Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of public and semi-public information on cotton futures market

ABSTRACT This study estimated the impact of all major public and semi-public reports on the cotton futures market from 1995 through 2012. The estimation was based on the event study approach with the events measured by the release of five major reports: Export Sales, Crop Progress, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Prospective Plantings (public reports from US Department of Agriculture) and Cotton This Month (semi-public report from International Cotton Advisory Committee). The best-fitting IGARCH(1,1)-t model that accounted for the day-of-week, seasonality and stock levels was used to measure the report effects on daily nearby cotton close-to-close futures returns. Prospective Plantings and WASDE reports appeared to be the most important sources of information in the cotton markets moving the conditional standard deviation of returns by an average of 14.4 and 9.6 percentage points, respectively. However, significant market reaction was not found for the other three reports. Our analysis revealed that, in the presence of clustering, ignoring the impact of other reports would have resulted in about 18% overestimation of WASDE impact.
Convergence and Diversity: The Role and Influence of University Rankings 1

Over the last two decades league tables or rankings of universities and academic programs have come to prominence around the world. Following the publication of college and university rankings by US News and World Report (USNWR) in 1983, often identified as the first of the national rankings of universities (van Dyke, 2005), league tables have become a minor international industry. National league tables subsequently appeared in Canada, the UK, Australia, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In some cases rankings were produced by academic researchers such as those at the University of Melbourne and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, or by not for profit organizations such as the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) in Germany or the National Academy of Sciences in the US. But in the vast majority of cases league tables are produced by commercial publications. Most of the league tables suggest they are designed to inform student choice and as such provide rankings of entire universities, and/or rankings of academic degree programs, including first degree programs, professional programs such as MBAs and law degrees, and research doctoral programs. The initial USNWR rankings were based entirely on reputational surveys of college presidents and deans. Reputational surveys continue to play an important role in most of the available league tables, but they have now been supplemented with data on various measures of university input, process, or output (Dill and Soo, 2005). National research league tables have also been produced in conjunction with government performance funding initiatives inspired by the output-oriented budgeting theories of the New Public Management (NPM) (Kettl, 2005). These include the Research Assessment Exercise in the UK and the Quantum Research Fund in Australia. However since these research rankings are intended to inform government funding of research, they are quite different in purpose and design from the commercial and not for profit league tables that are most often oriented toward informing student consumers. Consequently, I will
Symbiont physiology and population dynamics before and during symbiont shifts in a flexible algal‐cnidarian symbiosis

For cnidarians that can undergo shifts in algal symbiont relative abundance, the underlying algal physiological changes that accompany these shifts are not well known. The sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima associates with the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium muscatinei and the chlorophyte Elliptochloris marina, symbionts with very different tolerances to light and temperature. We compared the performance of these symbionts in anemones maintained in an 8–11.5 month outdoor common garden experiment with simulated intertidal conditions and three levels of shading (2, 43, and 85% ambient irradiance). Symbiont densities, mitotic indices, photophysiology and pigments were assessed at three time points during the summer, a period of high irradiance and solar heating during aerial exposure. Whereas S. muscatinei was either neutrally or positively affected by higher irradiance treatments, E. marina responded mostly negatively to high irradiance. E. marina in the 85% irradiance treatment exhibited significantly reduced Pmax and chlorophyll early in the summer, but it was not until nearly 3 months later that a shift in symbiont relative abundance toward S. muscatinei occurred, coincident with bleaching. Symbiont densities and proportions remained largely stable in all other treatments over time, and displacement of S. muscatinei by E. marina was not observed in the 2% irradiance treatment despite the potentially better performance of E. marina. While our results support the view that rapid changes in symbiont relative abundance are typically associated with symbiont physiological dysfunction and bleaching, they also show that significant temporal lags may occur between the onset of symbiont stress and shifts in symbiont relative abundances.
Fully Polynomial Byzantine Agreement for n > 3t Processors in t + 1 Rounds

This paper presents a polynomial-time protocol for reaching Byzantine agreement in t + 1 rounds whenever n > 3t, where n is the number of processors and t is an a priori upper bound on the number of failures. This resolves an open problem presented by Pease, Shostak, and Lamport in 1980. An early-stopping variant of this protocol is also presented, reaching agreement in a number of rounds that is proportional to the number of processors that actually fail.
A Game Theoretic Model of Software Crowdsourcing

With the rapid development of crowdsourcing all over the world, crowdsourcing for software engineering begins to attract more and more considerable attentions from software developers, coders and researchers. And many successful online platforms such as TopCoder has demonstrated crowdsourcing's capability and potential for supporting various software development activities. In order to study the competitive behaviours for software crowdsourcing, we apply the famous game theory to model the 2-player algorithm challenges on TopCoder. And as all the participants are aware of other players' information and they make decisions almost simultaneously, this article adopts the theory of static games with complete information. Through Nash equilibria computing, we find that the value of successfully challenging probability can be used to deduce specific competitive decisions of coders in the algorithm challenge stage. Specifically, if a coder's probability to make a successful challenge exceeds some certain value, then he will always choose to challenge. The paper provides a new research perspective for software engineering crowdsourcing, and empirical research will be done in the next step of work.
Early object labels: the case for a developmental lexical principles framework

ABSTRACT Universally, object names make up the largest proportion of any word type found in children's early lexicons. Here we present and critically evaluate a set of six lexical principles (some previously proposed and some new) for making object label learning a manageable task. Overall, the principles have the effect of reducing the amount of information that language-learning children must consider for what a new word might mean. These principles are constructed by children in a two-tiered developmental sequence, as a function of their sensitivity to linguistic input, contextual information, and social-interactional cues. Thus, the process of lexical acquisition changes as a result of the particular principles a given child has at his or her disposal. For children who have only the principles of the first tier (REFERENCE, EXTENDIBILITY, and OBJECT SCOPE), word learning has a deliberate and laborious look. The principles of the second tier (CATEGORICAL SCOPE, NOVEL NAME – NAMELESS CATEGORY’ or N3C, and CONVENTIONALITY) enable the child to acquire many new labels rapidly. The present unified account is argued to have a number of advantages over treating such principles separately and non-developmentally. Further, the explicit recognition that the acquisition and operation of these principles is influenced by the child's interpretation of both linguistic and non-linguistic input is seen as an advance.
Statistical Approach to Neighborhood Congestion Control in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

The concept of Active Queue Management (AQM), broadly used in Internet Congestion Control, has been recently introduced to ad hoc wireless networks as a means to mitigate the severe TCP unfairness across flows. In particular, Neighborhood RED (NRED) has been proposed as an extension to the Random Early Detection (RED) mechanism with the goal of ensuring fair bandwidth allocation across flows in the networks. NRED provides improvements but suffers from limitations that can make its broad implementation difficult. This paper describes two fundamental principles governing neighborhood congestion among TCP flows in ad hoc wireless networks which are exploited to develop an improved control mechanism. The first principle indicates that the likelihood of the channel being captured by a node grows exponentially with the disparity between the node's channel utilization and the expected utilization level. The second principle indicates that traditional random packet marking in NRED leads to reduced fairness across flows, pointing to a simple dropping/marking strategy based on the concept of error diffusion where packet marks are spread apart as homogeneously as possible. The power of these fundamental principles is demonstrated in a Congestion Control scheme referred to as Neighborhood Diffusion Early Marking (NDEM) which results in a more efficient bandwidth distribution compared to NRED.
A New Efficient and Direct Solution for Pose Estimation Using Quadrangular Targets: Algorithm and Evaluation

Pose estimation is an important operation for many vision tasks. In this paper, the authors propose an algorithm for pose estimation based on the volume measurement of tetrahedra composed of feature-point triplets extracted from an arbitrary quadrangular target and the lens center of the vision system. The inputs to this algorithm are the six distances joining all feature pairs and the image coordinates of the quadrangular target. The outputs of this algorithm are the effective focal length of the vision system, the interior orientation parameters of the target, the exterior orientation parameters of the camera with respect to an arbitrary coordinate system if the target coordinates are known in this frame, and the final pose of the camera. The authors have also developed a shape restoration technique which is applied prior to pose recovery in order to reduce the effects of inaccuracies caused by image projection. An evaluation of the method has shown that this pose estimation technique is accurate and robust. Because it is based on a unique and closed form solution, its speed makes it a potential candidate for solving a variety of landmark-based tracking problems. >
Foreshadowing Strategic Pan-Ethnic Politics: Asian American Campaign Finance Activity in Varying Multicultural Contexts

Research on Asian American politics is hampered by data limitations. Asian Americans comprise a small proportion of the population, and few political candidates are of Asian descent. However, because the Asian American population is growing quickly, interest in the group's political behavior has grown. One source of data that can be exploited to understand Asian American political behavior is the state of Hawaii. Hawaii provides a natural experiment since the majority of its citizens are Asian American and Asian political candidates are commonplace. This study of Hawaiian politics focuses on Asian American campaign finance behavior. I find that as Asian Americans locate themselves in more multicultural settings, they become more politically strategic, less focused on national-origin groupings, and more inclined to embrace a pan-ethnic identity.
Regulation of vascular tone.

The intimal surface of the blood vessel in vivo is subject to shear stress resulting from blood flow, which in most of the circulation, at least at rest, is laminar. Turbulence can occur at bifurcations, especially those of the large arteries, and where vessels curve significantly. Shear stress is a frictional tangential force exerted at the fluid-intimal interface in the long axis of the vessel. It is now known that hemodynamic shear stress can influence a large variety of biological processes in endothelial cells, which vary from those with a short response time, just a few milliseconds, such as the opening of ion channels, to those that change over a period of minutes to several hours, for example, endocytosis and cytoskeleton rearrangement, and those features that alter much more slowly, such as cell shape and stiffness. In addition to these types of changes, there are suggestions that flow acting through shear stress may be responsible for several basic attributes of the vasculature, including the relative size and diameter of the components of a branching vascular system. In this symposium on the flow regulation of the blood vessel, the first presentation dealt with optimality principles that appear to govern the dimensions of the vasculature, in particular the geometry of the arterial branching and the role of shear stress. An optimally designed system is one that requires the least metabolic work to perform its function. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Single-Molecule and Ensemble Diffusivities in Individual Nanopores with Spatially Dependent Mobility.

We investigated single-molecule and ensemble diffusivities in a silica nanopore with a chemically modified surface by molecular dynamics simulations. Solutes with graded polarity (nonpolar ethylbenzene and moderately polar benzyl alcohol) were equilibrated with a 40:60 v/v water/acetonitrile solvent in a 10 nm pore, the surface of which was rendered hydrophobic by modification with alkyl chains. Simulations enable detailed sampling of spatially dependent solvent and solute mobilities, which originate from microheterogeneity induced by the surface modification. Acetonitrile is enriched near the ends of the alkyl chains and forms a high-mobility interface region between the (nonpolar) bonded phase at the surface and the (polar) bulk liquid in the center of the pore. Solvent and solute diffusivities calculated from the time average of a single molecule and from the ensemble average over all molecules, respectively, revealed excellent agreement, which implies validity of ergodicity. The molecular-simulation approach to investigate the time average of a single molecule, on the one hand, and the ensemble average over a larger number of molecules, on the other hand, is general and can be adapted for a variety of surfaces, solvents, and solute molecules by using pores with tailored geometries and surface modifications.
Cellular Processing of Cone Photoreceptor Cyclic GMP-gated Ion Channels

We examined cellular protein processing and functional expression of photoreceptor cyclic nucleotidegated (CNG) ion channels. In a mammalian cell line, wild type bovine cone photoreceptor channel α subunits (bCNGA3) convert from an unglycosylated state, at 90 kDa, to two glycosylated states at 93 and 102 kDa as they transit within the cell to their final location at the plasma membrane. Glycosylation per se is not required to yield functional channels, yet it is a milestone that distinguishes sequential steps in channel protein maturation. CNG ion channels are not gated by membrane voltage although their structure includes the transmembrane S4 motif known to function as the membrane voltage sensor in all voltage-gated ion channels. S4 must be functionally important because its natural mutation in cone photoreceptor CNG channels is associated with achromatopsia, a human autosomal inherited loss of cone function. Point mutation of specific, not all, charged and neutral residues within S4 cause failure of functional channel expression. Cellular channel protein processing fails in every one of the non-functional S4 mutations we studied. Mutant proteins do not reach the 102-kDa glycosylated state and do not arrive at the plasma membrane. They remain trapped within the endoplasmic reticulum and fail to transit out to the Golgi apparatus. Coexpression of cone CNG β subunit (CNGB3) does not rescue the consequence of S4 mutations in CNGA3. It is likely that an intact S4 is required for proper protein folding and/or assembly in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.
A Solution to the Chance-Constrained Two-Stage Stochastic Program for Unit Commitment With Wind Energy Integration

This paper presents a unit commitment problem with uncertain loads and wind power. A chance-constrained two-stage stochastic program programming formulation is proposed for the stochastic day-ahead scheduling. The loss of load probability (LOLP) and the probability of wind power utilization less than certain level, referred to as loss of wind probability (LOWP), and transmission line overloading probability (TLOP) are modeled as chance constraints, to provide high reliability of power supply and to ensure the high utilization of wind generation. The chance-constrained stochastic programming formulation is converted into an equivalent deterministic formulation by a sequence of approximations and verification. Correlations between loads at different buses and correlations between wind power at different buses are also considered by the proposed approach. Numerical tests are performed on a six-bus system and a modified IEEE 118-bus system. Results validate the viability of the proposed algorithm formulation for the day-ahead stochastic scheduling. The impact of different levels of LOLP and LOWP on the required up/down spinning reserves are also presented in this paper.
Compliant antagonistic joint tuning for gravitational load cancellation and improved efficient mobility

This paper introduces the design tuning of a recently introduced compliant actuation scheme that was developed to provide large energy storage capacity and demonstrate energetic efficient operation. The joint is based on an asymmetric compliant antagonistic actuation scheme where torques from two motors are transmitted to the joint through two elastic elements of different stiffness level and energy storage capacity. The paper presents the method used to tune the joint compliance and shows how this can be used to select the passive elasticity of a single degree of freedom (DOF) hopping leg for improving its energetic efficiency. The design and modeling of the hopping leg are discussed and experimental results are presented to verify the improved efficiency of the leg, particularly the power and torque reduction benefits obtained under static postures or cyclic motions.
Loss of Life Caused by the Flooding of New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina: Analysis of the Relationship Between Flood Characteristics and Mortality

In this article a preliminary analysis of the loss of life caused by Hurricane Katrina in the New Orleans metropolitan area is presented. The hurricane caused more than 1,100 fatalities in the state of Louisiana. A preliminary data set that gives information on the recovery locations and individual characteristics for 771 fatalities has been analyzed. One‐third of the analyzed fatalities occurred outside the flooded areas or in hospitals and shelters in the flooded area. These fatalities were due to the adverse public health situation that developed after the floods. Two‐thirds of the analyzed fatalities were most likely associated with the direct physical impacts of the flood and mostly caused by drowning. The majority of victims were elderly: nearly 60% of fatalities were over 65 years old. Similar to historical flood events, mortality rates were highest in areas near severe breaches and in areas with large water depths. An empirical relationship has been derived between the water depth and mortality and this has been compared with similar mortality functions proposed based on data for other flood events. The overall mortality among the exposed population for this event was approximately 1%, which is similar to findings for historical flood events. Despite the fact that the presented results are preliminary they give important insights into the determinants of loss of life and the relationship between mortality and flood characteristics.
Effect of exogenous estradiol and progesterone upon lipase activity and spontaneous lipolysis in bovine milk.

Three of six lactating Jersey cows received estradiol--17 beta and progesterone (.10 and .25 mg/kg body weight per day subcutaneously for 7 consecutive days. Lipase activity and acid degree were determined for morning milk samples stored 24 h at 4 degrees C. Whole milk lipase activity did not increase over control milk samples; however, lipase activity of cream fraction and percent whole milk lipase activity in cream fraction increased 200 and 100%. Increases in acid degree occurred also and were closely correlated (.8 to .9) with lipase activity of cream fraction and percent whole milk lipase activity in cream fraction. Cooling was not required to effect association of lipase with cream fraction. Two treated cows developed mastitis-like symptoms after elevation in lipase activity of cream fraction and acid degree. Estradiol alone evoked similar responses.
A Balanced-to-Balanced Power Divider With Wide Bandwidth

In this letter, a balanced-to-balanced power divider (PD) is proposed. By etching both slot and aperture on the common ground of the back-to-back microstrip Wilkinson PD, the proposed balanced-to-balanced PD can achieve wide and high common-mode (CM) suppression while keeping the PD function for differential-mode signals. Compared with previous technologies of CM suppression for back-to-back microstrip balanced circuits, the proposed one has the advantage of compact size. Furthermore, the proposed PD shows enhanced bandwidth for matching and isolation. A prototype is realized with the size of 0.35 λg × 0.4 λg. The measured results show relative frequency bandwidth for dB of 85%. The fractional bandwidths for |Sdd32|, |Scc21| and |Scc32| under -20 dB are 44%, 44% and 55%, respectively.
Mental States, EEG Manifestations, and Mentally Emulated Digital Circuits for Brain-Robot Interaction

This paper focuses on electroencephalogram (EEG) manifestations of mental states and actions, emulation of control and communication structures using EEG manifestations, and their application in brain-robot interactions. The paper introduces a mentally emulated demultiplexer, a device which uses mental actions to demultiplex a single EEG channel into multiple digital commands. The presented device is applicable in controlling several objects through a single EEG channel. The experimental proof of the concept is given by an obstacle-containing trajectory which should be negotiated by a robotic arm with two degrees of freedom, controlled by mental states of a human brain using a single EEG channel. The work is presented in the framework of Human-Robot interaction (HRI), specifically in the framework of brain-robot interaction (BRI). This work is a continuation of a previous work on developing mentally emulated digital devices, such as a mental action switch, and a mental states flip-flop.