Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PARG-1001 : Sampling for Bayesian Quadrature

We propose a novel form of sequential Monte Carlo integration that emerges from a decisiontheoretic treatment of approximation. Quadrature of any kind requires a set of samples of the integrand. Bayesian quadrature [O’Hagan, 1991, Rasmussen and Ghahramani, 2003] employs those samples within a Gaussian process framework to perform inference about unobserved regions of the space, and hence about the integral over the whole domain. Here, we view the selection of the positions of those samples as a decision problem. The relevant loss is the uncertainty we possess about the values of the integrals we are approximating. Clearly, we want to take samples that will make our quadrature as accurate as possible, minimising that uncertainty. Taking this approach, we have developed sampling for Bayesian quadrature (SBQ), a novel, principled competitor to other methods of numerical integration, and show how to apply it to problems of sequential inference. We demonstrate the efficacy of our algorithm for problems both of time-series prediction and global optimisation.
Topological Maps and Robust Localization for Autonomous Navigation

The paper describes the application of a prob-abilistic localization technique for indoor mobile robot navigation based on a qualitative, topological representation of the environment. From the characterization of the uncertainties related to motor behaviors and landmark recognition , a Markov-based localization system has been developed, which maintains and updates a probability distribution for all landmarks contained in a topological map. A reliable measure of successful localization has also been deened on two quantities, namely distribution entropy and a posteriori landmark conformance. Experimental tests have shown the probabilistic localizer is robust enough to cope with false positives and missed perceptions for over a hundred of runs inside the buildings of our Department .
Whole Body Vascular Reactivity during the Development of Deoxycorticosterone Acetate Hypertension in the Pig

SUMMARY A change in vascular reactivity was characterized in the pig during the development of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) hypertension. Pigs, 8-12 weeks of age, were subjected to unilateral nephrectomy and instrumented with an electromagnetic flowprobe on the ascending aorta and with Tygon catheters in the aorta and thoracic vena cava. Approximately 2 weeks after surgery, Silastic strips impregnated with DOCA (100 mg/kg) were implanted subcutaneously. Within the first 3 days after implantation, mean arterial pressure (MAP) began to rise and reached levels approximately 40% greater than control during the 4th week. Graded intravenous infusions of norepinephrine or angiotensin II were given to unanesthetized pigs before, and at intervals during, the development of hypertension. Changes in total peripheral resistance were calculated from recordings of MAP and cardiac output. Comparison of pre-DOCA response curves with those obtained at intervals following DOCA implantation demonstrated a significant increase in vascular smooth muscle sensitivity (decrease in threshold infusion rates) to both drugs post-DOCA. There also was a shift to the left in the dose-response curves. These changes in systemic vascular reactivity occurred at the time the arterial pressure began to rise. The temporal relationship suggests that the increase in vascular reactivity may initiate the increase in mean arterial pressure.
The Greek Economy and the Crisis: Challenges and Responses

Introduction: The Responsibility of Knowledge, Challenges and Responses. - The Changing World and the Greek Economy Before the Crisis. - The Pre-Crisis Growth of the Greek Economy. - The Question of Growth. - Human Capital: Education, Innovation and Health. - Cultural Values, Stereotypes and Historical Evolution. - Idiosyncratic Economic Institutions. - Political Institutions and the Distribution of Income. - Human Incentives. - The 2008-2010 Crisis and the European Stability Mechanism. - The Deeper Causes of the Greek Economic and Social Problems. - The Greek Economy After the Crisis. - The Effectiveness of Economic Adjustment Interventions. - The Medium-long Term Outlook of the Greek Economy. - Appendix: A Sectoral Proposal for Potential Growth in the Greek Economy. Climate Change, Population Ageing, Tourism and Culture.
2 2 9 N ov 2 00 6 Computation with Unitaries and One Pure Qubit

We define a semantic complexity class based on the model of quantum computing with just one pure qubit (as introduced by Knill & Laflamme) and discuss its computational power in terms of the problem of estimating the trace of a large unitary matrix. We show that this problem is complete for the complexity class, and derive some further fundamental features of the class. We conclude with a discussion of some associated open conjectures and new oracle separations between
ography and distance graph Extended link in design evaluation : an empirical study of the dual effects of inspiration sources in creative design

All design is influenced by previous exposure to ideas in different formats and in different levels of abstraction. This paper introduces refined methods to represent and analyze the creativity and fixation effects of inspiration sources on designs. Based on a critical review of existing design research methods, we develop an extension of linkography and a distance graph to investigate design patterns among designers of different expertise levels and exposure to different inspiration sources prior to design. In our explorative experiment, novices and experts were given five types of external stimulidkeyword, diagram, plan, sketch rendering, and precedent photodas inspiration sources for the same design task. Our extended linkography represents and measures the creativity and fixation propensities of different inspiration sources at the micro-level of design processes. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pilot Proteomic Profile of Differentially Regulated Proteins in Right Atrial Appendage Before and After Cardiac Surgery Using Cardioplegia and Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Background— Although highly protective, cardiac surgery using cardioplegia and cardiopulmonary bypass (CP/CPB) subjects myocardium to hypothermic reversible ischemic injury that can impair cardiac function which results in a greatly enhanced risk of mortality. Acute changes in myocardial contractile activity are likely regulated via protein modifications. We performed the following study to determine changes in the protein profile of human myocardium following CP/CPB. Methods and Results— Right atrial appendage was collected from 8 male patients pre and post-CP/CPB. Atrial tissue lysates were subjected to 2-dimensional electrophoresis, total protein staining, gel averaging, and quantitative densitometry. Ten prominent spots regulated in response to CP/CPB were identified using mass spectrometry. Two hundred twenty-five and 256 protein spots were reliably detected in 2D-gels from pre- and post-CP/CPB patients, respectively. Five unique (ie, not detected post-CP/CPB) and 17 significantly increased spots were detected pre-CP/CPB. Thirty-four unique and 25 significantly increased spots were detected in the post-CP/CPB group. Identified proteins that changed after CP/CPB included: MLC-2a, ATP-synthase delta chain and Enoyl-CoenzymeA hydratase, glutathione-s-transferase omega, α-1-acid-glycoprotein, and phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein. Conclusions— Cardiac surgery results in multiple consistent changes in the human myocardial protein profile. CP/CPB modifies specific cytoskeletal, metabolic, and inflammatory proteins potentially involved in deleterious effects of CP/CPB.
Fault-Tolerance Scheduling by Using Rough Set Based Multi-checkpointing on Economic Grids

Grid scheduling process is a main factor that affects system performance. If the grid scheduler is enabled to selecting proper resources and determining order of tasks in queue, each task is executed without missing their deadline and extra faults; and consequently, the response time of job is decreased. Since the grid uses heterogeneous resources, the possibility of failure occurrence in those resources should be considered. Predicting some information for doing a better scheduling based on previous information can be vital. In this paper, we applied an optimal multi reservation technique to achieve a fault tolerant scheduling in economic-based grid with respect to optimized cost price, and minimum latency by applying rough set theory. The experimental results show a hopeful method with acceptable completion time and cost price beside of fault-tolerance criteria.
MINT: a Molecular INTeraction database.

Protein interaction databases represent unique tools to store, in a computer readable form, the protein interaction information disseminated in the scientific literature. Well organized and easily accessible databases permit the easy retrieval and analysis of large interaction data sets. Here we present MINT, a database (http://cbm.bio.uniroma2.it/mint/index.html) designed to store data on functional interactions between proteins. Beyond cataloguing binary complexes, MINT was conceived to store other types of functional interactions, including enzymatic modifications of one of the partners. Release 1.0 of MINT focuses on experimentally verified protein-protein interactions. Both direct and indirect relationships are considered. Furthermore, MINT aims at being exhaustive in the description of the interaction and, whenever available, information about kinetic and binding constants and about the domains participating in the interaction is included in the entry. MINT consists of entries extracted from the scientific literature by expert curators assisted by 'MINT Assistant', a software that targets abstracts containing interaction information and presents them to the curator in a user-friendly format. The interaction data can be easily extracted and viewed graphically through 'MINT Viewer'. Presently MINT contains 4568 interactions, 782 of which are indirect or genetic interactions.
Kaposi Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus Degrades Cellular Toll-Interleukin-1 Receptor Domain-containing Adaptor-inducing β-Interferon (TRIF)*

Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human γ-herpesvirus associated with several human malignancies. The replication and transcription activator (RTA) is necessary and sufficient for the switch from KSHV latency to lytic replication. Toll-interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain-containing adaptor-inducing β-interferon (TRIF, also called TIR-domain-containing adaptor molecule-1 (TICAM-1)) is a signaling adaptor molecule that is critically involved in the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR-3) and TLR-4 signaling pathways for type I interferon (IFN) production, a key component of innate immunity against microbial infection. In this report, we find a new mechanism by which RTA blocks innate immunity by targeting cellular TRIF. RTA specifically degrades TRIF by shortening the half-life of TRIF protein. This RTA-mediated degradation is at least partially mediated through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway because proteasome inhibitors as well as knockdown of cellular ubiquitin expression alleviate the degradation. RTA may not directly interact with TRIF and may activate TRIF degradation indirectly through an unknown mediator(s). RTA targets multiple regions of TRIF and may use its ubiquitin ligase domain for the degradation. In addition, physiological levels of TRIF protein are down-regulated during KSHV lytic replication when RTA is expressed. Finally, RTA down-regulates double-stranded RNA-initiated activation of TLR-3 pathway, in the absence of degradation of IFN regulatory factor 7 (IRF-7). Taken together, these data suggest that KSHV employs a novel mechanism to block the innate immunity by degrading TRIF protein. This work may contribute to our understandings on how KSHV evades host immunity for its survival in vivo.
Wage Inequality in the U.S. during the 1980s: Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage?

Inequality in the unconditional distribution of observed wage rates in the U.S. rose substantially during the 1980s, mostly in the lower tail of the distribution. The causes of this rising wage inequality are obscured by the fact that concurrent decreases in the federal minimum wage tend to increase observed wage inequality, regardless of its effect on employment. This study uses regional variation in the relative level of the federal minimum wage to separately identify the impact of the minimum wage from nation-wide growth in latent wage dispersion during the 1980s. CPS wage data show a tight empirical relation between the relative level of the federal minimum wage and dispersion in the lower tail of the wage distribution, across states and over time. After accounting for the diminishing impact of the minimum wage during the 1980s, the evidence points to little or no increase in wage dispersion in the lower tail of the wage distribution.
Evaluation of a Stable Isotope Method to Mark Naturally-Breeding Larval Mosquitoes for Adult Dispersal Studies

ABSTRACT Understanding mosquito dispersal is critically important for vector-borne disease control and prevention. Mark—release—recapture methods using various marking techniques have made substantial contributions to the study of mosquito biology. However, the ability to mark naturally breeding mosquitoes noninvasively and with life-long retention has remained problematic. Here, we describe a method to mark naturally breeding mosquitoes with stable isotopes. Culex pipiens f. molestus mosquitoes were provisioned as larvae in laboratory experiments with 15N-labeled potassium nitrate and 13C-labeled glucose. Larval enrichment was sufficient to differentiate marked adult mosquitoes from unmarked control mosquitoes and the natural source population from Chicago Illinois, using either &dgr;15N or &dgr;13C. Isotopic retention lasted for at least 55 d for adult male and females mosquitoes. There were no consistent effects of isotopic enrichment on immature mosquito survival or adult mosquito body size. We then applied this marking technique to naturally breeding Culex pipiens mosquitoes in suburban Chicago, IL, and for the first time, report successful isotopic enrichment of mosquitoes in the field. This stable isotope marking technique will facilitate studies of mosquito dispersal.
Approximating Heath-Jarrow-Morton Non-Markovian Term Structure of Interest Rate Models with Markovian Systems

We consider a Heath-Jarrow-Morton models for the term structure of interest rates in which the forward rate volatility is a function of the instantaneous spot rate of interest, a set of dicrete forward rates and time to maturity of the bond. We show how the stochastic dynamics may be expressed as a system of Markovian stochastic differential equations. We obtain the partial differential equation which allows the pricing of contingent claims in this framework.
An Examination of the Success of Post-merger IT Integration

IT integration is one of the most critical and complex tasks in a merger-and-acquisition (M&A) project. Many studies on M&A have focused on the technological and organizational issues of IT integration. However, existing researches remain sparse in explaining the assessment of the performance of post-merger IT integration. The success of IT integration from merging with other companies can be viewed differently by different stakeholders such as the CEOs, the CIOs, the business managers, the customers of the merged companies, and therefore the standards used vary from process enhancement to customer satisfaction. The objective of this research is to examine the success of post-merger IT integration from both strategic and operational viewpoints and to track the integration performance using a wide range of business measures. It is hoped that the resultant measurement of IT integration can provide a useful benchmark for evaluating IT integration after business investment in M&A projects.
High reliability virtual organizations

Highly reliable organizations (HROs) are those organizations, which by nature or design, cannot or must not fail; the consequences of failure in such systems are usually catastrophic. Systems that combine the characteristics of highly reliable operations and distributed, virtual organizations are known as highly reliable virtual organizations (HRVOs)—distributed and electronically linked groups of organizations that excel in high-consequence settings. Tsunami warning systems (TWS) are one example of virtual organizations that operate under enormous expectations for reliability. Adaptive structuration theory suggests that, in complex systems, technology and organizational structures co-evolve, and users adapt technology to their needs, creating shared meaning about the role and utility of technology in various settings. In this article, we consider how the shared meaning that develops in the social shaping of technology in one HRVO, tsunami warning systems, contributes to reliability enhancement. Following Poole and DeSanctis [2000], this study is a structuration study in a particular context, exploring how structuration occurs, the conditions that influence it, and its consequences or outcomes. We begin by describing HRVOs and the co-adaptive roles that technology and organizational structures play in such organizations. We then describe a global tsunami warning system as an illustrative case of a globally distributed sociotechnical system for which use of technology and distributed organizational structures should enhance reliability. We describe how social media plays a role in adaptive structuration in tsunami warning systems, and then return to consider the nature of HRVOs and their characteristics, en route to identifying challenges in the co-adaptation of technology and organizational structures in highly reliable tsunami warning systems.
Optical Spectral Monitoring of XTE J1118+480 in Outburst: Evidence for a Precessing Accretion Disk?

We present spectroscopic observations of the X-ray transient XTE J1118+480 acquired during different epochs following the 2000 March outburst. We find that the emission line profiles show variations in their double-peak structure on timescales longer than the 4.1 hr orbital period. We suggest that these changes are due to a tidally driven precessing disk. Doppler imaging of the more intense Balmer lines and the He II λ4686 line shows evidence of a persistent region of enhanced intensity superposed on the disk which is probably associated with the gas stream, the hot spot, or both. We discuss the possible origins of the optical flux in the system and conclude that it may be due to a viscously heated disk.
Two-stage articulated hand interaction for virtual assembly simulation

Virtual assembly simulation which refers to the verification process of digital mockup in product development lifecycle is one of the most promising topics in virtual reality applications. In the virtual assembly simulation, inaccurate hand interaction is an obstacle to natural hand interaction with virtual environments. The crucial interaction problems include unrealistic hand motion such as penetration and frictionlessness, lack of visual feedback and limited accuracy in hardwares. In this paper, we present the delicate hand interaction system which intelligently uses both heuristic and physics-based approach using a new glove device.
LABROSA'S AUDIO MUSIC SIMILARITY AND CLASSIFICATION SUBMISSIONS

We have submitted a system to MIREX 2007’s audio music similarity and classification tasks. It employs spectral features based on [1] and temporal features similar to those described in [3]. For the similarity task, it calculates the distance between songs as the Euclidean distance between their feature vectors. For the audio classification tasks (artist, classical composer, genre, and mood identification) it uses a DAG-SVM [2] to perform n-way classification. Our system performed especially well in the audio artist and classical composer identification tasks using only the spectral features, but also performed well on the other tasks using the combined spectral and temporal features.
Towards Retargettable Compilers — Feedback Directed Compilation Using Genetic Algorithms ( Work in Progress )

The GAPS[6; 7; 8; 9; 10℄ research project investigated the use of genetic algorithm (GA) optimisation techniques in the compilation of pr og ams for SPMD execution on parallel architectures, where an GA was used to co ntrol the application of high-level loop restructuring techniques to a program. L oop transformations are represented as mappings that are applied to each stateme nt and its associated iteration space. In this paper theIterativeCompilationEnvironment (ICE) , is described. ICE utilises GAPS techniques to investigate the architectural independence of GA techniques when compiling 2 ADI (1024x1024), TOMCATV (N=257,itact=5) and SHALLOW (N=512) benchmarks for i), Philips TM1300 VLIW processo r, ii), Intel PIII and iii), Sun UltraSPARC-IIi. ICE improvements to GAPS allo w a wider range of transformations to be applied by the GA which include padd ing of arrays and loop permutation, fission, fusion, unrolling and tiling. Fu rther, ICE can use profile information to ensure that statements accounting for large portions of a program’s total execution time have an enhanced probability of select ion for transformation by the GA.
The Ongoing Methodenstreit of The Austrian School

The fall of real socialism a few years ago and the crisis of the Welfare State' has meant a heavy blow for the mainly neoclassical research program that has supported social engineering to date, at the same time as the conclusions of the Austrian theoretical analysis on the impossibility of socialism seems to be largely confirmed. In addition, 1996 has been the 125th anniversary of the Austrian School which, as we know, came into official existence in 1871 with the publication of Carl Menger's Grundsat~e. ~ It seems, therefore, that this is the appropriate moment to return to an analysis of the differences between the two approaches, Austrian and neoclassical, together with their comparative advantages, in the light of both the latest events and the most recent evolution of economic thought.
Economic and Psychological Theories of Forecast Bias and Learning: Evidence from U.S. Business Managers' Forecasts

Economists and psychologists have each puzzled over the nature of decision making and the formation of expectations. Mainstream economists currently base their theory of expectation formation on the assumption of rationality Rationality implies unbiased forecasts and learning from past mistakes. Psychologists, however, see people as guided by processes other than the assumption of rationality. These processes often result in biased predictions and a failure to learn from past mistakes. This paper uses Conference Board data to examine the forecasts of business managers for evidence of bias and learning. Our analysis reveals systematically biased decision making by business executes in nearly every industry studied. The managers in the sample proved to be overly optimistic. In addition we find evidence of the learning that economists predict. However, this learning is of little consequence to the accuracy of managerial forecasts. These outcomes are analyzed using both the economics and cognitive psychology literature.
0 10 44 87 v 1 2 5 A pr 2 00 1 COOPERATION AND SURVIVING WITH LIMITED RESOURCES

A network of agents cooperate on a given area. Time evolution of their power is described within a set of nonlinear equations. The limitation of resources is introduced via the Verhulst term, equivalent to a global coupling. Each agent is fed by some other agents from his neighborhood. Two subsequent stages of the time evolution can be observed. Initially, the richness of everybody increases distinctly, but its distribution becomes wide. After some transient time, however, resources are exhausted. Richness of some agents falls to zero and they are eliminated. Cooperation becomes less effective, what leads to subsequent falls. Finally , small percent of agents survive in a steady state. We investigate, how the cooperation influences the rate of surviving.