Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Growth & Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (dsge) Models

Note: The Smets-Wouters DSGE model has been used by the European Central Bank over the past several years to analyze macroeconomic policy for the Euro area, i.e., the particular set of European countries that have commonly adopted the Euro as their currency. QUESTION 1: [4 Points Total] Compare and contrast the DSGE modeling of the household sector in Section 2.1 of Smets-Wouters [2] with the standard optimal growth modeling of the household (consumer) sector described in [1]. Important Remark: As requested in Q1, the following notes compare and contrast the household sector models in [1] and [2, Section 2.1], with a bit of straying into Section 2.2 of [2] to fill in some details about the relationship between households and firms in model [2]. Other model similarities and differences are not discussed. Nevertheless, my discussion below ended up being quite involved, because I wanted to understand in some depth what the Smets-Wouters DSGE model is all about. The discussion below is at a much greater level of detail than I expect from you for an answer to a 4-point question part! A brief but careful outline of four important similarities or distinctions will constitute a satisfactory (full credit) answer for this four-point question. The closest comparison is obtained if in [1] one adopts the " single representative household (consumer) " interpretation for the optimizing agent in the optimal growth model rather than thinking of this optimizing agent as a social planner. This interpretation will be assumed throughout the remaining parts of this exercise without further comment. The household sector in [1] is developed in continuous time for a continuum of time points t, whereas the household sector in [2] is developed in discrete time for a countable sequence of time periods t = [t, t + 1).
Objective image quality assessment using perceptual distortion for image retargeting

Image quality assessment of retargeted images is a challenging problem and used to evaluate the quality of image accurately and automatically. In this paper, a full reference image quality metric for assessing visual quality of retargeted image is presented using deformable spatial pyramid (DSP) algorithm. The metric measures geometric and information loss distortion based on fast dense corresponding scheme. Experimental results using NRID database are obtained to measure the performance of the metric and it is found that DSP algorithm outperforms SIFT in terms of execution speed and accuracy.
Dissociation between adipose nitric oxide synthase expression and tissue metabolism.

CONTEXT Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in adipose tissue is increased in obese subjects. The functional relevance is not known. OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare adipose tissue metabolism between obese men with greater or lower adipose endothelial NOS (eNOS) or inducible NOS (iNOS) expression. DESIGN The design was an open-labeled prospective study. SETTING The study took place at an academic clinical research center. PATIENTS The patients included 14 obese (32 +/- 0.6 kg/m2) and eight normal-weight (23 +/- 2 kg/m2) healthy men. INTERVENTION Microdialysis catheters in abdominal sc adipose tissue and in vastus lateralis were perfused with N-omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or N-omega-nitro-D-arginine methyl ester (D-NAME). Then, incremental isoproterenol concentrations were added to the perfusate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Microdialysate glycerol was the main outcome measure. RESULTS Tissue perfusion and microdialysate glycerol concentrations at baseline and during isoproterenol stimulation were similar in obese men with high or low eNOS or iNOS expression during both L-NAME and D-NAME. During D-NAME, basal and maximal isoproterenol stimulated glycerol were similar in lean and in obese men. However, in lean men, the dose-response relationship between isoproterenol and glycerol was shifted towards the left (P < 0.0001). NOS inhibition with L-NAME had no effect on basal or isoproterenol-stimulated glycerol in the obese group in skeletal muscle or in adipose tissue. In contrast, L-NAME augmented the lipolytic response in lean subjects in both tissues. CONCLUSIONS Differences in eNOS and iNOS mRNA expression at the adipose tissue level may have a limited effect on lipolysis and tissue perfusion. The lower resting lipolysis in adipose tissue of obese compared with nonobese subjects cannot be explained by a tonic nitric oxide effect.
Real-time test specification with TTCN-3 ?

In this paper we propose an extension to the third edition of the Tree and Tabular Combined Notation (TTCN-3) to support realtime testing. Our approach is based on the separation of functional and real-time requirements in the test specification. Functional requirements are defined in form of stimuli and expected responses, i.e., in form of functional TTCN-3 test cases, and real-time requirements are expressed by the relationship of points in time. During test execution the points in time are collected in form of time-stamps that can be evaluated during or after the test run. We explain all extensions to TTCN-3 necessary to support the collection and evaluation of time-stamps and show the applicability of our approach by means of an example.
Driver Assistance System Using Integrated Information from Lane Geometry and Vehicle Direction

This paper presents an approach to detect multiple lane and vehicles. Instead of assuming that the processes of lane and vehicle detection are independently, we integrate these two processes in a mutually supporting way to achieve more accurate results. In lane boundary detection, the features of lane boundary often affect by the edge and color of the vehicle. Furthermore, the results of vehicle detection could be non-robust if there are some non-vehicle objects that have similar features to vehicle. Here, we use the distance of the position between central position of lane boundary and vehicle position from hypotheses to filter out the non-vehicle object. And we use the similarity of the lane boundaries direction and the moving direction from hypotheses to get the optimal lane solution. By applying iterative optimization algorithm, we can achieve sub-optimal solution of lane and vehicle detection and the experimental results shows that the error rate is successfully reduced from 32.6% to 2.7%.
Evolutionary genetics as a tool to target genes involved in phenotypes of medical relevance

There is an increasing interest in detecting genes, or genomic regions, that have been targeted by natural selection. Indeed, the evolutionary approach for inferring the action of natural selection in the human genome represents a powerful tool for predicting regions of the genome potentially associated with disease and of interest in epidemiological genetic studies. Here, we review several examples going from candidate gene studies associated with specific phenotypes, including nutrition, infectious disease and climate adaptation, to whole genome scans for natural selection. All these studies illustrate the power of the evolutionary approach in identifying regions of the genome having played a major role in human survival and adaptation.
The Margin Vector , Admissible Loss and Multi-class Margin-based Classifiers

We propose a new framework to construct the margin-based classifiers, in which the binary and multicategory classification problems are solved by the same principle; namely, margin-based classification via regularized empirical risk minimization. To build the framework, we propose the margin vector which is the multi-class generalization of the margin, then we further generalize the concept of admissible loss in binary classification to the multi-class cases. A multi-class margin-based classifier is produced by minimizing the empirical margin-vector-based admissible loss with proper regularization. We characterize a class of convex losses that are admissible for both binary and multi-class classification problems. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework, we present some multicategory kernel machines and several new multi-class boosting algorithms. keywords: Multi-class classification, Admissible Loss, Margin Vector, Empirical risk minimization, Convexity. ∗Address for correspondence: Hui Zou, 313 Ford Hall, School of Statistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455. Email: hzou@stat.umn. edu.
High PSRR Low Drop-out Voltage Regulator ( LDO )

In order to solve the stability problems and increase the PSRR performance of the Low Drop-out Voltage (LDO) a novel technique is presented. The main purpose of this work was to obtain a high PSRR, high power efficiency with a low load current. To achieve this, several techniques such as Nested Miller Compensation (NMC), Pole-Zero Tracking Frequency Compensation (PZTFC) and Single Miller Compensation (SMC) pole-splitting are used together to guarantee stability and dynamic biasing for a high PSRR at high frequencies. The LDO was simulated in SMIC 0. 13μm CMOS technology, the results show that the LDO provides a full load transient response from 10 μA to 300 mA with a low drop-out voltage of less than 200 mV .
Analytical distributions for stochastic gene expression

Gene expression is significantly stochastic making modeling of genetic networks challenging. We present an approximation that allows the calculation of not only the mean and variance, but also the distribution of protein numbers. We assume that proteins decay substantially more slowly than their mRNA and confirm that many genes satisfy this relation by using high-throughput data from budding yeast. For a two-stage model of gene expression, with transcription and translation as first-order reactions, we calculate the protein distribution for all times greater than several mRNA lifetimes and thus qualitatively predict the distribution of times for protein levels to first cross an arbitrary threshold. If in addition the fluctuates between inactive and active states, we can find the steady-state protein distribution, which can be bimodal if fluctuations of the promoter are slow. We show that our assumptions imply that protein synthesis occurs in geometrically distributed bursts and allows mRNA to be eliminated from a master equation description. In general, we find that protein distributions are asymmetric and may be poorly characterized by their mean and variance. Through maximum likelihood methods, our expressions should therefore allow more quantitative comparisons with experimental data. More generally, we introduce a technique to derive a simpler, effective dynamics for a stochastic system by eliminating a fast variable.
Nighttime haze removal based on a new imaging model

Nighttime haze removal is important for different applications such as nighttime video surveillance in haze environment. Different from the imaging conditions in the daytime, nighttime haze images may suffer from non-uniform illumination from artificial light sources. In this paper, we proposed a novel efficient dehazing method with illumination estimation for nighttime haze condition. First, we estimate the light intensity and enhance it to obtain an illumination balanced result. Then, we process a color correction step after estimating the color characteristics of the incident light. Finally, we remove the haze by using the dark channel prior along with estimating the pointwise environmental light. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve both illumination balanced and haze free results. Moreover, it also has good color rendition ability.
Stylistic variation in multilingual instructions

Instructional texts have been the object of many studies recently, motivated by the increased need to produce manuals (especially multilingual manuals) coupled with the cost of translators and technical writers. Because these studies concentrate on aspects other than the linguistic realisation of instructions -- for example, the integration of text and graphics - they all generate a sequence of steps required to achieve a task, using imperatives. Our research so far shows, however, that manuals can in fact have different styles, i. e. , not all instructions are stated using a sequence of imperatives, and that, furthermore, different parts of manuals often use different styles. In this paper, we present our preliminary results from an analysis of over 30 user guides/manuals for consumer appliances and discuss some of the implications.
Parvalbumin, calbindin, or calretinin in cortically projecting and GABAergic, cholinergic, or glutamatergic basal forebrain neurons of the rat

The basal forebrain (BF) plays an important role in modulating cortical activity and facilitating processes of attention, learning, and memory. This role is subserved by cholinergic neurons but also requires the participation of other noncholinergic neurons. Noncholinergic neurons include γ‐amino butyric acidergic (GABAergic) neurons, some of which project in parallel with the cholinergic cells to the cerebral cortex, others of which project caudally or locally. With the original aim of distinguishing different subgroups of GABAergic neurons, we examined immunostaining for the calcium binding proteins (CBPs) parvalbumin (Parv), calbindin (Calb), and calretinin (Calret) in the rat. Although the CBP+ cell groups were distributed in a coextensive manner with the GABAergic cells, they were collectively more numerous. Of cells retrogradely labeled with cholera toxin (CT) from the prefrontal or parietal cortex, Parv+ and Calb+ cells, but not Calret+ cells, represented substantial proportions (∼35–45% each) that collectively were greater than that of GABAergic projection neurons. From dual immunostaining for the CBPs and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), it appeared that the vast majority (>90%) of the Parv+ group was GAD+, whereas only a small minority (<10%) of the Calb+ or Calret+ group was GAD+. Significant proportions of Calb+ (>40%) and Calret+ (>80%) neurons were immunopositive for phosphate‐activated glutaminase, the synthetic enzyme for transmitter glutamate. The results suggested that, whereas Calret+ cells predominantly comprise caudally or locally projecting, possibly glutamatergic BF neurons, Parv+ cells likely comprise the cortically projecting GABAergic BF neurons and Calb+ cells the cortically projecting, possibly glutamatergic BF neurons that would collectively participate with the cholinergic cells in the modulation of cortical activity. J. Comp. Neurol. 458:11–31, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF STARS AND STELLAR REMNANTS AT THE GALACTIC CENTER

Motivated by recent observations that suggest a low density of old stars around the Milky Way supermassive black hole (SMBH), models for the nuclear star cluster are considered that have not yet reached a steady state under the influence of gravitational encounters. A core of initial radius 1–1.5 pc evolves to a size of approximately 0.5 pc after 10 Gyr, roughly the size of the observed core. The absence of a Bahcall–Wolf cusp is naturally explained in these models, without the need for fine-tuning or implausible initial conditions. In the absence of a cusp, the time for a 10 M☉ black hole (BH) to spiral in to the Galactic center from an initial distance of 5 pc can be much greater than 10 Gyr. Assuming that the stellar BHs had the same phase-space distribution initially as the stars, their density after 5–10 Gyr is predicted to rise very steeply going into the stellar core, but could remain substantially below the densities inferred from steady-state models that include a steep density cusp in the stars. Possible mechanisms for the creation of the parsec-scale initial core include destruction of stars on centrophilic orbits in a pre-existing triaxial nucleus, inhibited star formation near the SMBH, or ejection of stars by a massive binary. The implications of these models are discussed for the rates of gravitational-wave inspiral events, as well as other physical processes that depend on a high density of stars or stellar-mass BHs near SgrA*.
ART for helical cone-beam CT reconstruction

We report on our first results on the use of Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques (ART) on helical cone-beam Computerized Tomography (CT) data. Two variants of ART have been implemented: a standard one which considers a single ray in an iterative step and a block version which groups several conebeam projections in calculating an iterative update. Both seem to produce high-quality reconstructions, although the number of cycles through the data to achieve those (between 15 and 20), while not huge, is larger than the number of cycles through the data needed for reconstructing volumes from data acquired from different modalities (1 iteration for PET data and 1 to 4 iterations for EM data). The reason for that maybe due to the uneven coverage of points by the data collection geometry, resulting in a slower rate of convergence.
p27Kip1 promotes invadopodia turnover and invasion through the regulation of the PAK1/Cortactin pathway

p27Kip1 (p27) is a cyclin-CDK inhibitor and negative regulator of cell proliferation. p27 also controls other cellular processes including migration and cytoplasmic p27 can act as an oncogene. Furthermore, cytoplasmic p27 promotes invasion and metastasis, in part by promoting epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Herein, we find that p27 promotes cell invasion by binding to and regulating the activity of Cortactin, a critical regulator of invadopodia formation. p27 localizes to invadopodia and limits their number and activity. p27 promotes the interaction of Cortactin with PAK1. In turn, PAK1 promotes invadopodia turnover by phosphorylating Cortactin, and expression of Cortactin mutants for PAK-targeted sites abolishes p27’s effect on invadopodia dynamics. Thus, in absence of p27, cells exhibit increased invadopodia stability due to impaired PAK1-Cortactin interaction, but their invasive capacity is reduced compared to wild-type cells. Overall, we find that p27 directly promotes cell invasion by facilitating invadopodia turnover via the Rac1/PAK1/Cortactin pathway. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.22207. 001
Inner Structure of Starless Core L694-2 Derived from Millimeter-Wave Interferometry

We study the density structure of the candidate contracting starless core L694-2 using 1.3 mm dust continuum observations from the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) and the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association (BIMA) array, which probe spatial scales from 10,000 to 500 AU. The long-baseline PdBI observations detect no emission from the core and limit the maximum contamination from a compact component: Fc < 2.7 mJy. The flux limit corresponds to a very small disk mass, Mdisk ≲ 5 × 10-4 M☉ (60 K/Tdisk), and bolsters the "starless" interpretation of the L694-2 core. The shorter baseline BIMA data are compared to a series of density models using a physically motivated temperature distribution with a central minimum. This analysis provides clear evidence for a turnover from the steep density profile observed in the outer regions in dust extinction to substantially more shallow behavior in the inner regions (<7500 AU). The best-fit Bonnor-Ebert, Plummer-like, broken power law, and end-on cylinder models produce very similar flattened profiles and cannot be distinguished. We quantify the sensitivity of the inferred structure to various uncertainties, including the temperature distribution, the accuracy of the central position, and the presence of a weak, unresolved central component. The largest uncertainty comes from the temperature assumption; an isothermal model modifies the best-fit parameters by ~2 σ, with the inferred density profiles more shallow. Dust emission and extinction profiles are reproduced by an embedded isothermal cylinder with scale height H = 13. ″5 inclined at a small angle to the line of sight. The turnover observed in the L694-2 density distribution suggests that pressure forces still support the core and that it has not fully relaxed, as in the inside-out collapse model, despite the extended inward motions inferred from molecular line observations by Lee, Myers, & Tafalla. In the context of the cylindrical density model, these inward motions may represent the contraction of a prolate core along its major axis.
The EVE Approach: View Synchronization in Dynamic Distributed Environments

The construction and maintenance of data warehouses (views) in large-scale environments composed of numerous distributed and evolving information sources (ISs) such as the WWW has received great attention recently. Such environments are plagued with changing information because ISs tend to continuously evolve by modifying not only their content but also their query capabilities and interface and by joining or leaving the environment at any time. We are the first to introduce and address the problem of schema changes of ISs, while previous work in this area, such as incremental view maintenance, has mainly dealt with data changes at ISs. We outline our solution approach to this challenging new problem of how to adapt views in such evolving environments. We identify a new view adaptation problem for view evolution in the context of ISs schema changes, which we call view synchronization. We also outline the Evolvable View Environment (EVE) approach that we propose as framework for solving the view synchronization problem, along with our decisions concerning the key design issues surrounding EVE. The main contributions of this paper are: 1) we provide an E-SQL view definition language with which the view definer can direct the view evolution process, 2) we introduce a model for information source description which allows a large class of ISs to participate in our system dynamically, 3) we formally define what constitutes a legal view rewriting, 4) we develop replacement strategies for affected view components which are designed to meet the preferences expressed by E-SQL, 5) we prove the correctness of the replacement strategies, and 6) we provide a set of view synchronization algorithms based on those strategies. A prototype of our EVE system has successfully been built using Java, JDBC, Oracle, and MS Access.
Scales of temporal and spatial variability of midlatitude land surface temperature

[1] Scales of temporal and spatial variability of clear-sky land surface temperature (LST) in middle latitudes are empirically evaluated using data from satellite and land surface observations. We consider separately the time-dependent expected value, its spatial variations, weather-related temporal and spatial anomalies, and errors of LST observation. Seasonal and diurnal cycles in the time-dependent expected value of LST are found to be the main components of temporal variations of clear-sky LST. The scale of spatial variability in the expected value of LST is found to be much smaller than the scale of spatial variability of the weather-related signal. The scale of temporal autocorrelation of weather-related LST variations is found to be in a good agreement with our earlier preliminary estimate and equal to 3 d, which corresponds to the time scale of weather system variations. This weather-related signal in clear-sky LST is statistically the same as in surface air temperature (SAT) observations at regular meteorological stations. The scale of spatial autocorrelation of weather-related LST variations exceeds 1000 km, which is the spatial scale of synoptic weather systems. These estimates provide us with a basis for better understanding and interpretation of LST observations from past, current, and future geostationary satellites and polar orbiters.