Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The New Keynesian Phillips curve : a critical assessment

Two main versions of the Phillips curve can be found nowadays in the New Keynesian literature. The first, which is called the “triangular model” (Gordon, 1997), is based on a inertial component, a given (and exogeneous) long-run NAIRU and supply shocks. This version of the Phillips curve was dominant, until the mid nineties, and also present in the New Consensus Model (Blinder, 1997; Taylor, 2000). More recently, the second version, the socalled New Keynesian Phillips Curve, which includes a forward-looking expectations component and another based on deviations from the current markup of firms in relation to its optimum value, has become more dominant. This specification for the Phillips Curve belongs to the New Neoclassical Synthesis model (Goodfriend; King, 1997; Clarida; Galí; Gertler, 1999). This paper evaluates both these recent interpretations of the Phillips Curve through a simplified model aiming to clarify the central theoretical foundations of these models. It shows the very special assumptions that are required to generate a unique NAIRU in the New Consensus Model and a single long-run equilibrium rate of unemployment in the New Neoclassical Synthesis. In both versions, the long-run neutrality of money are seem to be subject to different serious theoretical problems and, in addition, the empirical evidence does not really corroborate their predictions relating to the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment in the long-run. From this critical assessment of the neoclassical approaches to the Phillips Curve, the paper concludes in favor of a return to older non-neoclassical interpretations of the non neutral long-run Phillips Curve. * PhD candidate at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and economist at the Brazilian Development Bank. The author wishes to thank, but by no means implicate, Franklin Serrano (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Antonela Stirati (Roma Tre University), Fábio Freitas (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and Pedro Duarte (University of Sao Paulo) for helpful comments and suggestions.
Time Series Modeling in Water Resources Planning and Management

Most of the times continuous hydrological time series data availability is limited at the time of initiation of any new water resources project. In order to filling the missing gaps and prediction of future time series data, suitable and stable time series model is essentially required for successful water resources planning and management. Time series modelling procedures mostly fall within the framework of multivariate Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) models. Traditionally, ARMA models have been widely used for water resources time-series modelling. However, these models do not attempt to represent the non-linear dynamics inherent in the hydrological process, and may not always perform well. Presently non-linear models such as neural networks are widely used for time series modelling. Artificial Intelligent (AI) techniques are extensively used for data driven modelling (DDM). This paper presents the potential of DDM in time series modeling, and presents case studies of their application to the monthly groundwater levels using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and daily stream flows using Wavelet Neural Networks (ANN) in Indian basins. The calibration and validation performance of these models (ANN and WNN) is evaluated with appropriate statistical indices. The results of monthly groundwater level and daily stream flow time series modelling indicated that the performances of ANN models are good for groundwater level modelling and WNN models are good at daily stream flow modelling. This is mainly due to the capability of wavelet to decompose a time series into multi levels of approximation and detail.
Bicategory of Theories as an Approach to Model Theory

First-order categorical logic (FOCL for short) originated as a categorical foundation for model theory (in Makkai & Reyes [6]). Some classical model-theoretic phenomena can be efficiently described in terms of FOCL. However, most concepts in modern model theory remain to be under categorical consideration. Our present aim is to set up a framework suitable for comprehensive categorical analysis of model theory. In this talk, we work on the notion of “category of theories,” whose importance will be discussed below. From the viewpoint of FOCL, classical first-order theories give rise to Boolean pretoposes, i.e. categories equipped with logical operations and quotients of equivalence relations. They are called classifying pretoposes of theories. As Harnik [5] pointed out, a construction of classifying pretoposes can be given via Shelah’s eq-construction. Moreover, any Boolean pretopos arises (up to categorical equivalence) as a classifying pretopos of some classical theory. Since mathematical objects often constitute a category, it is natural to ask what morphisms between theories are. It has been observed that interpretations between theories (in the modeltheoretic sense) induce pretopos functors, i.e. functors preserving pretopos structures, between corresponding classifying pretoposes. So, among categorical logicians, there exists a common sense that
ASSIMILATION OF SATELLITE DERIVED WINDS IN MESOSCALE FORECASTS OVER HAWAII

The central Pacific Ocean has a paucity of wind data. Therefore, analyses often poorly represent the atmospheric flow, introducing significant uncertainty in model initial conditions, and resulting in significant forecast errors. This paper presents results from an initial study to assess the impact of Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMV) derived from geostationary satellite imagery on mesoscale forecasts over the central north Pacific region. These wind observations are derived at CIMSS from tracking clouds and water vapour in sequences of satellite imagery. For a test case, a poorly forecast subtropical cyclone (kona low) that occurred over Hawaii on 23-27 February 1997 was chosen. The Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) was used to assimilate the AMV data and to produce MM5 initial conditions. The satellite wind assimilation is carried out on the 27-km resolution domain covering the central Pacific area. The amount of wind data is greatest in the lower troposphere, with a maximum of about 1500 observations at 900 mb, and in the upper troposphere, with a maximum of about 300 observations at 300mb level. MM5 was run with three two-way nested domains (27, 9 and 3 km), with the innermost domain moving with the kona low. The AMV data assimilation in the MM5 initial conditions was found to increase the cyclonic zonal-wind shear at the upper levels (300 mb) and decrease it in the lower troposphere (850 mb). The AMV data are found to influence the cyclone development, improving the prediction of the cyclone, particularly in terms of position error. AMV data have been operationally ingested by LAPS to produce local high-resolution meteorological analyses since September 2003 at the Mauna Kea Weather Center at the University of Hawaii (http://mkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu). These analyses, in turn, are used as initial conditions for the operational version of MM5. The impact of the assimilation of AMV data on the forecast accuracy of the LAPS-MM5 operational forecasting system will be presented.
Chapter 6 GIBBERELLIN HORMONE SIGNAL PERCEPTION : DOWN-REGULATING DELLA REPRESSORS OF PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

The gibberellin (GA) hormone signal is perceived by a receptor with homology to hormone-sensitive lipases, GID1 (GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF1). This leads to GA-stimulated responses, including stem elongation, seed germination and the transition to flowering. GA-binding enables GID1 to interact with and block the function of the DELLA repressors of GA responses. DELLA repression can be blocked both by proteolytic and non-proteolytic mechanisms triggered by the formation of a GID1-GA-DELLA complex. DELLA is down-regulated by the SLEEPY1/GID2 F-box proteins via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, and can be regulated by other post-translational modifications. This chapter reviews the structural requirements for GA-binding by GID1 and for GID1-GA-DELLA protein complex formation, and reviews the current understanding of the mechanisms regulating DELLA repressors.
Electrochemical Nanofabrication Using Polyacrylamide Hydrogel as Soft Stamps

The fabrication resolution of electrochemical wet stamping was enhanced to several hundred nanometers from several ten micrometers by using polycarylamide gel (PAG) as soft stamps and through optimized processes. The PAG stamp was cured on a nanopatterned soft mold and soaked with 0.2 mol·L-1 KCl solution, then contacted with a silicon wafer with gold film and applied with electric field. And the gold nanopatterns were achieved by the selective anodic dissolving, the diameter of fabricated gold spot was around 200 nm. The parameters which affected the fabrication processes have been discussed in detail.
Contact Lenses in Iris Recognition

Contact Lenses in Iris Recognition by Gizem Erdogan Master of Science in Computer Science West Virginia University Arun Ross, Ph.D., Chair Recent research in iris recognition has established the impact of non-cosmetic soft contact lenses on the recognition performance of iris matchers. Researchers in Notre Dame demonstrated an increase in False Reject Rate (FRR) when an iris without a contact lens was compared against the same iris with a transparent soft contact lens. Detecting the presence of a contact lens in ocular images can, therefore, be beneficial to iris recognition systems. This study proposes a method to automatically detect the presence of non-cosmetic soft contact lenses in ocular images of the eye acquired in the Near Infrared (NIR) spectrum. While cosmetic lenses are more easily discernible, the problem of detecting non-cosmetic lenses is substantially difficult and poses a significant challenge to iris researchers. In this work, the lens boundary is detected by traversing a small annular region in the vicinity of the outer boundary of the segmented iris and locating candidate points corresponding to the lens perimeter. Candidate points are identified by examining intensity profiles in the radial direction within the annular region. The proposed detection method is evaluated on two databases: ICE 2005 and MBGC Iris. In the ICE 2005 database, a correct lens detection rate of 72% is achieved with an overall classification accuracy of 76%. In the MBGC Iris database, a correct lens detection rate of 70% is obtained with an overall classification accuracy of 66.8%. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the earliest work attempting to detect the presence of non-cosmetic soft contact lenses in NIR ocular images. The second part of this thesis discusses the concept of dual identity, where a digital iris image hosts two distinct identities. In this regard, we design a method to alter a source iris image based on information from a target iris such that the modified iris retains the identity of both images. The proposed model strategically selects a minimal set of pixels from a target identity’s iris pattern, copies it onto a source iris pattern, allowing the user to be able to be recognized both as his true identity and as the target identity. Experimental results based on 9506 pairs of source and target images suggest the efficacy of the scheme in rendering a digital iris capable of hosting two distinct identities. This model can potentially be employed to create patterned contact lenses facilitating dual identity by imprinting sparse patterns on transparent contact lenses.
A droplet digital PCR detection method for rare L 1 insertions in tumors

Background: The active human mobile element, long interspersed element 1 (L1) currently populates human genomes in excess of 500,000 copies per haploid genome. Through its mobility via a process called target primed reverse transcription (TPRT), L1 mobilization has resulted in over 100 de novo cases of human disease and has recently been associated with various cancer types. Large advances in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology have allowed for an increased understanding of the role of L1 in human cancer; however, researchers are still limited by the ability to validate potentially rare L1 insertion events detected by HTS that may occur in only a small fraction of tumor cells. Additionally, HTS detection of rare events varies greatly as a function of read depth, and new tools for de novo element discovery are needed to fill in gaps created by HTS. Results: We have employed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to detect rare L1 loci in mosaic human genomes. Our assay allows for the detection of L1 insertions as rare as one cell in every 10,000. Conclusions: ddPCR represents a robust method to be used alongside HTS techniques for detecting, validating and quantitating rare L1 insertion events in tumors and other tissues.
Production of African identity : An explorative study of The Roots Festival

The Roots Festival has been organized in The Gambia since 1996 in an effort to attract diaspora Africans who are interested in their own identity and Afro-American history. The festival is inspired by the story “Roots” by Alex Haley (1976) which has been a world-wide success as a book, as well as a film and a TV series. This study looks at the role of the festival in terms of identity formation for festival visitors and reflects on the production of festival activities in the context of the Roots Festival. The study is exploratory in nature and aims for a better understanding of the production of festival activities. The theoretical framework is based on a model of destination capitals by Sharpley (2010) adapted to a LDC context by Drammeh (2013). An explorative survey of 22 stakeholders provides data for a description and discussion of the Roots festival activities organized to build identities with the use of destination capitals. Stakeholders also suggested activities to enhance the value of the Roots Festival for participants. In the concluding section, the role of the festival for sustainable tourism development in The Gambia is discussed. Based on the survey and a discussion about the concept of the destination capitals for sustainable tourism development, Roots festival can be conceptualized as a mechanism for tourism development by bringing forth the culture and history of the people of The Gambia. The festival also stimulates cultural all year round tourism activities on the destination.
Inverse parameters estimation of the functionally graded materials using surface waves measured with a laser interferometer

In this paper, an inverse scheme of the surface waves is developed to invert for the mechanical parameters of functionally graded visco-elastic materials, in which the properties, that is the velocity and the quality factor of body waves, are supposed to be as continuous functions of depth. This scheme is validated by investigating a numerical model with continuous variation that can be expressed by a known smooth function. Then, in laboratory the surface waves are measured on mortar samples with a laser interferometer. The phase velocity and attenuation are then extracted from the seismograms. Based on the phase velocity and the attenuation, the profiles of body wave velocity, as well as the quality factor, are obtained as a continuous variation with depth by back-calculation.
Tracing Malicious Code with Taint Propagation Yuhei Kawakoya

Dynamic malware analysis environments commonly distinguish their target code from benign code based on its process ID or thread ID. However, the distinction based on these IDs does not correctly handle? malware which has anti-analysis functions. To solve this problem, we propose an approach for identifying the to-be-analyzed code based on taint tags. To prove the effectiveness of our proposal, we have conducted experiments with a set of test code which behaves like malware and also with CCC Dataset2012. The results of these experiments indicated that our approach is effective against various anti-analysis functions, and that it is applicable to real malware. Our proposal will allow existing malware analysis environments and antimalware research to be more precise and effective.
Improving the Performance of Power Constrained Computing Clusters

of “Improving the Performance of Power Constrained Computing Clusters” by Reza Azimi, Ph.D., Brown University, May 2018 Cloud computing providers, data centers, and supercomputers rely on large scale computer clusters that are increasing in number due to high demand for computation. It is estimated computer clusters consume about 3-5% of total electrical power produced worldwide. Power consumption is one the main factors to determine the number of servers in each facility and it determines the electrical expenses for operation. Given the complexity and scale of the computing clusters, novel methods are required to overcome the efficiency challenges of power constrained clusters. In large scale computing clusters, power is mostly consumed for computing in servers and extracting heat from them. Given that the power consumption of servers vary depending on their load, cluster operators in general use power management mechanisms to limit power consumption to safe levels that meet the electrical specifications (e.g., circuit breaker ratings) and the cooling infrastructure. A centralized or hierarchical power management system is continuously engaged at cluster level and once its senses unsafe power levels, it instructs the individual server nodes to cap their power consumption to certain levels. Among server components, most of the power is consumed by the processors. Processor manufactures offer multiple hardware knobs (e.g. sleep states) that are designed to control the power consumption of processors with different performance penalties. A power management controller on each node enforces its power cap value by scaling down the power consumption of the processor which in turn reduces the power consumption of the whole server. Depending on the workload, performance is defined based on the latency or throughput for computer clusters. For high performance computing (HPC) jobs in supercomputers or batch analytical workloads in data centers, performance is measured as the throughput of the cluster. On the other hand, latency is the critical performance metric for transactional
New distribution records and conservation status of Atelopus seminiferus Cope, 1874: A Critically Endangered harlequin frog from northern Peru

—We provide information of the distribution, habitat, and conservation status of the harlequin frog Atelopus seminiferus, a poorly known species from northern Peru. Multiple individuals of A. seminiferus were detected inside the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, San Martin region, 87‒98 km northwest from the type locality. Additionally, we used skin swab samples to test for the prevalence of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a pathogen that has been linked with population declines of harlequin frogs throughout tropical America. Our findings represent the first record of A. seminiferus inside a natural protected area, and we recommend an update of the IUCN Red List geographic range map of this species. Though we did not detect individuals infected by Bd, additional surveys are required to further assess the elevational distribution and potential for chytrid fungus infection of this Critically Endangered species.
Nutritional status and hemoglobin values of Aruak and Karibe Indian children - Upper Xingu, Central Brazil, 2001-2002.

OBJETIVO: Avaliar o estado nutricional de criancas dos povos indigenas de familias linguisticas Aruak e Karibe do Alto Xingu, no Brasil Central, e verificar a associacao entre os niveis de hemoglobina das criancas segundo sexo, idade e estado nutricional. Foram estudadas, no total, 470 criancas menores de dez anos de idade em 2001/2002. METODOS: Para as criancas menores de cinco anos de idade, o diagnostico de desnutricao foi realizado com base nos indices altura/idade e peso/altura, adotando-se como ponto de corte dois desvios-padrao aquem da media esperada para idade e sexo da referencia - WHO, 2006. O diagnostico de excesso de peso foi definido de acordo com o indice peso/altura acima de dois desvios-padrao da media esperada da mesma referencia; as criancas com idade entre cinco e dez anos foram classificadas com baixo peso, sobrepeso ou obesidade de acordo com valores do indice de massa corporal, segundo sexo e idade, propostos por Cole e cols. O diagnostico de anemia foi determinado a partir de concentracoes de hemoglobina inferiores a 11,0 g/dL e inferiores a 11,5 g/dL para as criancas com idade entre 6 e 59 meses e entre 60 e 120 meses, respectivamente. RESULTADOS/CONCLUSAO: Verificou-se entre as criancas indigenas elevada prevalencia de deficit de estatura; a condicao de baixo peso praticamente inexiste e o excesso de peso e expressivo entre as criancas mais novas e as de maior idade. A magnitude da anemia alcanca cerca de 70% e a idade parece ser o principal fator associado as baixas concentracoes de hemoglobina.
Acute and chronic effects of thromboxane A 2 inhibition on the renal hemodynamics in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Acute and chrome effects of thromboxane A2 inhibition on the renal hemodynamics in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. We examined acute and chronic effects of thromboxane (TX) A2 inhibition on the renal hemodynamics at early and late stage of untreated streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Two weeks and 28 weeks after the induction of diabetes, renal blood flow (RBF) under anesthesia was measured with an electromagnetic flowmeter before and after TXA2 inhibition. In two-week-old diabetic rats, a specific TXA2 synthetase inhibitor, OKY046, or a specific TXA2 receptor antagonist, Sulotroban, increased renal vascular resistance (RVR) and ameliorated the hyperperfusion. The renal vasoconstrictive effect of OKY-046 was blunted by an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, MK422, or an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, Saralasin. On the contrary, OKY-046 ameliorated the renal hypoperfusion by decreasing RVR in 28-week-old diabetic rats. Chronic oral administration of OKY-046 ameliorated not only the renal hyperperfusion but increased urinary albumin excretion (UAE) at two weeks, but also the renal hypoperfusion, filtration fraction and UAE at 24 weeks. It is suggested that TXA2 might, at least in part, play important roles in the hyperperfusion by modulating activity of the renin-angiotensin system at an early stage of untreated diabetic rats and in the hypoperfusion at the late stage of untreated diabetic rats, and that TXA2 is also involved in the increase of UAE. These results support roles for TXA2 in the progression of renal injury in STZ-induced diabetic rats.
Modeling and Control of Combustion Dynamics in Lean-Premixed Swirl-Stabilized

A unified investigation, comprising both numerical simulation and analytical modeling, has been conducted to study the combustion dynamics in lean-premixed (LPM) swirl-stabilized combustors. The numerical analysis treats the conservation equations in three dimensions and takes into account finite-rate chemical reactions and variable thermophysical properties. Turbulence closure is achieved by means of a large-eddy simulation technique. Premixed turbulent combustion is treated using a level-set flamelet library approach. Emphasis is placed on the key mechanisms and operation parameters responsible for driving combustion oscillations. A companion reduced-order model based on a generalized wave equation is established to facilitate data analysis and to help transfer the LES results to a form that can be effectively used to predict the combustion stability characteristics of a full-scale gas turbine engine. The analytical model then serves as backbone for devising control techniques to modulate combustion processes.