Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A handbook for value chain research

We are grateful to colleagues in both our individual institutions and in the Spreading the Gains from Globalisation Network (particularly those participating in the Bellagio Workshop in September 2000) for discussions around many of the issues covered in this Handbook and also to Lest anyone feel overwhelmed by the depth of detail in this Handbook, especially with respect to the sections on methodology, we would like to emphasise at the outset: this Handbook is not meant to be used or read as a comprehensive step by step process that has to be followed in order to undertake a value chain analysis. We know of no value chain analysis that has comprehensively covered all the aspects dealt with in the following pages, and certainly not in the methodologically sequential Handbook set out below. Indeed to try and do so in this form would be methodologically overwhelming, and would certainly bore any reader of such an analysis to tears. Our intention in producing a Handbook on researching value chains is to try and comprehensively cover as many aspects of value chain analysis as possible so as to allow researchers to dip in and utilise what is relevant and where it is appropriate. It is not an attempt to restrict researchers within a methodological strait-jacket, but rather to free them to use whatever tools are deemed suitable from the variety presented below. The text below attempts to cover the broad terrain of researching value chains, and hence spans the contextually relevant, the conceptually abstract, the methodologically particular, and the policy relevant. Part 3 on Methodology can therefore be read in a number of ways: as a form of expanding the conceptual issues raised in Part 1 on Basic Definitions and Part 2 on Analytic Constructs; or as an array of possible technical tools, some of which may be usefully adopted and methodologically applied either partially or fully depending on circumstances; or whole parts can be skipped and not read at all. Indeed, apart from using it as a research tool, it is not even our intention that everyone should read the Handbook in the way one would go through a (good) novel – sequentially, and from cover to cover. We therefore urge readers to use their common sense and treat it as one does an edited book, or researchers to read it in the same way one reads a mechanics manual for finding …
A Model of Balance of Payments Equilibrium Exchange Rate

In this article we present the balance of payments equilibrium exchange rate model and its empirical application to the Polish zloty. Results of the estimation indicate that in 1995-99 the zloty was not misaligned, while in 2000-2001 it was overvalued by about 10-15 percent, and, after considerable depreciation in 2002, it returned to the equilibrium level.
Sparse Non-Gaussian Component Analysis

Non-Gaussian component analysis (NGCA) introduced in offered a method for high-dimensional data analysis allowing for identifying a low-dimensional non-Gaussian component of the whole distribution in an iterative and structure adaptive way. An important step of the NGCA procedure is identification of the non-Gaussian subspace using principle component analysis (PCA) method. This article proposes a new approach to NGCA called sparse NGCA which replaces the PCA-based procedure with a new the algorithm we refer to as convex projection.
Sample preparation procedures for biological atomic force microscopy

Since the late 1980s, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been increasingly used in biological sciences and it is now established as a versatile tool to address the structure, properties and functions of biological specimens. AFM is unique in that it provides three-dimensional images of biological structures, including biomolecules, lipid films, 2D protein crystals and cells, under physiological conditions and with unprecedented resolution. A crucial prerequisite for successful, reliable biological AFM is that the samples need to be well attached to a solid substrate using appropriate, nondestructive methods. In this review, we discuss common techniques for immobilizing biological specimens for AFM studies.
Machine fault feature extraction based on wavelets and recurrence quantilification analysis

This paper presents a simple and efficient machine fault feature extraction approach based on the wavelet transform and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). This approach first decomposes the signals into several layers using discrete wavelet transform (DWT), then features are extracted from each decomposition based on RQA. The features contain the informative attributes of the signals. Then, machine faults are diagnosed based on these feature vectors using a probabilistic neural network. In the experimental process, features are extracted by 3 ways, DWT, RQA, and DWT combined with RQA. The experimental results from the DWT combined with RQA on bearing fault diagnosis have shown that the proposed approach is able to effectively extract important intrinsic information content of the test signals and increase the overall fault diagnostic accuracy as compared to conventional methods.
Ethical Differences Within Latin America

Abstract As the volume of trade within Latin America increases an understanding of cultural differences between countries will become increasingly important. One key issue that has received little attention to date is the variation in ethical beliefs across Latin American borders. In this study the impact of cultural attributes on four key ethical dilemmas is examined. Vignettes are developed for ecological conservation, bribery, sex discrimination, and child labor dilemmas and are included in a survey which is administered to multinational managers from Ecuador and Chile. Results indicate that certain cultural traits are linked to responses to each of the ethical dilemmas.
Reducing Overreaction to Central Banks’ Disclosures: Theory and Experiment

Financial markets are known for overreacting to public information. Central banks can reduce this overreaction either by disclosing information to a fraction of market participants only (partial publicity) or by disclosing information to all participants but with ambiguity (partial transparency). We show that, in theory, both communication strategies are strictly equivalent in the sense that overreaction can be indi-erently mitigated by reducing the degree of publicity or by reducing the degree of transparency. We run a laboratory experiment to test whether theoretical predictions hold in a game played by human beings. In line with theory, the experiment does not allow the formulation of a clear preference in favor of either communication strategy. This paper, however, makes a case for partial transparency rather than partial publicity because the latter seems increasingly diffcult to implement in the present information age and is associated with discrimination as well as fairness issues.
‘Lean’ versus ‘Rich’ Data Sets: Forecasting during the Great Moderation and the Great Recession

We evaluate forecasts for the euro area in data-rich and ‘data-lean’ environments by comparing three different approaches: a simple PMI model based on Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMIs), a dynamic factor model with euro area data, and a dynamic factor model with data from the euro plus data from national economies (pseudo-real time data). We estimate backcasts, nowcasts and forecasts for GDP, components of GDP, and GDP of all individual euro area members, and examine forecasts for the ‘Great Moderation’ (2000-2007) and the ‘Great Recession’ (2008-2009) separately. All models consistently beat naive AR benchmarks. More data does not necessarily improve forecasting accuracy: For the factor model, adding monthly indicators from national economies can lead to more uneven forecasting accuracy, notably when forecasting components of euro area GDP during the Great Recession. This suggests that the merits of national data may reside in better estimation of heterogeneity across GDP components, rather than in improving headline GDP forecasts for individual euro area countries. Comparing factor models to the much simpler PMI model, we find that the dynamic factor model dominates the latter during the Great Moderation. However, during the Great Recession, the PMI model has the advantage that survey-based measures respond faster to changes in the outlook, whereas factor models are more sluggish in adjusting. Consequently, the dynamic factor model has relatively more difficulties beating the PMI model, with relatively large errors in forecasting some countries or components of euro area GDP.
Inhibition of Chk1 by CEP-3891 Accelerates Mitotic Nuclear Fragmentation in Response to Ionizing Radiation

The human checkpoint kinase Chk1 has been suggested as a target for cancer treatment. Here, we show that a new inhibitor of Chk1 kinase, CEP-3891, efficiently abrogates both the ionizing radiation (IR)-induced S and G2 checkpoints. When the checkpoints were abrogated by CEP-3891, the majority (64%) of cells showed fragmented nuclei at 24 hours after IR (6 Gy). The formation of nuclear fragmentation in IR-treated human cancer cells was directly visualized by time-lapse video microscopy of U2-OS cells expressing a green fluorescent protein-tagged histone H2B protein. Nuclear fragmentation occurred as a result of defective chromosome segregation when irradiated cells entered their first mitosis, either prematurely without S and G2 checkpoint arrest in the presence of CEP-3891 or after a prolonged S and G2 checkpoint arrest in the absence of CEP-3891. The nuclear fragmentation was clearly distinguishable from apoptosis because caspase activity and nuclear condensation were not induced. Finally, CEP-3891 not only accelerated IR-induced nuclear fragmentation, it also increased the overall cell killing after IR as measured in clonogenic survival assays. These results demonstrate that transient Chk1 inhibition by CEP-3891 allows premature mitotic entry of irradiated cells, thereby leading to accelerated onset of mitotic nuclear fragmentation and increased cell death.
Temporal Logics and Model Checking for Fairly Correct Systems

We motivate and study a generic relaxation of correctness of reactive and concurrent systems with respect to a temporal specification. We define a system to be fairly correct if there exists a fairness assumption under which it satisfies its specification. Equivalently, a system is fairly correct if the set of runs satisfying the specification is large from a topological point of view, i.e., it is a co-meager set. We compare topological largeness with its more popular sibling, probabilistic largeness, where a specification is probabilistically large if the set of runs satisfying the specification has probability 1. We show that topological and probabilistic largeness of omega-regular specifications coincide for bounded Borel measures on finite-state systems. As a corollary, we show that, for specifications expressed in LTL or by Buchi automata, checking that a finite-state system is fairly correct has the same complexity as checking that it is correct. Finally we study variants of the logics CTL and CTL*, where the 'for all runs' quantifier is replaced by a 'for a large set of runs' quantifier. We show that the model checking complexity for these variants is the same as for the original logics
Muscarinic Receptors in Chromaffin Cell Cultures Mediate Enhanced Phospholipid Labeling but Not Catecholamine Secretion

Abstract: The addition of either carbachol or muscarinic agonists to cultured bovine adrenal chromaffin cells results in a selective stimulation of phosphatidate (PhA) and phosphatidylinositol (PhI) labeling from 32Pi and [3H]glycerol that can be inhibited by the inclusion of atropine, but not d‐tubocurarine. In contrast, increased catecholamine secretion is observed on the addition of carbachol or nicotinic agonists and is inhibited by d‐tubocurarine but not by atropine. Added calcium is essential for catecholamine secretion but not for stimulated phospholipid labeling. Chelation of endogenous Ca2+ with EGTA does, however, inhibit the stimulated phospholipid labeling. These results suggest that stimulated phospholipid labeling in the bovine chromaffin cell and catecholamine secretion are separate and distinct processes.
A Cross-Layer Relay Selection Algorithm for D2D Communication System

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication assisted with relay transmission could efficiently optimize the system performance when D2D users are too far away from each other. In this paper, considering the individual QoS requirements, we propose a cross-layer relay selection algorithm which combines channel state information (CSI) at physical layer with queue state information (QSI) of buffer for each relay node at data link layer. Then we deduce the relay selection rule based on the CSI and QSI. Our method could make up for the problem that traditional relay selection schemes fail to consider the limited buffer capacity of relays. Simulation results illustrate that the cross-layer relay selection strategy can obtain a substantial system throughput gain. Meanwhile the algorithm leads to a decrease in average transmission time delay and packet error probability compared with the traditional ones.
Differentiated Segments Based OFDM system for the Next-Generation Radio Access System

Extensive use of Internet and huge demand for multi-media services via portable devices require the development of packet-based radio access systems with high transmission efficiency. Various advanced transmission technologies have recently been proposed to achieve this challenging goal. However, few researches have been reported on the design of an integrated system that can efficiently accommodate these transmission technologies. This paper considers the design of a packet-based cellular system for the next-generation radio access. We propose a novel system framework that can incorporate various transmission technologies such as link adaptation, opportunistic packet scheduling, channel coding and multi-antenna techniques. By analyzing the interoperability between these transmission technologies, we design a differentiated segments-based OFDM system, called DiffSeg, that can support heterogeneous operating conditions in a seamless manner. Simulation results show that the proposed DiffSeg system can provide near optimum performance in a wide variation of wireless channel condition.
Early labour market returns to college

This paper aims at estimating early labour market returns (i.e. participation probability, employment probability and log hourly earnings) of Italian university graduates across college subjects. We devote great attention to endogenous selection issues using alternative methods to control for potential self-selection associated with the choice of the degree subject in order to unravel the causal link between college major and subsequent outcomes in the labour market. We use both a propensity score matching-average treatment on the treated method and the polychotomous selectivity model introduced by Lee (1983) to investigate the existence of unobserved heterogeneity. Our results suggest that “quantitative” fields (i.e. Sciences, Engineering and Economics) increase not only participation to the labour market and employment probability but also early earnings, conditional on employment.
Measuring the relationship between interruptions, multitasking and prescribing errors in an emergency department: a study protocol

Introduction Interruptions and multitasking are frequent in clinical settings, and have been shown in the cognitive psychology literature to affect performance, increasing the risk of error. However, comparatively less is known about their impact on errors in clinical work. This study will assess the relationship between prescribing errors, interruptions and multitasking in an emergency department (ED) using direct observations and chart review. Methods and analysis The study will be conducted in an ED of a 440-bed teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. Doctors will be shadowed at proximity by observers for 2 h time intervals while they are working on day shift (between 0800 and 1800). Time stamped data on tasks, interruptions and multitasking will be recorded on a handheld computer using the validated Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) tool. The prompts leading to interruptions and multitasking will also be recorded. When doctors prescribe medication, type of chart and chart sections written on, along with the patient's medical record number (MRN) will be recorded. A clinical pharmacist will access patient records and assess the medication orders for prescribing errors. The prescribing error rate will be calculated per prescribing task and is defined as the number of errors divided by the number of medication orders written during the prescribing task. The association between prescribing error rates, and rates of prompts, interruptions and multitasking will be assessed using statistical modelling. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval has been obtained from the hospital research ethics committee. Eligible doctors will be provided with written information sheets and written consent will be obtained if they agree to participate. Doctor details and MRNs will be kept separate from the data on prescribing errors, and will not appear in the final data set for analysis. Study results will be disseminated in publications and feedback to the ED.
High Performance Frequent Patterns Extraction using Compressed FP-Tree

Many algorithms have been proposed to improve the performance of mining frequent patterns from transaction databases. Pattern growth algorithms like FPGrowth based on the FP-tree are more efficient than candidate generation and test algorithms. In this paper, we propose a new data structure named Compressed FP-Tree (CFP-Tree) and an algorithm named CTPRO that performs better than the current algorithms including FP-Growth, OpportuneProject, and Apriori. The number of nodes in a CFP-Tree can be up to 50% less than in the corresponding FP-Tree. CT-PRO is empirically compared with FP-Growth, OpportuneProject, Apriori and CT-ITL using datasets that reveal the effective performance range of these algorithms. CT-PRO is also extended for mining very large databases and its scalability evaluated experimentally.
Impact of Anti-Oxidized Low- Density Lipoprotein Antibodies in Heart Failure and Coronary Artery Disease. Role of Antioxidants

Oxidative stress may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of heart failure (HF). Antibodies to oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox LDL Abs) reflect an immune response to LDL over a prolonged period and may represent long-term oxidative stress in HF. The Ox LDL plasma level is a useful predictor of mortality in HF and coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, and measurement of the Ox LDL Abs level may allow better management of those patients. Antibodies to Ox LDL also significantly correlate with the New York Heart Association (NYHA) score. Smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and obesity are known risk factors for atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) leading to heart failure, but these factors account for only 50% of all cases and our understanding of the pathogenesis underlying HF remains incomplete. Nutrients with antioxidant properties can reduce the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation. Treatment by antioxidants may be an adjunct to lipid-lowering, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition and metformin (in diabetes) therapy due to the greatest impact on CAD and HF. There are many reports that suggest a protective effect of antioxidant supplementation on the incidence of HD. This review summarizes the data on Ox LDL Abs as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in HF patients.
Why Did the Meerkat Cross the Road? Flexible Adaptation of Phylogenetically-Old Behavioural Strategies to Modern-Day Threats

Risk-sensitive adaptive spatial organisation during group movement has been shown to efficiently minimise the risks associated with external ecological threats. Whether animals can draw on such behaviours when confronted with man-made threats is generally less clear. We studied road-crossing in a wild, but habituated, population of meerkats living in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa. We found that dominant females, the core member in meerkat social systems, led groups to the road significantly more often than subordinates, yet were consistently less likely to cross first. Our results suggest that a reshuffling occurs in progression order when meerkat groups reach the road. By employing a simple model of collective movement, we have shown that risk aversion alone may be sufficient to explain this reshuffling, but that the risk aversion of dominant females toward road crossing is significantly higher than that of subordinates. It seems that by not crossing first, dominant females avoid occupying the most risky, exposed locations, such as at the front of the group – a potential selfish strategy that also promotes the long-term stability and hence reproductive output of their family groups. We argue that our findings support the idea that animals can flexibly apply phylogenetically-old behavioural strategies to deal with emerging modern-day problems.
Approximation Algorithms for Finding the OptimalBridge Connecting Two Simple

Given two simple polygons P and Q we deene the weight of a bridge (p; q), with p 2 (P) and q 2 (Q), where () deenes the boundary of the polygon, between the two polygons as gd(p; P)+d(p; q)+gd(q; Q) where d(p; q) is the Euclidean distance between the points p and q, and gd(a; A) is the geodesic distance between a and its geodesic farthest neighbor on A. An optimal bridge (of minimum weight) can be found in O(n log 3 n) time as described in 13]. We present an approximation scheme that, given any positive integer k, constructs a bridge with objective function value within (1 + 2 k+1) of optimal in O(kn log kn) time, thus solving an open problem stated in 10]. We also present a fully polynomial time approximation scheme that for any > 0 generates a bridge with objective function within of optimal in O(kn log kn) time, where k = 2 d 1 log(1+) e. In contrast to the exact algorithm given in 13], our algorithm does not use complicated data structures and is amenable to eecient implementations. We also show that the claim of 13] that if (p; q) is the optimal bridge, then gd(p; q) = d(p; q) is incorrect.
Young People's Trajectories through Irish Housing Booms and Busts: headship, housing and labour market access among the under 30s since the late 1960s

The economic, social and demographic history of the Republic of Ireland since World War II is distinctive in western European terms. While many of her neighbours experienced strong economic and population growth during the post war decades, resulting in unprecedented prosperity for the generation born during the post war baby boom, Ireland experienced economic stagnation and population decline during the 1950s, punctuated by a period of growth in the 1960s and early 1970s, until the traditional pattern of economic stagnation was reinstated in the 1980s (Kennedy et al 1988). This longstanding pattern of economic under performance changed in the mid 1990s with the advent of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economic boom and during the decade which followed Ireland’s economic growth caught up with and then surpassed the western European average, employment and household disposable income grew radically and the Irish population expanded by 20 per cent (Clinch et al 2002).