for future hadron colliders

A first model dipole is being built for a block-coil dipole for future hadron colliders. The design incorporates stress management, in which Lorentz stress is intercepted between successive sections of the coil and bypassed through a support matrix. By controlling stress, the dipole should make it possible to utilize Nb/sub 3/Sn and BSCCO superconductors without strain degradation at high field. The first model dipole is being built using NbTi cable in order to evaluate fabrication techniques and stress management performance.
GINSENG for sustainable energy awareness: flexible energy monitoring using wireless sensor nodes

To ensure sustainable manufacturing the energy consumption of production processes must be minimized. SAP Research is active in two European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7) projects: GINSENG and KAP. The combined aim of GINSENG and KAP projects is to allow for event-based monitoring of the Production Performance Indicators (PPI) that can be used to, e.g., shut down idle machines or to optimize the material flow. In this demo we illustrate how the energy consumption for lightening and heating can be controlled with the use of wireless sensor nodes that measure temperature, light and humidity. Events describing the indoor climate, originating from TelosB motes, are processed using the middleware developed within the GINSENG project and subsequently visualized using a dashboard. Visualization includes also warnings regarding excessive energy consumption, which can be simulated with light beams or hand warmth.
Detailed statistical assessment of the characteristics of the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) threshold rules

Background The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has developed the ESMO Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS), a tool to assess the magnitude of clinical benefit from new cancer therapies. Grading is guided by a dual rule comparing the relative benefit (RB) and the absolute benefit (AB) achieved by the therapy to prespecified threshold values. The ESMO-MCBS v1.0 dual rule evaluates the RB of an experimental treatment based on the lower limit of the 95%CI (LL95%CI) for the hazard ratio (HR) along with an AB threshold. This dual rule addresses two goals: inclusiveness: not unfairly penalising experimental treatments from trials designed with adequate power targeting clinically meaningful relative benefit; and discernment: penalising trials designed to detect a small inconsequential benefit. Methods Based on 50 000 simulations of plausible trial scenarios, the sensitivity and specificity of the LL95%CI rule and the ESMO-MCBS dual rule, the robustness of their characteristics for reasonable power and range of targeted and true HRs, are examined. The per cent acceptance of maximal preliminary grade is compared with other dual rules based on point estimate (PE) thresholds for RB. Results For particularly small or particularly large studies, the observed benefit needs to be relatively big for the ESMO-MCBS dual rule to be satisfied and the maximal grade awarded. Compared with approaches that evaluate RB using the PE thresholds, simulations demonstrate that the MCBS approach better exhibits the desired behaviour achieving the goals of both inclusiveness and discernment. Conclusions RB assessment using the LL95%CI for HR rather than a PE threshold has two advantages: it diminishes the probability of excluding big benefit positive studies from achieving due credit and, when combined with the AB assessment, it increases the probability of downgrading a trial with a statistically significant but clinically insignificant observed benefit.
The Effects of the Endothelium on Adrenal Steroidogenesis and Growth are Mainly Mediated by Proteins Other than Endothelin-1

The endothelium releases factors stimulating the adrenal cortex. It is also known that endothelin-1 (ET-1) promotes generation of cortisol and aldosterone, and proliferation of adrenocortical cells. The aim of the study was to find out whether the effect of the endothelium on adrenocortical cells is dominated by the action of ET-1. The effects of endothelial cell-conditioned medium (ECCM), obtained during growth of human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells, on aldosterone and cortisol release by cells of the adrenocortical cancer cell-line NCI-H295R and the promoter activity of steroidogenic acute-regulatory protein (StAR) were studied. The effect of ECCM on proliferation of human primary normal adrenocortical and NCI-H295R cells was also investigated. Concentration-dependent increases in cortisol release that reached 192.7 ± 62.8 in percent of basal secretion, in aldosterone release that reached 188.2 ± 52.3 in percent of basal secretion, and in proliferation after stimulation with ECCM at concentrations of 10-50% were found. ECCM significantly activated the StAR promoter 3-fold in NCI-H295R cells if the ECCM was not pretreated with pronase. These effects of the endothelium were not reversed after co-incubation with endothelin receptor antagonists and could not be mimicked by incubation with endothelin-1. In conclusion, the cultured endothelial cells secrete a protein that stimulates steroidogenesis in adrenal cells and their growth. It was also shown that the ET-1 does not mediate the effect of ECCM on the NCI-H295R cell line.
Proposing New Model for Effort Estimation of Mobile Application Development

There have been many developments in the field of mobile technology in the last few years. Mobile technology grown very fast. Initially mobiles were only for rich but now all household have mobiles and using mobile technology because of great development in this field. Which is possible due to research in this area. Not only big companies but individuals also been engaged in this field. Billions of mobile application has been developed by software developers. In the recent year’s mobile application are developed by software developers to considering the demands of our society. Mobile application developers faces many challenges like size, memory and the functionality. So in this paper we focused on the differences between traditional estimation model and mobile estimation model and hereby, proposed a new model for mobile applications and partially validated the same.
Crosstalk investigation of laser-diode pairs

The crosstalk between the lasers of different laser-diode pairs has been investigated experimentally in the frequency domain. The mutual crosstalk of two lasers diodes monolithically integrated on a single transmitter chip and separated by 100 mu m was measured to be about -50 dB up to a modulation frequency of 100 MHz. At higher frequencies, it rises linearly with the frequency to -40 dB at 1 GHz. Measurements and calculations indicate that the origin of this crosstalk is the leakage current in the chip and inductive coupling of the bond wires. With these crosstalk values, digital data transmission at high bit rates is possible without significantly reducing the receiver sensitivity. <<ETX>>
Classification of Partial Discharge Signals using Probabilistic Neural Network

Partial Discharge (PD) classification in power cables and high voltage equipment is essential in evaluating the severity of the damage in the insulation. In this paper, the Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) method is used to classify the PDs. After the algorithm has been trained it uses the input vector, which contains the features that would be used for classification, to calculate the probability density function (pdf) of each class and together with the assignment of a cost for a misclassification the decision that minimizes the expected risk is taken. The maximum likelihood training is employed here. The success of this particular method for classification is asserted. This method has the advantage over Multilayer Neural Network that it gives rapid training speed, guaranteed convergence to a Bayes classifier if enough training examples are provided (i.e. it approaches Bayes optimality), incremental training which is fast (i.e. additionally provided training examples can be incorporated without difficulties) and robustness to noisy examples. The results obtained here (99.3%, 84.3% and 85.5% for the corona, the floating in oil and the internal discharges respectively) are very encouraging for the use of PNN in PD classification.
Exploring the role of face processing in facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia

Objective: Impairment in emotion perception represents a fundamental feature of schizophrenia with important consequences in social functioning. A fundamental unresolved issue is the relationship between emotion perception and face perception. The aim of the present study was to examine whether facial identity recognition (Identity Discrimination) is a factor predicting facial emotion recognition in the context of the other factors, known as contributing to emotion perception, such as cognitive functions and symptoms. Methods: We enrolled 58 stable schizophrenic out-patients and 47 healthy subjects. Facial identity recognition and emotion perception were assessed with the Comprehensive Affect Testing System. Different multiple regression models with backward elimination were performed in order to discover the relation of each significant variable with emotion perception. Results: In a regression including the six significant variables (age, positive symptomatology, Identity Discrimination, attentive functions, verbal memory-learning, executive functions) versus emotion processing, only attentive functions (standardised β = 0.264, p = 0.038) and Identity Discrimination (standardised β = 0.279, p = 0.029) reached a significant level. Two partial regressions were performed including five variables, one excluding attentive functions and the other excluding Identity Discrimination. When we excluded attentive functions, the only significant variable was Identity Discrimination (standardised β = 0.278, p = 0.032). When we excluded Identity Discrimination, both verbal memory-learning (standardised β = 0.261, p = 0.042) and executive functions (standardised β = 0.253, p = 0.048) were significant. Conclusions: Our results emphasised the role of face perception and attentional abilities on affect perception in schizophrenia. We additionally found a role of verbal memory-learning and executive functions on emotion perception. The relationship between those above-mentioned variables and emotion processing could have implications for cognitive rehabilitation.
Resuspended contaminated sediments cause sublethal stress to oysters: A biomarker differentiates total suspended solids and contaminant effects

Resuspended contaminated sediments represent an important route of contaminant exposure for aquatic organisms. During resuspension events, filter‐feeding organisms are exposed to contaminants, in both the dissolved form (at the gills) and the particulate form (in the digestive system). In addition, these organisms must manage the physical stress associated with an increase in total suspended solids (TSS). To date, few studies have experimentally compared the contributions to biological stress of contaminated and clean suspended solids. The authors mixed field‐collected sediments (<63 μm) from clean and contaminated field sites to create 4 treatments of increasing metal concentrations. Sydney rock oysters were then exposed to sediment treatments at different TSS concentrations for 4 d, and cellular biomarkers (lysosomal membrane stability, lipid peroxidation, and glutathione) were measured to evaluate sublethal toxicity. Lysosomal membrane stability was the most sensitive biomarker for distinguishing effects from resuspended contaminated sediments, as increasing amounts of contaminated TSS increased lysosomal membrane destabilization. The authors' results illustrate the importance of considering contaminant exposures from resuspended sediments when assessing the toxicity of contaminants to aquatic organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1345–1353. © 2015 SETAC