Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can the news tell us anything about uncertainty that the markets don’t?

This study investigates the dynamic interactions between changes in economic policy uncertainty and movement in price and trade volumes across a sample of 21 countries. Within a vector autoregressive framework, we find that an expectation of uncertainty drives market movement for 18 countries. Our analysis in terms of VAR coefficients, granger causality tests and impulse response functions show a significant market reaction to an expectation of uncertainty, implying that the markets are more sensitive to politically driven economic policy change than media commentators. In light of perceived policy change researchers are cautioned against relying solely on media generated measures of uncertainty when investigating market movements. JEL Codes: G10, G14, G15, G38
Who should be Treated? Empirical Welfare Maximization Methods for Treatment Choice

One of the main objectives of empirical analysis of experiments and quasi-experiments is to inform policy decisions that determine the allocation of treatments to individuals with different observable covariates. We propose the Empirical Welfare Maximization (EWM) method, which estimates a treatment assignment policy by maximizing the sample analog of average social welfare over a class of candidate treatment policies. The EWM approach is attractive in terms of both statistical performance and practical implementation in realistic settings of policy design. Common features of these settings include: (i) feasible treatment assignment rules are constrained exogenously for ethical, legislative, or political reasons, (ii) a policy maker wants a simple treatment assignment rule based on one or more eligibility scores in order to reduce the dimensionality of individual observable characteristics, and/or (iii) the proportion of individuals who can receive the treatment is a priori limited due to a budget or a capacity constraint. We show that when the propensity score is known, the average social welfare attained by EWM rules converges at least at n^(-1/2) rate to the maximum obtainable welfare uniformly over a minimally constrained class of data distributions, and this uniform convergence rate is minimax optimal. In comparison with this benchmark rate, we examine how the uniform convergence rate of the average welfare improves or deteriorates depending on the richness of the class of candidate decision rules, the distribution of conditional treatment effects, and the lack of knowledge of the propensity score. We provide an asymptotically valid inference procedure for the population welfare gain obtained by exercising the EWM rule. We offer easily implementable algorithms for computing the EWM rule and an application using experimental data from the National JTPA Study.
BUILDING EXTRACTION IN HAZARDOUS AREAS USING EXTENDED MORPHOLOGICAL OPERATORS WITH HIGH RESOLUTION OPTICAL IMAGERY

v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. vii BIBLIOGRAPHY.ix CONTENTS.xv List of Figures.xvii List of Tables.xxi List of Abbreviations. xxii Numerical Notations.xxiv
Magnetic quantum dots and rings in two dimensions

We consider the motion of electrons confined to a two dimensional plane with an externally applied perpendicular inhomogeneous magnetic field, both with and without a Coulomb potential. We find that as long as the magnetic field is slowly-decaying, bound states in magnetic quantum dots are indeed possible. Several example cases of such magnetic quantum dots are considered in which one can find the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions in closed form, including two hitherto unknown quasi-exactly solvable models treated with confluent and biconfluent Heun polynomials. It is shown how a modulation of the strength of the magnetic field can exclude magnetic vortex-like states, rotating with a certain angular momenta and possessing a definite spin orientation, from forming. This indicates one may induce localization-delocalization transitions and suggests a mechanism for spin-separation.
OLLI HELIN A Study on Virtualization and Energy Efficiency Using Linux

TAMPERE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Degree Programme in Science and Engineering HELIN, OLLI: A Study on Virtualization and Energy Efficiency Using Linux Master’s thesis, 56 pages, 3 appendix pages March 2012 Major subject: Software Engineering Examiners: Prof. Tommi Mikkonen and Ph.D. Tapio Niemi
Progress and attainment during primary school: The roles of literacy, numeracy and self-regulation

Academic achievement is a cumulative process marked by both continuity and change over time. Research increasingly documents the critical importance of not only language and mathematical competency for academic success, but also the centrality of wider skills that enable pupils to regulate their own learning behaviours. This paper examines the balance that exists between change and stability in different domains of children’s academic achievement during middle childhood and the relative importance of achievement, attention and related features of self-regulation skills for subsequent achievement. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, the analysis attempts to move beyond a narrow view of educational success and seeks to inform the understanding of how changes in children’s developing capabilities predict educational success at the end of primary school in English and maths. The results demonstrate a clear pattern of continuity in attainment but also evidence of mobility both up and down the achievement distributions. In line with an increasing body of literature, the findings also show evidence of a remarkable persistence in skills related to attention as important predictors of later achievement.
A Theoretical Analysis of Habitat Conversion and Biodiversity Conservation Over Time and Under Uncertainty

We exploit the known links between natural habitats and biodiversity to pose and study the biodiversity conservation question as an optimal stopping problem. We extend the extant literature on this question by studying the role that autonomous and nonautonomous policies play in the decision to conserve biodiversity over time and under uncertainty. We first construct a dynamic and stochastic model of decision making in the context of biodiversity conservation. Next, we use this model to analyze the expected utility of a social planner when this planner uses, respectively, autonomous and nonautonomous policies. Finally, we compare and contrast the properties of autonomous and nonautonomous conservation policies and we discuss the magnitude of the flexibility premium stemming from the maintenance of temporal flexibility in decision making.
Determination of Multiple Elemental Concentrations in Tea from China by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

The main goals of this study were to determine the best preparation procedure (microwave digestion, infrared digestion, or dry ashing) to analyze 17 elements in ten tea samples from different manufacturers in China with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Elemental measurement accuracy was determined by comparison with certified green tea reference material (GBW10052). Our results showed that a simple, rapid, and reliable microwave digestion was the best procedure preceding spectrometric measurements, resulting in the highest mean content values of K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Zn in the tea samples, and that Cd, Pb, and As were under permissible limits based on a national standard (NY695-2003). The elemental differences and correlation of samples, as well as the classification and differentiation between the tea samples, were analyzed statistically.
Web-Based API as a Tool in Teaching Computer Vision Concepts

The article presents the stages of building Web-based API as a tool for teaching selected concepts of image processing server and shows a structure allowing for its implementation. During the implementation open source tools were used – graphical library OpenCV and Python programming language, which allows the implementation of both web part (by Django framework), as well as the cooperation with the above library. Idea of the creation of new Web-based API endpoints and the ability to change the parameters library OpenCV algorithms by modifying the URL in your browser were shown. Stages of creating each endpoint has been depicted with practical example on the image processing. Advantages and limitations of the proposed solution were presented.
Soil physical properties as influenced by different conservation agriculture practices in rice-wheat system

Rice-wheat cropping system is the predominant and most profitable cropping system and emerges as the major cropping system in the Indo-gangetic plains, contributing more than 70 % of total cereal production in India. There are several constraints related to this system, like depletion of water resources, reduction in soil health, burning of residue and environmental pollution. Due to these constraints, the sustainability of soil health under rice-wheat system is great threat. Therefore, to enhance the soil physical properties for the sustainable soil health by alternative tillage practices a field experiment was conducted at N.E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) during two consecutive years from 2015 to 2017. The experiment was conducted under strip plot design with three replications. Study revealed that bulk density was increased under zero till rice and wheat with Sesbania utilized as brown manure at 0-15 cm soil depth, while it was reversed at 15-30 cm soil depth during both the years. However, more soil moisture content was higher with zero till situation of both rice and wheat with retention of residues and Sesbania utilized as brown manure due to retention of residues that moderate the moisture fluctuations and thus reduce both evaporation and runoff. Among weed management practices, the higher values of soil bulk density and moisture content at different depths, after the harvest of rice and wheat crop were observed under weedy check, during both the years under rice-wheat system.
Global modeling of tropospheric iodine aerosol

Natural aerosols play a central role in the Earth system. The conversion of dimethyl sulfide to sulfuric acid is the dominant source of oceanic secondary aerosol. Ocean emitted iodine can also produce aerosol. Using a GEOS‐Chem model, we present a simulation of iodine aerosol. The simulation compares well with the limited observational data set. Iodine aerosol concentrations are highest in the tropical marine boundary layer (MBL) averaging 5.2 ng (I) m−3 with monthly maximum concentrations of 90 ng (I) m−3. These masses are small compared to sulfate (0.75% of MBL burden, up to 11% regionally) but are more significant compared to dimethyl sulfide sourced sulfate (3% of the MBL burden, up to 101% regionally). In the preindustrial, iodine aerosol makes up 0.88% of the MBL burden sulfate mass and regionally up to 21%. Iodine aerosol may be an important regional mechanism for ocean‐atmosphere interaction.
Static and Dynamic Investigation of Effective Parameters on Water Injection Performance in the Presence of Nanofluids

Oil production from oil reservoirs containing oil in water (O/W) and water in oil (W/O) emulsions has always been accompanied by some problems. The increase in apparent viscosity of the oil, pore throats blockage, and consequently, the increased rate of pressure drop are among these problems. Investigating the behavior of this type of oil in the porous medium can help to understand the problem. Although metal oxide nanoparticles can increase the oil recovery and therefore improve the performance of reservoirs, they can result in the formation of W/O emulsions, due to their potential properties. In this study, the formation and stability of the emulsion were first evaluated and then the nanofluids were injected into a carbonate sand pack. Tests were conducted in the ambient condition. The amount of produced oil in the presence of three nanoparticles consist of TiO2, SiO2, and Fe3O4 has been investigated. Moreover, the effect of water injection on the system containing emulsions created by both different ions present in the seawater and iron oxide nanoparticles has been investigated. The results show that the iron oxide nanoparticles cause high-pressure oscillations by forming more stable emulsions in the porous media.
Implementation of a Deutsch-like quantum algorithm utilizing entanglement at the two-qubit level on an NMR quantum-information processor

We describe the NMR implementation of a recently proposed quantum algorithm involving quantum entanglement at the level of two qubits. The algorithm solves a generalization of the Deutsch problem, and distinguishes between even and odd functions using fewer function calls than is possible classically. The manipulation of entangled states of the two qubits is essential here, unlike the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm and Grover’s search algorithm for two bits.
Design of Parallel-Plate Transmission Line Feeding Differentially Driven Patch Antenna for GPS application

In this paper a newly developed patch antenna, designated as the parallel-plate transmission line feeding differentially driven patch antenna is presented. The parallel-plate transmission line will not introduce inductance to the input impedance of a patch antenna, thus the height of the patch can be largely increased. Measurements show that the 3-dB-gain bandwidth can be obtained to 65% (0.86–1.93 GHz), return loss is -20dB, VSWR is 1.3 and impedance is 51 ohm at resonant frequency of 1.58GHz. The radiation pattern is stable and this antenna is designed for GPS application.
Scale Independent Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis with Preserved Inherent Variability of the Indicators

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis (FA) are common multivariate techniques used for dimensionality reduction. With these techniques it is expected to identify actual number of dimensions while accounting almost all observed variability. Standard PCA is based either on correlation matrix (CORM) or covariance matrix (COVM). When it is based on CORM, scale dependency can be removed but inherent variability cannot be preserved. On the other hand, when PCA is based on COVM, inherent variability can be preserved but scale dependency cannot be removed. As a solution to this issue, this paper suggests scaling each indicator by its mean, resulting in new mean equal to 1 and standard deviation equal to the coefficient of variance (CV). This leads to PCs, which are scale independent while retaining the observed variability. The computation of PCs and factors under the suggested method is derived in the study. The procedure is illustrated using the lowest level administrative division census data of Western province of Sri Lanka.
FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF LUMEFANTRINE CAPSULE PREPARED BY USING LIQUISOLID TECHNIQUE

Objective: The objective of present research work was to formulate and evaluate of Lumefantrine capsule by using novel liquisolid technique to give increased dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drug Lumefantrine. Methods: Formulation of lumefantrine capsule using drug solution and suspension method was used. Different liquisolid formulations were prepared using a mathematical model for calculating required quantities of powder and liquid ingredients to produce an acceptably flowable and compressible admixture. Liquisolid capsule formulation F-1 to F-9 were prepared by using different type and different concentration of non-volatile solvent like PEG-400, Tween 80, propylene glycol and avicels, aerosil as carrier and coating material respectively. Results: The liquisolid formulation were within the acceptable limits and drug release rates of all prepared liquisolid were distinctly higher as compared to pure drug. Lumefantrine shows maximum solubility in tween 80 as a non-volatile solvent. All the preformulation parameters were evaluated such as organoleptic characterization of the drug sample, melting point, pH, identification of drug samples by using UV spectroscopy and FTIR analytical method, preparation of calibration curves, solubility studies of drug sample like qualitative, quantitative and pH-dependent solubility of the drug in a buffer solution of different pH. They were further processed for solid-state characterization such as, DSC and SEM and the results confirmed the transformation of native crystalline nature of drug to an amorphous state. FTIR analysis also confirmed no drug-excipient interaction. Liquisolid formulations showed improved in vitro dissolution behaviour of lumefantrine over that of pure drug. Conclusion: From this study, it was concluded that liquisolid method is a promising alternative for improvement of dissolution property of water-insoluble drugs.
Value Added Tax and Consumption Expenditure Behavior of Households in Nigeria: An Empirical Investigation

In one way or the other, value added tax has been perceived to influence consumption expenditure behaviour of households as well as consumer price index. This study employed ex-post facto research design to investigate the effects of value added tax on consumption expenditure pattern and consumer price index in Nigeria. The study considered value added tax revenue, house hold consumption expenditure on durable and non-durable goods as well as consumer price index for the period 1994-2014. Data used for analysis were extracted from National Abstract of Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics and the Statistical Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The tools of analysis were multiple regression models on households’ durable and non-durable goods consumption expenditures and consumer price index with lagged valued variants. Results showed that value added tax and one-period lagged consumption expenditure on durable goods significantly affected households’ consumption expenditure on durable goods. Further, positive significant affects were established for value added tax in relation to households’ consumption expenditures on non-durable goods; and VAT, its variants and previous spending levels did not discourage households’ consumption expenditures; and value added tax did not bear significant relevance on consumer price index. Consequently, the study recommended that the current 5% value added tax rate should be maintained, since any increase would most likely affect the households negatively and escalate consumer price index to undesired levels.
Construction and Functional Analysis of Luciferase Reporter Plasmid Containing CaV1.2 Gene Promoter

L-type Ca channels (LTCCs) are the main mediators of Ca influx. LTCCs are multi-subunit complexes, of which CaV1.2 subunit forms the channel pore for Ca movement. Ca influx through LTCC CaV1.2 is a proximal signal for pathological cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. However, very little is known regarding the molecular mechanism of LTCC transcription regulation. Myocardin, a co-activator of serum response factor (SRF) that potently transactivates CArG box–containing cardiac and smooth muscle target genes, can stimulate neonatal rat cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. In the present study, the gene fragment of rat LTCC CaV1.2 promoter containing five CArG boxes or no CArG box was amplified by PCR and cloned into empty vector pGL3-Basic to construct luciferase reporter plasmids, then luciferase activity assay was performed in HEK293T cells. The results showed that the luciferase reporter plasmids were constructed successfully, Myocardin potently activated CArG boxcontaining LTCC CaV1.2 reporter, by contrast, Myocardin had a weaker transcriptional activation on LTCC CaV1.2 reporter containing no CArG box. The results suggest that Myocardin may play a critical role in regulating the expression of LTCC CaV1.2 in cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Keywords-CaV1.2; CArG box; promoter; luciferase activity assay
Experimental study on characteristics of self-excited oscillation pulsed water jet

To promote the application of self-excited oscillation pulsed water jet in various fields, various characteristics of self-excited oscillation pulsed water jet were studied experimentally. A test system of self-excited oscillation pulsed water jet characteristics was designed, and it is composed of pulsed jet producer devices, particle image velocity (PIV) measuring system, pressure pulse test device and the confining pressure cavity suitable for a PIV test. The characteristics of flow field, pressure oscillation, pulsed cavitation and acoustic shock of pulsed jet were researched. The results showed that the axis velocity vector at nozzle outlet changes periodically, and gradually becomes smaller away from the nozzle. The peak pressure of self-excited oscillation pulsed water jet is 2.5 times higher than the common continuous jet. The wave crest and the wave trough of pulsed jet are not completely symmetric. As the pump pressure increases, the length of bubble cloud increases, and it first increases and then decreases with confining pressure increasing. The vibration acceleration of sonic boom increases and then decreases as pump pressure increases, and decreases steadily with confining pressure increasing.
Spin squeezing and entanglement for an arbitrary spin

A complete set of generalized spin-squeezing inequalities is derived for an ensemble of particles with an arbitrary spin. Our conditions are formulated with the first and second moments of the collective angular momentum coordinates. A method for mapping the spin-squeezing inequalities for spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles to entanglement conditions for spin-$j$ particles is also presented. We apply our mapping to obtain a generalization of the original spin-squeezing inequality to higher spins. We show that, for large particle numbers, a spin-squeezing parameter for entanglement detection based on one of our inequalities is strictly stronger than the original spin-squeezing parameter defined in S\o{}rensen et al. [Nature (London) 409, 63 (2001)]. We present a coordinate system independent form of our inequalities that contains, besides the correlation and covariance tensors of the collective angular momentum operators, the nematic tensor appearing in the theory of spin nematics. Finally, we discuss how to measure the quantities appearing in our inequalities in experiments.
UC Davis Recent Work Title Characterizing the Effects of Driver Variability on Real-World Vehicle Emissions Permalink

ÐRecent studies on real-world automobile emissions measurements have not adequately addressed the question of whether driving style aects emission levels. In this study, we hypothesized that given the same experimental conditions and a random selection of drivers, the variability associated with individual driving styles (e.g. intensity or duration of acceleration events) would produce statistically signi®cant dierences in measured emissions. To test this driver variability hypothesis, we conducted a ®eld study on 24 drivers in a single vehicle on a speci®ed route under low trac conditions using on-board exhaust emission and engine operating data analyzers and tested for statistically signi®cant dierences in CO and NOx emissions between drivers. Our data show signi®cant (95% level) variations in carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions among the 24 drivers under driving conditions where we have controlled for driving route, trac density and vehicle type. Since the ANOVA tests showed signi®cant dierences in emissions between drivers but the frequency of driving modes were very similar, this suggests that the intensity of vehicle operation within a give mode, not the modal frequency, explains the emissions variability between drivers. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved