Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1997 NASDAQ Reforms and Preferenced Trading

We demonstrate that the impact of an exogenous shock, such as the 1997 market reforms, on quote competition varies depending on what happens to the levels of preferenced trading. With the significant reduction in the level of preferenced trading, share volume sensitivity to quote competitiveness is expected to increase and the change in share volume is positively related to a market maker’s quote competitiveness. However, without a large decline in preferenced trading, the improved competition comes at a price: (i) reduced sensitivity between quote competitiveness and share volume; and (ii) a negative relation between quote competitiveness and the change in share volume. Empirical evidence from the preand post-reform periods supports this prediction and reconciles the seemingly conflicting findings of Barclay et al. (1999), Kandel and Marx (1999), and Weston (2000) and those of Chung et al. (2003). We also demonstrate that preferenced trading is responsible for the reduced sensitivity and the negative relation between quote competitiveness and share volume. Consistent with the ‘cream skimming’ hypothesis, we find that market makers that are more dependent on preferenced trading tend to be associated with stocks characterized by a lower cost of information asymmetry. The pattern of market maker entries and exits is also dictated by the persistent level of preferencing. We observe a net entry of market makers who rely on preferenced trading and a net exit of market makers who rely on quote competition around the NASDAQ market reforms. 1997 NASDAQ Reforms and Preferenced Trading
Hybrid Formulation of the Equation Systems of the 3-D PEEC Model Based on Graph Algorithms

This paper presents a new hybrid nodal-mesh formulation of the equation systems of the 3-D partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) method for the solution of combined electromagnetic and circuit (EM-CKT) problems. Traditional electromagnetic solution methods suffer from singularity of the system matrix due to the decoupling of the charge and currents at low frequencies. Based on the hypothesis that charges reside only on the surface of conductors and that current density is solenoidal inside them, a novel scheme is developed fully exploiting the physical properties of charges and currents. An elegant and efficient algorithm, based on graph theory, is proposed to automatically search independent loops on three dimensional rectangular grids such as those arising in volumetric PEEC formulation. The most significant outcome is that the proposed approach allows to reduce the number of unknowns while preserving the accuracy at low frequency down to DC. The method is validated through numerical results that confirm the accuracy of the proposed formulation from DC-to-daylight and its capability to provide memory saving.
Validation of a HMI concept indicating the status of the traffic light signal in the context of automated driving in urban environment

Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication in combination with vehicle automation opens up new vistas to improve traffic flow efficiency at signalised intersections. Manoeuvres of automated vehicles can be adjusted according to information on the traffic light signal status and its phase change. However, even when driving automated the driver onboard needs to be informed about planned manoeuvres. This paper describes a study on evaluating a human-machine interface (HMI) concept that offers information about the traffic light signal status while approaching an intersection with activated longitudinal vehicle automation. Three different HMI concepts are visualised and evaluated that should help the driver to comprehend the selected manoeuvres of the automated vehicle. Based on the results of the usability study the final HMI concept is presented.
Automatic scaling of selective SPARQL joins using the TIRAMOLA system

Modern cloud infrastructures based on virtual hardware provide new opportunities and challenges for developers and system administrators alike. Most notable is the promise of resource elasticity, whereby the infrastructure can increase or decrease in size based on demand. Utilizing elastic resources, applications can provide better quality of service and reduce cost by only paying for the required amount of resources. In this work, we extensively study the performance of some popular NoSQL databases over an elastic cloud infrastructure. NoSQL databases focus on analytical processing of large scale datasets, offering increased scalability over commodity hardware. We then proceed to describe TIRAMOLA, a cloud-enabled framework for automatic provisioning of elastic resources on any NoSQL platform. Our system administers cluster resources (VMs) according to user-or application-specified constraints through an expandable monitoring and command-issuing module. Users can easily modify resizing policies, based on application-specific metrics and thus fully utilize the elasticity of the underlying infrastructure. As a realistic use-case, we apply this framework on top of a fully distributed RDF store backed by an elastic NoSQL database. Letting TIRAMOLA manage the number of committed resources results in automated cluster resize actions and throughput maximization, while application experts need only provide simple elasticity rules.
Expert Guided Autonomous Mobile Robot Learning

In the control of autonomous mobile robots there exist two types of control: global control and local control. The requirement to solve global and local tasks arises respectively. This chapter concentrates on local tasks and shows that robots can learn to cope with some local tasks within minutes. The main idea of the chapter is to show that, while creating intelligent control systems for autonomous mobile robots, the beginning is most important as we have to transfer as much as possible human knowledge and human expert-operator skills into the intelligent control system. Successful transfer ensures fast and good results. One of the most advanced techniques in robotics is an autonomous mobile robot online learning from the experts’ demonstrations. Further, the latter technique is briefly described in this chapter. As an example of local task the wall following is taken. The main goal of our experiment is to teach the autonomous mobile robot within 10 minutes to follow the wall of the maze as fast and as precisely as it is possible. This task also can be transformed to the obstacle circuit on the left or on the right. The main part of the suggested control system is a small Feed-Forward Artificial Neural Network. In some particular cases – critical situations – “If-Then” rules undertake the control, but our goal is to minimize possibility that these rules would start controlling the robot. The aim of the experiment is to implement the proposed technique on the real robot. This technique enables to reach desirable capabilities in control much faster than they would be reached using Evolutionary or Genetic Algorithms, or trying to create the control systems by hand using “If-Then” rules or Fuzzy Logic. In order to evaluate the quality of the intelligent control system to control an autonomous mobile robot we calculate objective function values and the percentage of the robot work loops when “If-Then” rules control the robot. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-811-7.ch011
The Moral(izing) of the Story: Marketing’s Influence on Moral Life

reinterpret core beliefs and norms for practitioners and for practices that would fulfill the public’s needs for information, explanation, perspectives, advocacy, reform, participation, and dialogue. The driving spirit, he says, should be ecumenical, not a desire to erase difference but to seek some grounds for unity or for mere tolerance when world views are too different. “Integrated ethics is possible if practitioners identify minimal meanings that can be spelled out in different robust interpretations within a tradition of media ethics” (p. 159). Part III, the shortest of the book’s three sections, spells out “The Principles of Global Integrated Ethics. ” The “ultimate political goal of journalism is the maintenance and promotion of democracy” (p. 173). That form of democracy should be “social liberalism,” Ward declares, as he becomes both more specific and prescriptive. He ends the book with a fairly realistic assessment of the distance between his reach and his grasp. He might have added some elements to this: For example, an acknowledgment that journalism in most parts of the world, including the developed world, are constrained by laws most Americans would deem repressive. He ends with a proposed model code. As the book progresses, Ward’s ethics map grows increasingly complex and expands into additional dimensions. Every concept, including the word “concept” itself, has levels of meaning, and those meanings connect to other concepts with different levels of meaning. It is a road map with length, width and height that also moves through time and space. The writing and explanations are consistently clear and comprehensible, but the accumulation of towering ideas would certainly overwhelm the undergraduate. A graduate seminar, however, tackling one part at a time, could build a rich discussion. Ward’s map valiantly points us to where the discussion needs to go. This book is an important intervention to alleviate conditions that will worsen because technology, corporatism, globalization, and opportunism that is exploiting the alienation people feel toward the new media are all marching forward. We will not all agree with Ward’s recommended routes, but new technology both forces us to confront the necessity of this radical change he advocates and allows us to move the lines to adjust the way we want it go.
Association studies in an era of too much information: clinical analysis of new biomarker and genetic data.

In the past century, the broad use of routine diagnostic assays in the clinical laboratory was a major advance that remains a core element of contemporary patient care. As quantitative, objective measurements, these routine clinical tests often provide unequivocal evidence for a diagnosis or help frame a therapeutic strategy. The development of specific laboratory tests is generally predicated on a plausible biological hypothesis grounded in (pre)clinical experimentation. As a result, the majority of routine laboratory tests are limited in number and sufficiently well understood by practitioners to be clinically useful. In the past few years, the biomedical community has witnessed an increasing number of reports of associations between a wide range of newer molecular markers and disease phenotypes (pathophenotypes) or outcomes. These biomarkers—here broadly defined as molecular indicators of the presence of a disease, outcome, or response to therapy—include conventional laboratory measurements of proteins or enzymes, recently identified genetic polymorphisms (either singly [single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs] or in combinations [haplotypes]), and plasma metabolites, peptides, or proteins, many with as yet unknown function. In contrast to the earlier era of biochemical testing, these contemporary biomarkers are generally not identified by hypothesis-driven, preclinical experimentation and the application of rational, reductionist principles; rather, they reflect the output of the brute-force forms of discovery science, viz , comparative total genome scanning, global proteomic analysis, and comprehensive metabolomic testing between populations with and without a well-defined disease phenotype. With the use of technically sophisticated molecular methods, the entire human genome or the plasma proteome, for example, is analyzed in some detail to identify changes in gene sequence or protein patterns, respectively, that are more or less prevalent in those with disease than in those without disease. The magnitude of the observed difference in prevalence of the biomarker between the 2 populations defines the strength …
Apology and Social Harmony

The delivery of formal apologies for harm done to generations of citizens by government policies and practices has provided a spectacular focus for processes of social healing and sustainability to potentially develop and take root. In the Australian context in particular, the notion of Apology has been at the forefront of federal government policies for the term of the current parliament. While the judiciousness, wording and delivery of such Apologies have been the subject of intense debate and disagreement, it would seem that there is a social catharsis benefit that flows from these types of public acts of contrition. The question that arises, however, is how to make such emotional attachment to social healing sustainable - how might the underlying motivational forces be sustained? One possible way is through formal educative means; that is, through the enfleshment of reconciliation plans with genuinely transformative educational work. This paper suggests a number of possible paths for a temporally-located event - an Apology - to become an on-going component of community renewal through schooling.
A Goodness-offit test for marginal distribution of linear random fields with long memory 1

This paper addresses the problem of fitting a known distribution function to the marginal distribution of a stationary long memory moving average random field observed on increasing ν-dimensional “cubic” domains when its mean μ and scale σ are known or unknown. Using two suitable estimators of μ and a classical estimate of σ, a modification of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic is defined based on the residual empirical process and having a Cauchy-type limit distribution, independent of μ, σ and the long memory parameter d. Based on this result, a simple goodness-of-fit test for the marginal distribution is constructed, which does not require the estimation of d or any other underlying nuisance parameters. The result is new even for the case of time series, i.e., when ν = 1. Findings of a simulation study investigating the finite sample behavior of size and power of the proposed test is also included in this paper.
Monolithic wavelength-selective switches and cross connects with integrated MEMS mirror array

Wavelength-selective switches (WSSs) and wavelength-selective cross connects (WSXCs) enable flexible, intelligent wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) networks as well as reduce the operating cost. In a 1×N WSS, the wavelengths from the input port can be independently switched to any of the N output ports. WSXC allows switching of optical signals at wavelength level between N input ports and N output ports. Most of the WSS and WSXC reported to date are realized by free-space optical systems with either micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) or liquid crystal (LC) beamsteering array, or by silica-based planar lightwave circuits with cascaded 2×2 thermal optical switches. In this paper, we report on the approach to monolithically integrate the WSS and WSXC on a single silicon-on-insulator (SOI) chip. Optical waveguides, microgratings, parabolic reflectors, as well as MEMS active switching micromirrors are fabricated on the same substrate using a one-step etching process. We have successfully fabricated a 1×4 WSS with CWDM (20- nm) channel spacing on a 1×2-cm2 chip, and achieved a fiber-to-fiber insertion loss of 11.7 dB, and a switching time of 0.5 msec. The monolithic 4x4 WSXC is realized by integrating four 4×1 WSSs and four 1×4 multi-mode interference (MMI) splitters on the same wafer. No fiber connections or external splitter are required. The fabricated 4×4 WSXC has a chip area of 3.2×4.6 cm2 and an insertion loss of 24 dB, including a 6-dB splitting loss. The WSXC supports unicast, multicast, and broadcast functions. The devices can be further scaled to DWDM (100-GHz) channel spacing.
Cutaneous CO 2 Laser Resurfacing Infection Rate With and Without Prophylactic Anti biotics

BACKGROUND. Cutaneous laser resurfacing is a well-accepted modality, with excellent clinical outcomes and low morbidity rates, for the treatment of a variety of epidermal and dermal lesions. The use of antibiotic prophylaxis continues to be an area of controversy, with laser practitioners divided in their approach. OBJECTIVE. To identify the rate of postoperative bacterial infection following full-face carbon dioxide (C02) laser resurfacing with and without antibiotic prophylaxis. METHODS. A retrospective chart review of 133 consecutive patients following full-face CO2 laser resurfacing was performed. The rate, severity, duration, and subsequent treatment of bacterial infections observed in four treatment categories were recorded: (1) no antibiotic prophylaxis; (2) intraoperative singledose intravenous cephalexin (1 g); (3) postoperative oral azithromycin (1.5 g over 5 days); (4) intraoperative IV cephalexin (1 g) and postoperative oral azithromycin (1.5 g). RESULTS. A significantly higher rate of infection occurred in patients receiving combination intraoperative andlor postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis. The most frequently cultured organisms included Enterobacter and Pseudomonas species. CONCLUSION. The rate of postoperative bacterial infections after full-face CO2 laser resurfacing in this retrospective study was not significantly reduced with the use of prophylactic antibiotics.
Long Term Genetic Modification of Neurons, Astrocytes and Ependymocytes In Vivo using a High Capacity Adenovirus Vector

For the evaluation of a possible adenovirus-mediated gene transfer into cells of the CNS a replication deficient 3 rd generation gutless adenovirus vector was used. For cell transduction, vectors with different reporter sequences were applied, resulting in the possibility of measuring the transduction success after infection by the transgene expression. The reporter genes include the green fluorescent protein (GFP), the LacZ (s-galactosidase) as well as the human secreted placenta alkaline phosphatase (SEAP). Applying various infectious particles (10, 50 and 100 MIO) a concentration-dependent transduction rate can be ascertained. The vector was injected into different brain areas including the ventricles. Applying immunohistochemical techniques using antibodies against NeuN (neuronal specific nuclear protein) and the gilal fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) it can be shown that after vector administration into the striatum a preferential transduction of astrocytes is achieved. Within this brain compartment a diffusion of the vector up to a distance of 1000 � m from the injection site can be determined. Following injection of vector particles into the corpus callosum, a vector distribution within the entire fibre tract of the white substance including the contralateral hemisphere is observed. With these results it can be shown that the allocation of the vector is dependent on the structure and features of the receiving tissue. Injecting the adenovirus vector into the cerebrospinal fluid results in transgene expression (GFP, LacZ and SEAP) in the ependymal cells surrounding the entire ventricle. After installing a permanent catheter in the lateral ventricle cerebrospinal fluid may be removed in a continuous manner in order to analyse/evaluate the marker enzyme SEAP. Using a luminometric screening procedure, the enzyme SEAP can be demonstrated up to a period of 42 days following vector injection into the cerebrospinal fluid. By these data it can be shown that the use of an adenovirus vector at least under experimental circumstances might be a pioneer therapeutical option for diseases of the central nervous system.
A new broadband beamformer with fixed feedback weights

Along with the increase of signal's bandwidth, large number of tapped delay lines (TDL) will be needed in the TDL-based beamformers to retain the desired signal to interference pulse noise ratio (SINR), which slows down the convergence and increases computational load. To solve the problem, a new broadband beamformer based on the generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) beamformer is designed. Only one feedback branch with fixed feedback weights is introduced, thus it's stable inherently. The unconstrained recursive Gauss-Newton (RGN) algorithm is applied to compute all the feedforward weights as a whole. Simulation results show comparable performance of the proposed method against those existing broadband beamformers having feedback branches with faster convergence rate, stronger interference suppression and less computational load.
Mesoscale Variabilities In Sea Surface Current Fields Derived Through Multi-Sensor Tracking Of Sea Surface Films

In recent studies [1], we have already shown that it is possible to derive mesoscale sea surface current fields by tracking signatures of marine surface films in multisensor satellite data. Although the derived sea surface current fields corresponded well with those provided by numerical models, the former mainly showed largescale current properties. This is insofar remarkable, as the traced signatures clearly follow local dynamical features such as eddies or dipoles. In this paper, we present a new approach, which allows to extract, and even overemphasize, the affine local current component for the derived current fields [2]. Depending on the spatial resolution of the derived current fields this method allows a deeper insight into the turbulent nature of those fields. As a result, the imaged signatures can be seen as local variabilities of sea surface currents of larger scales. Moreover, these local variabilities seem to be mainly independent of the ‘global’ currents.
Strategic emotion in negotiation: Cognition, emotion, and culture

This chapter is an overview of research on emotion in negotiation that integrates cognitive, affective, and cultural aspects of the field. We address the following issues: (1) the effects of mood and emotion on negotiator cognition and performance and the potential of emotion as a negotiation strategy; (2) individual differences in emotional expression and individual traits, such as self-monitoring and emotional intelligence, that impact on the use of strategic emotion; and (3) cultural influences on negotiation and on emotional experience and expression.
Financial literacy among children: the role of involvement in saving money

Purpose This study aims to examine the role of involvement in saving money (ISM) to better understand children’s saving behavior and allow a deeper understanding of financial literacy processes among children. The emphasis on ISM is based on previous studies indicating the central role of involvement variables in information processing among young people. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on one-on-one interviews among 103 first-grade children. The interviews explored the relationship between the child’s ISM and substantial finance-related outcomes (attitudes toward saving money, intention to save money and saving behavior) and factors that might explain the child’s ISM (access to money, perceived importance of parental and peer attitudes toward saving money and actual parental and peer attitudes toward saving money). Findings Children with a high level of ISM expressed more positive attitudes toward saving, as well as more positive behavior with regard to saving. With respect to the factors that might explain the child’s level of ISM, two out of the three variables, namely, the perceived importance of parental and peer attitudes toward saving money and the child’s access to money, played a significant role in determining the child’s level of ISM. Originality/value This initial study demonstrates the importance of the involvement variable in the context of financial literacy and the need to investigate the child’s perceptions of, and motivation for, saving, with a focus on the child’s viewpoint.