Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Next hour load forecast in medium voltage electricity distribution

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess next hour load forecast in medium voltage electricity distribution.Design/methodology/approach – The methodological approach used in this paper, is based on a regressive method – artificial neural network. A real life case study is used for illustrating the defined steps and to discuss the results.Findings – The presence of a de‐regulated environment reinforces the need of short‐term forecast algorithms (STLF). Actions like network management, load dispatch and network reconfiguration under quality of service constraints, require reliable next hour load forecasts. Methodological approaches based on regressive methods such as artificial neural networks are widely used in STLF, with satisfactory results. The construction of an “efficient” artificial neural networks goes through, among other factors, the construction of an “efficient” input vector (IV), in order to avoid over fitting problems and keeping the global simplicity of the model. The explanatory vari.
CRAC inhibitors: identification and potential

Background: Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels, a subfamily of store-operated channels, play an essential role in various diseases such as immune disorders and allergic responses. Objective: The successful treatment of these diseases requires the identification of specific inhibitors. So far, a variety of chemical compounds blocking CRAC have been identified; however, they have all turned out to be less specific. Recently two proteins, STIM1 and ORAI1, have been identified as the essential components that fully reconstitute CRAC currents with a similar biophysical fingerprint. Method: These two proteins and their activation process represent direct targets for the application of specific CRAC inhibitors. Results/conclusion: For drug development, fluorescence microscopy adaptable for high-throughput screening will provide a powerful assay to mechanistically identify potential CRAC inhibitors that act on various stages within the STIM1/ORAI1 activation pathway visualized by fluorescent-tagged proteins.
Exploring a service-based normal behaviour profiling system for botnet detection

Effective detection of botnet traffic becomes difficult as the attackers use encrypted payload and dynamically changing port numbers (protocols) to bypass signature based detection and deep packet inspection. In this paper, we build a normal profiling-based botnet detection system using three unsupervised learning algorithms on service-based flow-based data, including self-organizing map, local outlier, and k-NN outlier factors. Evaluations on publicly available botnet data sets show that the proposed system could reach up to 91% detection rate with a false alarm rate of 5%.
Critical Role for N-ethylmaleimide – Sensitive Fusion Protein ( NSF ) in Platelet Granule Secretion By János Polgár

The molecular mechanisms that regulate membrane targeting/fusion during platelet granule secretion are not yet understood. N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein (NSF), soluble NSF attachment proteins (SNAPs), and SNAREs (SNAP receptors) are elements of a conserved molecular machinery for membrane targeting/fusion that have been detected in platelets. We examined whether NSF, an ATPase that has been shown to play a critical role in membrane targeting/fusion in many cell types, is necessary for platelet granule secretion. Peptides that mimic NSF sequence motifs inhibited both a-granule and dense-granule secretion in permeabilized human platelets. This inhibitory effect was sequence-specific, because neither proteinase K-digested peptides nor peptides containing similar amino acids in a scrambled sequence inhibited platelet secretion. The peptides that inhibited platelet granule secretion also inhibited the human recombinant a-SNAP–stimulated ATPase activity of recombinant NSF. It was also found that anti-NSF antibodies, which inhibited recombinant a-SNAP–stimulated ATPase activity of NSF, inhibited platelet granule secretion in permeabilized cells. The inhibition by anti-NSF antibodies was abolished by the addition of recombinant NSF. These data provide the first functional evidence that NSF plays an important role in platelet granule secretion. r 1999 by The American Society of Hematology.
The Speed of Stock Price Discovery

We develop closed-form expressions for the path and speed of stock price discovery in a utility-based CAPM with wealth effects. Two investors with uniquely bounded risk-preferences always apply opposite portfolio rebalancing trades. These trades determine the intra-period path and speed of price discovery in a Walrasian, tâtonnement setup. While conditions for maximum speed exist, convergence is rapid over a wide range of endowments and preferences. Convergence to equilibrium is exponential, and its speed depends on endowments, risk-preferences, firm size, and market price for risk. Convergence is not guaranteed, and the conditions for divergence are specified.
The Return of Keynesian Economics: A Contribution in the Spirit of John Cornwall's Work

This paper assesses the recent interest for Keynesian economics in academia and policy-making circles. It examines the main features of Keynesian economics vis-à-vis neoclassical economics, before presenting the three-equation New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) model and its Keynesian roots. Drawing on the work of John Cornwall, the main conclusion of the paper is that the most important criticisms of the model are related to the acceptance of the axiom of independence between aggregate supply and aggregate demand by proponents of the NCM view.
Partnerships and the private recruitment industry

This article, based on a postal survey and qualitative interview-based research, examines the relationship between major private recruitment bureaux and their clients in the UK, with particular attention to the recruitment and selection of temporary workers. The private recruitment industry is growing and large bureaux are seeking closer partnership arrangements with clients. Contracts for labour services are being developed on a 'preferred' supplier basis – similar in type to the approach taken for the purchase or supply of goods or components. However, formal preferred supplier contracts with temporary work bureaux were used by only a minority of clients, usually larger organisations or those having projects or workplaces with high volume demand. While such bureaux seek models of relational contracting or partnering, many clients prefer less fully engaged or 'semi-distanced' relations facilitated by the informal dimensions of inter-organisational contacts.
Law Students' Perceptions of Online Self-Assessment Assignments in an Accounting Module

The low throughput of accounting students constitutes a major challenge at the University of South Africa (Unisa), a distance education institution, and in particular, to Law students who need to pass a basic introductory Accounting module as part of their Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. As this module normally involves these students’ first encounter with accounting concepts, it was evident that a different learning approach was needed from that used for their Law subjects. In South Africa, where internet connectivity remains an obstacle for synchronous learning, distance-learning institutions are constantly being challenged to lessen the negative effect of distance on the students’ learning experience. Therefore, asynchronous online student support is often used at Unisa to improve current distance-learning practices as such support also has the potential to enhance students’ learning outcomes. To assist these LLB students, lecturers in the Accounting module incorporated various asynchronous online learning tools. By combining online self-assessment assignments, regular e-mail notifications and discussion forum communication, lecturers encouraged the students to work progressively through their study material and to do regular tasks. The instant feedback provided by the online self-assessment assignments assisted students in resolving problem areas before their work was formally assessed. As time issues and self-pacing play an important role in distance education courses, use was made of regular e-mail notifications and reminders on the module’s discussion forum to aid the students with their time management and study planning. It was noted that students regularly engaged with the study material during the semester as well as by participating in the online discussions. This paper gives examples of the online self-assessment assignment questions used and reports on the students’ perceptions and experiences of these. The qualitative data provided insight into how the LLB students perceived the use of online learning tools to assist them in grasping the various accounting concepts and in guiding them through the syllabus. Based on the evidence provided, it was evident that these interventions supported the learning experience of these students.
Board Characteristics and Profit Efficiency in the United Kingdom Life Insurance Industry

This paper examines the effects of corporate governance mechanisms (measured by a set of board characteristics) on the profit efficiency of United Kingdom (UK) life insurance firms. A parametric 'stochastic frontier' approach is used to compute profit efficiency scores and second-stage regression models are estimated to test the influence of governance mechanisms on these efficiencies. We find that, viewed in isolation, board characteristics tend to have little effect on firm efficiency in the UK life insurance market. However, we do find that the proportion of non-executive directors on the board exhibits a significant effect on the profit efficiency of our sample UK insurers once the interaction effects among governance mechanisms are taken into account. The effect can be either positive or negative depending on whether there is separation of the CEO and board chairman positions and whether there is an audit committee. These results suggest that corporate governance is an inherently complex process and it is problematical to evaluate the effectiveness of an individual governance mechanism on a firm's economic performance. Insurers' profit efficiency is also negatively related to risk proxies and exhibits a concave relation with firm size.
Defending sleepwalkers with science and an illustrative case.

OBJECTIVE To test whether laboratory-based research differentiating sleepwalkers (SW) from controls (C) can be applied in an uncontrolled forensic case as evidence the alleged crime was committed during an arousal from sleep in which the mind is not fully conscious due to a SW disorder. METHODS A PSG study recorded 8 months after the defendant was charged was analyzed independently by spectral analysis. Slow wave activity (SWA) and cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) rates were computed. Clinical interviews and police records were reviewed for data re: the defendant's sleep prior to the event and use of drugs, alcohol, and stimulants. RESULTS The SWA distribution was abnormally low and flat, significantly lower than published controls; in the first NREM cycle, CAP rate 55 was above normal. Two weeks of prior sleep deprivation was confirmed from interviews and defendant's observed daytime sleepiness. Caffeine intake the day before the event was calculated at 826 mg over 14 hours. Snoring and a mild breathing disorder were present in the PSG. CONCLUSION Testimony based on spectral analysis of PSG recorded following an alleged criminal event supported a SW explanation for the non-rational behaviors charged. The defendant was acquitted of all charges and has been successfully treated.
The RF circuit design for magnetic power transmission dedicated to cochlear prosthesis

Wireless remote powering of implants is usually achieved with a transcutanous link. Such a link consists of two resonant circuits, an external transmitter and an implanted receiver. The inductances are realised by two coils, facing each other. The radiated power received by a small coil in implantable telemetry systems must not exceed a few ten of milliwatts to avoid the damage of the biological tissue. This requires a very efficient RF to DC converter, as well as the lowest possible power consumption for the biomedical sensor and data acquisition/transmission system. This paper describes the design of a CMOS 0.35 mu integrated circuit that includes a numeric control unit, a DE amplifier class, a voltage doubler/rectifier, as well as a low power voltage regulator. Numeric control unit included a Manchester encoder operating with a VCO (voltage controller output).
House to House: Mergers, Annexations, & the Racial Implications of City-County Politics in St. Louis

According to most scholars, Jim Crow's death elevated African Americans even as white departures depressed them, condemning blacks to isolated neighborhoods, segregated schools, and crumbling urban cores. To counter such reversals, liberals endorsed the consolidation of urban and suburban zones, hoping that such moves might thwart flight, promote integration, and ameliorate the effects of what scholars began in the 1970s to term “institutional” or “structural” racism. Initially such efforts focused primarily on schools, but quickly expanded to include other types of consolidation as well, including the consolidation, or merger, of major metropolitan areas and surrounding counties. While the rubric of consolidation has tended to enjoy a progressive cast, certain aspects of metropolitan mergers bode ill for African Americans, particularly in the area of electoral influence. For example, St. Louis City boasts a comparative black majority of 47.9% (with whites totaling 46.4% and Asians 3.1%), while the adjoining county claims only 23.7% African American residents. As this essay shall demonstrate, full integration of the two entities would lead blacks to lose significant electoral clout, particularly over county positions like the prosecutor's office, leaving them politically weaker across the board.
On the Rental Price of Capital and the Profit Rate: The Perils and Pitfalls of Total Factor Productivity Growth

Abstract This paper considers the implications of the conceptual difference between the rental price of capital, embedded in the neoclassical cost identity (output equals the cost of labor plus the cost of capital), which is used in growth accounting studies; and the accounting profit rate, which can be derived from the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA). The neoclassical identity is a ‘virtual’ identity in that it depends on a series of assumptions (constant returns to scale and perfectly competitive factor markets). The income side of the NIPA also provides an accounting identity for output as the sum of the wage bill plus the gross operating surplus. This identity, however, is a ‘real’ one, in the sense that it does not depend on any assumption and thus it always holds. It is shown that because the neoclassical cost identity and the income accounting identity according to the NIPA may be expressed as formally equivalent expressions, estimations of aggregate production functions and growth accounting studies are tautologies. Likewise, the test of the hypothesis of competitive markets using Hall's (1988) framework gives rise to a null hypothesis that cannot be rejected statistically. Finally, it is argued that the NIPA identity does hold in constant prices, pace Denison (1972a, 1972b).
Productivity, biodiversity, and pathogens influence the global hunter-gatherer population density

Significance Because of complex cumulative culture, human populations are often considered to be divorced from the environment and not be under the same ecological forcing as other species. However, this study shows that key environmental parameters net primary productivity, biodiversity, and environmental pathogen stress have strong influence on the global pattern of hunter-gatherer population density. Productivity and biodiversity exert the strongest influence in high and midlatitudes, whereas pathogens become more important in tropics. The most suitable conditions for preagricultural humans are found in temperate and subtropical biomes. Our results show that cultural evolution has not freed human hunter-gatherers from strong biotic and abiotic forcing. The environmental drivers of species distributions and abundances are at the core of ecological research. However, the effects of these drivers on human abundance are not well-known. Here, we report how net primary productivity, biodiversity, and pathogen stress affect human population density using global ethnographic hunter-gatherer data. Our results show that productivity has significant effects on population density globally. The most important direct drivers, however, depend on environmental conditions: biodiversity influences population density exclusively in low-productivity regions, whereas pathogen stress does so in high-productivity regions. Our results also indicate that subtropical and temperate forest biomes provide the highest carrying capacity for hunter-gatherer populations. These findings document that environmental factors play a key role in shaping global population density patterns of preagricultural humans.
Economic Development, Income Distribution and Meat Demand

Meta-Engel curves for meats are estimated from international cross-section data. Income explains a large proportion of meat consumption variance and tastes are relativefy unimportant. Growth in meat consumption accelerates as countries pass through the middle income stage. Greater equality in income distribution reduces average meat consumption, Therefore, part of the reason why growth In meat consumption accelerates as countries pass through the middle income stage is because income distribution is more skewed at that stage of development.
Urban particulate matter triggers lung inflammation via the ROS-MAPK-NF-κB signaling pathway.

Background Particulate matter (PM) is a high risk factor for various respiratory diseases and triggers an inflammatory response in lung tissues. However, the molecular mechanism of the PM-induced inflammatory response is incompletely understood. Methods Human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) were treated with the urban PM 1649b for assessment of the inflammatory response. The intracellular level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by flow cytometry. PM-activated signaling pathways were addressed with specific inhibitors. In vivo, the C57 mice model of PM-induced acute lung inflammation was established with intratracheal instillation of PM for 2 consecutive days. The oxidant stress in lung tissues was assessed with dihydroethidium (DHE) staining, and malondialdehyde (MDA) activity and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) assays. The histopathologic changes in lung tissues and number of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were examined. Expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in BALF was measured by ELISA. Results PM increased the expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in a dose-dependent manner. ROS generation and activation of MAPK (ERK, JNK, p38 MAPK) and NF-κB pathways were detected in PM-exposed HBECs. Pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) led to the inflammatory response, ROS level and activation of the MAPK and NF-κB pathways to be attenuated. Blockade of ERK, JNK or p38 MAPK pathway with specific inhibitor prevented the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and activation of the NF-κB pathway. Inhibition of the NF-κB pathway reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In vivo, PM exposure increased oxidant stress in lung tissues, infiltration of inflammatory cells around PM in lung tissues, the number of total cells and inflammatory cells in BALF, and the concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and MMP-9 in BALF, all of which were reversed partially upon NAC treatment. Conclusions PM exposure enhanced the airway inflammatory response significantly through ROS-mediated activation of MAPK (ERK, JNK, p38 MAPK) and downstream NF-κB signaling pathways. Oxidative stress appeared to be the key regulator for PM-induced lung inflammation. These results suggested the molecular mechanism of lung inflammation caused by PM.
Administrative Reform and Tidal Waves from Regime Shifts: Tsunamis in Thailand's Political and Administrative History

The analogy of tidal waves is taken from the 26 December 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Thailand and other Asian countries. Regime shifts or changes in systems and styles of government produce “tidal waves” that affect the direction and progress of administrative reform. Examples of major regime shifts, causing tidal waves or tsunami are drawn from Thai experience from 1932 to the present. The Thaksin Administration (2001-present) provides an especially notable example of a major regime shift from democratic governance to democratic authoritarianism. The Thaksin tsunami has resulted in a definite centralization and consolidation of political power in the hands of the Prime Minister.
A Proposal of an International Environmental Reporting Grid: What Interest for Policymakers, Regulatory Bodies, Companies, and Researchers?: Reply to Discussion of “Mandatory Environmental Disclosures by Companies Complying with IAS/IFRS: The Case of France, Germany and the UK”

This article offers the authors' insights concerning the issues raised by Professor Trevor Wilkins in commentaries on the article "Mandatory environmental disclosures by companies complying with IAS/IFRS: the case of France, Germany, and the UK" (Barbu et al., 2014). As suggested by Professor Wilkins, we demonstrate the utility of the international environmental reporting grid proposed in Barbu et al. (2014, Table 3): (1) for IASB policymakers and other regulatory bodies, (2) for companies to improve their environmental reporting, (3) for further research, and (4) for understanding the economic and financial consequences of IAS/IFRS-compliant environmental information. Previous article
Component commonality in assembled-to-stock systems

This paper quantifies the impact of component sharing in a two-echelon assembled-to-stock system consisting of several common components and end-products. Whereas there is a benefit from risk pooling when component sharing is allowed, there is also a component-mismatch problem due to the demand uncertainty for end-products. We study these conflicting effects by comparing a particular component sharing policy, namely the equal-fractile allocation policy, with a make-to-stock system which does not allow the allocation of common components. The probabilistic analysis shows that when each type of component is shared by at least two end-products, the equal-fractile allocation policy will always help to reduce the safety stock required to be held at a sufficiently high service level. We also look at a special scenario of the equal-fractile allocation policy which takes into account inventory cost considerations. We show that this problem can be formulated as a newsvendor problem.
Regional Policy Effectiveness and Local Governance Issues: Some Welsh Perspectives

This paper examines regional policy evaluation with special reference to Wales, in particular the importance of measuring regional policy and grant aid efficiency in the context of complex governance issues. Various measures of policy efficiency and data requirements are analysed. Conclusions, placed in the context of economic development needs in Wales, assess a future research agenda for measuring the effectiveness of regional policy.