Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMES DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES Optimal Monetary Policy under Imperfect Financial Integration

After empirically showing imperfect nancial integration among the euro countries, i.e., bank loan market heterogeneities in stickinesses of loan interest rates and markups from policy interest rate to loan rates, we build a New Keynesian model where such elements of imperfect nancial integration coexist within a single currency area. Our welfare analysis reveals characteristics of optimal monetary policy. A central bank should take these heterogeneities into consideration. The optimal monetary policy is tied to di¤erence in the degree of loan rate stickiness, the size of the steady-state loan rate markup, and the share of the loan market. By calibrating our model to the euro, we present the raking of the euro countries in terms of monetary policy priority. Because of the heterogeneity in the loan markets among the euro area countries, this ordering is not equivalent to the size of the nancial market. JEL Classi cation: E44; E52 Keywords: Optimal monetary policy; nancial integration; heterogeneous nancial market; staggered loan contracts We thank Lawrence Christiano, Simon Gilchrist, Xavier Freixas, Shinichi Fukuda, Fumio Hayashi, Eric Leeper, Masao Ogaki, Wako Watanabe, Tsutomu Watanabe, and Mike Woodford for insightful comments, suggestions and encouragements. We also thank the seminer participants at Tokyo University, Summer Workshop on Economic Theory 2008 in Otaru University of Commerce, and Bank of Japan for their comments. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reect the o¢ cial views of the Bank of Japan. yE-mail: nao.sudou@boj.or. jp zE-mail: yuuki.teranishi@boj.or. jp 1
1 Linux Process Control via the File System

We report on the implementation of process control and inspection via the process file system on Linux. Our work extends the existing Linux process file system by adding four files that collectively give read-write access to a process’s address space and allow processes to be controlled and their state observed. Process control follows the model of control in recent versions of the Solaris operating system. The existing Linux process control mechanism, the ptrace system call, changes a process’s parent pointer to that of the attached tracing process. Our implementation subsumes ptrace and does not violate this critical data element. Further, this new controlling method allows multiple tracing processes, the ability to detach from a stopped process and leave it stopped, and the ability to trace a subset of system calls, signals, and hardware faults. We detail the four files added to the process file system and describe the control techniques. We examine the delays this enhanced file system adds to critical paths in the kernel, finding that selective system call tracing adds only one clock cycle to the common case of an untraced process. Performance gains are impressive, improving upon ptrace by 374% by allowing fine-grained system call tracing.
Modelling of transit-time ultrasonic flow meters under multi-phase flow conditions

A pseudospectral model for transit time ultrasonic flowmeters under multiphase flow conditions is presented. The method solves first order stress-velocity equations of elastodynamics, with acoustic media being modelled by setting shear modulus to zero. Additional terms to account for the effect of the background flow are included. Spatial derivatives are calculated by a Fourier collocation scheme allowing the use of the Fast Fourier transform. The method is compared against analytical solutions and experimental measurements. Additionally, a study of clamp-on and in-line ultrasonic flowmeters operating under multiphase flow conditions is carried out.
Isotropic Subpixel Measurement of Circular Objects

Many industrial manufacturing processes depend on the rapid and accurate measurement of circular objects, for example, pipe, tube and ball and roller bearings, to ensure that the components satisfy the engineering tolerance standards. Despite the importance of these mea- surements, they are often carried out using time-consuming, manual and randomly sampled procedures. Cross-sectional imaging techniques offer the advantage of simultaneous dense measurement of dimensions and the detection of defects. Levels of precision achievable using x-ray computed tomography (CT) to measure circular objects are determined here. Edge detection procedures have achieved subpixel measurement to a precision of 3.5 x 10 �2 pixels (17 microns) using a medical x-ray CT scanner. Even when the image function is properly sampled and the image is a perfect isotropic disc, it is possible for significant anisotropic effects to be in- troduced when sampled data is processed. Methods of overcoming such effects are described as are techniques for handling image noise.
‘Race’, sport and leisure: lessons from critical race theory

This paper presents and explores critical race theory (CRT) as an ontological starting point for the study of sport and leisure. CRT is based on five precepts outlined by Solorzano and Yosso that centre ‘race’ and racism, social justice, plurivocality, transdisciplinarity and challenge orthodoxies. There have been a number of recent criticisms and debates amongst leisure and sports studies writers that challenge their general focus of study as narrow and myopic. The five precepts have been fundamental to radical shifts in critical legal studies over the past fifteen years and have significance for the development of critical sport and leisure theory. CRT and ‘race’ critical perspectives are drawn out, clarified and their mutual agendas focussed. It is argued here that researchers and writers need urgently to centralize ‘race’ and racism as core factors in the study of social relations in sport if Birrell's optimism in the development of sport (and leisure) theory is to be realised.
Psychosis in Parkinson’s disease: ‘between a rock and a hard place’

Psychotic symptoms are common in patients receiving treatment for Parkinson's disease. They may be more disabling than the motor symptoms and are associated with a poor prognosis, a problem compounded by the difficulties treatment has traditionally posed. This paper reviews the history of psychosis in Parkinson's disease, its characteristic symptomatology, and some of the theories regarding its pathogenesis. A number of treatment options are examined including the significant advances that atypical neuroleptics have brought to the management of this condition.
Tale of Two Citizenships? Citizenship, Migration and Care in the European Union

This paper examines the normative content of European Union citizenship with the aid of recent feminist research into gendered citizenship, care and migration. Feminist literature shows how long-standing feminist issues around care and domestic work are now made more prominent by the increasing formal employment of European women and the corresponding involvement of female migrant workers, often with precarious legal status, in performing childcare and domestic tasks in Europe. The literature on this phenomenon can be used to bring together two kinds of marginalisation built into Union citizenship – the explicit exclusion of those who are not Union citizens and the more implicit barriers that are based on a gendered division of labour. While optimistic analyses of Union citizenship assume its current limitations can be overcome, feminist research into gendered citizenship, care and migration actually shows they are part and parcel of how Union citizenship is currently conceived, making it difficult to change.
Walking speed estimation using shank-mounted accelerometers

We studied the feasibility of estimating walking speed using two shank-mounted accelerometers. Our approach took advantage of the inverted pendulum-like behavior of the stance leg during walking to identify a new method for dividing up walking into individual stride cycles and estimating the initial conditions for the direct integration of the accelerometer signals. To test its accuracy, we compared speed to known values during treadmill walking. The speed estimation method worked well across treadmill speeds yielding a root mean square speed estimation error of only 8%. This accuracy is comparable to that achieved from shank-mounted inertial measurement unit, providing a robust and low-cost alternative in using accelerometer for walking speed estimation. Shank-mounted accelerometer may be of great benefit for estimating speed in walking for the embedded control of knee-mounted devices such as prostheses and energy harvesters.
Influence of Car Body Modeling on the Gain Patterns of Automotive Antennas

It has been observed through simulations that an automotive antenna has a complex electromagnetic interaction with the body of the car, and thus cannot be treated independently from the car. This is especially true at wavelengths that are comparable to the dimensions of the car, for example, at the FM wavelengths considered in this paper. In such cases, variations of the design/geometrical structure of the car can lead to significant changes of the surface currents on the car chassis, which then contribute differently to the far-field pattern. On the other hand, full- wave simulations of exact car models suffer from the challenges of large computational power and simulation time requirement due to the extremely large number of mesh cells. In lieu of this fact, this paper analyzes strategies that appear appropriate for complexity reduction of a high- complexity car model, while maintaining a sufficient degree of similarity between the far- field results of the original model and its reduced counterpart. This would ease the requirement for large computational power and simulation time. At the same time, the equivalent reduced model could be beneficially used for further electromagnetic studies of the car, or for designing new types of antennas properly integrated into the car.
Sociology, health data, and health equity: One state agency as a site of social change

Governmental agencies are important sources of information on the health and well-being of citizens. Recently, improvement in the data collection and reporting of race, ethnicity, social class, and primary language has received considerable attention by national and state governmental bodies in the US as we try to accommodate the social and health needs of an increasingly diverse population. This article draws on the author’s work as a sociologist in a state governmental public health agency to improve the collection and reporting of social data for the purpose of describing health disparities across subpopulation groups and informing equitable health policies. It illustrates how sociologists in governmental agencies can be agents of social change in broad-based collaborative efforts to improve population health and social policy. It describes the context in which a governmental agency is uniquely positioned to be a site of social change.
Intervenciones psicosociales en el tratamiento de la esquizofrenia

The attention to the schizophrenic population is one of the most important social and sanitary problems that has to carry out our society. The organization of a complete and adequate integral community attention to this population is a fundamental goal for the sanitary mental health system and social services. In this paper are analyzed the different therapeutic approaches and the several dispositives we have in hand to undertake this problem.
Stochastic searching on the line and its applications to parameter learning in nonlinear optimization

We consider the problem of a learning mechanism (for example, a robot) locating a point on a line when it is interacting with a random environment which essentially informs it, possibly erroneously, which way it should move. In this paper we present a novel scheme by which the point can he learned using some recently devised learning principles. The heart of the strategy involves discretizing the space and performing a controlled random walk on this space. The scheme is shown to be epsilon-optimal and to converge with probability 1. Although the problem is solved in its generality, its application in nonlinear optimization has also been suggested. Typically, an optimization process involves working one's way toward the maximum (minimum) using the local information that is available. However, the crucial issue in these strategies is that of determining the parameter to be used in the optimization itself. If the parameter is too small the convergence is sluggish. On the other hand, if the parameter is too large, the system could erroneously converge or even oscillate. Our strategy can be used to determine the best parameter to be used in the optimization.
Differential effects of amphetamine transport vs. dopamine reverse transport on particulate PKC activity in striatal synaptoneurosomes

Amphetamine has been shown to increase striatal particulate protein kinase C (PKC) activity [Giambalvo ( 1992b ) Neuropharmacology 31:1211–1222]. The present study examined possible mechanisms involved. Specifically, the effects of calcium, endogenous DA, and DA receptors on the amphetamine‐induced increase in PKC activity in striatal synaptoneurosomes were examined. Naïve rats and rats pretreated with N‐ethoxy‐carbonyl‐2‐ethoxy‐1,2‐dihydroquinolone (EEDQ, i.p.), a nonselective irreversible receptor antagonist, or with α‐methyl‐p‐tyrosine (AMPT, i.p.), a DA synthesis inhibitor, were sacrificed and striatal synaptoneurosomes were prepared. The tissue was incubated with amphetamine, with and without calcium, and PKC activity was then determined by the endogenous phosphorylation of endogenous substrate proteins, as described previously [Giambalvo ( 1988a ) Biochem Pharmacol 37:4001–4007]. It was found that calcium enhanced the effect of amphetamine on PKC activity, even in rats pretreated with EEDQ. Intracellular calcium was required since pretreatment with 1,2‐bis (2‐aminophenoxy) ethane‐N, N, N, N‐tetracetic acid acetoxymethyl ester (BAPTA‐AM) in vitro attenuated the amphetamine‐induced increase in PKC activity, resulting in an inhibition of PKC activity instead. Likewise, endogenous DA was essential since pretreatment with AMPT resulted in a similar amphetamine‐induced inhibition of PKC activity. Pretreatment with AMPT did not alter the inhibitory effect of the D2 DA agonist, LY 171555, on PKC activity. It did, however, abolish the calcium‐dependent stimulatory effect of the D1 agonist SKF 38393 on PKC activity, rendering it inhibitory regardless of calcium. Considering that both BAPTA‐AM and AMPT pretreatments, which diminished DA release without affecting uptake via different mechanisms, produced similar inhibitory effects on PKC activity by amphetamine, these results suggest that the inward transport of amphetamine had an inhibitory effect on PKC activity. In contrast, the outward transport of DA seemed to have a stimulatory effect on PKC activity since incubation with low sodium or with ouabain, conditions that promote DA reverse‐transport, increased PKC activity. These results showed that PKC activity was altered differently during inward vs. outward transport. The amphetamine‐induced increase in PKC activity was attenuated by pretreatment with DA uptake blockers (nomifensine, GBR 12935, and bupropion), even though these drugs by themselves also increased PKC activity. This effect was diminished by calcium and persisted in rats pretreated with EEDQ. Thus, calcium had a differential effect on the PKC activity induced by a transported substrate (amphetamine) vs. nontransported inhibitors (DA uptake blockers). Synapse 49:125–133, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Vector Quantization in Multi-Resolution Mesh Compression

Irregularly sampled triangular meshes contain vertices in a geometric space with arbitrary connectivity degrees. From a compression point of view, this letter prese nts a multi-resolution analysis for irregular meshes using progressive vector quantization (VQ). We show t at vector quantization exploits the joint distribution of coordinates in the geometric space, thus im proving the compression efficiency. Based on the presented compression algorithm, we further propose an equalization algorithm that properly balances between connectivity downsampling and geometry quantizat ion and achieves the optimal rate-distortion performance under constrained bit rates. Index Terms Vector quantization, Multi-resolution, Compression, Irr egular mesh, Connectivity, Geometry, Ratedistortion performance The authors are with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 210 Technology Circle, Savannah, GA 31407, USA. Tel: (912) 966-7937, Fax: (912 ) 66-7928, Email:{lijunlin, dhtian, gregib}@ece.gatech. edu.
Effect of Long-Term Body-Mass-Based Resistance Exercise on Cognitive Function in Elderly People

The study examined the effect of a body-mass-based home exercise program on cognitive functioning among 170 male and female elderly people (52-81 years). This program comprised five kinds of resistance exercises that elderly people can perform at home without supervision or specialized equipment using only their body mass for resistance. Various cognitive tasks were used to assess cognitive functioning, including a simple reaction task, Go/No-Go reaction task, Stroop task, serial subtraction task, and coincident timing task. These tasks were performed before and after a 3-month body-mass-based home exercise program. Although there were no significant improvements in the simple reaction and coincident timing tasks, significant improvement was shown in the Go/No-Go reaction task and serial subtraction task. This study shows that even simple resistance exercise, using only body mass for resistance, may be an effective method for preventing age-related cognitive decline of inhibitory control and working memory among elderly people.
Insights into Cystic Fibrosis Polymicrobial Consortia: The Role of Species Interactions in Biofilm Development, Phenotype, and Response to In-Use Antibiotics

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) airways disease involves complex polymicrobial infections where different bacterial species can interact and influence each other and/or even interfere with the whole community. To gain insights into the role that interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa in co-culture with Staphylococcus aureus, Inquilinus limosus, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia may play in infection, the reciprocal effect during biofilm formation and the response of dual biofilms toward ciprofloxacin under in vitro atmospheres with different oxygen availabilities were evaluated. Biofilm formation kinetics showed that the growth of S. aureus, I. limosus, and S. maltophilia was disturbed in the presence of P. aeruginosa, under both aerobic and anaerobic environments. On the other hand, under aerobic conditions, I. limosus led to a decrease in biofilm mass production by P. aeruginosa, although biofilm-cells viability remains unaltered. The interaction between S. maltophilia and P. aeruginosa positively influenced dual biofilm development by increasing its biomass. Compared with monocultures, biomass of P. aeruginosa+ S. aureus biofilms was significantly reduced by reciprocal interference. When grown in dual biofilms with P. aeruginosa, ciprofloxacin was less effective against S. aureus, I. limosus, and S. maltophilia, with increasing antibiotic doses leading to drastic inhibitions of P. aeruginosa cultivability. Therefore, P. aeruginosa might be responsible for the protection of the whole dual consortia against ciprofloxacin activity. Based on the overall data, it can be speculated that reciprocal interferences occur between the different bacterial species in CF lung, regardless the level of oxygen. The findings also suggest that alterations of bacterial behavior due to species interplay may be important for disease progression in CF infection.
The team climate inventory: Development of the tci and its applications in teambuilding for innovativeness

This article describes the development and application of a measure of group processes and climate for innovation–the Team Climate Inventory. It focuses on shared objectives or vision; group participation and safety; team support for innovation; and the group's task orientation. Two case studies of diagnostic interventions, employing the Team Climate Inventory, are described.
The Antecedents of Middle Managers' Strategic Contribution: The Case of a Professional Bureaucracy

Our study contributes towards a burgeoning literature that argues organizational performance is heavily influenced by what happens in the middle of the organization, rather than at the top. Examining the UK National Health Service, our study develops the work of Floyd and Wooldridge (1992, 1994, 1997, 2000). It utilizes role theory to conceptualize changing experiences of middle managers in organizations as a role transition. Associated with this are problems of role conflict and role ambiguity (Biddle, 1979, 1986; Biddle and Thomas, 1966; Kahn et al., 1964, 1966). Our study illustrates that there are limiting factors to a more strategic role for middle managers associated with the professional bureaucracy context. However, role conflict and ambiguity can be mediated by a socialization process, which values incoming identity and personal characteristics (Van Maanen and Schein, 1979).
Resolved stellar mass maps of galaxies. I: method and implications for global mass estimates

We introduce a novel technique to construct spatially resolved maps of stellar mass surface density in galaxies based on optical and near-infrared (NIR) imaging. We use optical/NIR colour(s) to infer effective stellar mass-to-light ratios (M/L) at each pixel, which are then multiplied by the surface brightness to obtain the local surface stellar mass density. We build look-up tables to express M/L as a function of colour(s) by marginalizing over a Monte Carlo library of 50 000 stellar population synthesis (SPS) models by Charlot & Bruzual, which include a revised prescription for the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stellar evolutionary phase. Moreover, we incorporate a wide range of possible dust extinction parameters. In order to extract reliable flux and colour information at any position in the galaxy, we perform a median adaptive smoothing of the images that preserves the highest possible spatial resolution. As the most practical and robust, and hence fiducial method, we express the M/L in the H band as a function of (g−i) and (i−H). Stellar mass maps computed in this way have a typical accuracy of 30 per cent or less at any given pixel, determined from the scatter in the models. We compare maps obtained with our fiducial method with those derived using other combinations of bandpasses: (i) mass maps based on the M/L in NIR bands require one optical and one optical-NIR colour to avoid significant biases as a function of the local physical properties of a galaxy; (ii) maps based on M/L in i band as a function of (g−i) only are generally in excellent agreement with our best optical-NIR set, except for extremely star-forming and dust extincted regions. We further compute stellar mass maps using a model library identical to the previous one except for being based on older SPS models, which assume shorter lived TP-AGB stars. The M/L in the NIR inferred using these old models may be up to 2.5 times larger than the new ones, but this varies strongly as a function of colours and is maximal for the bluest colours. Finally, we compare total stellar mass estimates obtained by integrating resolved mass maps with those obtained with unresolved photometry. In galaxies with evident dust lanes, unresolved estimates may miss up to 40 per cent of the total stellar mass because dusty regions are strongly under-represented in the luminous fluxes.