Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolved transforms for image reconstruction

This investigation uses a genetic algorithm to optimize coefficient sets describing inverse transforms that significantly reduce mean squared error of reconstructed images. Quantization error introduced during image compression and reconstruction is one of the worst noise sources, due to the fact that information is always permanently lost during the transformation process. Our approach establishes an adaptive filtering methodology for evolving transforms that outperform discrete wavelet inverse transforms for the reconstruction of images subjected to quantization error. Inverse transforms evolved against a single training image consistently generalize to exhibit superior performance against other images from the test set.
VCDC: The Virtualized Complicated Device Controller

I/O virtualization enables time and space multiplexing of I/O devices, by mapping multiple logical I/O devices upon a smaller number of physical devices. However, due to the existence of additional virtualization layers, requesting an I/O from a guest virtual machine requires complicated sequences of operations. This leads to I/O performance losses, and makes precise timing of I/O operations unpredictable. This paper proposes a hardware I/O virtualization system, termed the Virtualized Complic-ated Device Controller ( VCDC ). This I/O system allows user applications to access and operate I/O devices directly from guest VMs, and bypasses the guest OS, the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) and low layer I/O drivers. We show that the VCDC eﬃciently reduces the software overhead and enhances the I/O performance and timing predictability. Furthermore, VCDC also exhibits good scalability that can handle I/O requests from variable number of CPUs in a system. 1998
Suppression of ochratoxin biosynthesis by naturally occurring alkaloids

The effects of four alkaloids on the biosynthesis of ochratoxin A (OTA), ochratoxin B (OTB) and citrinin were examined on four OTA-producing aspergilli: Aspergillus auricomus, A. sclerotiorum and two isolates of A. alliaceus. Piperine and piperlongumine, natural alkaloids of Piper longum, significantly inhibited OTA production at 0.001% (w/v) for all aspergilli examined. Piperine and piperlongumine affected the polyketide synthesis step of OTA production and inhibited production of citrinin. Curcumin, a constituent of tumeric, completely inhibited mycelial growth of A. alliaceus isolate 791 at 0.1% (w/v) and decreased OTA production by ∼70% at 0.01% (w/v). Sesamin, a constituent of sesame oil, inhibited OTA and OTB production by 60 and 45%, respectively, at 0.1% (w/v), showing its effect was on chloroperoxidase and polyketide synthase activity. The potential advantage of these natural products to reduce ochratoxin contamination of agricultural commodities is discussed.
RAPID EXPLORATION OF COST-PERFORMANCE TRADEOFFS USING DOMINANCE EFFECT DURING DESIGN OF HARDWARE ACCELERATORS

Modern Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) designs require a tradeoff between cost efficiency and performance (circuit speed). Furthermore, the Design Space Exploration (DSE) of the cost-performance tradeoffs for the multi objective VLSI designs should also be fast and efficient in nature. This paper presents a novel accelerated DSE approach for the exploration of cost-performance tradeoffs of modular multi (trio parametric. viz. cost, execution time and power consumption) objective VLSI hardware accelerators using hierarchical criterion analysis. The selection of the final design point is made after the tradeoffs are explored using the proposed approach. Results of the proposed approach when applied to various benchmarks yielded significant acceleration in the exploration process compared to current existing approaches with multi parametric objective.
International Trade in Oil, Gas and Carbon Emission Rights: An Intertemporal General Equilibrium Model*

This paper employs a five-region intertemporal model to examine three issues related to carbon emission restrictions. First, we investigate the possible impact of such limits upon future oil prices. We show that carbon limits are likely to differ in their near- and long-term impact. Second, we analyze the problem of “leakage” which could arise if the OECD countries were to adopt unilateral limits upon carbon emissions. Third, we quantify some of the gains from trade in carbon emission rights. Each of these issues have been studied before, but to our knowledge this is the first study based on a multi-regional, forward-looking model. We show that sequential joint maximization can be an effective way to compute equilibria for intertemporal general equilibrium models of international trade.
Who Will Pay for Long-Term Care in the UK? Projections Linking Macro- and Micro-Simulation Models

The long-term care funding system continues to attract much debate in the UK. We produce projections of state and private long-term care expenditure and analyse the distributional impact of state-financed care, through innovative linking of macro- and micro-simulation models. Variant assumptions about life expectancy, dependency and care costs are examined and the impact of universal state-financed (‘free’) personal care, based on need but not ability to pay, is investigated. We find that future long-term care expenditure is subject to considerable uncertainty and is particularly sensitive to assumed future trends in real input costs. On a central set of assumptions, free personal care would, by 2051, increase public spending on long-term care from 1.1 per cent of GDP to 1.3 per cent, or more if it generated an increase in demand. Among the care-home population aged 85 or over, the immediate beneficiaries of free personal care would be those with relatively high incomes.
Do informational frictions justify federal credit programs

Two credit market models with private information are used here to evaluate the effectiveness of government credit programs. In a model with costly state verification, direct government lending and government loan guarantees at best have no effect, and at worst make all agents worse off by increasing (decreasing) interest rates faced by borrowers (lenders) and increasing the amount of rationing in the loan market. In an adverse selection model with costly screening of borrowers, government lending influences credit allocation by affecting borrowers' incentives to misreport type. Government programs to encourage secondary markets in private loans are welfare improving only when there are regulations which inhibit diversification by private financial intermediaries. Copyright 1994 by Ohio State University Press.
An N-Gram-and-Wikipedia joint approach to Natural Language Identification

Natural Language Identification is the process of detecting and determining in which language or languages a given piece of text is written. As one of the key steps in Computational Linguistics/Natural Language Processing(NLP) tasks, such as Machine Translation, Multi-lingual Information Retrieval and Processing of Language Resources, Natural Language Identification has drawn widespread attention and extensive research, making it one of the few relatively well studied sub-fields in the whole NLP field. However, various problems remain far from resolved in this field. Current non-computational approaches require researchers possess sufficient prior linguistic knowledge about the languages to be identified, while current computational (statistical) approaches demand large-scale training set for each to-be-identified language. Apparently, drawbacks for both are that, few computer scientists are equipped with sufficient knowledge in Linguistics, and the size of the training set may get endlessly larger in pursuit of higher accuracy and the ability to process more languages. Also, faced with multi-lingual documents on the Internet, neither approach can render satisfactory results. To address these problems, this paper proposes a new approach to Natural Language Identification. It exploits N-Gram frequency statistics to segment a piece of text in a language-specific fashion, and then takes advantage of Wikipedia to determine the language used in each segment. Multiple experiments have demonstrated that satisfactory results can be rendered by this approach, especially with multi-lingual documents.
Recognizing Architectural Distortion in Mammogram: A Multiscale Texture Modeling Approach with GMM

We propose a generative model for constructing an efficient set of distinctive textures for recognizing architectural distortion in digital mammograms. In the first layer of the proposed two-layer architecture, the mammogram is analyzed by a multiscale oriented filter bank to form texture descriptor of vectorized filter responses. Our model presumes that every mammogram can be characterized by a “bag of primitive texture patterns” and the set of textural primitives (or textons) is represented by a mixture of Gaussians which builds up the second layer of the proposed model. The observed textural descriptor in the first layer is assumed to be a stochastic realization of one (hard mapping) or more (soft mapping) textural primitive(s) from the second layer. The results obtained on two publicly available datasets, namely Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) and Digital Database for Screening Mammography (DDSM), demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Derivatives Use, Information Asymmetry, and MNC Post‐Acquisition Performance

"We utilize a sample of US acquiring firms that engaged in international M&As to document the effects of corporate derivatives use on post-M&A long-term performance. We find that derivatives users outperform nonusers. Furthermore, we find that acquirers with derivative policies that are more comprehensive and sophisticated outperform those with less comprehensive and sophisticated policies. They, in turn, outperform acquirers with no existing policies in place. Our results are consistent with the notion that the use of derivatives lowers information asymmetry related agency problems. Furthermore, our evidence indicates that derivatives use is an important corporate activity that has a profound effect on post-M&A performance. " Copyright (c) 2009 Financial Management Association International.
Managing Livestock Feed Cost Risks Using Futures and Options

The costs of corn- and soybean-based feeds compose a substantial proportion of the variable costs faced by both mainstream and emergent confined livestock producers. This research develops a method to provide a joint distribution of prices of corn and soybean meal at a future time. Black's 1976 option model and stochastic volatility jump diffusion (SVJD) model are compared in volatility forecasting performance. In general, SVJD is superior to Black's model, though their performance is both commodity-specific and forecasting horizon specific. The price forecast can assist livestock producers to assess different feed procurement strategies in terms of the distribution of costs projected for each strategy.
ESTIMATION OF THE EFFECTIVE DEGREES OF FREEDOM IN T-TYPE TESTS FOR COMPLEX DATA

In t-type tests, one basic issue involved is the calculation of the variances of the statistics of interest. Several approaches are often employed in practice such as, interpenetrating subsamples, Jackknife repeated replication (JRR), balanced repeated replication (BRR), bootstrap, and the Taylor series method. In NAEP, the paired JRR is used to estimate variances. Another practical issue in t-type tests is the estimation of the effective degrees of freedom for the variances. Satterthwaite's formula can be used to obtain the effective number of degrees of freedom for the variances estimated by the approaches (Rao & Scott, 1981; Johnson & Rust, 1992) discussed in Section 1.1.
How Should We Evaluate Community Initiatives?

Abstract Community initiatives are efforts to assemble coalitions to carry out multi-sectoral interventions to effect broad community changes. Often, diverse actors bring disparate interests, ambiguous goals, and fuzzy theories of change into loose alliances to design and implement interventions. As time goes on, actors, goals, and strategies change. Initiatives follow the logics of participation and action more than that of research. These conditions make evaluation problematic. At the same time, many community initiatives have few, if any, resources for formal evaluation. This article discusses these evaluation predicaments and outlines a practical approach that takes into account the logics of participation, action, and research. Case material from the Southeast (Baltimore) Education Task Force illustrates these challenges and this approach.
Germany's Wild East. Constructing Poland as Colonial Space

Kaufmann’s concluding chapter, entitled ‘What Comes after the Classic Welfare State? ’, was written originally as the introductory chapter of a report from a major interdisciplinary conference held in 1994 but, even two decades later, has relevance for those who debate the role of that elephantine non-state: the European Union! Here the author expounds his notion that what is taken to be the State’s role can no longer be derived from the referential framework of state theory; choices about the role have, in essence, become matters of political process and one must ask therefore, if there are any impartial criteria by which to evaluate proposals for extending or reducing the scope of the state, independent of vested interests or party-political preferences. The author’s own model for the growth of state roles is based upon a reconstruction of the continental European development of the state in which three distinct stages are defined: the policing state, emerging in the sixteenth/eighteenth centuries developed through the nineteenth century into the constitutional or legal state, leading, after the Second World War, to the welfare state. This allows Kaufmann to suggest that it would be heuristically productive to posit a fourth stage of discourse of state roles and to move to new questions, problems and challenges such as environmental protection, international crime, global warming and terrorism which demand new kinds of state action. This, he suggests, might be termed ‘[t]he System-regulating state’ (344). If there is a criticism of this splendidly eloquent set of essays (much of which not previously available in English), it is that, having been written over many decades, published separately and serving differing audiences or contexts—and inevitably all written well before the recent world-wide financial crisis within the Euro-zone nations—there is a vague sense of incoherence which might derive from problems of translation. In this regard, a brief preface contributed by the translator is instructive.
Deterministic Reduced-Order Macromodels for Computing the Broadband Radiation-Field Pattern of Antenna Arrays in FDTD

The enhanced nodal-order reduction (ENOR) technique is used to perform model-order reduction (MOR) on a macromodel of a subgridded finite-difference time domain (FDTD) region which contains the deterministic fine structural features [1] of an aperture antenna array laying in a larger and relatively coarser FDTD grid, to solve the broadband time-varying electromagnetic fields emanating from the antenna array and to obtain the far-field radiation patterns. The far-field radiation pattern computed in FDTD is correlated against results computed through physical optics approximation. This work lays the foundation for a separate but related work to follow, in which we further develop the above deterministic macromodel into a stochastic macromodel that addresses the problem of uncertainty in fine features of structures with disparate spatial scales.
Tax-Induced Intertemporal Restrictions on Security Returns

This article derives testable restrictions on equilibrium asset prices when investors have the option to time the realization of their capital gains and losses for tax purposes. The tax-timing option alters both the magnitude and timing of equity returns relative to those in a tax-free model. The tax-induced restrictions are empirically examined, and the tax rates and preference parameters are estimated. While the tax-free model can be rejected in favor of the tax-based model as the specified alternative, the tax-based model is still unable to adequately explain cross-sectional differences in asset returns.
Changes in the presentation of nodular and superficial spreading melanomas over 35 years

Nodular melanoma (NM) may be biologically aggressive compared with the more common superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), with recent data suggesting underlying genetic differences between these 2 subtypes. To better define the clinical behavior of NMs, the authors compared their clinical and histopathologic features to those of SSMs at their institution, a tertiary referral center, over 3 decades.
Decision Making Using Behavioral Finance for Capital Budgeting

The accepted approach to capital budgeting leaves decision makers without appropriate guidance because it ignores the cognitive, organizational, and institutional dimensions of their decision-making process. This approach is based upon the unrealistic assumptions of neoclassical finance, where investors are assumed to be (or behave as if they were) fully rational and informed. This chapter explores the opportunity to analyze capital budgeting decisions within a more realistic context. To reach such an objective, it summarizes alternative perspectives addressing these specific dimensions: the cognitive, the organizational, and the institutional. All together, such dimensions suggest generalizing the current approach based on discounted cash flow analysis to provide decision makers with alternative ways to assess investment opportunities under more realistic approaches driven by behavioral and institutional finance.
Genetic diversity in fragmented populations of Berchemiella wilsonii var. pubipetiolata (Rhamnaceae).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS [corrected] Berchemiella wilsonii var. pubipetiolata (Rhamnaceae) is distributed in fragmented habitat patches in eastern China. It is highly endangered because of severe disturbance by anthropogenic activities. Information on genetic variation and structure is critical for developing successful conservation strategies for this species. METHODS Allozyme variation of population genetic diversity and structure was investigated for a total of 98 individuals sampled from four extant populations using isoelectric focusing in thin-layer polyacrylamide slab gels. KEY RESULTS Based on 20 loci scored from the nine enzymes examined, a high genetic diversity was detected at both the species and population level, while there was a loss of low frequency alleles (<0.1) in all populations. Most loci showed deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to excess of heterozygotes in all populations, suggesting that selection for heterozygotes has occurred in this species. The genetic diversity was mainly found within populations with a moderate genetic differentiation (F(ST) = 0.13), but the two geographically discontinuous population groups showed significant differences, with F-statistic values of 0.078 for the Zhejiang populations and 0.014 for the Anhui populations, respectively. CONCLUSIONS It appears most likely that this species has experienced a recent decrease in population size, and genetic drift in small populations has resulted in a loss of alleles occurring at low frequency. The differentiation into two population groups reflects a population genetic consequence that has been influenced by the different land-use in the two regions. Some conservation concerns are discussed together with possible strategies for implementing in situ and ex situ conservation.
On the Benefits of Costly Voting

We study strategic voting in a Condorcet type model in which voters have identical preferences but differential information. Voters incur private costs of going to the polls and may abstain if they wish; hence voting is voluntary. We show that under majority rule with voluntary voting, it is an equilibrium to vote sincerely. Thus, in contrast to situations with compulsory voting, there is no conflict between strategic and sincere behavior. In large elections, the equilibrium is shown to be unique. Furthermore, participation rates are such that, in the limit, the correct candidate is elected with probability one. Finally, we show that in large elections, voluntary voting is welfare superior to compulsory voting.
Moderators of dialectical behavior therapy for binge eating disorder: results from a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE Investigate moderators of a randomized clinical trial of group Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Binge Eating Disorder (DBT-BED) compared to an active comparison group control (ACGT) on the post-treatment outcome of binge frequency after twenty 2-h weekly sessions. METHOD Moderation analyses. RESULTS Participants were 101 adults with BED [mean (SD) age, 52.2 (10.6) years and BMI, 36.4 (8.6)]. Analyses identified two moderators of post-treatment outcome. Participants with (1) Avoidant Personality Disorder or (2) an earlier onset of overweight and dieting (<15 years old) evidenced significantly worsened outcome when treated with ACGT versus DBT-BED. DISCUSSION Participants with certain indicators of higher baseline pathology respond better to DBT-BED than ACGT at post-treatment.
Medicine in Rural China: A Personal Account

"It may take people a long time to realize the significance of [a] new, progressive and far-reaching idea," says Dr C. C. Chen, an internationally known pioneer in the Chinese health experience and current professor of community medicine at West China University of Medical Sciences, Chengdu. Chen has devoted nearly six decades to diffusing modern medicine in rural China. The search for the best means of doing so has been the central concern of his life and is the central thesis of his memoirs, Medicine in Rural China: A Personal Account . When C. C. Chen graduated from the Rockefeller Foundation—sponsored Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) in China in 1929, more than 85% of the Chinese lived in villages, almost entirely beyond the reach of modern medical care. Facing poverty, ignorance, poor health, and lack of public spirit, Chen determinedly went to Dingxian, a rural district in North China, to pioneer
The split data cache in multiprocessor systems: an initial hit ratio analysis

As current first level (L1) data caches are poorly and inefficiently managed, new approaches to achieve better performance in uniprocessor systems have been proposed. The L1 data cache management system is basically the same as it was three decades ago. New organizations have recently been proposed, where two multi-lateral caches are included in the first level in accordance with the data locality where they are stored. The processor simultaneously sends the same memory request to both caches located in L1. These caches work independently and have different organizations. The main objective is to minimize the average data access time. These new organizations will normally increase the hit ratio. Additionally, the chip area occupied by these caches-including the necessary management hardware-is smaller than in a conventional organization. As the proposed cache size is smaller, it can work faster and improve access time at this level. Several authors have studied different approaches around this idea in uniprocessors. In this work we have made extensions for shared memory multiprocessors and studied the advantages.