Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study of Centralized and Decentralized Decision Making on Flexibility Investment

This paper studies the flexibility investment decision making problem in a manufacturing system. Two different scenarios of decision making, i.e., centralized and decentralized, are investigated. In the centralized case, we formulate this problem as a two-stage stochastic program. In the decentralized case, the multi-agent simulation technology, bidding mechanism and contract net protocol are jointly employed to simulate the subcontracting activities among autonomous plants in the manufacturing system. Simulation results show that by taking the changeover cost into account, shortfall in the centralized case using the “chain effect” principle is lower than that in decentralized case. However, if the demand variability faced by different plants differs greatly, the “chain effect” principle for flexibility investment would not be effective anymore. To solve this problem, we propose a novel investment principle based on variability matching, which is proved to be effective by experimental results.
Income Transfers , Intra-Household Resource Allocation and Marriage Markets *

This paper develops a marriage market model which provides a basis for understanding both changes in intra-household resource allocation and marriage market turnover as a result of changes in the women’s outside options. Contracts determining the resource sharing rule between partners are negotiated at the beginning of the contract, and hence conditions of the marriage market at the time of the contract matter. The sharing rule affects intra-household resource allocation in subsequent periods and equilibrium levels of marriage market turnover as new information of the union is revealed. Using experimental evidence from a conditional cash transfer program in rural Mexico, I present credible support of the model in terms of changes in intra-household resource allocation and marital turnover. Two years after the start of the program, expenditures shares in girls’ clothing changed substantially in households who received the cash transfers relative to the comparison group. Second, marital union dissolution patterns among indigenous women who received cash transfers increased by 0.6 percentage points over the two-year period, a substantial increase in separation rates among eligible women. The extent of behavioral responses varies substantially depending on women’s economic opportunities outside of the current marriage. ______________________ * I thank Josefina Carpena-Méndez, Julian DiGiovanni, Melissa González-Brenes, Chang-Tai Hsieh, Michael Hout, Ronald Lee, Ethan Ligon and Sebastián Martinez for helpful comments. Special thanks to David Card and my advisor, Ted Miguel, for guidance on this paper. The usual disclaimer applies. Contact: Gustavo J. Bobonis, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Economics, 549 Evans Hall #3880, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3880, USA; phone: 1-415-643-5394; gbobonis@econ.berkeley. edu
Law as a Social System

Preface Introduction 1. The Location of Legal Theory 2. The Operative Closure of the Legal System 3. The Function of Law 4. Coding and Programming 5. Justice: a Formula for Contingency 6. The Evolution of Law 7. The Position of Courts in the Legal System 8. Legal Argumentation 9. Politics and Law 10. Structural Couplings 11. The Self-description of the Legal System 12. Society and its Law Index
An Osmotic Model of the Growing Pollen Tube

Pollen tube growth is central to the sexual reproduction of plants and is a longstanding model for cellular tip growth. For rapid tip growth, cell wall deposition and hardening must balance the rate of osmotic water uptake, and this involves the control of turgor pressure. Pressure contributes directly to both the driving force for water entry and tip expansion causing thinning of wall material. Understanding tip growth requires an analysis of the coordination of these processes and their regulation. Here we develop a quantitative physiological model which includes water entry by osmosis, the incorporation of cell wall material and the spreading of that material as a film at the tip. Parameters of the model have been determined from the literature and from measurements, by light, confocal and electron microscopy, together with results from experiments made on dye entry and plasmolysis in Lilium longiflorum. The model yields values of variables such as osmotic and turgor pressure, growth rates and wall thickness. The model and its predictive capacity were tested by comparing programmed simulations with experimental observations following perturbations of the growth medium. The model explains the role of turgor pressure and its observed constancy during oscillations; the stability of wall thickness under different conditions, without which the cell would burst; and some surprising properties such as the need for restricting osmotic permeability to a constant area near the tip, which was experimentally confirmed. To achieve both constancy of pressure and wall thickness under the range of conditions observed in steady-state growth the model reveals the need for a sensor that detects the driving potential for water entry and controls the deposition rate of wall material at the tip.
Mkn 463 field observed by $\vec{Beppo}$SAX

In this work we present the observation of the Mkn 463 field performed with the MECS instrument on-board BeppoSAX in the 1.8-10.5 keV band. The Mkn 463 field is an example of an extragalactic field crowded with absorbed X-ray sources: apart from the Seyfert 2 galaxy Mkn 463 and the well known QSO PG 1352+183 (the only object showing no absorption), two other objects are detected with a column density in excess to the galactic value. The first 1SAX J1353.9+1820 is a red QSO from the BeppoSAX High Energy Large Area Survey (HELLAS). The second 1SAX J1355.4+1815 is optically unidentified, but its X-ray spectral characteristics indicate that it too is an AGN hidden behind a large column density.
Planar square multiband frequency reconfigurable microstrip fed antenna with quadratic Koch‐Island fractal slot for wireless devices

A planarprinted multiband microstrip fed antenna with reconfigurable frequency performance was designed for multistandard wireless communication systems. The antenna consists on a square shaped patch with an optimized centered Koch‐Island fractal slot. The antenna allows a reconfigurability of the frequency bands by incorporating 16 PIN diodes inside the fractal slot which is highly complex. That is why short and open circuits will be used to produce frequency agility instead of RF switches (for proof of the concept). The proposed antenna is capable to switch between 15 operating frequency bands centered at 1.7, 1.77, 2.36, 2.43, 3.30, 3.61, 3.67, 3.79, 4.05, 4.34, 4.59, 5.2, 5.27, 5.47, and 5.57 GHz through four operating modes M1–M4 over the wide range 1–6 GHz. Prototypes corresponding to different modes were manufactured and characterized. Simulated and measured results are presented and discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:207–212, 2015
Credit Channels in a Liquidity Trap

We study liquidity trap dynamics driven by nonfundamental shifts in expectations in a model with nominal rigidities, housing, credit frictions and a Taylor rule. Highly leveraged borrowing through nominal debt backed by real estate collateral greatly magnifies the decline in output and house prices during a liquidity trap recession. The amplification mechanism is much smaller when there is no feedback from house prices to the borrowing constraint, when debt is real rather nominal, and when leverage is small. We argue that the liquidity trap dynamics share some important features with the recent US recession and that high levels of leverage may have made the economy sensitive to expectations induced liquidity traps.
Effect of Cavity Design on the Strength of Direct Posterior Composite Restorations: An Empirical and FEM Analysis

The aim of the present study was to verify the hypothesis that cavity design does not affect the strength of direct composite restorations as do material properties. Finite element modeling (FEM) and empirical testing were done for two cavity designs: a box shape (cube) and a concave shape (U). Two microhybrid composites were used to prepare the samples with the help of split stainless steel moulds. Compressive strength was tested. The results were statistically analyzed. Both FEA and empirical testing were complementary to each other in that the concave shape showed a significantly higher strength than box. Material properties affected the values only when box shape was used. The null hypothesis is thus rejected, and it is concluded that design significantly affects the strength of direct composite restorations.
Satisfiability of word equations with constants is in NEXPTIME

We prove that the length of a shortest solution of a word equation of length n can bounded by a double exponential function in n. This applied to the algorithm in [7] proves that the problem of solvability of word equations is in NEXPTIME. The best previously known bound for the problem was EXPSPACE 131.
A panoramic vision system for human-robot interaction

We have proposed a new approach for solving a fundamental issue in HRI, that is, how to properly detect and identify people in everyday environments since some conditions might make it a difficult task. For that, fisheye cameras are used since they provide panoramic vision and one or two of them allow to cover the whole workspace. A modified background maintenance approach was developed for fast, robust motion detection; while person identification for interaction is dealt with Viola-Jones classifier, although, instead of searching in the whole image, its input is only composed of the detected moving elements. Moreover, in order to avoid restricting the system autonomy by requiring the person has to face the system any time, once a person is identified as a target for interaction, they are tracked by using another designed method. We have also carried out an implementation of the proposed approach and a comparative experiment to assess its feasibility.
Dimensionality Reduction Via Graph Structure Learning

We present a new dimensionality reduction setting for a large family of real-world problems. Unlike traditional methods, the new setting aims to explicitly represent and learn an intrinsic structure from data in a high-dimensional space, which can greatly facilitate data visualization and scientific discovery in downstream analysis. We propose a new dimensionality-reduction framework that involves the learning of a mapping function that projects data points in the original high-dimensional space to latent points in a low-dimensional space that are then used directly to construct a graph. Local geometric information of the projected data is naturally captured by the constructed graph. As a showcase, we develop a new method to obtain a discriminative and compact feature representation for clustering problems. In contrast to assumptions used in traditional clustering methods, we assume that centers of clusters should be close to each other if they are connected in a learned graph, and other cluster centers should be distant. Extensive experiments are performed that demonstrate that the proposed method is able to obtain discriminative feature representations yielding superior clustering performance, and correctly recover the intrinsic structures of various real-world datasets including curves, hierarchies and a cancer progression path.
Risk Factor Analysis of Hinge Fusion Failure after Plate-Only Open-Door Laminoplasty

Study Design Retrospective study. Objectives To analyze lamina hinge fusion failure after plate-only open-door laminoplasty. Methods Thirty-one patients who underwent plate-only open-door laminoplasty (110 levels) for cervical myelopathy and who had serial computed tomography (CT) scans at 6 and 12 months were analyzed. Risk factors for fusion failure at 12 months were analyzed, including age, sex, smoking, presence of diabetes mellitus and ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament, bone mineral density (T-score), preoperative cervical curvature, operated levels, presence of a ventral cortical bony continuity, and reflection angle of the lamina hinge. Clinical outcomes were assessed with neck pain score using visual analog scale, neck disability index, and Japanese Orthopedic Association score. Results Hinge fusion occurred in 84% (26/31) of patients at 12 months. A significant risk factor for fusion failure was the absence of a ventral cortical bony continuity at 6 months (p < 0.01; 100 versus 48%). No lamina with ventral cortical bony continuity at 6 months showed depression at 12 months, but two lamina without continuity showed depression of 2.5 and 2.1 mm, respectively, at 12 months. Clinical outcomes were not different between patients with and without hinge fusion. Conclusion Absence of a ventral cortical bony continuity at 6 months is a risk factor for fusion failure at 12 months. However, bicortically defective laminae usually heal with minimal displacement, although it may take longer than 12 months.
Is human resource management profitable for small firms

The impact of high performance work systems on labour productivity and profit of small and medium sized enterprises. Previous versions of this paper have been presented at the 2005 conference of the Dutch HRM Network on HRM and performance (held on 4 and 5 November of that year) and the invited workshop 'Entrepreneurship from the employee's perspective' at the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena (Februari 2006). The paper presented at the Mack Planck Institute has been published as EIM Scales Paper N200520. The research presented in this paper focuses on the effectiveness of a high performance work system. This system is comprised of practices in the areas of extensiveness of staffing, performance based pay, pay level, job rotation, training and participation. In particular, this study focuses on the effects of such a system on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises. Results of our study, among small and medium size enterprises in the Netherlands, show that firms with such a system have higher labour productivity, are more innovative and generate higher profits. These results suggest that high performance work systems are not only relevant in large corporations, but may also benefit small firms.
Expression Profile of Cationic Amino Acid Transporters in Rats with Endotoxin-Induced Uveitis

Purpose. The transcellular arginine transportation via cationic amino acid transporter (CAT) is the rate-limiting step in nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, which is crucial in intraocular inflammation. In this study, CAT isoforms and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression was investigated in endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU). Methods. EIU was induced in Lewis rats by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection. In the treatment group, the rats were injected intraperitoneally with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib before EIU induction. After 24 hours, leukocyte quantification, NO measurement of the aqueous humor, and histopathological examination were evaluated. The expression of CAT isoforms and iNOS was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) binding activity was evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The mouse macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 was used to validate the in vivo findings. Results. LPS significantly stimulated iNOS, CAT-2A, and CAT-2B mRNA and protein expression but did not affect CAT-1 in EIU rats and RAW 264.7 cells. Bortezomib attenuated inflammation and inhibited iNOS, CAT-2A, and CAT-2B expression through NF-κB inhibition. Conclusions. CAT-2 and iNOS, but not CAT-1, are specifically involved in EIU. NF-κB is essential in the induction of CAT-2 and iNOS in EIU.
Do natural disasters beget fraud victimization?: Unrealized coping through labor migration among the poor

Although international remittances are important insurance against natural disasters in developing countries, fraud is a pitfall of international labor migration. This paper addresses an unexplored question about the disaster-fraud nexus: Do natural disasters beget fraud victimization among the poor as they seek labor migration for coping? I exploit a natural experiment: Two years after a cyclone, a huge number of Fijian males were defrauded of application fees for labor migration to the Middle East in 2005. My household survey data, which by chance I collected before the fraudulence was noticed, are free from underreporting/misreporting out of embarrassment. Controlling for the endogeneity of household housing damage reveals that housing damage strongly increases individual member fs job application that later turned out to be fraud victimization. Households resort to high-risk, highreturn labor migration because their domestic coping options are constrained by their labor endowment.
Timestamps in Message-Passing Systems That Preserve the Partial Ordering

Timestamping is a common method of totally ordering events in concurrent programs. However, for applications requiring access to the global state, a total ordering is inappro­ priate. This paper presents algorithms for timestamping events in both synchronous and asynchronous n1essage-passing programs that allow for access to the partial ordering in­ herent in a parallel system. The algorithms do not change the con1munications graph or require a central timestamp issuing authority.
Determination of absorption coefficients in highly scattering media from changes in attenuation and phase.

The accurate, quantitative analysis of absorption and scattering properties in tissue is a central problem in biochemical optics, in particular for the determination of hemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin concentrations. Because of light scattering, the absolute concentrations of these chromophores (i.e., the absorption coefficient) cannot easily be inferred. A new method for the estimation of the absorption coefficients in scattering media, based on measurements obtained from an intensity-modulated optical spectrometer, is proposed. The ratios of the changes in attenuation and phase that are induced by changes in the absorption coefficient give a good approximation of the absorption coefficient.
Suppression of Central Taste Transmission by Oral Capsaicin

Because intraoral capsaicin is reported to reduce the perceived intensity of certain taste qualities, we investigated whether it affects the central processing of gustatory information. The responses of gustatory neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) to tastant stimuli were recorded before and after lingual application of capsaicin in anesthetized rats. Thirty-four NTS units were characterized as responding best to sucrose (0.3 m), NaCl (0.1m), citric acid (0.03 m), monosodium glutamate (0.2 m), or quinine (0.001 m). During lingual application of 330 μm capsaicin for 7 min, the firing rate increased for five units and decreased for four units; the remainder were unaffected. Immediately after capsaicin, responses to each tastant were in nearly all cases depressed (mean, 61.5% of control), followed by recovery in most cases. NTS tastant-evoked unit responses were unaffected by lingual application of vehicle (5% ethanol). Capsaicin elicited an equivalent reduction (to 64.5%) in tastant-evoked responses of nine additional NTS units recorded in rats with bilateral trigeminal ganglionectomy, arguing against a trigeminally mediated central effect. Furthermore, capsaicin elicited a puncate pattern of plasma extravasation in the tongue that matched the distribution of fungiform papillae. These results support a peripheral site of capsaicin suppression of taste possibly via direct or indirect effects on taste transduction or taste receptor cell excitability. The depressant effect of capsaicin on gustatory transmission might underlie its ability to reduce the perceived intensity of some taste qualities.
Bank Lending and Monetary Policy Transmission in Austria

Summary This paper examines the role of banks in the propagation process of monetary policy actions. Testable hypotheses are deduced from the theory of the lending channel, which argues that after a policy-induced drain of funds from the banking sector, some (types of) institutions are unable or unwilling to retain their prior levels of lending. To identify the decisive bank attributes, disaggregated data for the full population of Austrian banks is used for the 1998-2005 period. The average Austrian bank is found to significantly reduce its growth rate of loans after an increase in policy-driven interest rates. Heterogeneous lending reactions appear to be more pronounced for the institutions that are organized in multi-tier sectors. At large, the results are not compatible with the widespread notion that the Austrian banking sector absorbs monetary shocks. The lending channel also seems of aggregate importance as impulses in loan supply are found to significantly affect the growth rate of real GDP.
Econometric analysis of panel data using Stata

Many researchers need to estimate panel data models in which either the idiosyncratic term is autocorrelated or the model includes a lagged dependent variable. This talk will review some of the estimation and inference methods that have appeared in the econometric literature to deal with these problems.These issues will discussed in the context of an extended example based on the same data used by Arellano and Bond in their 1991 Review of Economic Studies paper. In the course of the example, some two-stage least squares estimators for simultaneous equations with panel data will also be discussed.
How Can We Conduct " Fair and Consistent " Hardware Evaluation for SHA-3 Candidate ?

The objective of the NIST SHA-3 competition is to select, among multiple competing candidates, a standard algorithm for cryptographic hashing. The selected winner will need to have adequate cryptographic properties and good implementation characteristics over a wide range of target platforms including both software and hardware. The performance evaluation in hardware is particularly challenging. In technical sense, the reasons are the large design space, the wide range of target technologies and the multitude of optimization criteria. The efort for completing the evaluation for all candidates is heavy. Moreover the evaluation criteria must be consistent and fair in the sense of management of open competition. In this contribution we describe the eforts of fve research groups to evaluate SHA-3 candidates using a common prototyping platform. Using a SASEBO-GII FPGA board as a starting point, we evaluate the performance of the 14 remaining SHA-3 candidates with respect to area, throughput and power consumption. Our approach defnes a standard testing harness for SHA-3 candidates, including the interface specifcation for the SHA-3 module on the SASEBO testing board.
Economic Growth of Indonesian Port Cities

The objective of this paper is to investigate what factors influence the growth of main Indonesian port cities. The analysis make use GLS to estimate the model using panel data from four major city in Indonesia (Surabaya, Jakarta, Makasar, and Medan) for period 1993-2001. This research found that growth in port cities in Indonesia determine by both manufacturer industries and the traffic of goods import.