Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DO GALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS CONTRIBUTE TO MICROLENSING EVENTS

In this paper, we perform an analysis of the large set of microlensing events detected so far toward the galactic center, with the purpose of investigating whether some of the dark lenses are located in galactic globular clusters. We found that in four cases some events might have occurred due to lenses located in the globular clusters themselves. We also give a rough estimate for the average lens mass of the subset of events being highly aligned with galactic globular-cluster centers and find that, under reasonable assumptions, the deflectors could possibly be either brown dwarfs, M-stars, or stellar remnants.
GA4 Is the Active Gibberellin in the Regulation of LEAFY Transcription and Arabidopsis Floral Initiation[W]

Flower initiation in Arabidopsis thaliana under noninductive short-day conditions is dependent on the biosynthesis of the plant hormone gibberellin (GA). This dependency can be explained, at least partly, by GA regulation of the flower meristem identity gene LEAFY (LFY) and the flowering time gene SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS1. Although it is well established that GA4 is the active GA in the regulation of Arabidopsis shoot elongation, the identity of the GA responsible for the regulation of Arabidopsis flowering has not been established. Through a combination of GA quantifications and sensitivity assays, we show that GA4 is the active GA in the regulation of LFY transcription and Arabidopsis flowering time under short-day conditions. The levels of GA4 and sucrose increase dramatically in the shoot apex shortly before floral initiation, and the regulation of genes involved in GA metabolism suggests that this increase is possibly due to transport of GAs and sucrose from outside sources to the shoot apex. Our results demonstrate that in the dicot Arabidopsis, in contrast with the monocot Lolium temulentum, GA4 is the active GA in the regulation of both shoot elongation and flower initiation.
GPU-Based Computation of 2D Least Median of Squares with Applications to Fast and Robust Line Detection

The 2D Least Median of Squares (LMS) is a popular tool in robust regression because of its high breakdown point: up to half of the input data can be contaminated with outliers without affecting the accuracy of the LMS estimator. The complexity of 2D LMS estimation has been shown to be $\Omega(n^2)$ where $n$ is the total number of points. This high theoretical complexity along with the availability of graphics processing units (GPU) motivates the development of a fast, parallel, GPU-based algorithm for LMS computation. We present a CUDA based algorithm for LMS computation and show it to be much faster than the optimal state of the art single threaded CPU algorithm. We begin by describing the proposed method and analyzing its performance. We then demonstrate how it can be used to modify the well-known Hough Transform (HT) in order to efficiently detect image lines in noisy images. Our method is compared with standard HT-based line detection methods and shown to overcome their shortcomings in terms of both efficiency and accuracy.
Do FOMC Actions Speak Loudly? Evidence from Corporate Bond Credit Spreads

We examine how corporate bond credit spreads react to Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcements. FOMC change announcements (rate hikes or rate cuts) narrow credit spreads, while a no-change announcement leads to wider credit spreads. Reactions to FOMC announcements (especially cuts and no-actions) are particularly large for noninvestment-grade and short-maturity bonds. Our results hint at monetary policy as a possible candidate for macro determinants of credit spreads. Overall, the results partially support investors’ ambiguity aversion to FOMC inactions and the bond market’s greater attention to the Fed’s actions targeted at promoting growth and/or providing systemic liquidity.
"Self-Fulfilling " Stock Recommendations

This paper tests the hypothesis that analysts report biased earnings estimates in order to enhance their stock recommendation performance. In particular, we argue that analysts with optimistic (pessimistic) stock recommendations tend to issue negatively (positively) biased earnings forecasts so that the underlying firms are more likely to beat (miss) the consensus forecasts and thus have higher (lower) stock returns after these recommendations are issued. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that average stock recommendations prior to earnings announcements significantly and positively predict subsequent earnings surprises. In addition, the predictability is substantially stronger when the net benefits associated with such strategic behavior are larger, for example, among firms with lower analyst coverage.
Similar cisplatin sensitivity of HPV-positive and -negative HNSCC cell lines

Patients with HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) show better survival rates than those with HPV-negative HNSCC. While an enhanced radiosensitivity of HPV-positive tumors is clearly evident from single modality treatment, cisplatin is never administered as monotherapy and therefore its contribution to the enhanced cure rates of HPV-positive HNSCC is not known. Both cisplatin and radiotherapy can cause severe irreversible side effects and therefore various clinical studies are currently testing deintensified regimes for patients with HPV-positive HNSCC. One strategy is to omit cisplatin-based chemotherapy or replace it by less toxic treatments but the risk assessment of these approaches remains difficult. In this study we have compared the cytotoxic effects of cisplatin in a panel of HPV-positive and -negative HNSCC cell lines alone and when combined with radiation. While cisplatin-treated HPV-positive strains showed a slightly stronger inhibition of proliferation, there was no difference regarding colony formation. Cellular responses to the drug, namely cell cycle distribution, apoptosis and γH2AX-induction did not differ between the two entities but assessment of cisplatin-DNA-adducts suggests differences regarding the mechanisms that determine cisplatin sensitivity. Combining cisplatin with radiation, we generally observed an additive but only in a minority of strains from both entities a clear synergistic effect on colony formation. In summary, HPV-positive and -negative HNSCC cells were equally sensitive to cisplatin. Therefore replacing cisplatin may be feasible but the substituting agent should be of similar efficacy in order not to jeopardize the high cure rates for HPV-positive HNSCC.
Paradigms of Notch Signaling in Mammals

Notch proteins regulate a broad spectrum of cell fate decisions and differentiation processes during fetal and postnatal life. These proteins are involved in organogenesis during embryonic development as well as in the maintenance of homeostasis of self-renewing systems. The paradigms of Notch function, such as stem and progenitor cell maintenance, lineage specification mediated by binary cell fate decisions, and induction of terminal differentiation, were initially established in invertebrates and subsequently confirmed in mammals. Moreover, aberrant Notch signaling is linked to tumorigenesis. In this review, we discuss the origin of postulated Notch functions, give examples from different mammalian organ systems, and try to relate them to the hematopoietic system.
Heuristic Approaches to the Controller Placement Problem in Large Scale SDN Networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) marks a paradigm shift towards an externalized and logically centralized network control plane. A particularly important task in SDN architectures is that of controller placement, i.e., the positioning of a limited number of resources within a network to meet various requirements. These requirements range from latency constraints to failure tolerance and load balancing. In most scenarios, at least some of these objectives are competing, thus no single best placement is available and decision makers need to find a balanced trade-off. This work presents POCO, a framework for Pareto-based Optimal COntroller placement that provides operators with Pareto optimal placements with respect to different performance metrics. In its default configuration, POCO performs an exhaustive evaluation of all possible placements. While this is practically feasible for small and medium sized networks, realistic time and resource constraints call for an alternative in the context of large scale networks or dynamic networks whose properties change over time. For these scenarios, the POCO toolset is extended by a heuristic approach that is less accurate, but yields faster computation times. An evaluation of this heuristic is performed on a collection of real world network topologies from the Internet Topology Zoo. Utilizing a measure for quantifying the error introduced by the heuristic approach allows an analysis of the resulting trade-off between time and accuracy. Additionally, the proposed methods can be extended to solve similar virtual functions placement problems which appear in the context of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).
The line noise as the optional antecedent parameter of performance evaluation

Performance evaluation of telecommunication lines can be a decisive action in the practice of telecommunication service providers. There are several evaluation techniques in use of telecommunication companies. These techniques can be divided into some groups depending on the efficiency, the cost or the set of the input parameters. This paper lists some of the used evaluation techniques, aims to shortly introduce a new method for preliminary evaluation of the twisted pairs of the access networks for commonly used digital data transmission technologies, and describe the circumstances of the line noise as an optional input parameter of decision making. It will be cleared, that the line noise plays role on forming data transfer rate, however in certain cases it can be passed over.
Ontology Matching Using Weighted Graphs

In this paper, we present a new way towards ontology matching. Using the graph representation for ontologies and schemas we proceed to calculate the weights for each node of the graph using the lexical similarity of the ancestors. With the guiding intuition that, if the parent nodes match then their children are likely to match as well. This simple observation helps on to build a fast and efficient algorithm for matching different graphs (which represent ontology or schema). Since the algorithm is very fast it can be used as a quickly and dirty method to do initial matching of a large dataset and then drill down to the exact match with other algorithms. The algorithm is not dependent on the method used for calculating the lexical similarity so the best lexical analysis can be used to derive the weights. Once the weights are in place we can calculate the matching in just a single traversal of the graphs. No other algorithm that we know of can give such fast response time.
On the Query Complexity of Testing for Eulerian Orientations

We consider testing directed graphs for being Eulerian in the orientation model introduced in [15]. Despite the local nature of the property of being Eulerian, it turns out to be significantly harder for testing than other properties studied in the orientation model. We show a superconstant lower bound on the query complexity of 2-sided tests and a linear lower bound on the query complexity of 1-sided tests for this property. On the positive side, we give several 1-sided and 2-sided tests, including a sub-linear 2-sided test for general graphs. For special classes of graphs, including bounded-degree graphs and expander graphs, we provide improved results. In particular, for dense graphs we give a 2-sided test with constant query complexity.
Inflation crises, human capital formation and growth

This paper shows that inflation crises may stimulate the accumulation of human kapital. A crucial idea is that high inflation undermines total factor productivity, which makes working and physical capital formation less attractive. If young agents consider high inflation to be temporary, they decide to study now and work later. During the inflation crisis the real economy declines. The increase in human capital, however, induces strong output growth after the crisis. Using GMM panel procedures, our empirical analysis for 86 countries in 1975-2000 confirms the positive effects from inflation crises on human capital. Our theoretical model and empirical results rationalize earlier empirical findings by Bruno and Easterly (Journal of Monetary Economics, 1998). As a by-product, our model is able to explain as an equilibrium phenomenon the often observed negative effects of high inflation on real wages.
Advertising and New Media

This clear and comprehensive introduction explores the evolving relationship between new media, advertising and new media consumers. Tracing the shift from 'mass' media to 'my' media, "Advertising and New Media" critically evaluates the social and cultural implications of increased interactivity and consumer creativity for the future of advertising. With an international focus, this book includes: case studies and examples of advertising campaigns and media that illustrate the impact of new media consumers on advertising practices tables and figures that support differentiated analyses of the impact of changing media consumption patterns on mass media quotes from interviews with industry practitioners that provide first hand insights on the impact of new media on advertising. Examples are drawn from the USA, the UK, Europe, China and Australia to provide a thorough and well-balanced assessment and the implications of these trends for the future of advertising.
The bank debit tax in Colombia

This paper examines the history and economic effects of the BDT in Colombia. Section II reviews the history of the BDT in Colombia. Section III discusses its use throughout Latin America. Section IV examines the effects of Colombia’s BDT on efficiency, equity, and tax administration. Section V considers a potential reform option—converting Colombia’s BDT into a withholding tax. Section VI provides concluding remarks.
Effective Knowledge Navigation For Problem Solving Using Heterogeneous Content Types

Over the past few years many companies have begun emphasizing and implementing processes to capture and share knowledge within their organizations [Davenport & Prusak, 1997; Edvinsson & Malone, 1997; Stewart, 1997]. Corporate infrastructures are being developed to facilitate knowledge creation and reuse, and a variety of software tools are currently available to support the knowledge management (creation, storage, maintenance and retrieval) process. The main goal of these efforts is to shorten and improve the problem solving process by providing access to relevant knowledge. Businesses want to build knowledge management systems to solve some of these important problems: "How do I do X? " "Has X been done before? If so, how? " "What did we do to handle this problem the last time something like it happened? "
Hybrid Molecular Mechanics/Coarse-Grained Simulations for Structural Prediction of G-Protein Coupled Receptor/Ligand Complexes

Understanding how ligands bind to G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) provides insights into a myriad of cell processes and is crucial for drug development. Here we extend a hybrid molecular mechanics/coarse-grained (MM/CG) approach applied previously to enzymes to GPCR/ligand complexes. The accuracy of this method for structural predictions is established by comparison with recent atomistic molecular dynamics simulations on the human β2 adrenergic receptor, a member of the GPCRs superfamily. The results obtained with the MM/CG methodology show a good agreement with previous all-atom classical dynamics simulations, in particular in the structural description of the ligand binding site. This approach could be used for high-throughput predictions of ligand poses in a variety of GPCRs.
Knockout Mice-Kinin Receptor 2 Role of Nitric Oxide in the Control of Cardiac Oxygen Consumption in B

The aim of this study was to determine whether bradykinin, the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor ramiprilat, and the calcium-channel antagonist amlodipine reduce myocardial oxygen consumption (MV ̇ O2) via a B2-kinin receptor/nitric oxide–dependent mechanism. Left ventricular free wall and septum were isolated from normal and B2-kinin receptor knockout (B 2 2/2) mice. Myocardial tissue oxygen consumption was measured in an airtight chamber with a Clark-type oxygen electrode. Baseline MV ̇ O2 was not significantly different between normal (239 613 nmol of O2 z min 21 z g) and B2 2/2 (263624 nmol of O2 z min 21 z g) mice. S-nitrosoN-acetyl-penicillamine (10 27 to 10 mol/L) reduced oxygen consumption in a concentration-dependent manner in both normal (maximum, 36 63%) and B2 2/2 mice (2863%). This was also true for the endothelium-dependent vasodilator substance P (10 210 to 27 mol/L; 2267% in normal mice and 20 64% in B2 2/2 mice). Bradykinin (10 27 to 10 mol/L), ramiprilat (10 to 10 mol/L), and amlodipine (10 27 to 10 mol/L) all caused concentration-dependent decreases in MV ̇ O2 in normal mice. At the highest concentration, tissue O 2 consumption was decreased by 1863%, 2065%, and 2863%, respectively. The reduction in MV̇O2 to all 3 drugs was attenuated in the presence of N -nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester. However, in the B2 2/2 mice, bradykinin, ramiprilat, and amlodipine had virtually no effect on MV ̇ O2. Therefore, nitric oxide, through a bradykinin-receptor–dependent mechanism, regulates cardiac oxygen consumption. This physiological mechanism is absent in B2 2/2 mice and may be evidence of an important therapeutic mechanism of action of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and amlodipine. (Hypertension. 1999;34:563-567.)
Corporate Culture and the Strategic Grid: Preparing for the Implementation of a Strategic Plan

1. INTRODUCTION Strategic plan implementation is a critical process facing senior management now and into the foreseeable future. While literature abounds on how to go about strategic planning, there is comparatively little written about how to implement a strategic plan once it is developed. One explanation for this phenomenon is that successful implementation is inextricably linked to the culture of the organisation. Corporate culture can be hard to define, measure, or manage. As a result both researchers and practitioners have tended to shy away from placing emphasis on culture considerations when implementing a strategic plan. This paper, however, develops a practical framework for managers to use when preparing for a strategic plan implementation. The domain described here is information systems, but the framework has implications for all types of implementations. Strategic planning for information systems (IS) is receiving considerable emphasis in many organisations. In addition, IS is increasingly perceived as having the capability to change or alter core organisational directions, to reorient corporate strategy, and to even redefine industry structure (Raghunathan and Raghunathan, 1990). With this new strategic thrust of IS comes a heightened need for planning and co
A behavior-driven model of component interaction adaptation

The problem of adapting heterogeneous software components that present mismatching interaction behaviour is one of the crucial problems in Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE). To solve this problem, component behavior ontology (CBO) which includes component entities, component behaviors and component behavior properties is constructed in the paper. Based on CBO, we propse a component interaction adaptation model (CIAM). In the model, we divide different component groups, detect interaction behaviour deadlock by component behavior properties and set up adapter specification via behavior rules. Finally, we obtain an autocephalous adapter for each component group to remove mismatching interaction behaviour.
The Boskin Commission Report and its Aftermath

This paper briefly summarizes the analysis and findings of the 1996 Boskin Commission Report, Toward a More Accurate Measure of the Cost of Living. It then reviews the comments and criticisms that appeared soon after the Report was issued and provides responses to the more important criticisms. Changes in the CPI, both those that were planned before the Report and those that were in part a response to its recommendations, are summarized and assessed. The paper concludes with a summary of recent research on quality change and comments on the current status of the CPI and of price measurement research. Including those improvements that the BLS has announced for implementation in 2000-2002, the paper estimates that the current upward bias in the CPI is in the range of 0.65 percent, down from the 1.1 percent that the Report estimated applied to the period 1995-96.
Parallel and Distributed Simulation of Large-Scale Distributed Applications

Executive summary: The context of this project is to allow the efficient parallel and distributed simulation of large systems within the SimGrid framework. The proposed work will improve the existing parallel simulation mode, and propose a novel distributed simulation mode. We target a simulation comprising millions of heavy computational nodes on a much smaller cluster. Context Recent and foreseen technical evolution allow to build information systems of unprecedented dimensions. The potential power of the resulting distributed systems offers new possibilities in terms of applications, be them scientific such as multi-physic simulations in High Performance Computing (HPC), commercial in the Cloud with the data centers underlying the Internet, or public in very large peer-to-peer systems. For example, ExaScale systems in the HPC area are expected to aggregate millions of high end compute nodes by the end of this decade for unpreceded scientific computations. Evaluating computer systems of this extreme scale raises severe methodological challenges. Simply executing them is not always possible as it requires to build the complete system beforehand (what is not possible for ExaScale systems for example), and it may not even be enough when uncontrolled external load prevents reproducibility. Simulation is an appealing alternative to study such systems. It may not capture the whole complexity of every phenomena, but allows to easily capture some important trends, while ensuring the controlla-bility and reproducibility of experiments. SimGrid [1] is a toolkit developed by the AlGorille team, providing core functionalities for the simulation of distributed applications in heterogeneous distributed environments. The specific goal of the project is to facilitate research in the area of distributed and parallel application scheduling on distributed computing platforms ranging from simple network of workstations to Computational Grids. This framework was shown orders of magnitude faster than concurrent simulators such as GridSim or PeerSim, and can simulate up to a few million lightweighted P2P processes on a single node [2]. This falls however short to simulate ExaScale systems, as these systems are expected to count dozen of millions of heavy processes. Both CPU and memory limitations must be overtaken to scale the simulation further. In a previous work, we shown that parallel simulation can improve the computational performance in some cases [3], but the memory limitation claim for the distribution of the simulation to leverage the memory of several nodes.