Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retirement Investing: Analyzing the 'Roth' Conversion and Re-Characterization Options

The paper explores a rich example of the importance of tax options for investment management. Starting in 2010, all individuals, regardless of income level, can convert their “traditional IRAs” into “Roth IRAs” by paying ordinary income tax on the market value (at the time of conversion) of the assets being converted. In particular, even individuals with the largest tax-deferred accounts can convert some or all of their tax-deferred holdings to Roth IRAs, prepaying the ordinary income tax. The U.S. tax law also permits investors to reverse or “re-characterize” these conversions at an individual account level until the final income tax filing deadline for that tax year (i.e., October 15th of the following year). The resulting opportunities are very different than for traditional tax-deferred investments. We examine the costs and benefits of converting to a Roth IRA from a traditional tax-deferred account and analyze the optimal conversion decisions by investors absent the re-characterization option. We then allow the investor to reverse (re-characterize) these conversions decisions and examine the implications for asset location. The insights that arise with respect to optimal conversion go beyond the conventional wisdom, such as converting if and only if the investor’s current tax rate is below his anticipated future tax rate. Volatility is very valuable for positions that are subject to potential re-characterization, which is in sharp contrast to the traditional asset location advice. Re-characterization leads to substantial optionality for investments in certain tax-deferred accounts. These perspectives raise interesting challenges for understanding the stochastic and dynamic structure of government revenue.
A taxonomy of microtasks on the web

Nowadays, a substantial number of people are turning to crowdsourcing, in order to solve tasks that require human intervention. Despite a considerable amount of research done in the field of crowdsourcing, existing works fall short when it comes to classifying typically crowdsourced tasks. Understanding the dynamics of the tasks that are crowdsourced and the behaviour of workers, plays a vital role in efficient task-design. In this paper, we propose a two-level categorization scheme for tasks, based on an extensive study of 1000 workers on CrowdFlower. In addition, we present insights into certain aspects of crowd behaviour; the task affinity of workers, effort exerted by workers to complete tasks of various types, and their satisfaction with the monetary incentives.
Haptic Theremin: Developing a Haptic Musical controller using the Sensable Phantom Omni

The Theremin is one of the first fully electronic musical instruments, allowing continuous control of both pitch and volume by varying hand proximity to two antennas. It allows new forms of musical expression, but is very difficult to play because it presents no tactile feedback to the performer. Haptic technology can solve this problem by providing tactile feedback. The low-cost SensAble Phantom Omni can track 6 degrees of continuous freedom and can be programmed using the feature-rich OpenHaptics C API that interfaces with OpenGL to create custom graphic and haptic applications. The authors propose using an Omni as the basis for a music controller based on the Theremin that communicates via OpenSoundControl (OSC) with the SuperCollider Audio Language to create a Haptic Musical Controller System.
On the masses and evolutionary status of the black hole binary GX 339-4: a twin system of XTE J1550-564?

We apply the K-correction to the black hole low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) GX 339-4 which implies MX? 6 M? by only assuming that the companion is more massive than ? 0.17 M? , the lower limit allowed by applying a ‘stripped-giant’ model. This evolutionary model successfully reproduces the observed properties of the system. We obtain a maximum mass for the companion of M2? 1.1 M? and an upper limit to the mass ratio of q(=M2/MX) ? 0.125. The high X-ray activity displayed by the source suggests a relatively large mass transfer rate which, according to the model, results in M2? 0.3 M? and MX? 7 M? We have also applied this scenario to the black hole binary XTE J1550-564, which has a similar orbital period but the donor is detected spectroscopically. The model successfully reproduces the observed stellar parameters
Evaluation, Energy Optimization, and Spectrum Analysis of an Artificial Noise Technique to Improve CWSN Security

This paper presents the security evaluation, energy consumption optimization, and spectrum scarcity analysis of artificial noise techniques to increase physical-layer security in Cognitive Wireless Sensor Networks (CWSNs). These techniques introduce noise into the spectrum in order to hide real information. Nevertheless, they directly affect two important parameters in Cognitive Wireless Sensor Networks (CWSNs), energy consumption and spectrum utilization. Both are affected because the number of packets transmitted by the network and the active period of the nodes increase. Security evaluation demonstrates that these techniques are effective against eavesdropper attacks, but also optimization allows for the implementation of these approaches in low-resource networks such as Cognitive Wireless Sensor Networks. In this work, the scenario is formally modeled and the optimization according to the simulation results and the impact analysis over the frequency spectrum are presented.
Dynamic key management for secure continuous handoff in wireless LAN

The secure dynamic key management has been introduced in the wireless security standard, IEEE802.11i However, dynamic keys are very limited and their lifetime is very short. In addition, those keys must be initialized by a central authority before sending them to all communicating hosts, and the key must be renewed after every single use. This paper proposes a novel dynamic key management mechanism in wireless networks for fast authentication and secure continuous roaming. Our work focuses on generating session keys independently after the first pair-wise session key has been established between a mobile node and the home access point. The OMNet++ network simulator is used for performance evaluation. The roaming performance is measured using three scenarios having different parameters including moving speed, background workload, and client density. The experimental results show that our proposed work outperforms the standard IEEE802.11i and gives high scalability as well.
Two-stage speaker adaptation in subspace Gaussian mixture models

A two-stage speaker adaptation approach is proposed for the subspace Gaussian mixture model (SGMM) [1] in large vocabulary automatic speech recognition (ASR). The SGMM differs from the more well known continuous density hidden Markov model (CDHMM) in that a large portion of the SGMM parameters are dedicated to shared full covariance Gaussian subspace parameters and a relatively small number of parameters are used for state dependent projection vectors. Both model space and feature space adaptation are investigated. First, an efficient regression based approach for subspace vector adaptation (SVA) is presented. Second, an efficient approach is presented for feature space adaptation using constrained maximum likelihood linear regression (CMLLR) in the SGMM. While both of these adaptation scenarios have previously been investigated in the context of the SGMM [2, 3], a more efficient and numerically stable procedure is presented here for estimating the parameters of the regression based transformations. Both transformation matrices are obtained using an optimization technique that iteratively updates the rows of the regression matrices. It is shown that using these feature space and model space approaches for unsupervised speaker adaptation provides complementary improvements in SGMM based ASR word accuracy.
Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions about Facebook Usage

The purpose of the current study is to examine the students’ viewpoints about the usage of Facebook for general and academic purposes. The participants of the qualitative study are formed by 153 students from faculty of education. The students used Facebook for three semesters in order to share their knowledge about their classes. Facebook group is arranged as a closed group being managed by themselves. The data has been collected by open-ended interview questions in the current study. The data has been analyzed with content analysis method. According to the results, students use Facebook intensely and regularly. It is also seen as a quick and efficient way of communication when used for educational purposes. Students perceive Facebook as a valuable extent of their real lives. It can be concluded that Facebook is efficient when starting communications and belonging to a group. RECEIVED 12 January 2016, REVISED 14 January 2016, ACCEPTED 18 January 2016
Correcting the errors: Volatility forecast evaluation using high-frequency data and realized volatilities

We develop general model-free adjustment procedures for the calculation of unbiased volatility loss functions based on practically feasible realized volatility benchmarks. The procedures, which exploit recent nonparametric asymptotic distributional results, are both easy-to-implement and highly accurate in empirically realistic situations. We also illustrate that properly accounting for the measurement errors in the volatility forecast evaluations reported in the existing literature can result in markedly higher estimates for the true degree of return volatility predictability.
Multimodal Prediction and Classification of Audio-Visual Features

The surge of interest in multimedia and multimodal interfaces has prompted the need for novel estimation, prediction, and classification techniques for data from different but coupled modalities. Unimodal techniques ported to this domain have only exhibited limited success. We propose a new framework for feature estimation, prediction, and classification based on multimodal knowledge-constrained hidden Markov models (HMMs). The classical role of HMMs as statistical classifiers is enhanced by their new role as multimodal feature predictors. Moreover, by fusing the multimodal formulation with higher level knowledge we allow the influence of such knowledge to be reflected in feature prediction and tracking as well as in feature classification.
Bridging Business Value Models and Process Models in Aviation Value Webs via Possession Rights

While exploring value Webs - cooperating enterprises - it is common to view such Webs from multiple perspectives: (1) the business value perspective, (2) the business process perspective, and (3) the information system perspective. The value perspective explains why a Web can exist from a commercial perspective, whereas the process perspective shows the interacting processes of enterprises and the IT perspectives shows the supporting IT architecture. These perspectives each take a different view on the same phenomenon: the value Web. Because the phenomenon is for each viewpoint the same the perspectives need to be consistent. This paper introduces an approach to arrive at a business process model of a value Web that is consistent with a business value model of the same value Web. We propose a step-wise approach that starts with considering the independent transfer of ownership right of a value object and the actual object itself, and finally considers time ordering of these transfers. We illustrate our approach using an industrial strength case study in the aviation sector
Nrz but not zBcl-xL antagonizes Bcl-wav pro-apoptotic activity in zebrafish

We recently identified a new highly divergent Bcl-2 related protein, named Bcl-wav, with phylogenetic pattern restricted to aquatic anamniotes. In zebrafish gastrula, bclwav gene silencing resulted in calcium-dependent cytoskeleton remodeling leading to convergence and extension movements defaults and abnormal orientation of the larva notochord. Beyond its function in cell migration, Bcl-wav was found to act as a pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 member inducing Bax/Bak dependent cell death. Here we show that, in zebrafish, pro-apoptotic Bcl-wav activity is selectively counteracted by the anti-apoptotic Nrz protein but not by zBcl-xL. Indeed Nrz but not zBcl-xL was able to decrease Bcl-wav dependent embryo mortality. Furthermore Nrz was able to prevent apoptosis induced by Bcl-wav ectopic expression in the embryo’s head and tail. Finally co-immunoprecipitation experiments in HeLa cells showed that Bcl-wav directly interacts with Nrz. Overall these results expand our current knowledge about Bcl-2 family proteins interactome during early zebrafish development.
Dual-Band Wilkinson Divider With Coupled Output Port Extensions

A new Wilkinson power divider structure is proposed for the dual-band operation. The proposed divider has two output ports extended and coupled through a coupled line section. The use of coupled output port extensions eliminates the need of the input port extension for the dual-band operation and simplifies the overall divider structure. It also provides the improved frequency performance over a wide range of band ratios with practical design parameters and has some potential for the broadband operation for small band ratios.
Les cadres du travail social au prisme du genre : de la tension à l’attention…

Cet article traite de l’exercice de l’encadrement dans le travail social, en explorant un double impense qui caracterise ce milieu professionnel : le genre et l’exercice du pouvoir.Depuis les annees 2000, les recherches academiques montrent que la feminisation des cadres produit des transformations dans la vie des organisations. Jacqueline Laufer affirme que « seule une integration plus systematique d’une perspective de genre a l’ensemble des recherches sur les cadres pourra permettre de cerner l’ampleur des changements advenus » (2001, p. 146). Si ces constats sont observes pour la categorie des cadres en general, qu’en est-il plus particulierement pour ceux du travail social ? S’interesser a la categorie des cadres par le prisme du genre aurait une valeur heuristique pour comprendre plus globalement les dynamiques qui affectent le champ professionnel.Pour apprehender cette question, je m’appuierai sur une vingtaine d’entretiens realises aupres de cadres du secteur social, sur mon experience professionnelle de femme, assistante de service social, conseillere du travail, ayant occupe des postes de cadre dans le travail social, et egalement sur des materiaux (analyse de dossier, animation de groupe d’analyse de pratique, entretien de selection de stagiaires CAFERUIS) recueillis dans un centre de formation, l’ETSUP, ou j’occupe le poste de responsable des formations des metiers de l’encadrement (CAFERUIS, DEIS et conseilleres du travail, le titre renove de surintendante d’usine). L’ETSUP, creee en 1917 par cinq femmes, a participe a la construction et a la structuration du travail social en se distinguant, d’une part, par son ancrage dans le mouvement feministe et, d’autre part, en formant les premieres cadres de l’action sociale.
The teaching of the other: Ethical vulnerability and generous reciprocity in the research process

How is it that researchers can engage with those they research ethically? In response to the challenge of this question, we articulate an ethics of research engagement based on vulnerability and generosity. This is explored with a special focus on the practicalities of organization studies research. Building on developments in reflexive methodology, we draw on Emmanuel Levinas’ relational ethics to consider how research can be approached as receiving a ‘teaching of the other’. Such teaching involves a radical openness to other people’s difference such that knowledge arises from being affected by those others rather than claiming to know them in any categorical sense. The possibility that emerges is that of a reflexively ethical position from which to conduct research premised on letting go of the egotistical comforts of one’s own epistemic authority. Self-reflexivity becomes rendered subservient to other-vulnerability in embodied research encounters that are open and generous. The promise for research is a deepening of our corporeal, affective and aesthetic engagement with others and an enlarged sense of the ethical meaning of research.
An Omni-directional vSLAM based on spherical camera model and 3D modeling

This paper presents an efficient Omni-directional Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (vSLAM) algorithm based on spherical camera model and 3D modeling. In the paper, the robot has the ability of Omni-directional vision, which makes the algorithm more adaptive in an unknown environment. To get spherical panoramic images, we choose the panoramic image acquisition and mosaic equipment (divergent camera cluster). The improved SURF on spherical image, is adopted for feature extraction and matching. According to the theory of multiple view geometry of the spherical camera model, the 3D modeling is conducted for the surrounding environment. By using the feature points with high robustness, the location and pose of the robot can be estimated. In the process of system updating, the particle filter combined with Kalman filter is used for it can perform well in a complex environment. The results of numerical simulations and experiments have been included in this paper to verify the performance of the proposed approach.
An intruder model for trust negotiation

In a distributed environment, and more specially in service oriented architectures, the entities interacting one with another rely on credentials to decide whether an action they are told to perform is permitted. These credentials are exchanged within trust negotiation sessions during which the participating entities build up trust by communicating certificates to trusted peers. Dolev and Yao have introduced a notion of symbolic intruder to represent the capacities of a malicious agent trying to attack a cryptographically secured communication protocol. We present in this paper an adaptation of that intruder that retains the same deductive capabilities but is specialized for the analysis of the exchanges during a trust negotiation session. In particular this permits us to analyze the security of a distributed access control policy w.r. t. a malicious insider.
Improved fuzzy control method for temperature in water tank of intelligent viscometer

The accuracy and stability of temperature in water tank of viscometer is one of the key factors of fluid viscosity measurement. An improved fuzzy control (IFC) method with PWM control for water tank temperature is proposed, which combines basic fuzzy control, improved Bang-Bang control with human-simulated intelligent control (HSIC), and is implemented by DSP, When the temperature error e between the desired temperature and actual temperature in the water tank is large, the improved Bang-Bang controller is employed in rapidly reducing the error; to decrease the system overshoot, the basic fuzzy controller is used; to reduce the steady-state error of basic fuzzy controller, the human-simulated intelligent controller is applied. A tuning method for parameters of the improved fuzzy controller is also discussed. The intelligent viscometer with IFC is practically built and tested, and all experimental results show that the improved fuzzy controller has satisfied performances such as slight overshoot, small steady-state error and good robustness etc., and the temperature control in the water tank is stable and accurate. The steady-state error of improved fuzzy controller for water temperature is less than 0.05degC, which is better than the Chinese National Standards for viscosity measurement.
Redundancy Reduction and Sustained Firing with Stochastic Depressing Synapses

Many synapses in the CNS transmit only a fraction of the action potentials that reach them. Although unreliable, such synapses do not transmit completely randomly, because the probability of transmission depends on the recent history of synaptic activity. We examine how a variety of spike trains, including examples recorded from area V1 of monkeys freely viewing natural scenes, are transmitted through a realistic model synapse with activity-dependent depression arising from vesicle depletion or postrelease refractoriness. The resulting sequences of transmitted spikes are significantly less correlated, and hence less redundant, than the presynaptic spike trains that generate them. The spike trains we analyze, which are typical of those recorded in a variety of brain regions, have positive autocorrelations because of the occurrence of variable length periods of sustained firing at approximately constant rates. Sustained firing may, at first, seem inconsistent with input from depressing synapses. We show, however, that such a pattern of activity can arise if the postsynaptic neuron is driven by a fixed population of direct, “feedforward” inputs accompanied by a variable number of delayed, “reverberatory” inputs. This leads to a prediction for the number and latency distribution of the inputs that typically drive a cortical neuron.
3Deflicker from motion

Spatio-temporal irradiance variations are created by some structured light setups. They also occur naturally underwater, where they are termed flicker. Underwater, visibility is also affected by water scattering. Methods for overcoming or exploiting flicker or scatter exist, when the imaging geometry is static or quasi-static. This work removes the need for quasi-static scene-object geometry under flickering illumination. A scene is observed from a free moving platform that carries standard frame-rate stereo cameras. The 3D scene structure is illumination invariant. Thus, as a reference for motion estimation, we use projections of stereoscopic range maps, rather than object radiance. Consequently, each object point can be tracked and then filtered in time, yielding deflickered videos. Moreover, since objects are viewed from different distances as the stereo rig moves, scattering effects on the images are modulated. This modulation, the recovered camera poses, 3D structure and de-flickered images yield inversion of scattering and recovery of the water attenuation coefficient. Thus, coupled difficult problems are solved in a single framework. This is demonstrated in underwater field experiments and in a lab.
Pemphigus Vulgaris Associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Patient not Taking Penicillamine

D-penicillamine is one of the disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Drug-induced pemphigus is not fre-quently associated with D-penicillamine, and to date, the number of reported cases is about a hundred. Most reports of D-penicillamine-induced pemphigus vulgaris are in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It has rarely been reported in patients not taking D-penicillamine. We report a case of pemphigus vulgaris in a 48-year-old female patient with rheumatoid arthri-tis, not taking penicillamine.
The Impact of the Basel Accord on Greek Banks: A Stress Test Study

In this paper, we study the impact of extreme events on the loan portfolios of the Greek banking system. These portfolios are grouped into three separate groups based on the size of the bank to which they belong, in particular, large, medium, and small size. A series of extreme scenarios was performed and the increase in capital requirements was calculated for each scenario based on the standardized and internal ratings approach of the Basel II accord. The results obtained show an increase of credit risk during the crisis periods, and the differentiation of risk depending on the size of the banking organization as well as the added capital that will be needed in order to hedge that risk. The execution of the scenarios aims at studying the effects which may be brought about on the capital of the three representative banks by the appearance of adverse events.