Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Governing by Contract: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Managers

Is the public getting a good deal when the government contracts out the delivery of goods and services? Phillip Cooper attempts to get at the heart of this question by exploring what happens when public sector organizations - at the federal, state and local levels - form working relationships with other agencies, communities, non-profit organizations and private firms through contracts. Rather than focus on the ongoing debate over privatization, this book emphasizes the tools managers need to form, operate, terminate or transform these contracts amidst a complex web of intergovernmental relations. Cooper frames the issues of public contract management by showing how managers are caught in between governance by authority and government by contract. By looking at cases ranging from the management of Baltimore schools to the contracting of senior citizen programs in Kansas, he offers practical information to students and practitioners and a theoretical context for their work. At every turn, the author avoids bogging readers down in technical jargon. Instead the book sheds light on a crucial part of any public manager's job with lively case material and no-nonsense guidance for making the most of taxpayer dollars.
Fast maximum likelihood estimation with multiple signal initialization

We are concerned with signal processing of acoustic signals resulting from active transmissions by high frequency sonar systems. These signals consist of structured interference related to propagation effects in the media, reflections from targets, and measurement noise. The methods herein model these signals as replicas of the transmitted signal, scaled in amplitude and time, and delayed. Furthermore, we are interested in signals with 'simple' time frequency profiles, such as linear frequency modulated (LFM) or hyperbolic frequency modulated (HFM) signals. These signals have the underlying property that the principle ridge of the autoambiguity function crosses the mid-point of the time-frequency plane in a smooth manner, with a simple relationship between time delay and time scaling (frequency shifting). This paper describes a method for estimating the delay and time scale of the signal components using fast maximum likelihood, while preserving the high resolution property of related time delay estimation techniques.
A boosting approach to content-based 3D model retrieval

We present a new framework for 3D model retrieval based on the assumption that models belonging to the same shape class share the same salient features. The main issue is learning these features. We propose an algorithm for computing these features and their corresponding saliency value. At the learning stage, a large set of features are extracted from every model and a boosting algorithm is applied to learn the classification function in the feature space. AdaBoost learns a classifier that relies on a small subset of the features with the mean of weak classifiers. Moreover it assigns weights to the selected features, that we interpret as a measure of the feature saliency within the class, providing an efficient way for feature selection and combination. Our experiments using the LightField (LFD) descriptors and the Princeton Shape Benchmark show significant improvement in the retrieval performance and computation efficiency. We show also that the proposed framework can be applied to the problem of best view selection.
OUT OF CAVEATS: THE IMPACT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT ON GROWTH IN TRANSITION ECONOMIES

Although the theoretical literature has identified a large number of sizeable benefits from foreign direct investment (FDI), the empirical literature has failed to establish a significant unconditional positive impact of FDI inflows on economic growth. One reason for this inconsistency is that theory tends to equate FDI to technology transferred, while in most countries and regions of the world FDI encompasses an array of arrangements that goes well beyond pure technology transfer. This paper tests for these effects in a set of countries in which FDI is purer technology transfer: the 25 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union "transition" countries between 1990 and 1998. Our main finding is that, in this appropriate setting, FDI has an impact on economic growth that is positive, statistically significant, direct, unconditional, and robust.
High Efficiency Association Rules Mining Algorithm for Bank Cost Analysis

This paper introduces improving rate and proposes the incremental mining algorithm for optimizing association rules based on CBA mining algorithm. Comparing with the traditional algorithm, the improved algorithm is fast, efficient in incremental data mining and can find trends in association rules. The decision making reliability is enhanced by the association rules obtained from the improved algorithm. The algorithm was used to bank cost analysis with test results showing that the prediction precision of the algorithm is better than that of the traditional algorithm.
Staged symbolic execution

Recent advances in constraint solving technology and raw computation power have led to a substantial increase in the effectiveness of techniques based on symbolic execution for systematic bug finding. However, scaling symbolic execution remains a challenging problem. We present a novel approach to increase the efficiency of symbolic execution for systematic testing of object-oriented programs. Our insight is that we can apply symbolic execution in stages, rather than the traditional approach of applying it all at once, to compute abstract symbolic inputs that can later be shared across different methods to test them systematically. For example, a class invariant can provide the basis of generating abstract symbolic tests that are then used to symbolically execute several methods that require their inputs to satisfy the invariant. We present an experimental evaluation to compare our approach against KLEE, a state-of-the-art implementation of symbolic execution. Results show that our approach enables significant savings in the cost of systematic testing using symbolic execution.
Model for a Two-Echelon Inventory System with Neighbor Support

A two-echelon inventory system of repairable items is considered. For the repairable items with high-value and low- demand rate that include condemnation, continuous (S-1,S) ordering strategy is adopted. Neighbor support strategy for inventory pooling is presented to obtain high service levels at a low cost. The premise of neighbor support is that it is more efficient to obtain needed stock from the nearest inventory location that has stock when the local base stocks out. Lateral as well as vertical transshipment are allowed as supplement of normal provision. Simulation algorithms are built to calculate the relevant performance measures of system. Stock optimization is implemented by genetic algorithms. Numerical experiments show that neighbor support can lead to more cost saving in comparison with emergency lateral transshipment.
Crude Oil Prices and the USD/EUR Exchange Rate

This paper investigates the impact of changes in the U.S. dollar/euro exchange rate on crude oil prices. The negative correlation of these two variables is ascribed to five possible channels: on the supply side, the purchasing power of oil export revenues and on the demand side, local prices in non-U.S. dollar regions, investments in crude oil-related asset markets, the monetary policy regime in oil-exporting countries and the efficiency of the currency market. We give evidence that using information on the U.S. dollar/euro exchange rate (and its determinants) significantly improves oil price forecasts. We discuss the possible implications these results might suggest with regard to the stabilization of oil prices or the adjustment of global imbalances.
Occupational Mobility and Wage Inequality, Second Version

In this study we argue that wage inequality and occupational mobility are intimately related. We are motivated by our empirical findings that human capital is occupation-specific and that the fraction of workers switching occupations in the United States was as high as 16% a year in the early 1970s and had increased to 19% by the early 1990s. We develop a general equilibrium model with occupation-specific human capital and heterogeneous experience levels within occupations. We argue that the increase in occupational mobility was due to the increase in the variability of productivity shocks to occupations. The model, calibrated to match the increase in occupational mobility, accounts for over 90% of the increase in wage inequality over the period. A distinguishing feature of the theory is that it accounts for changes in within-group wage inequality and the increase in the variability of transitory earnings.
Trade and Employment in a Fast-Changing World

Anchored by a new wave of research under the International Collaborative Initiative on Trade and Employment, this paper reviews the vast literature on ways that trade might affect job creation and wages, including its relation to economic growth, productivity, and income distribution as well as working conditions. The paper also looks at evidence related to oft-voiced concerns about the effects of offshoring and trade in services as well as adjustment costs associated with trade. On balance, the paper concludes that in virtually all of these dimensions trade can play an important role in creating better jobs, increasing wages in both rich and poor countries, and improving working conditions. However, benefits of trade do not accrue automatically, and policies that complement trade opening are needed to have full positive effects on growth and employment. Moreover, as with adjusting to technological progress, the process of trade-induced growth necessarily entails the continual reallocation of resources away from less productive activities to more productive ones, and this can mean that, even as average wages and employment conditions improve, some workers may experience unemployment or may even see their real wages decline as they change jobs. For these reasons, policies that embed trade reforms in a context of macroeconomic stability and a sound investment climate on the one hand, and, on the other, protection for workers, maintenance of high-quality working conditions, and facilitation of labour transitions, can play an important role in realising the potential wage, employment and income gains associated with trade.
Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World: Beyond Mothers and Safety Nets

Introduction: Why social protection needs a gender lens 1. Key concepts in gender and social protection 2. The gendered patterning of vulnerability, risk and resilience 3. Transferring income and assets: only part of the solution for gender-sensitive poverty reduction 4. Working one's way out of poverty: public works through a gender lens 5. Insuring against shocks: the gendered dimensions of insurance 6. Ensuring access to state provision: towards more gender-sensitive subsidy schemes 7. Why politics matters: a gendered political economy approach to social protection 8. Conclusions and recommendations: advancing gender-sensitive social protection
SIGN-CHANGING SOLUTIONS OF SECOND ORDER DIRICHLET PROBLEM WITH IMPULSE EFFECTS

We consider the second order boundary value problems with impulse effects ( u 00 (t) + �a(t)f(u(t)) = 0, t 2 (0,1)nft1, t2,���, tmg, exist. We show the existence of sign-changing solutions via global bifurcation techniques.
Extrinsic Calibration of 3D Range Finder and Camera without Auxiliary Object or Human Intervention

Fusion of heterogeneous exteroceptive sensors is the most efficient and effective way to represent the environment precisely, as it overcomes various defects of each homogeneous sensor. The rigid transformation (aka. extrinsic parameters) of heterogeneous sensory systems should be available before precisely fusing the multisensor information. Researchers have proposed several approaches to estimate the extrinsic parameters. However, these approaches require either auxiliary objects, like chessboards, or extra help from human to select correspondences. In this paper, we propose a novel extrinsic calibration approach for the extrinsic calibration of range and image sensors which has no requirement of auxiliary objects or any human intervention. In this paper, we firstly estimate the initial extrinsic parameters from the individual motion of the 3D range finder and the camera. And then extract lines in the image and point-cloud pairs and match lines by the initial extrinsic parameters. Finally, we refine the extrinsic parameters by line feature associations.
Opportunistic spectrum access with channel bonding

The design of opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) policy is a key technique of cognitive radio. In this paper, we consider a scenario that the secondary user can't sense full spectrum due to hardware constraints. In order to get higher transmission rate, we allow the secondary user sense multiple channels in a slot and group them together by channel bonding technique after detecting consecutive idle channels. Taking sensing cost into consideration, we formulate this problem as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) and obtain optimal strategy. To avoid the prohibitive computational complexity of this optimal strategy, a suboptimal strategy with low complexity is developed. We also propose an improved strategy offering high performance while keeping the complexity low. Numerical results show that the performance of suboptimal strategy approaches the optimal strategy and the improved strategy provides impressive performance.
Optimal Taxation by the Monetary Authority

Reserve requirements imposed against bank deposits, nominal interest payments on bank reserves (or on base money), and inflation can all be viewed as generating tax effects. Any analysis of optimal monetary policy in a steady-state equilibrium needs to consider the simultaneous choice of all the tax instruments controlled by the monetary authority. Such an analysis is carried out in this paper. It is shown that when the tax system is not indexed, the optimal nominal interest rate on the monetary authority's liabilities is likely to be zero. More importantly, any discussion of the payment of interest on reserves and currency must take into account the nature of the tax system and the rate of inflation in a nonindexed economy.
Joint Ranging and Clock Parameter Estimation by Wireless Round Trip Time Measurements

In this paper, we develop a new technique for estimating fine clock errors and range between two nodes simultaneously by two-way time-of-arrival measurements using impulse-radio ultrawideband signals. Estimators for clock parameters and the range are proposed, which are robust with respect to outliers. They are analyzed numerically and by means of experimental measurement campaigns. The technique and derived estimators achieve accuracies below 1 Hz for frequency estimation, below 1 ns for phase estimation, and 20 cm for range estimation, at a 4-m distance using 100-MHz clocks at both nodes. Therefore, we show that the proposed joint approach is practical and can simultaneously provide clock synchronization and positioning in an experimental system.
Underwriting and Ambiguity: An Economic Analysis

A simplified financial-economic theory of the insurance firm under uncertainty is used to determine whether ambiguity about the expected claim frequency and/or the claim severity distribution for potential insured losses has any impact on the insurance rate. The model shows that the risk charge for ambiguity in both the claim frequency and claim severity distributions is higher than the risk charge for ambiguity in either the claim frequency or claim severity distribution alone. Our theoretical results are consistent with underwriters’ decisions and provide a more complete analysis of the insurance premium setting process than prior research.
A Simple Matter of Life and Death—The Trials of Postnatal Beta-Cell Mass Regulation

Pancreatic beta-cells, which secrete the hormone insulin, are the key arbiters of glucose homeostasis. Defective beta-cell numbers and/or function underlie essentially all major forms of diabetes and must be restored if diabetes is to be cured. Thus, the identification of the molecular regulators of beta-cell mass and a better understanding of the processes of beta-cell differentiation and proliferation may provide further insight for the development of new therapeutic targets for diabetes. This review will focus on the principal hormones and nutrients, as well as downstream signalling pathways regulating beta-cell mass in the adult. Furthermore, we will also address more recently appreciated regulators of beta-cell mass, such as microRNAs.
A NOVEL APPROACH FOR VIDEO RESTORATION USING GROUP-BASED SPARSE REPRESENTATION

Video restoration for blurred images is the significant challenge in Image processing. The video is restored using group based sparse representation. Video restoration is the operation of taking a corrupted/noisy video and estimating the clean original image. A Restoration method includes a motion-compensated de-noising. Digital compression artifacts and de-blocking are suppressed or masked. The group consists of non-local patches with similar structures and establishes a novel sparse representation modelling called Group Based Sparse Representation. Group Based Sparse Representation sparsely represents images in a unified framework. Thus this simultaneously enforces the local and non-local sparsity of self-similarity in images. For dictionary learning DCT technique is used for efficient restoration. Group Based Sparse Representation modelling performs peak signal-to-noise ratio. An experimental results show the performance of the proposed system. Thus this method is good in the video restoration concepts.
Controlling Particle Trajectory in Free-Fall Electrostatic Separators

The purity and recovery of concentrates obtained in industrial free-fall electrostatic separators can be increased by preventing the impacts between the particles and the electrodes. The aim of this paper is to analyze the possibility to control particle trajectories in such separators by modifying the conditions of particle admission in the interelectrode space. The parametric equations of a charged particle trajectory in the electric field between the electrodes of a free-fall separator served for writing a numerical modeling program in MATLAB. The ten control factors of the free-fall electrostatic separation process were employed as input variables of this program: particle charge and dimension, trajectory start point coordinates, feed input angle and initial velocity, electrode length and inclination, interelectrode spacing, and applied high voltage. A custom-designed laboratory free-fall electrostatic separator (length of the electrodes: 1000 mm; standard interelectrode spacing: 300 mm; and nominal high voltage: 90 kV), provided with a fluidized-bed tribocharger, was employed for validating the conclusions of the numerical modeling. The geometrical data of this separator were taken into account for computing the initial velocity nu0 of the particles entering the electric field zone. Another important parameter of the numerical model, which is the granule charge q, was attributed the value measured at the exit of the fluidized-bed tribocharger. The numerical simulations were performed for the two values of the feed input angle: alpha = 4deg and alpha = 8deg, considering polyethylene therephtalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) particles of different sizes. A good agreement was found between the theoretical predictions and the results of the experiments carried out with two binary mixtures: 50% PET/50% PVC and 10% PET/90% PVC. Both the numerical modeling and the experimental study demonstrated that the feed input angle a influences the outcome of the electrostatic separation to a great extent.
Ray Reordering Techniques for GPU Ray-Cast Ambient Occlusion

Global illumination techniques, such as ambient occlusion, can be performed in a physically accurate way via ray casting. However ambient occlusion rays are incoherent. This means their computation is divergent causing a degradation of rendering performance. This problem is particularly acute on the GPU stream computing architectures which have performance issues with thread divergence. We reorder the rays, prior to the rendering step, to reduce this thread divergence issue. Rays which traverse the same region of space are reordered in bundles in order to increase memory coherency. We demonstrate that ray reordering techniques enhance performance while rendering scenes with ambient occlusion rays. The question is how to best perform this ray reordering. Ray reordering for ambient occlusion requires the classiﬁcation of millions of rays. Spending too much time reordering these rays can negate any rendering performance beneﬁts. Our work surveys and tests several techniques for ray reordering. We achieved the best performance results using a compress-sort-decompress technique, which sorts hashed rays, where the hash key has 32 bits of size.
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion with Stand-Alone Trabecular Metal Cages as a Surgical Treatment for Cervical Radiculopathy: Mid-Term Outcomes

Study Design Retrospective case cohort study done between 2002 and 2012. Purpose To assess the mid-term clinical and radiological outcomes of 1-level and 2-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) with stand-alone trabecular metal cages. Overview of Literature ACDF is the gold standard surgical treatment for cervical degenerative disease. The usual surgical practice is to use an anteriorly placed fusion plate with or without interdiscal cages. Methods Patients between 36 and 64 years of age diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy who underwent ACDF using stand-alone trabecular metal cages with at least 3 years follow-up were included in this study. Recorded clinical outcomes included residual axial neck pain, radicular arm pain, upper extremity weakness, and upper extremity altered sensation. Visual Analogue scores were also recorded. Fusion was assessed by lateral radiographs looking for bone breaching and radiolucent lines around the device at the latest follow-up. Results Ninety patients were included in the study. Fifty-one patients underwent 2-level surgery and 39 patients underwent 1-level surgery. Mean age was 44±10.4 years and mean follow-up time was 4.5±2.6 years. Patients reported excellent or good outcomes (90%), as well as improvements in axial neck pain (80%), radicular arm pain (95%), upper extremity weakness (85%), and upper extremity altered sensation (90%). Most patients (90%) progressed to fusion at the 1-year follow-up. The reoperation rate was 3.6%. There was no reported persistent dysphagia, voice complaints, dural tear, or tracheal or oesophageal perforation in any of the patients. One patient developed a deep methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infectious infarction of the spinal cord, which was treated with antibiotics. Recovery was complete at the 1-year follow up. Conclusions Mid-term results show that surgical treatment with ACDF with trabecular metal cages is a safe and effective treatment of single and 2-level cervical disc radiculopathy and neck pain.