NN^k networks for Content-Based Image Retrieval

This paper describes a novel interaction technique to support content-based image search in large image collections. The idea is to represent each image as a vertex in a directed graph. Given a set of image features, an arc is established between two images if there exists at least one combination of features for which one image is retrieved as the nearest neighbour of the other. Each arc is weighted by the proportion of feature combinations for which the nearest neighbour relationship holds. By thus integrating the retrieval results over all possible feature combinations, the resulting network helps expose the semantic richness of images and thus provides an elegant solution to the problem of feature weighting in content-based image retrieval.We give details of the method used for network generation and describe the ways a user can interact with the structure. We also provide an analysis of the network’s topology and provide quantitative evidence for the usefulness of the technique

The Maastricht Convergence Criteria and Optimal Monetary Policy for the EMU Accession Countries.

The EMU accession countries are obliged to fulfill the Maastricht convergence criteria prior to entering the EMU. This paper uses a DSGE model of a two-sector small open economy, to address the following question: How do the Maastricht convergence criteria modify optimal monetary policy in an economy facing domestic and external shocks? First, we derive the micro founded loss function that represents the objective function of the optimal monetary policy not constrained to satisfy the criteria. We find that the optimal monetary policy should not only target inflation rates in the domestic sectors and aggregate output fluctuations but also domestic and international terms of trade. Second, we show how the loss function changes when the monetary policy is constrained to satisfy the Maastricht criteria. The loss function of such a constrained policy is characterized by additional elements penalizing fluctuations of the CPI inflation rate, the nominal interest rate and the nominal exchange rate around the new targets which are potentially different from the steady state of the unconstrained optimal monetary policy. Under the chosen parameterization, the unconstrained optimal monetary policy violates two criteria: concerning the CPI inflation rate and the nominal interest rate. The constrained optimal policy results in targeting the CPI inflation rate and the nominal interest rate that are 0.7% lower (in annual terms) than the CPI inflation rate and the nominal interest rate in the countries taken as a reference. The welfare costs associated with these constraints need to be offset against credibility gains and other benefits related to the compliance with the Maastricht criteria that are not modelled. JEL Classification: F41, E52, E58, E61EMU accession countries, Maastricht convergence criteria, optimal monetary policy

Human and Professional Sustainable Development by Using the EFI ROM Creative Method

AbstractElaborated for the human and professional sustainable development of human resources within innovative enterprises by using creative techniques for rendering efficient own activities. A solution for promoting innovative management in the field of human resources in these units is the use of the own original creative method EFI-ROM. It can be applied to selfmanagement and all management hierarchical levels with responsibilities in short, medium and long-term decision. It was tested on the occasion of carrying out some innovative project. In the present paper we present an improved variant and adjusted to the specifics of innovative organizations

The Relationship Between Investment and Fund Raising: An Empirical study to Japanese Manufacturing Firms

This paper applies Within3SLS to estimate simultaneous equations for panel data of Japanese manufacturing firms to investigate the relationship between investment and fund raising. A negative interrelationship between current leverage and investment is detected.

Assessing the benefits of international portfolio diversification in bonds and stocks.

This paper considers a stylized asset pricing model where the returns from exchange rates, stocks and bonds are linked by basic risk-arbitrage relationships. Employing GMM estimation and monthly data for 18 economies and the US (treated as the domestic country), we identify through a simple test the countries whose assets strongly comove with US assets and the countries whose assets might other larger diversification benefits. We also show that the strengthening of the comovement of returns across countries is neither a gradual process nor a global phenomenon, reinforcing the case for international diversification. However, our results suggest that fund managers are better other constructing portfolios selecting assets from a subset of countries than relying on either fully inter-nationally diversified or purely domestic portfolios. JEL Classification: F31, G10asset pricing, Exchange Rates, international parity conditions, market integration, stochastic discount factor

To surcharge or not to surcharge? A two-sided market perspective of the no-surchage rule

In Electronic Payment Networks (EPNs) the No-Surcharge Rule (NSR) requires that merchants charge the same final good price regardless of the means of payment chosen by the customer. In this paper, we analyze a three-party model (consumers, merchants, and proprietary EPNs) to assess the impact of a NSR on the electronic payments system, in particular, on competition among EPNs, network pricing to merchants and consumers, EPNs' profits, and social welfare. We show that imposing a NSR has a number of effects. First, it softens competition among EPNs and rebalances the fee structure in favor of cardholders and to the detriment of merchants. Second, we show that the NSR is a profitable strategy for EPNs if and only if the network e¤ect from merchants to cardholders is sufficiently weak. Third, the NSR is socially (un)desirable if the network externalities from merchants to cardholders are sufficiently weak (strong) and the merchants' market power in the goods market is sufficiently high (low). Our policy advice is that regulators should decide on whether the NSR is appropriate on a market-by-market basis instead of imposing a uniform regulation for all markets. JEL Classification: L13, L42, L80American Express, Discover, Electronic payment system, market power, MasterCard, network externalities, no-surcharge rule, regulation, two-sided markets, Visa

Differential olive grove management regulates the levels of primary metabolites in xylem sap

Aims The conventional management adopted in many Mediterranean olive orchards makes them more vulnerable to climate change and attacks by pathogens, due to the decreased chemical plant defenses. In this scenario, a metabolomic analysis was carried out on the xylem sap (Xsap) of olive plants (Olea europaea L.) grown in the Salento peninsula (Italy). Methods Trials were carried out in two olive groves, one organically and one conventionally managed (controls), successively both converted to sustainable management (i.e. frequent light pruning, soil and foliar fertilization, cover crops). The Xsap was extracted from the shoots of olive plants using a Scholander pressure chamber pressurized with N2 and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolite profiling was performed in the Xsap. Results An untargeted gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) based metabolomic analysis of primary metabolites (including underivatized volatiles) of the Xsap revealed relative abundances of 153 identified metabolites and 336 unknown features across the 12 samples from four groups of samples. Among them, more than half were involved in the primary metabolism. Many of the compounds with increased levels under sustainable management (such as amino acids, soluble sugars, sugar alcohols) have a well-known role as osmoprotectants or are involved in plant defense, growth and development during stress or recovery stages. Conclusions Sustainable management in olive groves can increase the ability of plants to overcome environmental stressors and enhance ecosystem balance

Effects of Time-Odd Components in Mean Field on Large Amplitude Collective Dynamics

We apply the adiabatic self-consistent collective coordinate (ASCC) method to the multi-O(4) model and study collective mass (inertia function) of the many-body tunneling motion. Comparing results with those of the exact diagonalization, we show that the ASCC method succeeds in describing gradual change of excitation spectra from an anharmonic vibration about the spherical shape to a doublet pattern associated with a deformed double-well potential possessing the oblate-prolate symmetry. The collective mass is significantly increased by the quadrupole-pairing contribution to time-odd components of the moving mean field. In contrast, the cranking (Inglis-Belyaev) mass based on the constrained mean field, which ignores the time-odd components, is smaller than the ASCC mass and fails to reproduce the exact spectra.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figure

Sticky wages: evidence from quarterly microeconomic data

This paper documents nominal wage stickiness using an original quarterly firm-level dataset. We use the ACEMO survey, which reports the base wage for up to 12 employee categories in French firms over the period 1998 to 2005, and obtain the following main results. First, the quarterly frequency of wage change is around 35 percent. Second, there is some downward rigidity in the base wage. Third, wage changes are mainly synchronized within firms but to a large extent staggered across firms. Fourth, standard Calvo or Taylor schemes fail to match micro wage adjustment patterns, but fixed duration "Taylor-like" wage contracts are observed for a minority of firms. Based on a two-thresholds sample selection model, we perform an econometric analysis of wage changes. Our results suggest that the timing of wage adjustments is not state-dependent, and are consistent with existence of predetermined of wage changes. They also suggest that both backward- and forward-looking behavior is relevant in wage setting. JEL Classification: E24, J3wage predetermination, Wage stickiness