Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fighting corruption in Bangladesh: a policy proposal

Corruption is widespread in Bangladesh. According to a report of the international watchdog Transparency International, during 2001–2005, Bangladesh was the most corrupt country in the world. How to combat corruption in Bangladesh is now an important agenda for both international donor agencies and the government. Using game theory, this paper proposes that a successful reduction in corruption to a tolerable level in the government sector depends on a reduction in both incentives to and opportunities for corruption by government employees, and this can be done by raising salaries and introducing strong punishment simultaneously. To introduce an effective and strong punishment system, independent, and strong anti-corruption bodies and strong commitment from political leaders are the essential conditions.
Platelet inhibition with tirofiban early during percutaneous coronary intervention: Dosing revisited

Platelet inhibition is central to the efficacy of the intravenous glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors. Differences in the degree of platelet inhibition achieved with these agents may account for the disparity in clinical efficacy noted in recently completed clinical trials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ex vivo platelet inhibition with tirofiban in patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome and who were referred for percutaneous coronary interventions. Twenty‐five patients were studied. Ten patients received tirofiban 10 μg/kg bolus and 0.15 μg/kg infusion for 16 hr. Platelet inhibition was determined at 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 120 min after tirofiban, by light transmission aggregometry (LTA), rapid platelet function assay (RPFA), and platelet works (PW). The average platelet inhibition using RPFA with PPACK, was 87% at 5 min, then decreased to a nadir of 72% at 30 min and recovered back to > 80% at 60 min and onward. Similar trends were noted with RPFA‐citrate, PW, and LTA. Ca‐chelating anticoagulants (EDTA and citrate) overestimated platelet inhibition at all time points. Dose adjustment was done by increasing the bolus (15 μg/kg) in five patients, increasing the maintenance dose (0.2 μg/kg/min) in five patients, and increasing both the bolus and the maintenance dose in another five patients. Platelet inhibition tested by all the above methods was consistently over 90% when both the bolus and maintenance doses were increased. No increased incidence of major bleeding was noted at this adjusted dose. The current dosing of tirofiban may be inadequate to achieve appropriate platelet inhibition during PCI in patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome and receiving tirofiban immediately before the procedure in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Dose adjustment may be needed to maximize platelet inhibition early during PCI. Cathet Cardiovasc Intervent 2002;56:474–477. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Invariant Recognition of Visual Objects: Some Emerging Computational Principles

Invariant object recognition refers to recognizing an object regardless of irrelevant image variations, such as variations in viewpoint, lighting, retinal size, background, etc. The perceptual result of invariance, where the perception of a given object property is unaffected by irrelevant image variations, is often referred to as perceptual constancy (Kofka, 1935; Walsh and Kulikowski, 2010). Mechanisms of invariant object recognition have, to a significant extent, remained unclear. This is both because experimental and computational studies have so far largely focused on understanding object recognition without these variations, and because the underlying computational problems are profoundly difficult. The 10 articles in this Research Topic Issue focus on some of the key computational issues in invariant object recognition. There is no pretending that the articles cover all key areas of current research exhaustively or seamlessly. For instance, none of the articles in this issue address size invariance (Kilpatrick and Ittelson, 1953) or color constancy (Foster, 2011). Nonetheless, the articles collectively paint a useful pointillist picture of current research on computational principles of invariance.
Gamma‐vinyl GABA inhibits methamphetamine, heroin, or ethanol‐induced increases in nucleus accumbens dopamine

We examined the acute effect of the irreversible GABA‐transaminase inhibitor, gamma‐vinyl GABA (GVG, Sabril®, Vigabatrin®) on increases in nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine (DA) following acute administration of methamphetamine, heroin, or ethanol. Methamphetamine (2.5 mg/kg) produced a dose‐dependent increase (2,700%) in NAc DA. GVG preadministration (300 or 600 mg/kg), however, inhibited this response by approximately 39 and 61%, respectively. The lower dose of methamphetamine (1.25 mg/kg), increased DA by 1,700%. This response was inhibited to a similar extent (44%) regardless of the GVG dose preadministered (300 or 600 mg/kg). In addition, heroin‐induced increases in NAc DA (0.5 mg/kg, 170%) were inhibited or completely abolished by GVG (150 or 300 mg/kg, 65 and 100%, respectively). Finally, at half the dose necessary for heroin, GVG (150 mg/kg) also completely abolished ethanol‐induced increases in NAc DA following a 0.25 g/kg challenge dose (140%). Taken with our previous findings using nicotine or cocaine as the challenge drug, these results indicate that GVG attenuates increases in NAc DA by a mechanism common to many drugs of abuse. However, it appears unlikely that an acute dose of GVG can completely inhibit increases in NAc DA following challenges with a drug whose mechanism of action is mediated primarily through the DA reuptake site. Synapse 34:11–19, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Automatic detection of repetitive actions in a video

In this paper we propose a method to locate inloop repetitions in a video. An in-loop repetition consists in repeating the same action(s) many times consecutively. The proposed method adapts and uses the auto-correlation method YIN, originally proposed to find the fundamental frequency in audio signals. Based on this technique, we propose a method that generates a matrix where repetitions correspond to triangle-shaped zones of low values in this matrix (we called YIN-Matrix). Locating these triangles leads to locate video segments that enclose a repetition as well as to extract their parameters. In order to evaluate our method, we used a standard evaluation method that shows the error rates compared to ground-truth information. According to this evaluation method, our method shows promising results that nominate it to form a solid base for future works.
Assessing the reliability of ecotoxicological studies: An overview of current needs and approaches

In general, reliable studies are well designed and well performed, and enough details on study design and performance are reported to assess the study. For hazard and risk assessment in various legal frameworks, many different types of ecotoxicity studies need to be evaluated for reliability. These studies vary in study design, methodology, quality, and level of detail reported (e.g., reviews, peer‐reviewed research papers, or industry‐sponsored studies documented under Good Laboratory Practice [GLP] guidelines). Regulators have the responsibility to make sound and verifiable decisions and should evaluate each study for reliability in accordance with scientific principles regardless of whether they were conducted in accordance with GLP and/or standardized methods. Thus, a systematic and transparent approach is needed to evaluate studies for reliability. In this paper, 8 different methods for reliability assessment were compared using a number of attributes: categorical versus numerical scoring methods, use of exclusion and critical criteria, weighting of criteria, whether methods are tested with case studies, domain of applicability, bias toward GLP studies, incorporation of standard guidelines in the evaluation method, number of criteria used, type of criteria considered, and availability of guidance material. Finally, some considerations are given on how to choose a suitable method for assessing reliability of ecotoxicity studies. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:640–651. © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)
Syrians and Business in Irbid City: Jordanian Stability and Refugees: A Qualitative Study

Aim: Against Jordan’s historical and economic background, the question of the effects on business of Syrianrefugees’ fleeing the civil war and their demand for accommodation and business purchase in Irbid, a northerncity, is investigated. The hope was to link these local social and economic problems and their effects tonationwide demands, more prevalent in the south, for socio-economic improvement for business opportunityand increased political freedom.Methodology: Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 33 of 41 Irbid realtors.Results: Local dislocation affected the lower socio-economic group on limited incomes, depriving them ofaccommodation. Predominantly the rich Jordanian elite profited by increased investment and rental profit.Refugee Syrians comprised only 10% of the market. Some astute Syrian businessmen invested their wealth inIrbid, improving the general economy. Irbid commercial and retail business boomed with increased consumers.There was insufficient discontent evidenced with the political or economic situation to threaten the politicalstatus quo, according to realtors. The King is loved, and trusted to encourage more foreign investment. Realtorsexpected the real estate market to rise slightly with new demand, or stabilise; although locally limited-incomeJordanians hope for assistance in the form of a government sector wage rise—unlikely with national economicwoes.
Genetic and environmental influences on hearing in older women.

BACKGROUND This study examined the relative contribution of genetic and environmental effects on the air-conducted hearing threshold level (0.5-4 kHz) and speech recognition threshold level of the better ear as well as self-reported hearing in older women. METHODS Hearing was measured as a part of the Finnish Twin Study on Aging in 103 monozygotic (MZ) and 114 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs aged 63-76 years. Audiometric measured hearing was tested using standardized methods in soundproof conditions. Self-reported hearing was assessed by a structured question. Quantitative genetic modeling was used for data analyses. RESULTS No significant differences in age, exposure to noise, hearing-aid use, auditory diseases or accidents, or number of self-reported chronic conditions or prescription medicines were observed between the MZ and DZ twins. A genetic component in common accounted for 75% (95% confidence interval [CI], 67%-81%) of the variance in the better ear's hearing threshold level and 54% (95% CI, 43%-64%) in the better ear's speech recognition threshold level, according to a bivariate genetic analysis. In addition, 10% (95% CI, 4%-15%) of the variance in the better ear's speech recognition threshold level was explained by its specific genetic component. CONCLUSION Individual differences in audiometrically measured air-conducted hearing threshold level (0.5-4 kHz) and speech recognition threshold level in the better ear were largely accounted for by genetic differences between individuals. In contrast, self-reported hearing appears to be accounted for solely by environmental factors.
A Dynamic Equalisation Model for Economic and Social Capital Grants with a South African Example

Abstract A capital grant model has been developed which can be used in developing economies to allocate grants to sub-national governments for economic or social capital. The model allows these allocations to happen in a way that increases the value of the capital stock whilst at the same time addresses any inter regional inequities, or economic inefficiencies. The model is also applied to South Africa as an illustrative example and the results of three model simulations for that country are presented. There is a discussion of the data requirements for the model and how it might be replicated by researchers for other economies.
A Fast Clustering Approach for Identifying Traffic Congestions

Density-based clustering, for instance, DBSCAN, is an important approach for pattern recognition and data mining, and has been widely used in many applications. Under large scale streaming data environment, however, DBSCAN suffers from a heavy computational cost because it examines distances between each points multiple times. When dealing with transportation-related applications which usually requires calculating road network distance instead of Euclidean distance, DBSCAN has difficult to meet real-time computation requirement. Focusing on fast identifying linear events, this paper utilizes linear feature to improve the efficiency of clustering by introducing linear referencing system (LRS). LRS has long been used in managing linear features, which could simplify shortest-path computation into 1-dimensional relative distance calculation, thus can significantly reduce computational complexity and cost, and meet the real-time analysis requirement of streaming data. Using vehicle GPS trajectory as an example, this study designs a LRS and its associated dynamic segmentation method for identifying traffic congestions. Experiment results proved the flexibility and efficiency of the proposed LRS-based clustering approach in identifying traffic congestions.
An empirical study of university spin‐off development

Purpose – The paper is concerned with spin‐off firms and the process by which a new firm is created and formed from a university. The objectives are to examine characteristics of firms generated by this process, and the intensity of the spin‐off firms' network activity with the parent organisation and the local environment during this process.Design/methodology/approach – The findings are based on a case‐study consisting out of three firms spun‐off from a research centre at Linkoping University in the area of visualisation and computer graphics. The source data are gathered from semi‐structured interviews. No generalisation should be drawn from this study due to the small number of firms interviewed and the scope of the technological area addressed.Findings – The results show the importance of collaboration between the university spin‐off, with both the parental organisation and outside organisms, to acquire external competencies in the technological area. The parental organisation plays a pivotal role in.
A 50MS/s 80dB SFDR digital calibrated pipelined ADC with workload-balanced MDAC

A workload-balanced multiplying digital-to-analog converter (WB-MDAC) is proposed to improve the settling efficiency of multi-bit pipeline stages, and demonstrated in a 14-bit 50-MS/s digital calibrated pipelined ADC. The presented ADC occupies an active area of 1.3 mm2 in 0.13-µm 1P8M CMOS technology, including internal reference buffers. It dissipates 76mW from a 1.2-V supply, and achieves 64.4 dB SNDR and over 80 dB SFDR.
An Empirical Analysis of Equilibrium Pricing and Advertising in the Ready-To-Eat Cereal Market

We introduce a model of dynamic price and advertising competition and use the model to investigate a popular segment of the Ready-To-Eat Cereal Market. It is well understood that advertising is a key non-price strategic demand determinant in differentiated product markets. Two popular and compatible models for the role of advertising have emerged. One model specifies advertising as a determinant of a consumer's level of product awareness (informative) and the other model specifies advertising as a complimentary product attribute (persuasive). Without specific information on a consumer's level of awareness the two roles cannot be simultaneously identified within a demand model. One must then decide how advertising enters the demand model. To explore the implications of this specification decision on the assessment of price and advertising competition we: Estimate heterogeneous consumer logit demand models for each advertising specification; define a model of price and advertising competition for multi-product firms; and compute the distribution of equilibrium price and advertising strategies to assess the fit against the observed price and advertising strategies. To illustrate how the market model may be applied we investigate a segment of the ready-to-eat cereal market and evaluate a hypothetical brand acquisition. The analysis provides three key empirical findings: Upward pricing pressure, due to the acquisition, is larger when advertising is incorporated into the demand model as a result of estimation bias; the informative advertising model yields downward pressure on price while the persuasive advertising model yields upward pressure on price; and the information theoretic model fits the data better.
Disaggregate Evidence on Price Stickiness and Implications for Macro Models

"We use the methodology applied at the aggregate level by Gali and Gertler (1999) to analyze price and cost data for U.S. six-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries. Industries with price adjustment periods of at least 6 quarters generate no more than about 43% of total sales of industries we analyze. Industries with estimated price adjustment speeds of less than a year generate at least 44% of sales. Our conclusion is that disaggregate U.S. data provide as much support in favor of relatively high price flexibility as they do for the assumption of widespread price stickiness utilized in many modern macroeconomic theories. "("JEL "E31, L16) Copyright (c) 2007 Western Economic Association International.
A Limited Joint-Choice Model for Discrete and Continuous Housing Characteristics

A simultaneous discrete and continuous random utility model for housing demand is presented. Household utility depends on three characteristics of hou sing: a discrete number of bedrooms and continuous measures of hous-i ng quality and distance to the central business district. Empirical r esults for a sample of renter households from San Francisco are compa red for a univariate structure in which each choice variable has its own utility or disutility function, a simultaneous structure assuming a discrete-continuous analog of the independence of irrelevant alter natives, and one for which this assumption is relaxed. The results in dicate that the third structure is most appropriate. Copyright 1988 by MIT Press.
The Peak of Oil Extraction and a Modified Maximin Principle

The term "oil peak" usually is connected with the positive analysis problem, namely, with the problem of defining the year when the increase in the rate of oil extraction will be physically impossible. However, a normative approach to the problem of optimal extraction of a nonrenewable resource seems more important. We consider the economy which depends on the essential nonrenewable resource and the rate of the resource extraction increases over time. At some instant the government gradually switches to a sustainable (in sense of nondecreasing consumption over time) pattern of the resource extraction. Different criteria are considered for the construction some curves of switching to decreasing paths of the resource depletion. Consumption paths have diverse behavior patterns along these curves, including a path of unlimited growth. A new approach to the Rawlsian maximin criterion which allows for growth of consumption is offered.
A Non-Probabilistic Metric Derived From Condition Information for Operational Reliability Assessment of Aero-Engines

The aero-engine is the heart of an airplane. Operational reliability assessment that aims to identify the reliability level of the aero-engine in the service phase is of great significance for improving flight safety. Traditionally, reliability assessment is carried out by statistical analysis on large failure samples. Because the operational reliability of a specific aero-engine is an individual problem lacking statistical sample data, traditional reliability assessment methods may be insufficient to assess the operational reliability of an individual aero-engine. The operational states of the aero-engine can be identified by its condition information. Changes in the condition information reflect the performance degradation of the aero-engine. Aiming at the assessment of the operational reliability of individual aero-engines, a novel similarity index (SI) is proposed by analyzing the condition information from the fault-free state, and the current state. A condition subspace is first obtained by kernel principal component analysis (KPCA). Subspace similarity is then represented by subspace angles, i.e., kernel principal angles (KPAs). The cosine function is finally utilized as a mapping function to transform the subspace angles into a similarity index. The index can be used as a non-probabilistic metric for operational reliability assessment. Only the condition information is needed for computation of the similarity index, thus it can be performed conveniently for online assessment. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by three case studies regarding the health assessment of aero-engines subjected to system-level and component-level degradation. The positive results demonstrate that the proposed SI is an effective metric for operational reliability assessment of individual aero-engines.
The National Technology System Framework: Sanjaya Lall’s Contribution to Appreciative Theory

Sanjaya Lall has grappled with the dilemmas of development by concentrating his life-long research on technology, international trade, manufacturing and industrial development largely but not exclusively in the developing world. He constructed taxonomy on low technology; resource based products, medium technology intensive and high tech intensive products and tried to measure the challenges, opportunities and difficulties for resource based producers like the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to enter into medium and high technology intensive manufactures. The rich empirical work undertaken on the developing economies, South East Asia and others has led him to formulate the appreciative concept of National Technology System (NTS). In this paper we distinguish between the development and relationship between formal and appreciative theories in general and the NTS and national system of innovation (NSI) concepts in particular. We shall attempt to examine, compare and contrast broadly Sanjay Lall’s appreciative NTS concept in relation to the national innovation system approach in the context of the debate for generating the appropriate and relevant heuristics to get clearer comprehension of the dynamics and processes involved in both technology acquisition and efficiency for economic competitiveness and development. (Please Puchase For Further Reading)
AGGREGATE EMPLOYMENT AND INTERTEMPORAL SUBSTITUTION IN THE UK

In this paper the author sets up, estimates, and tests an explicit model of aggregate labor supply based on the intertemporal substitution hypothesis. The model is derived as the optimal decision rule of an infinitely-living household maximizing an intertemporal CES utility function over consumption and leisure. The evidence suggests that for aggregate employee hours the model is rejected, but that for the total number of employees in employment the estimates are broadly consistent with the theory. The assumed constant elasticity of substitution is estimated at around 0.2, and this estimate implies a short-run real wage and real interest rate elasticity of labor supply of the same order. Copyright 1987 by Royal Economic Society.