Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer Model Calibration Using High-Dimensional Output

This work focuses on combining observations from field experiments with detailed computer simulations of a physical process to carry out statistical inference. Of particular interest here is determining uncertainty in resulting predictions. This typically involves calibration of parameters in the computer simulator as well as accounting for inadequate physics in the simulator. The problem is complicated by the fact that simulation code is sufficiently demanding that only a limited number of simulations can be carried out. We consider applications in characterizing material properties for which the field data and the simulator output are highly multivariate. For example, the experimental data and simulation output may be an image or may describe the shape of a physical object. We make use of the basic framework of Kennedy and O'Hagan. However, the size and multivariate nature of the data lead to computational challenges in implementing the framework. To overcome these challenges, we make use of basis representations (e.g., principal components) to reduce the dimensionality of the problem and speed up the computations required for exploring the posterior distribution. This methodology is applied to applications, both ongoing and historical, at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Evaluation of the need for development of social enterprises: Case study in the Arges County

Social economy enterprises are characterized by a strong involvement of their members in the company management and by the absence of the fundamental purpose of traditional economic organizations: the remuneration of shareholders capital. Due to their specific way of doing business that associates economic performance, democratic functioning and solidarity amongst their members, these organizations contribute to the application of important community objectives, especially in the employment, social cohesion, regional and rural development, environmental protection and social security areas.
Comparison of novel regularization techniques in seismic tomography

The performance of several recent and existing regularization techniques are compared in the framework of 3D seismic tomography. These include traditional l2 penalties, but also a sparsity promoting l1 penalty and a total variation penalty. Which of these algorithms is judged optimal depends on the specific requirements of the scientific experiment. If the correct reproduction of model amplitudes is important, classical damping towards a smooth model using an l2 norm works almost as well as minimizing the total variation but is much more efficient. If gradients (edges of anomalies) should be resolved with a minimum of distortion, we prefer l1 damping of Daubechies-4 wavelet coefficients. Simple l2 minimization (‘Tikhonov regularization’) should be avoided.
Towards generating ETL processes for incremental loading

Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes physically integrate data from multiple, heterogeneous sources in a central repository referred to as data warehouse. Physically integrated data gets stale when source data is changed, hence periodic refreshes are required. For efficiency reasons data warehouses are typically refreshed incrementally, i.e. changes are captured at the sources and propagated to the data warehouse on a regular basis. Dedicated ETL processes referred to as incremental load processes are employed to extract changes from the sources, propagate the changes, and refresh the data warehouse incrementally. Changes required in the data warehouse are inferred from changes captured at the sources during change propagation. The creation of incremental load processes is a complex task reserved to trained ETL programmers. In this paper we review existing Change Data Capture (CDC) techniques and discuss limitations of different approaches. We further review existing techniques for refreshing data warehouses. We then present an approach for generating incremental load processes from abstract schema mappings.
Semi-Binary Based Video Features for Activity Representation

Efficient and effective feature detection and representation is an important consideration when processing videos, and a large number of applications such as motion analysis, 3D scene understanding, tracking etc depend on this. Amongst several feature description methods, local features are becoming increasingly popular for representing videos because of their simplicity and efficiency. While they achieve state-of-the-art performance with low computational complexity, their performance is still too limited for real world applications. Furthermore, rapid increases in the uptake of mobile devices has increased the demand for algorithms that can run with reduced memory and computational requirements. In this paper we propose a semi binary based feature detector-descriptor based on the BRISK detector, which can detect and represent videos with significantly reduced computational requirements, while achieving comparable performance to the state of the art spatio- temporal feature descriptors. First, the BRISK feature detector is applied on a frame by frame basis to detect interest points, then the detected key points are compared against consecutive frames for significant motion. Key points with significant motion are encoded with the BRISK descriptor in the spatial domain and Motion Boundary Histogram in the temporal domain. This descriptor is not only lightweight but also has lower memory requirements because of the binary nature of the BRISK descriptor, allowing the possibility of applications using hand held devices. We evaluate the combination of detector-descriptor performance in the context of action classification with a standard, popular bag-of-features with SVM framework. Experiments are carried out on two popular datasets with varying complexity and we demonstrate comparable performance with other descriptors with reduced computational complexity.
CellPilot: A Seamless Communication Solution for Hybrid Cell Clusters

The Cell Pilot library provides a comprehensive inter process communication solution for parallel programming in Con clusters comprised of Cell BE and other computers. It extends the process/channel approach of the existing Pilot library to cover processes running on Cell PPEs and SPEs. The same simple API is used to read and write messages on channels defined between pairs of processes regardless of location, while hiding communication details from the user. Cell Pilot uses MPI for inter-node communication, and the Cell SDK within a Cell node.
Beyond Reflexivity? On the Enactments of Sociology in India

I am aware that all this may appear to you both very abstract and also perhaps rather arrogant. (There seems to be something a bit delirious in experiencing the progress that one has made, throughout a lifetime of research, as a kind of slow initiatory pathway. Yet I am convinced that one knows the world better and better as one knows oneself better, that scientific knowledge and knowledge of oneself and of one’s own social unconscious advance hand in hand, and that primary experience transformed in and through scientific practice transforms scientific practice and conversely).
The Moderating Role of Competition in the Relationship between Nonfinancial Measures and Future Financial Performance

The mixed results from earlier studies examining the links between nonfinancial measures and financial performance suggest that contextual variables may moderate these relationships. We use data from more than 800 stores of a retail chain to assess whether the relationship between nonfinancial measures such as employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, and financial performance is influenced by the competitive characteristics of retail store locations. We model and estimate the relationship between employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and earnings, controlling for past earnings to evaluate whether these nonfinancial measures are lead indicators of financial performance. In doing so, we examine the role of competition as a moderating variable in these relationships. We find that nonfinancial measures have significant incremental information content in predicting future store profitability only in the high-competition urban locations. In additional tests we estimate whether these nonfinancial measures are correlated with subjective information that senior management implicitly relies on when evaluating the performance of store managers and selecting stores for closure. The study underscores the importance of understanding the context when using nonfinancial measures as an integral part of the management control system.
The Minimal Number of Communication Startups when Tiling Space-Time Mapped Programs

Tiling is a well-known te hnique for sequential ompiler optimization, as well as for automati program parallelization. However, in the ontext of parallelization, tiling should not be onsidered as a stand-alone te hnique, but should be applied after a dedi ated parallelization phase, in our ase after spa e-time mapping [17℄. We show how tiling an bene t from spa e-time mapping, and we derive an algorithm for omputing tiles whi h an minimize the number of ommuni ation startups, taking the number of physi ally available pro essors into a ount.
Volume Flexibility, Product Flexibility, or Both: The Role of Demand Correlation and Product Substitution

We analyze volume flexibility---the ability to produce above/below the installed capacity for a product---under endogenous pricing in a two-product setting. We discover that the value of volume flexibility is a function of demand correlation between products, an outcome that cannot be explained by classical risk-pooling arguments. Furthermore, whereas the value of product flexibility always decreases in demand correlation, we show that the value of volume flexibility can increase or decrease in demand correlation depending on whether the products are strategic complements or substitutes. We further find that volume flexibility better combats aggregate demand uncertainty for the two products, whereas product flexibility is better at mitigating individual demand uncertainty for each product. Our results thus underscore the necessity of analyzing volume flexibility with more than one product and emphasize the contrast with product flexibility. Furthermore, we highlight the possible pitfalls of combining flexibilities: we show that although adding volume flexibility to product flexibility never hurts performance, adding product flexibility to volume flexibility is not always beneficial, even when such an addition is costless.
Line to line compensator (LLC), a new generation of facts controllers

In this paper a new power circuit topology for FACTS controllers is introduced. This topology is neither series nor parallel FACTS controller. This controller injects an additive compensating voltage between each of two phases of a three phase power line by using a voltage source inverter (VSI). So, it is named as line to line compensator (LLC). Analytical analysis and simulation results by MATLAB/SIMULINK are presented and a test setup is built to verify the operation of proposed FACTC controller.
Epiphytes Modulate Posidonia oceanica Photosynthetic Production, Energetic Balance, Antioxidant Mechanisms, and Oxidative Damage

Epiphytes impose physical barriers to light penetration into seagrass leaves causing shading, which may decrease the production of oxygen reactive species (ROS), but also constitute a physical aggression that may trigger the production of ROS, leading to oxidative damage. Here we investigate the effects of epiphytes on Posidonia oceanica under both interactive perspectives, light attenuation and oxidative stress. Specifically the role of epiphytes in net photosynthesis, chlorophyll a and b, photoprotection (Violaxanthin+Anteraxanthin+Zeaxanthin cycle), soluble sugar and starch contents, enzymatic (ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR)) and global (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC)) and oxygen radical antioxidant capacity (ORAC)) antioxidant responses, phenolics and oxidative damage (malondialdehyde) are tested. Leaves with epiphytes showed higher chlorophyll b and lower content in VAZ cycle carotenoids. Epiphyte shading was the probable reason for the lower VAZ de-epoxidation-ratio of leaves with epiphytes. In spite of being shaded, leaves with epiphytes showed higher antioxidant levels, indicating that epiphytes trigger the production of ROS. Both ORAC and TEAC and also APX and DHAR activities were higher in leaves with epiphytes, indicating that this response was related with its presence. Malondialdehyde concentrations also suggest oxidative damage caused by epiphytes. We conclude that the epiphyte load causes oxidative stress in P. oceanica and the mechanisms to scavenge ROS were not completely effective to avoid cell damage.
- 07 Default , Reputation and Balanced-Budget Rules †

Is a balanced-budget rule compatible with a government honoring its debt obligations? According to the conventional explanation, governments honor their debt obligations to maintain a good reputation for future borrowing. The ability to borrow is desirable because it allows for greater tax smoothing. However, a balanced-budget rule limits the ability to smooth taxes, rendering a large class of competitive equilibria not compatible with a government honoring its debt obligations. The reputation model predicts default as the equilibrium outcome under a balanced-budget restriction. Insofar as this prediction is falsified by empirical observation, mechanisms other than reputation must be at work. JEL Classification: E61, H21, H63 ∗This paper is a substantially revised chapter from my Ph.D. dissertation in economics at University of Chicago. I would like to thank Larry Christiano, Michael Chwe, Lars Hansen, Tom Sargent, an anonymous referee, and seminar participants at the University of Delaware, Williams College, SUNY-Albany, and Congressional Budget Office for helpful comments. All remaining errors are mine. E-mail: stockman@udel.edu.
Vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein mutations that affect membrane fusion activity and abolish virus infectivity

We have introduced amino acid substitutions into two regions of the extracellular domain of the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) glycoprotein (G protein) and examined the effect of these mutations on protein transport, low-pH-induced stability of G protein oligomers, and membrane fusion activity. We suggested previously that the region between amino acids 118 and 139 may be important for the membrane fusion activity of G protein, on the basis of the characterization of a fusion-defective G protein mutant (M. A. Whitt, P. Zagouras, B. Crise, and J. K. Rose, J. Virol. 64:4907-4913, 1990). It has also been postulated by others that this region as well as the region between amino acids 181 and 212 may constitute putative internal fusion domains of VSV G protein. In this report, we show that three different amino acids substitutions between residues 118 and 139 (G-124-->E, P-127-->D, and A-133-->K) either altered or abolished low-pH-dependent membrane fusion activity. In contrast, substitutions between residues 192 and 212 resulted either in G proteins that had wild-type fusion activity or in mutant proteins in which the mutation prevented transport of G protein to the cell surface. Two of the substitutions between residues 118 and 139 (G-124-->E and P-127-->D) resulted in G proteins that were fusion defective at pH 5.7, although syncytia were observed after cells were treated with fusion buffer at pH 5.5, albeit at levels significantly less than that induced by wild-type G protein. Interestingly, when either G-124-->E or P-127-->D was incorporated into tsO45 virions, the resulting particles were not infectious, presumably because the viral envelope was not able to fuse with the proper intracellular membrane. These results support the hypothesis that the region between amino acids 118 and 139 is important for the membrane fusion activity of VSV G protein and may constitute an internal fusion domain.
A Broader View of Perirhinal Function: From Recognition Memory to Fluency-Based Decisions

Although it is well established that the perirhinal cortex (PRC) makes an important contribution to recognition memory, the specific nature of this contribution remains uncertain. The finding that PRC activity is reduced for old compared with new items is typically attributed to the recovery of a long-term memory (LTM) signal. However, because old items are processed more easily or fluently than new items, reduced PRC activity could reflect increased fluency rather than LTM retrieval per se. We tested this hypothesis in humans using fMRI and a well-validated method to manipulate fluency: the masked priming paradigm. Some words during an old–new recognition test were preceded by conceptually related words (primes) that were subliminally presented (masked). The behavioral results replicated previous findings using this paradigm, whereby the fluency manipulation increased “oldness” responses to both old and new items. The fMRI analyses yielded two main sets of results. First, in the case of new items, which are independent from LTM retrieval, masked priming reduced PRC activity and predicted behavioral misattribution of fluency to oldness. Second, in the case of old items, the same PRC region showing fluency-related reductions for new items also contributed to “old” responding to old items. Individual differences in PRC attenuation also predicted oldness ratings to old items, and fluency modulated PRC connectivity with other brain regions associated with processing oldness signals, including visual cortex and right lateral prefrontal cortex. These results support a broader view in which the PRC serves a function more general than memory.
Gap junctions among taste bud cells in mouse fungiform papillae.

Introduction Mouse taste buds in fungiform papillae consist of ∼50 cells (TBCs; unpublished data), but only a few of them have synaptic contacts with taste nerves (Kinnamon et al., 1993; Seta and Toyoshima, 1995). Neither chemical nor electrical synapses/gap junctions have been confirmed in mammalian taste buds, though a subpopulation of TBCs expressed a variety of neurotransmitter receptors (Kumazawa et al., 2001; Hayato et al., 2002). Non-innervated TBCs thus have been assumed to be supportive. However, we considered their roles in taste transduction. We tested this hypothesis under in situ whole-cell patch clamp and optical recording conditions (Ohtubo et al., 2001). Patch clamp studies showed that a part of TBCs generated depolarizing or hyperpolarizing receptor potentials in response to taste substances. Optical recordings with a voltage-sensitive dye showed that such chemosensitive TBCs tended to form colonies by the polarity of their receptor potentials, suggesting the existence of any interactions among TBCs. In the present study, we show the diffusion of probe dyes from injected TBCs to their neighbors (dye-couplings), which evidences the existence of intercellular corridor between TBCs. These results suggest that there are TBC networks within mammalian taste buds, and that taste buds are miniature processing units rather than the aggregation of chemosensitive cells.
Classification in scale-space: Applications to texture analysis

In this paper we propose a technique for classifying images by modeling features extracted at diierent scales. Speciically, we use texture measures derived from Pap Smear cell nuclei images using a Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM). For a texture feature extracted from the GLCM at a number of distances we hypothesise that by modeling the feature as a continuous function of scale we can obtain information as to the shape of this function and hence improve its discriminatory power. This hypothesis is compared to the traditional method of selecting a given number of the best single distance measures. It is found, on the limited data set available, that the classiication accuracy can be improved by modeling the texture features in this way.
Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Noninsulin-Using Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Given the importance of glycemic control in the development of diabetes complications, the plethora of tools now available to monitor the day-to-day trends in glycemia is remarkable. In this regard, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) has been considered a key component of patient management. Arguably, there remains almost universal agreement that SMBG should be available to all diabetic patients regardless of current treatment strategy. However, recently there have been reports that have challenged the current paradigm that all patients should use SMBG and concluded that SMBG for type 2 diabetic patients not on insulin may not be beneficial on glycemic control and must be weighed against the expense and inconvenience. In this two-part point-counterpoint narrative, Malanda et al. and Polonsky and Fisher take opposing views on the utility of SMBG to be valuable for individuals with type 2 diabetes not using insulin. In the narrative below, Malanda et al. suggest that the evidence for potentially beneficial SMBG-induced effects on glycemic control, hypoglycemic periods, and potential harms in type 2 diabetic patients who are not treated with insulin does not justify the use of SMBG. Moreover, the use of SMBG is associated with huge costs, which should be better redirected to effective strategies to improve health for this category of patients. —William T. Cefalu, md Editor in Chief, Diabetes Care
Epenthesis in Old French

This paper is structured in the following way: first, certain alternations involving consonantal insertion will be examined in order to motivate a synchronic epenthesis rule for Old French (OF) phonology. After details of this rule and some of its relationships with other rules are fixed, an interesting set of historical changes involving restructuring, analogy, and rule ordering will be investigated in an effort to clarify several complicated interactions between phonological and morphological factors in the evolution of the OF verb system.
Mechanism design with maxmin agents: theory and an application to bilateral trade

This paper studies mechanism design when agents are maxmin expected utility maximizers. A first result gives a general necessary condition for a social choice rule to be implementable. The condition combines an inequality version of the standard envelope characterization of payoffs in quasilinear environments with an approach for relating agents' maxmin expected utilities to their objective expected utilities under any common prior. The condition is then applied to give an exact characterization of when efficient trade is possible in the bilateral trading problem of Myerson and Satterthwaite (1983), under the assumption that agents know little beyond each other's expected valuation of the good (which is the information structure that emerges when agents are uncertain about each other's ability to acquire information). Whenever efficient trade is possible, it may be implemented by a relatively simple double auction format. Sometimes, an extremely simple reference price rule can also implement efficient trade.