Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An arbitrarily precise time synchronization algorithm based on Ethernet Switch serialization

It turns out that trying to play a worst-case traversal time (WCTT) scenario on a real experimentation platform is a Real-Time problem with extremely tight constraints. When two packets (with the same destination) arrive to two different input ports of a network switch within a time frame of only a few nanoseconds, the order of these packets in the output port queue will reflect this small nanoseconds arrival difference. Moreover, failing to emit packets within this tiny time frame will exhibit a different scenario than expected, potentially so radically different in farther places of the network that the behavior of the whole system seems affected by a butterfly effect. As we were trying to achieve the most precise clock synchronization we could with standard hardware, we have had the idea to turn this butterfly effect to our benefit and develop an arbitrarily precise time synchronization algorithm that only requires a standard Ethernet switch connecting the two hosts to synchronize and a third host on the network that will serve as a synchronization helper.
DIFFERENTIAL REGULATION OF THE UNCOUPLING PROTEIN 1 RECOMMENDED: APPROVED: GENE By

The mouse uncoupling protein 1 gene (Ucpl) is expressed specifically in brown adipose tissue and its transcription is increased by cold exposure. We have analyzed the transcriptional control of this gene through deletion analysis of the upstream untranslated regions of Ucpl. Mutated minigene constructs were microinjected into mouse pronuclei to generate transgenic mice. Positive transgenic founders were crossed with Balb/cByJ +/+ mice to generate F] offspring heterozygous for the transgene, which were then examined for tissue-specific and cold inducible expression of the minigenes by northern analysis. Protein-DNA interactions at putuative regulatory sites were also explored through in vitro gel shift assays of the promoter and enhancer regions. We found that the sequence between -2,581 and -2,335 bp of the enhancer region is critical for the expression of Ucpl. We also discovered that the region located between -991 and -230 bp does not play a major role in Ucpl expression. We found that nuclear factor-1 does not play a regulatory role at -166 bp in the promoter region. It was also observed that CCAAT enhancer binding protein does not interact with the 5’ flanking region at -2,450
Venture Capital and Industrial 'Innovation'

For the sample period of 1965-1992, Kortum and Lerner (2000) find that venture capital (VC) investments have a positive impact on patent count at industry level, and this impact is larger than that of R&D expenditures. We confirm that this positive impact continued to be present and became even stronger in late 90s during which VC industry experienced an unprecedented growth. We then proceed to study if this positive impact of VC is also present on productivity growth, which is a measure of innovation alternative to patent count. Unlike the impact on patent count, we do not find that VC investment affects total factor productivity growth. We do find that VC investment is positively associated with labor productivity but this positive impact is originated from the technology substitution from labor to other productive inputs such as energy and material. Therefore, our finding suggests that, at industry level, VC investment increases the patent propensity but may not necessarily improve the productive efficiency. Various interpretations are offered why this may be the case.
The Solvency Ii Process: Overview and Critical Analysis

As early as the 1970s, European Union (EU) member countries implemented rules to coordinate insurance markets and regulation. However, with the more recent movement toward a general single EU market, financial services regulation has taken on new meaning and priority. Solvency I regulations went into effect for member nations by January 2004. The creation of risk-based capital standards, the main focus of Solvency II, now appears likely sometime after 2007. The purpose of the discussion presented here is to outline the specifics of Solvency II as they currently stand and provide input to evaluation process that, ultimately, will determine the exact form of capital regulation. Our analysis leads us to conclude that caution is warranted.
Intra-articular Injections for Management of Knee Osteoarthritis

Knee pain is an increasingly common presentation to general practitioners worldwide which is thought to be related to the obesity epidemic, an ageing population and increasingly sedentary lifestyles in more developed nations. Degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) accounts for the majority of presentations in older age groups and this has traditionally been treated with analgesia, lifestyle modifications and adjuncts such as physiotherapy, braces and insoles. All these therapies aim to delay the need of total knee replacement (TKR), which is often the end-point for severe knee OA. However, TKR is associated with poor levels of patient satisfaction, low functional outcomes and has recently been shown to have low levels of cost-effectiveness except in patients with severe disabling OA. Increasingly doctors are turning to intra-articular injections which can provide temporary pain relief such as corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid and platelet rich plasma. This article aims to review the current options for intraarticular injections, comment on their efficacy and suggest areas for future development.
0 51 14 65 v 1 1 8 N ov 2 00 5 Quantum Brownian motion in ratchet potentials : duality relation and its consequences

Quantum Brownian motion in ratchet potentials is investigated by means of an approach based on a duality relation. This relation links the long-time dynamics in a tilted ratchet potential in the presence of dissipation with the one in a driven dissipative tight-binding model. The application to quantum ratchets yields a simple expression for the ratchet current in terms of the transition rates in the tight-binding system.
DISTANCE EDUCATION: A Second Best in Learning?

Why people want to learn? Behind demand for learning, utilitarians should search for the need that learning satisfies. This need is highly complicated, including the prospect of social and economic success, personal ambitions and self-respect, enthusiasm or simply obligation. No matter which motive is the strongest, no one denies that education and lifelong training are gaining grounds in the rapidly accelerating world of today. Spectacular changes in technology, economy and work structures increase the need for a high rate of specialization and competitiveness of human forces. At the same time, due to these changes, knowledge acquired in early years of age becomes obsolete several times in the course of a lifetime. For those who want to remain competitive there is an almost permanent, urgent need for more education, for better education and for a longer lasting education. However it is not always realistic to acquire the required knowledge in a conventional way. Distance education (DE) provides a promising solution to this problem.
Comparative Study on the Effectiveness Between Intensive Outpatient Care andPartial Hospitalization Treatments in Patients Diagnosed with Eating Disorders

In the present study, conducted on a sample of 39 patients diagnosed with Eating Disorders (EA), evaluated after one year of treatment in the modality of "Intensive Outpatient" care (IO), compared to the evolution of other patients, who were in treatment in the modality of "Partial Hospitalization" (PH). A statistically significant difference was observed on the improvement in the number of medical discharges depending on the treatment modality used [Chi-squared with correction for continuity (1)=8.685; p=0015 (unilateral)], being the IO modality the one that gave the highest amount of discharges, as it was assumed. The variation between one another was 14.44%, calculated from the value of Phi=380.
Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenolic, And Flavonoid Content Of Aerial Parts Of Tamarix Gallica

The present study was designed to investigate the antioxidant activities ofmethanolic extract of aerial parts of TamarixGallica and to evaluate the phenolic and flavonoid content of the plant. The antioxidant activity of methanolic extract was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging and ferric-reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The total phenolic content was determined according to the Folin−Ciocalteu procedure and calculated in terms of gallic acid equivalents (GAE). The flavonoid content was determined by the gravimetric method in terms of quercetin equivalents. The methanolic extract of aerial parts of TamarixGallicashowed highantioxidant activityas compared to standard ascorbic acid used in the study. The results were found as 6.99498mg/100g for total content of phenols, 47.61905mg/100g fortotal flavonoid content and IC 50 of 0.5mg/ml for the antioxidant activity. TamarixGallicais a potential source of natural antioxidant for the functional foods and nutraceutical applications.
Land prices and climate conditions: Evaluating the greenhouse damage for the German agricultural sector

Using an exhaustive panel dataset of the German agricultural sector, this paper is evaluating the relationship between climate conditions and land prices. The main advantage of this so-called hedonic approach is the consideration of the full range of adaptation options to the climatic environment. A Box-Cox form is employed to allow for very flexible relationships between land prices, warmth, moisture, and different socioeconomic variables. In a second step, the estimated results are used to forecast the impact of global climate change on the farming sector. The results show that a change of the temperature level has stronger impacts than a change of rainfall. Using a greenhouse warming scenario, German farmers are expected to be winners of climate change at least in the short run. Maximum gains are estimated with a temperature increase of +1.0°C against the current levels. Should the temperature increase surpass 1.8°C, however, the impact on the farming sector is clearly negative.
Effects of surface roughness on electromagnetic characteristics of capacitive switches

This paper studies the effect of surface roughness on up-state and down-state capacitances of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capacitive switches. When the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness is 10 nm, the up-state capacitance is approximately 9% higher than the theoretical value. When the metal bridge is driven down, the normalized contact area between the metal bridge and the surface of the dielectric layer is less than 1% if the RMS roughness is larger than 2 nm. Therefore, the down-state capacitance is actually determined by the non-contact part of the metal bridge. The normalized isolation is only 62% for RMS roughness of 10 nm when the hold-down voltage is 30 V. The analysis also shows that the down-state capacitance and the isolation increase with the hold-down voltage. The normalized isolation increases from 58% to 65% when the hold-down voltage increases from 10 V to 60 V for RMS roughness of 10 nm.
Fault slip and seismic moment of the 1700 Cascadia earthquake inferred from Japanese tsunami descriptions

[1] The 1700 Cascadia earthquake attained moment magnitude 9 according to new estimates based on effects of its tsunami in Japan, computed coseismic seafloor deformation for hypothetical ruptures in Cascadia, and tsunami modeling in the Pacific Ocean. Reports of damage and flooding show that the 1700 Cascadia tsunami reached 1–5 m heights at seven shoreline sites in Japan. Three sets of estimated heights express uncertainty about location and depth of reported flooding, landward decline in tsunami heights from shorelines, and post-1700 land-level changes. We compare each set with tsunami heights computed from six Cascadia sources. Each source is vertical seafloor displacement calculated with a three-dimensional elastic dislocation model. For three sources the rupture extends the 1100 km length of the subduction zone and differs in width and shallow dip; for the other sources, ruptures of ordinary width extend 360–670 km. To compute tsunami waveforms, we use a linear long-wave approximation with a finite difference method, and we employ modern bathymetry with nearshore grid spacing as small as 0.4 km. The various combinations of Japanese tsunami heights and Cascadia sources give seismic moment of 1–9 × 1022 N m, equivalent to moment magnitude 8.7–9.2. This range excludes several unquantified uncertainties. The most likely earthquake, of moment magnitude 9.0, has 19 m of coseismic slip on an offshore, full-slip zone 1100 km long with linearly decreasing slip on a downdip partial-slip zone. The shorter rupture models require up to 40 m offshore slip and predict land-level changes inconsistent with coastal paleoseismological evidence.
Form or function?: the effect of new sports stadia on property prices in London

Professional sports facilities are among the most expensive development projects. Assessing the external effects related to these and the channels through which these effects operate is a challenging task. We propose a strategy to value the external effects that stadia deliver to their neighbourhoods based on the variation in property prices. Our strategy allows for unobserved spatial heterogeneity, anticipation effects, and disentangles the stadium's function as a sports facility from its form as a physical structure that (visually) dominates the neighbourhood. We apply this strategy to two of the largest stadium projects of the recent decade, the New Wembley and the Emirates Stadium in London. Our results suggest that there are positive stadium effects on property prices, which are large compared with construction costs. Notable anticipation effects are found immediately following the announcement of the stadium plans. We further argue that stadium architecture plays a role in promoting positive spillovers to the neighbourhood.
Measuring conflicts of interest : a revolving door indicator *

The “revolving door” has been pinpointed as being one major cause of the 2008 financial crisis. This phenomenon, common in most industrialized countries, leads to conflicts of interest that may seriously harm economies. The purpose of this paper is to present an indicator of the distortionary effects of the revolving door – The Revolving Door Indicator (RDI). The RDI intends to proxy the economic distortions induced by influential firms engaged in the revolving door, by measuring the concentration of revolving door movements among private firms at the sector level. We document revolving door movements among Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Fannie Mae. Although our sample is confined to three major US financial firms significantly engaged in the revolving door process, the RDI shows a high concentration of privateto-public sector revolving door movements, from which Goldman Sachs appears as the prime beneficiary.
Pore size distribution in shale gas deposits based on adsorption isotherm analyses

Experimental isotherm data obtained for the samples collected from a selected shale gas borehole at the depth from 2803 to 2834 meters for both Argon and Nitrogen analysis at 77.4 K are presented. The results are compared for the mean value of Pore Size Distribution (PSD) using BJH (Barret–Joyner–Halenda) algorithm for desorption curves with application of thickness curve based on Halsey equation and also on Faas correction. Pore Size Distributions (PSD) and their volumes are characterized and compared for both the BJH and DFT (Density Functional Theory) methods.
Peptide and protein analysis with mass spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) is rapidly becoming a fundamental tool for biologists and biochemists in their efforts to characterize cellular function. Recent advancements in MS technology and front-end methodologies, along with the completion of the human genome have greatly popularized its use by researchers for protein identification and characterization. This paper is a general overview of how mass spectrometry is being used for the analysis of peptides and proteins, focusing on its application to molecular weight determination. Sample preparatory and cleanup techniques used in our laboratory for protein and peptide analysis are provided, along with a discussion of data interpretation. The utility of mass spectrometry for protein and peptide analyses lies in its ability to provide highly accurate molecular weight information on intact molecules. The ability to generate such accurate information can be extremely useful for pro- tein identification and characterization. For example, a protein can often be unambiguously identified by the accurate mass analysis of its constituent peptides produced by either chemical or enzymatic treatment of the sample. Furthermore, protein identification can also be facilitated by analysis of the protein's proteolytic peptide fragments in the gas phase; fragment ions generated inside the mass spectrometer via collision-induced dissociation (CID) to yield information about the primary structure and modifications. This overview describes how electrospray ionization (ESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry is being used for peptide and protein characterization focusing on its application to molecular weight determination.
Optimal liquidation with additional information

We consider the problem of how to optimally close a large asset position in a market with a linear temporary price impact. We take the perspective of an agent who obtains a signal about the future price evolvement. By means of classical stochastic control we derive explicit formulas for the closing strategy that minimizes the expected execution costs. We compare agents observing the signal with agents who do not see it. We compute explicitly the expected additional gain due to the signal, and perform a comparative statics analysis.
Integrate face tracking into driving simulator

When we want to use drivers emotion to build a car accident warning system. What we need to concern is whether most drivers would represent their emotions on their face when they have car crashes. Otherwise, integrating face tracking into driving is pointless. Besides, For most young(novice) drivers, whether there is much better correlation between degree of facial expression on the their real emotion state. Are there any human factors would affect drivers facial performance? We did an experiment to get the answers. Finally, we find that there is much better correlation between degree of expression on the participant especially they have experience in driving, but also depends on person. What’s more, we have experienced integrate face tracking tools. The open API to integrate face tracking tools we used is VOSM API, which could achieve face shape fitting based on Active shape model(ASM) in an image. The training data is IMM, where includes images and annotation files, which server ASM model building. Then, build VOSM project, and edit the model fitting function to read video and implement face tracking in real-time.
THE ROLE OF MARKETING IN CORPORATE COMPETITIVENESS: MARKETING PRACTICE ANALYSIS OF HUNGARIAN COMPANIES

The objective of this article is to analyse the marketing practice of Hungarian companies. On the one hand, the role of marketing function in the company has been revealed, and on the other hand the relationship between marketing efforts and market performance has been investigated. In frame of the Hungarian Competitiveness Studies, 300 marketing executives were surveyed to rate the marketing practice of their companies, concentrating on branding, pricing policy, applied marketing channels and promotional activities. The results confirm that sophisticated marketing practice leads to higher business performance.
Application of AHP in the Bank Stock's Investment Selection

On the basis of the theory of investment, with the Banks in China for examples, this paper selects the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process to analyze the bank's financial indicators and non-financial indicators, through calculating their profitability, debt paying ability, capacity development and other indicators' comprehensive weight, points out the most worthwhile investment bank, and provides a reference for bank-stock investors . Keywords-analytic hierarchy process; Bank stock; in vestment Selection
The Polish Wage Curve: Micro Panel Data Analysis Based on the Polish Labor Force Survey

This paper analyzes the Polish wage curve using individual data from the Polish Labor Force Survey (LFS) at the 16 NUTS2 regions over the period 1999 - 2010. This survey does not gather information on wages of self-employed or paid family workers. After excluding the unemployed, inactive and missing observations, we are left with over 102,924 observations. We find evidence in favor of the Polish wage curve with an unemployment elasticity of -0.06. We also find that males in Poland are significantly more responsive to local unemployment rates (-0.08) than their female counterparts (-0.04). Moreover, if the lagged unemployment rate is used as an instrument for current unemployment rate, we find that the unemployment elasticity increases substantially for less experienced and temporary workers.
Oxidative stabilization of palm olein with isoespintanol (2-isopropyl-3,6-dimethoxy-5-methylphenol) isolated from Oxandra cf xylopioides

Antioxidants are used to retard oxidative processes and improve the sensory and nutraceutical quality of cooking oils. Isoespintanol, a monophenol isolated from Oxandra cf. xylopioides, has shown a greater free radical scavenger ability than thymol (biosynthetic analog). Isoespintanol antioxidant capacity was evaluated and compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Cytotoxicity, thermal stability and effect on olein stability studies were performed. The results revealed that Olein oxidation time was reduced 17.2 and 4.2% in the presence of Isoespintanol and BHT, respectively. Thermogravimetric curves indicated higher thermal resistance for Isoespintanol than for BHT. Finally, cytotoxicity tests for Isoespintanol against murine macrophages revealed no effect on cell viability, indicating their possible use as a safe food additive.
Framework for Continuous Quantification of Spectral Coherence using Quadratic Time-Frequency Distributions: Exploring Cardiovascular Coupling

Quadratic time-frequency (TF) distributions have an excellent joint TF resolution, but their applicability is limited by the presence of interferences. Interferences make a measure of TF coherence (TFC) based on these distributions inconsistent, unless a specific methodology is used to reduce their influence. In this study, a framework for robustly estimating TFC, based on signal-dependent smoothing of the Wigner Ville distribution, is shown to provide a reliable continuous quanti fication of cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular interactions during non stationary conditions. Performance of the estimator is evaluated through a simulation example. Linear coupling between heart rate variability and pulse transit time variability is then explored during segments of polysomnography recordings characterized by decreases in the amplitude fluctuations of photopletysmography related to obstructive sleep apnea. It is observed that when a sympathetic activation, related to a decrease in the amplitude fluctuations of photopletysmography, occurs TFC increases in low frequency (0.04,0.15 Hz) range and decreases in high frequency (0.15, 0.4 Hz) range (p < 0.05).