Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Model Uncertainty in Financial Markets: Long Run Risk and Parameter Uncertainty

Uncertainty surrounding key parameters of financial markets, such as the in- flation and equity risk premium, constitute a major risk for institutional investors with long investment horizons. Hedging the investors’ inflation exposure can be challenging due to the lack of domestic inflation-linked securities. I show that inflation hedging investors can benefit from holding bonds that are linked to inflation in foreign countries. Investors can further improve their inflation hedge by incorporating the long term interactions between his own inflation exposure and the foreign inflation measures. Focusing on the major inflation-linked security markets, I find an increase of the inflation risk premium over the financial crisis in the UK, whereas in the US it decreased. Since the parameter uncertainty of these estimates is large, and increased over the financial crisis in both the UK and US markets, I present a framework in which investors can quantify and integrate it in their long term investment decisions. Finally, I demonstrate that the difficulty of estimating the equity risk premium is the largest source of parameter uncertainty in defined contribution pension contracts. I introduce a methodology to take parameter uncertainty into account, so that participants can set contributions that reflect the uncertainty about their replacement rate at retirement. Overall, this thesis demonstrates robust methods to incorporate the effects of parameter uncertainty and contributes to the literature on how parameter uncertainty of financial models can substantially affect the investors’ investment risk.
A Large Structure of Galaxies at Redshift z ~ 3 and Its Cosmological Implications

We report the discovery of a highly significant concentration of galaxies at a redshift of ⟨z⟩ = 3.090. The structure is evident in a redshift histogram of photometrically selected "Lyman-break" objects in a 9' by 18' field in which we have obtained 78 spectroscopic redshifts in the range 2.0 ≤ z ≤ 3.4. The dimensions of the structure projected on the plane of the sky are at least 11' by 8', or 14 h−170 by 10 h−170 Mpc (comoving; ΩM = 1). The concentration contains 15 galaxies and one faint (ℛ=21.7) QSO. We consider the structure in the context of a number of cosmological models and argue that Lyman-break galaxies must be very biased tracers of mass, with an effective bias on mass scale M ~ 1015 M☉ ranging from b ~ 2 for ΩM = 0.2 to b ≳ 6 for ΩM = 1. In a cold dark matter scenario, the large bias values suggest that individual Lyman-break galaxies are associated with dark halos of mass M ~ 1012 M☉, reinforcing the interpretation of these objects as the progenitors of massive galaxies at the present epoch. Preliminary results of spectroscopy in additional fields suggest that such large structures are common at z ~ 3, with about one similar structure per survey field. The implied space density is consistent with the possibility that we are observing moderately rich clusters of galaxies in their early nonlinear evolution. Finally, the spectrum of one of the QSOs discovered in our survey (zem = 3.356) exhibits metal-line absorption systems within the three redshift bins having the largest number of galaxies in field, z = 2.93, 3.09, and 3.28. These results are the first from an ongoing "targeted" redshift survey designed to explore the nature and distribution of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 2.7 ≲ z ≲ 3.4.
Optical observations of three Galactic halo stars: evidence for cloudlets in intermediate- and high-velocity interstellar clouds

Very high resolution (R � 160000) absorption line measurements of the interstellar Caii K and Nai D lines and medium resolution (R � 50000) measurements of the inter- stellar Tiii (3384 ˚ A) line towards three Galactic halo stars are presented. The data have signal-to-noise ratios of � 90-240. The sightlines studied clearly show several intermediate-high velocity interstellar clouds with local standard of rest velocities in the range � 40 to 110 km s 1 . Two different methods have been used to analyze these data. Line profile fitting allows us to model multiple components for the different high-velocity clouds separated by only a few km s 1 . The close proximity of the lines in velocity space indicates that the cloudlets are related. Conversion of the absorption profiles to apparent optical depth profiles also allows us to examine the column densities and their ratios as a function of velocity. Variations in N(Caii)/N(Nai), N(Caii)/N(Tiii) and N(Tiii)/N(Nai) with cloud velocity are discussed.
Cross-layer cognitive MAC design for multi-hop wireless ad-hoc networks with stochastic primary protection

In this paper, we consider the probabilistic channel contention resolution problem for net revenue maximization in multi-hop wireless ad-hoc networks (MHAHNs) under collision-rate-constrained opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) approach. Specifically, we focus on the interference-dependent contention model, in which secondary users (SUs) must coordinate to each other to simultaneously balance between interference and collision, leading a more efficient MAC protocol than the location-dependent one proposed in the literature. By introducing some auxiliary variables and noisy channel estimations, we can then develop a novel heuristic cross-layer cognitive MAC protocol (HCC-MAC) in OSA-based MHAHNs to solve the formulated MAC optimization problem which is shown non-convex and inseparable. More importantly, our proposed protocol can achieve near-optimal throughput in a distributed manner without control overhead. Finally, the numerical results show that HCC-MAC can outperform the existing MAC protocols under OSA paradigm.
Robust Markov Decision Problems with Uncertain Transition Matrices

Optimal solutions to Markov Decision Problems (MDPs) are very sensitive with respect to the state transition probabilities. In many practical problems, the estimation of those probabilities is far from accurate. Hence, estimation errors, together with the curse of dimensionality, are limiting factors in applying MDPs to real-world problems. We propose an algorithm for solving finite-state and finite-action MDPs, where the solution is guaranteed to be robust with respect to estimation errors on the state transition probabilities. Our algorithm involves a statistically accurate yet numerically efficient representation of uncertainty via likelihood functions. The worst-case complexity of the robust algorithm is the same as the original Bellman recursion. Hence, robustness can be added at practically no extra computing cost.
DepthTouch: Using Depth-Sensing Camera to Enable Freehand Interactions On and Above the Interactive Surface

DepthTouch is an exploratory interactive surface system that combines the benefits of multi-touch-sensitive surface with the ability to interact in the hover space in front of the surface. DepthTouch uses a depth-sensing camera, which reports a range value per pixel in addition to color, to track the 3D position of the user’s head and hand through a transparent vertical display screen (DNP HoloScreen). The camera location behind the screen minimizes situations in which one hand occludes the other and allows for tracking of the user’s interactions on and off the surface by segmentation of range data. We outline our system hardware, the tracking implementation, and 3D interactions enabled. We also discuss feedback from hundreds of preliminary users and implications for future research.
3-D imaging of temporal and spatial development of Puccinia striiformis haustoria in wheat

Differentiation of haustoria on primary infection hyphae of the fungal pathogen Puccinia striiformis was studied in wheat seedlings with two-photon microscopy in combination with a classical staining technique. Our results showed a significant increase in the average haustorium size 22, 44, 68, 92 and 116 h after inoculation (hai). After 116 hai no significant change was observed until 336 hai. Haustorium morphology also changed significantly during the time of infection. Initially small spherical haustoria were seen, but as they grew the haustoria gradually became apically branched. At 22 hai all observed haustoria were spherical, but at 44 hai most haustoria had an irregular structure, and at 92 hai all observed haustoria appeared branched. Along with the changes of the haustorial body the haustorial neck changed from narrow and slender to having an expanded appearance with a rough and invaginated structure. The structural changes were similar in two susceptible wheat varieties, 514W and Cartago, although the mean haustorium size was larger in 514W than in Cartago at all intervals.
A performance evaluation model for effective job scheduling in global computing systems

The paper proposes a performance evaluation model for effective job scheduling in global computing systems. The proposed model represents a global computing system by a queueing network, in which servers and networks are represented by queueing systems. Evaluation of the proposed model showed that the model could simulate behavior of an actual global computing system and job scheduling on the system effectively.
A Game Theoretic Schema for Overcoming Selfish Allocation in P2P File Application

In this work, we formulate and solve the selfish allocation problem in P2P file application. We design and analyze a strategy proof, feasible, VCG-based file allocation mechanism, which provides a new, promising direction in distributed algorithmic mechanism design on P2P file application. Our work is different from the previously studied researches in three ways that make it more accurately reflective of real world P2P allocation: (1) we treat the nodes as strategic agents and treat the replica allocation as a deliberate auction where node is incentivized to give his true quality of service for getting the replica, (2) our mechanism can achieve group strategy proof for all nodes, (3) we show how to compute our mechanism with a distributed algorithm that is a straightforward extension to P2P allocation method and finally we give simulations to illustrate great improvement in delay and throughput in P2P file application by our schema.
Variations in the Spin Period of the Radio-quiet Pulsar 1E 1207.4–5209

The X-ray source 1E 1207.4-5209 is a compact central object in the G296.5+10.0 supernova remnant. Its spin period of 424 ms, discovered with Chandra, suggests that it is a neutron star. The X-ray spectrum of this radio-quiet pulsar shows at least two absorption lines, the first spectral features discovered in radiation from an isolated neutron star. Here we report the results of timing analyses of Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of this source showing a nonmonotonous behavior of its period. We discuss three hypotheses that might explain the observational result. The first assumes that 1E 1207.4-5209 is a glitching pulsar, with frequency jumps of Δf ≳ 5 μHz occurring every 1-2 yr. The second hypothesis explains the deviations from a steady spin-down as being due to accretion (with the accretion rate varying from ~1013 to ≳1016 g s-1) from a disk possibly formed from ejecta produced in the supernova explosion. Finally, the period variations might be explained by assuming the pulsar is in a wide binary system with a long period Porb ~ 0.2-6 yr and a low-mass companion M2 < 0.3 M☉.
The Effects of Monetary and Technology Shocks in Three Different Models of the Euro Area

The purpose of this study is to analyse the dynamic response of a set of euro area macroeconomic variables to monetary policy and technology shocks. We do so by conducting simulations on three different models of the euro area. The first modelling approach corresponds to structural VAR models (SVAR), the second approach uses the NiGEM multi-country model developed by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and the third approach is a slightly modified version of the Smets and Wouters (2003) Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model.
A Tentative Technique for the Study and Planning of Co-Evolution in Product

Startups play an important role in the production of product software. We state that these companies follow a specific dynamic in which both product and software process evolve. Products do not simply grow linearly by adding features, but will also have to improve on non-functional qualities of the software, like portability or reliability. The software process evolves by adding new and improving existing process models. In this paper we introduce a technique to visualize the prioritization of evolution steps in both the software product and the software process. With this technique to co-evolution can be studied and this knowledge serve as input for the planning of future startups.
Recovery and Utilization of Deceased Donor Kidneys from Small Pediatric Donors

The optimal use of kidneys from small pediatric deceased donors remains undetermined. Using data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, 2886 small (<21 kg) pediatric donors between 1993 and 2002 were identified. Donor factors predictive of kidney recovery and transplantation (1343 en bloc; 1600 single) were identified by logistic regression. Multivariable Cox regression was used to assess the risk of graft loss. The rate of kidney recovery from small pediatric donors was significantly higher with increasing age, weight and height. The odds of transplant of recovered small donor kidneys were significantly higher with increasing age, weight, height and en bloc recovery (adjusted odds ratio = 65.8 vs. single; p < 0.0001), and significantly lower with increasing creatinine. Compared to en bloc, solitary transplants had a 78% higher risk of graft loss (p < 0.0001). En bloc transplants had a similar graft survival to ideal donors (p = 0.45) while solitary transplants had an increased risk of graft loss (p < 0.0001). En bloc recovery of kidneys from small pediatric donors may result in the highest probability of transplantation. Although limited by the retrospective nature of the study, kidneys transplanted en bloc had a similar graft survival to ideal donors but may not maximize the number of successfully transplanted recipients.
Smoking Is Associated with Alterations of Blood Thiol-Group Related Antioxidants in Patients on Hemodialysis

Cardiovascular disease is the major complication and cause of mortality in the dialysis population, accounting for about 40% of deaths. Oxidative stress has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of these events. As patients in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are in a state of elevated free radical activity, the aim of the present study was to investigate the negative impact of smoking in 45 male hemodialysis (HD) patients. These patients, who were 40–85 years of age (mean age 60.9 ± 13.3 years), had been on hemodialysis for at least 12 months before participating in this study. Fasting blood sampling for serum lipid, albumin, urate, lipid peroxides total blood glutathione (tGSH), non-GSH free sulfhydryl compounds (non-GSH fSH), plasma glutathione peroxidase (pGSHPx), erythrocytes glutathione peroxidase (rGSHPx), plasma glutathione S-transferase (pGST) and erythrocytes glutathione S-transferase (rGST) were determined. Our study showed that the plasma malonyldialdehyde (MDA) concentration was significantly higher in HD patients who smoked than in those who were non- smokers (1.99 ± 0.53 vs. 1.55 ± 0.46 nmol/ml, p = 0.008). No association was found between levels of MDA in smokers and BMI, serum cholesterol and triglycerides and smoking index. We also found that the circulating plasma levels of tGSH and non-GSH fSH was lower in the HD patients who smoked (tGSH 164.9 ± 41.5 vs. 203.4 ± 45.3 µg/ml; fSH 271.1 ± 55.8 vs. 308.8 ± 46.7 µg/ml; p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). There were no significant differences in the plasma levels of uric acid, pGSHPx, rGSHPx, pGST, rGST, albumin, and age between the 2 groups. Partial correlation analysis of the plasma levels of the measured antioxidants and the smoking index revealed a negative correlation between the plasma levels of tGSH and smoking index (r = –0.62, p < 0.003). Similarly, the plasma levels of tGSH was found negatively correlated with the levels of plasma MDA (r = –0.32, p < 0.05) of the HD patients. In conclusion, our data suggest that cigarette smoking has a negative impact on plasma-circulating products of lipid peroxidation in HD patients. The lower blood levels of the tGSH and non-GSH fSH in HD patients who smoked suggests that these patients may be more susceptible to oxidative damage caused by smoking.
Convergence Rate Analysis of the Majorize–Minimize Subspace Algorithm

State-of-the-art methods for solving smooth optimization problems are nonlinear conjugate gradient, low memory BFGS, and majorize-minimize (MM) subspace algorithms. The MM subspace algorithm that has been introduced more recently has shown good practical performance when compared with other methods on various optimization problems arising in signal and image processing. However, to the best of our knowledge, no general result exists concerning the theoretical convergence rate of the MM subspace algorithm. This paper aims at deriving such convergence rates both for batch and online versions of the and in particular, discusses the influence of the choice of the subspace.
Search for Cellular Stress Biomarkers in Lymphocytes from Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system, the etiology of which, although not completely known, involves inflammation and autoimmunity. In the present study we aimed at identifying molecular markers of apoptosis, cellular stress and DNA damage in isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of MS patients. The analysis was carried on 19 relapsing-remitting untreated MS patients and 13 healthy individuals. We investigated the emergency-driven synthesis of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR), the expression level of the constitutive enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and the DNA damage-induced phosphorylation of histone H2AX. PAR accumulation, PARP-1 and phosphorylated H2AX (γH2AX) were detected by immunofluorescence experiments on PBMCs isolated from 19 patients and 13 healthy volunteers. Our results show for the first time a net increased amount in PAR and γH2AX in MS patients compared to healthy individuals. Patients were further subdivided in three groups, according to the neuroimaging (MRI)-based classification of disease phase. Remarkably, we found a positive correlation between the level of γH2AX and MS aggressiveness. In addition, apoptosis in PBMCs was monitored by flow cytometry of both phosphatidylserine exposure (revealed by Annexin V-FITC labeling) and membrane permeability to propidium iodide. Our observations provide the evidence that the number of apoptotic cells was significantly higher in patients compared to healthy individuals, thus suggesting that apoptosis could affect MS lymphocyte function.
Sorafenib Inhibits the Imatinib-Resistant KITT670I Gatekeeper Mutation in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor

Purpose: Resistance is commonly acquired in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor who are treated with imatinib mesylate, often due to the development of secondary mutations in the KIT kinase domain. We sought to investigate the efficacy of second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as sorafenib, dasatinib, and nilotinib, against the commonly observed imatinib-resistant KIT mutations (KITV654A, KITT670I, KITD820Y, and KITN822K) expressed in the Ba/F3 cellular system. Experimental Design:In vitro drug screening of stable Ba/F3 KIT mutants recapitulating the genotype of imatinib-resistant patients harboring primary and secondary KIT mutations was investigated. Comparison was made to imatinib-sensitive Ba/F3 KIT mutant cells as well as Ba/F3 cells expressing only secondary KIT mutations. The efficacy of drug treatment was evaluated by proliferation and apoptosis assays, in addition to biochemical inhibition of KIT activation. Results: Sorafenib was potent against all imatinib-resistant Ba/F3 KIT double mutants tested, including the gatekeeper secondary mutation KITWK557-8del/T670I, which was resistant to other kinase inhibitors. Although all three drugs tested decreased cell proliferation and inhibited KIT activation against exon 13 (KITV560del/V654A) and exon 17 (KITV559D/D820Y) double mutants, nilotinib did so at lower concentrations. Conclusions: Our results emphasize the need for tailored salvage therapy in imatinib-refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors according to individual molecular mechanisms of resistance. The Ba/F3 KITWK557-8del/T670I cells were sensitive only to sorafenib inhibition, whereas nilotinib was more potent on imatinib-resistant KITV560del/V654A and KITV559D/D820Y mutant cells than dasatinib and sorafenib.
Cognitive activities of abstraction in object orientation: an empirical study

Alongside the widespread support for adopting object orientation there are reports on difficulties in learning object oriented programming and design. This indicates the need for refining the research on cognitive difficulties in a way that will offer guidelines for better designing respective education. The presented findings of our study relate to general issues of object-oriented design and in particular to the abstraction issue with its various manifestations. Based on students' solutions we extracted a cognitive task analysis taxonomy regarding abstraction and inheritance. We discuss possible implications of our results for the teaching of object orientation and for further needed research.
The Council of Ministers

Introduction PART 1: WHO DOES WHAT? National Representatives Decide: The Ministers in Council Officials Prepare the Ground: The Preparatory Bodies Bureaucrats Organise and Advise: The Council Secretariat Taking Turns at the Wheel: The Presidency PART II: WITH WHOM? Overlapping Competences: The Council and the European Council Competition and Cooperation: The Council and the Commission An Evolving Partnership: The Council and the European Parliament Not Just Governments: The Council and the Member States PART III: HOW? Less Often than Expected: Voting in the Council Compromise and Consensus: Negotiation and Bargaining in the Council Conclusions
A min-cover based controller placement approach to build reliable control network in SDN

Software defined network (SDN) develops a centralized control plane to manage the whole network. If the scale of the network is large, it is necessary to deploy multiple distributed controllers. In SDN, a switch can only work by relying on flow tables received from its controller. Therefore, controller placement is an important problem to keep the switches working efficiently and improve the reliability of the control network, which consists of controllers, switches and the communication paths between them. However, the existing controller placement approaches are not effective or do not consider the network reliability and the required delay between switches and controllers at the same time. In order to ensure the reliability of the control network and meet the required propagation delay, a min-cover based controller placement approach is proposed. Two metrics are proposed to measure the reliability of a control network, and the definitions of neighborhood and min-cover are provided, based on which the approach try to use less controllers to achieve the reliability and low delay of the control network while guaranteeing the manageability of the network. Simulations show that min-cover based approach can use as less controllers as possible to ensure the reliability of control network and satisfy the required delay at the same time. Moreover, the approach has steadily good performance in networks of different scales and connectivity.