Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Horizon-Dependent Risk Aversion and the Timing and Pricing of Uncertainty

We propose a model that addresses two fundamental challenges concerning the timing and pricing of uncertainty: established equilibrium asset pricing models require a controversial degree of preference for early resolution of uncertainty and do not generate the downward-sloping term structure of risk premia suggested by the data. Inspired by experimental evidence, we construct dynamically inconsistent preferences in which risk aversion decreases with the temporal horizon. The resulting pricing model can generate a term structure of risk premia consistent with empirical evidence, without forcing a particular preference for resolution of uncertainty or compromising the ability to match standard moments.
Structural VAR Identification in Asset Markets Using Short-Run Market Inefficiencies

We impose a structure on the short-run market inefficiencies in the asset markets and use this structure to identify a structural vector autoregressive model. This novel identification method is based on more reasonable assumptions than the standard approaches and also gives estimates for inefficiency measures in the markets, which are important on their own. Applying our method on the major European stock markets, we find that while the UK shocks were dominant in Europe until 1999, German innovations have been more important since 1999. We also find that the pattern of inefficiencies are consistent with the rational inattention model of Sims (2003).
Dissecting protein–RNA recognition sites

We analyze the protein–RNA interfaces in 81 transient binary complexes taken from the Protein Data Bank. Those with tRNA or duplex RNA are larger than with single-stranded RNA, and comparable in size to protein–DNA interfaces. The protein side bears a strong positive electrostatic potential and resembles protein–DNA interfaces in its amino acid composition. On the RNA side, the phosphate contributes less, and the sugar much more, to the interaction than in protein–DNA complexes. On average, protein–RNA interfaces contain 20 hydrogen bonds, 7 that involve the phosphates, 5 the sugar 2′OH, and 6 the bases, and 32 water molecules. The average H-bond density per unit buried surface area is less with tRNA or single-stranded RNA than with duplex RNA. The atomic packing is also less compact in interfaces with tRNA. On the protein side, the main chain NH and Arg/Lys side chains account for nearly half of all H-bonds to RNA; the main chain CO and side chain acceptor groups, for a quarter. The 2′OH is a major player in protein–RNA recognition, and shape complementarity an important determinant, whereas electrostatics and direct base–protein interactions play a lesser part than in protein–DNA recognition.
Simplified model for end-stage liver disease score predicts mortality for tricuspid valve surgery.

OBJECTIVES The model for end-stage liver disease score (MELD = 3.8*LN[total bilirubin] + 9.6*LN[creatinine] + 11.2*[PT-INR] + 6.4) predicts mortality for tricuspid valve surgery. However, the MELD is problematic in patients undergoing warfarin therapy, as warfarin affects the international normalized ratio (INR). This study aimed to determine whether a simplified MELD score that does not require the INR for calculation could predict mortality for patients undergoing tricuspid valve surgery. Simplified MELD score = 3.8*LN[total bilirubin] + 9.6*LN[creatinine] + 6.4. METHODS A total of 172 patients (male: 66, female: 106; mean age, 63.8 ± 10.3 years) who underwent tricuspid replacement (n = 18) or repair (n = 154) from January 1991 to July 2011 at a single centre were included. Of them, 168 patients in whom the simplified MELD score could be calculated were retrospectively analysed. The relationship between in-hospital mortality and perioperative variables was assessed by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS The rate of in-hospital mortality was 6.4%. The mean admission simplified MELD score for the patients who died was significantly higher than for those surviving beyond discharge (11.3 ± 4.1 vs 5.8 ± 4.0; P = 0.001). By multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for in-hospital mortality included higher simplified MELD score (P = 0.001) and tricuspid valve replacement (P = 0.023). In-hospital mortality and morbidity increased along with increasing simplified MELD score. Scores <0, 0-6.9, 7-13.9 and >14 were associated with mortalities of 0, 2.0, 8.3 and 66.7%, respectively. The incidence of serious complications (multiple organ failure, P = 0.005; prolonged ventilation, P = 0.01; need for haemodialysis; P = 0.002) was also significantly higher in patients with simplified MELD score ≥ 7. CONCLUSIONS The simplified MELD score predicts mortality in patients undergoing tricuspid valve surgery. This model requires only total bilirubin and creatinine and is therefore applicable in patients undergoing warfarin therapy.
DIVORCE NORMS , INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING , AND HOUSEHOLD OUTCOMES IN RURAL ETHIOPIA May

This work augments existing household bargaining literature by focusing on locally varied property rights norms in determining spouses’ relative threat points. While similar studies have used spouses' pre-marriage assets as an indicator of bargaining power, I hypothesize that the division of property in case of divorce might provide a more relevant indicator, given the legal predominance of varying customary laws across rural Ethiopia. I test this hypothesis using 1997 household survey data and a standard household bargaining model and find that there is a strong positive link between wives' rights to housing and child custody and household budget shares for food, while the links with budget shares for cigarettes and alcohol and medical care are significantly negative. Moreover, increased housing rights for women strongly improve their daughters’ educational outcomes, apparently at the expense of their sons’ schooling, while stronger child custody rights do the opposite.
Mismatch-Aware Common-Centroid Placement for Arbitrary-Ratio Capacitor Arrays Considering Dummy Capacitors

Switched capacitors are commonly used in analog circuits to increase the accuracy of analog signal processing and lower power consumption. To take full advantage of switched capacitors, it is very important to achieve accurate capacitance ratios in the layout of the capacitor arrays, which are affected by systematic and random mismatches. A good capacitor placement should have a common-centroid structure with the highest possible degree of dispersion to mitigate mismatches. Several dummy units should be inserted to make the placement shape more square and compact. This paper proposes a simulated-annealing-based approach for mismatch-aware common-centroid placement under the above constraints. A pair-sequence representation is used to record a placement, and a couple of associated operations are developed to find better solutions. The experimental results show that the proposed placements achieve smaller oxide-gradient-induced mismatch and larger overall correlation coefficients (i.e., higher degree of dispersion) than those of previous works.
Feedback Enhances the Security of State-Dependent Degraded Broadcast Channels With Confidential Messages

In this paper, we investigate the state-dependent degraded broadcast channels with confidential messages (SD-DBC-CM), and with or without noiseless feedback. In this new model, the channel state is available at the transmitter in a noncausal or causal manner, and there may exist a noiseless feedback link from the nondegraded receiver to the transmitter. For the discrete memoryless SD-DBC-CM, inner and outer bounds on the capacity-equivocation regions are provided for both the noncausal and causal cases. For the discrete memoryless SD-DBC-CM with feedback, inner and outer bounds on the capacity-equivocation region are provided for the noncausal case, and the capacity-equivocation region is determined for the causal case. The results of this paper are further explained via Gaussian and binary examples.
Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control for uncertain nonlinear SISO systems

In this article, a novel Adaptive Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control (AFSMC) methodology is proposed based on the integration of Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and Adaptive Fuzzy Control (AFC). Using Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat's lemma, the closed-loop system is proved to be stable and convergence properties of the system is assured. Simulation examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the method.
A Cyan Fluorescent Reporter Expressed from the Chloroplast Genome of Marchantia polymorpha

Recently, the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha has received increasing attention as a basal plant model for multicellular studies. Its ease of handling, well-characterized plastome and proven protocols for biolistic plastid transformation qualify M. polymorpha as an attractive platform to study the evolution of chloroplasts during the transition from water to land. In addition, chloroplasts of M. polymorpha provide a convenient test-bed for the characterization of genetic elements involved in plastid gene expression due to the absence of mechanisms for RNA editing. While reporter genes have proven valuable to the qualitative and quantitative study of gene expression in chloroplasts, expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in chloroplasts of M. polymorpha has proven problematic. We report the design of a codon-optimized gfp varian, mturq2cp, which allowed successful expression of a cyan fluorescent protein under control of the tobacco psbA promoter from the chloroplast genome of M. polymorpha. We demonstrate the utility of mturq2cp in (i) early screening for transplastomic events following biolistic transformation of M. polymorpha spores; (ii) visualization of stromules as elements of plastid structure in Marchantia; and (iii) quantitative microscopy for the analysis of promoter activity.
Unaltered Striatal Dopamine Release Levels in Young Parkin Knockout, Pink1 Knockout, DJ-1 Knockout and LRRK2 R1441G Transgenic Mice

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative brain diseases; it is accompanied by extensive loss of dopamine (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra that project to the putamen, leading to impaired motor functions. Several genes have been associated with hereditary forms of the disease and transgenic mice have been developed by a number of groups to produce animal models of PD and to explore the basic functions of these genes. Surprisingly, most of the various mouse lines generated such as Parkin KO, Pink1 KO, DJ-1 KO and LRRK2 transgenic have been reported to lack degeneration of nigral DA neuron, one of the hallmarks of PD. However, modest impairments of motor behavior have been reported, suggesting the possibility that the models recapitulate at least some of the early stages of PD, including early dysfunction of DA axon terminals. To further evaluate this possibility, here we provide for the first time a systematic comparison of DA release in four different mouse lines, examined at a young age range, prior to potential age-dependent compensations. Using fast scan cyclic voltammetry in striatal sections prepared from young, 6–8 weeks old mice, we examined sub-second DA overflow evoked by single pulses and action potential trains. Unexpectedly, none of the models displayed any dysfunction of DA overflow or reuptake. These results, compatible with the lack of DA neuron loss in these models, suggest that molecular dysfunctions caused by the absence or mutation of these individual genes are not sufficient to perturb the function and survival of mouse DA neurons.
Obscenity Detection Using Haar-Like Features and Gentle Adaboost Classifier

Large exposure of skin area of an image is considered obscene. This only fact may lead to many false images having skin-like objects and may not detect those images which have partially exposed skin area but have exposed erotogenic human body parts. This paper presents a novel method for detecting nipples from pornographic image contents. Nipple is considered as an erotogenic organ to identify pornographic contents from images. In this research Gentle Adaboost (GAB) haar-cascade classifier and haar-like features used for ensuring detection accuracy. Skin filter prior to detection made the system more robust. The experiment showed that, considering accuracy, haar-cascade classifier performs well, but in order to satisfy detection time, train-cascade classifier is suitable. To validate the results, we used 1198 positive samples containing nipple objects and 1995 negative images. The detection rates for haar-cascade and train-cascade classifiers are 0.9875 and 0.8429, respectively. The detection time for haar-cascade is 0.162 seconds and is 0.127 seconds for train-cascade classifier.
The Application of LDPC Code in Underwater Acoustic Wireless Communications

LDPC code is used in the underwater wireless communication system. Using regular (3,6) LDPC code, with LLR BP decoding algorithm, a simulation is completed in the underwater channel of constant speed of sound. The results show that: the bit error rate of 10-5 can be achieved at the signal to noise ratio of about 2. 8dB, which indicates the high-performance transmission under lower signal to noise ratio may be realized.
Molecular architecture of endocannabinoid signaling at nociceptive synapses mediating analgesia

Cannabinoid administration suppresses pain by acting at spinal, supraspinal and peripheral levels. Intrinsic analgesic pathways also exploit endocannabinoids; however, the underlying neurobiological substrates of endocannabinoid‐mediated analgesia have remained largely unknown. Compelling evidence shows that, upon exposure to a painful environmental stressor, an endocannabinoid molecule called 2‐arachidonoylglycerol (2‐AG) is mobilized in the lumbar spinal cord in temporal correlation with stress‐induced antinociception. We therefore characterized the precise molecular architecture of 2‐AG signaling and its involvement in nociception in the rodent spinal cord. Nonradioactive in situ hybridization revealed that dorsal horn neurons widely expressed the mRNA of diacylglycerol lipase‐alpha (DGL‐α), the synthesizing enzyme of 2‐AG. Peroxidase‐based immunocytochemistry demonstrated high levels of DGL‐α protein and CB1 cannabinoid receptor, a receptor for 2‐AG, in the superficial dorsal horn, at the first site of modulation of the ascending pain pathway. High‐resolution electron microscopy uncovered postsynaptic localization of DGL‐α at nociceptive synapses formed by primary afferents, and revealed presynaptic positioning of CB1 on excitatory axon terminals. Furthermore, DGL‐α in postsynaptic elements receiving nociceptive input was colocalized with metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), whose activation induces 2‐AG biosynthesis. Finally, intrathecal activation of mGluR5 at the lumbar level evoked endocannabinoid‐mediated stress‐induced analgesia through the DGL–2‐AG–CB1 pathway. Taken together, these findings suggest a key role for 2‐AG‐mediated retrograde suppression of nociceptive transmission at the spinal level. The striking positioning of the molecular players of 2‐AG synthesis and action at nociceptive excitatory synapses suggests that pharmacological manipulation of spinal 2‐AG levels may be an efficacious way to regulate pain sensation.
The Fall of OLS in Structural Estimation

A recurrent debate in the history of econometrics is the extent to which ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation can yield valid information about economic structure. This debate started well before the work of the Cowles Commission in the 1940's on simultaneity bias. For example, in 1912 Marshall was strongly condemning Henry Ludwell Moore, the first American econometrician, as a "nightmare. " The problem of interpreting econometric results has not diminished with time. This article discusses early developments in the analysis of identification and single equation estimation which do not seem to be widely known among modern economists, despite the insight they provide into econometric practice. ' Economists such as Marshall became more tolerant of econometric work when multiple correlation was explained as a technique that could embody the ceteris paribus clause of pure theory. Nevertheless, the early experience of estimating demand and supply curves showed that econometricians faced unique difficulties. Statistical models in other fields used the logic of cause and effect to specify relationships with one dependent variable and several explanatory factors. It was apparent from the outset, however, that a scatter of simultaneous price and quantity observations could not directly reveal either demand or supply schedules without additional information. Substantial progress on what was later called the identification problem was achieved by the end of the 1920's. One result of this work was to suggest that OLS might be an inappropriate estimator for simultaneous systems. A form of instrumental variables estimation appeared in the literature as early as 1928 and an example of indirect least squares was given in 1929. The paper is organized as follows. The first section discusses the work of Sewall Wright in the 1920's as a kind of instrumental variables solution to the "market equilibrium" problem. The second section discusses an early discovery by Tinbergen of identification and estimation using exogenous variables in an indirect least squares setting. The third section discusses the work of Haavelmo and Koopmans in the emergence of structural estima-
Forensic analysis of copy-move forgery in digital images using the stationary wavelets

In this modern life, the digital images are being considered the main source of information sharing. The digital images are being used in various fields such as medical imaging, news reporting, crime investigation, insurance claims etc. However, in the presence of sophisticated image editing tools, the credibility of digital images is the main concern. The copy-move forgery (CMF) is a most popular forgery attack. In CMF, a region is duplicated elsewhere in the same image for producing a forged image. Thus, for detecting this particular artifact an algorithm is presented that utilizes Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT). The experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm is capable of detecting duplicated blocks precisely and identify multiple CMF effectively, even when the images are contaminated by blurring and noise. The performance of our algorithm in comparison with other systems proves the efficacy of the system with a noticeable increase in detection ratios.
Neural Response during the Activation of the Attachment System in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder: An fMRI Study

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are characterized by emotional instability, impaired emotion regulation and unresolved attachment patterns associated with abusive childhood experiences. We investigated the neural response during the activation of the attachment system in BPD patients compared to healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Eleven female patients with BPD without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 17 healthy female controls matched for age and education were telling stories in the scanner in response to the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), an eight-picture set assessment of adult attachment. The picture set includes theoretically-derived attachment scenes, such as separation, death, threat and potential abuse. The picture presentation order is designed to gradually increase the activation of the attachment system. Each picture stimulus was presented for 2 min. Analyses examine group differences in attachment classifications and neural activation patterns over the course of the task. Unresolved attachment was associated with increasing amygdala activation over the course of the attachment task in patients as well as controls. Unresolved controls, but not patients, showed activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ). We interpret this as a neural signature of BPD patients’ inability to exert top-down control under conditions of attachment distress. These findings point to possible neural mechanisms for underlying affective dysregulation in BPD in the context of attachment trauma and fear.
CoGMI: Coordinated gestures for one-handed mobile interaction

Interacting with touch screen mobiles using thumb is nowadays becoming a common practice. Techniques have been developed to provide the ease of use in interacting with touch screen using thumb. These techniques were rather inefficient in terms of time and error. We propose a model CoGMI which describes an interaction technique which that is the combination of coordinated gestures (drag gestures) and direct touch. The proposed model could be helpful in minimizing the issues such as 1) distant targets reach, 2) the selection of distant targets, 3) accidental selection of targets, 4) occlusion, and 5) accuracy.
MOTOR IMAGERY BASED EEG SIGNAL CLASSIFICATION USING SELF ORGANIZING MAPS

Classification of Motor Imagery (MI) tasks based EEG signals effectively is the main hurdle in order to develop online Brain Computer interface (BCI). In this research article, a relatively new approach has been implemented to accurately classify EEG signals that have been extracted from MI. The data-set was obtained from BCI competition-II 2003 named Graz database. Two channels have been selected for preprocessing i.e. C3 and C4. After applying pre-processing techniques feature vector have been extracted. The feature vector consists of bi-orthogonal Wavelet Transform (WT) coefficients, Welench Power Spectral Density estimates and the average power. In this study, we have presented a comparison of mostly used classification algorithm with a new unsupervised learning technique for classification i.e. Self-organizing maps (SOM) based neural network. SOM and other algorithms have been used to categorize the feature vector acquired from the EEG data-set; into their corresponding classes. Both orignal and reduced feature set has been used for classification of motor imagery based EEG signals. The reduction is performed by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It has been depicted from measured data that SOM shows a maximum classification accuracy of 84.17% on PCA implemented reduce feature set. Furthermore, an 2% increase in classification accuracy has been attained by using bi-orthogonal wavelet transform instead of Daubechies WT.
Multiple Developmental Defects Derived from Impaired Recruitment of ASC-2 to Nuclear Receptors in Mice: Implication for Posterior Lenticonus with Cataract

ABSTRACT ASC-2, a recently isolated transcriptional coactivator molecule, stimulates transactivation by multiple transcription factors, including nuclear receptors. We generated a potent dominant negative fragment of ASC-2, encompassing the N-terminal LXXLL motif that binds a broad range of nuclear receptors. This fragment, termed DN1, specifically inhibited endogenous ASC-2 from binding these receptors in vivo, whereas DN1/m, in which the LXXLL motif was mutated to LXXAA to abolish the receptor interactions, was inert. Interestingly, DN1 transgenic mice but not DN1/m transgenic mice exhibited severe microphthalmia and posterior lenticonus with cataract as well as a variety of pathophysiological phenotypes in many other organs. Our results provide a novel insight into the molecular and histopathological mechanism of posterior lenticonus with cataract and attest to the importance of ASC-2 as a pivotal transcriptional coactivator of nuclear receptors in vivo.