349 research outputs found
Modelling an orientation system based on speculative computation
Progress is inherent to a living society, which may occur in several different
areas (e.g. computation, healthcare) and manners. The present (or now) is the
time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, making,
for example, the society to be very inquisitive on assistive technologies and how
they may improve the human beings quality of living. This application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes may help the user in his/her diminished capabilities,
and, usually, implies a small adaptation on the part of the individual in the use
of devices; indeed one of the die down potentials of people with cognitive disabilities
is the one of spatial orientation. On the other hand several were the authors that
have developed systems to help an human being to travel between two locations.
However, once the system is set up the change in the configurations have to be done
manually in order to better adjust the system to the user. In order to go round this
drawback, in this work it is presented a framework of speculative computation to set
up the computation of the next user step using default values. When the information
is obtained the computation is revised. Thus, the system may have a faster reaction
to the user stimulus or it may start warning the user before he/she takes the wrong
direction.This work is part-funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund
through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National
Funds through the FCT Fundac¸ ˜ao para a Ciˆencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation
for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980 (PTDC/EEISII/
1386/2012). The work of Jo˜ao Ramos is supported by a doctoral grant by FCT - Fundação para
a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) SFRH/BD/89530/-
2012
Pricing Options in Incomplete Equity Markets via the Instantaneous Sharpe Ratio
We use a continuous version of the standard deviation premium principle for
pricing in incomplete equity markets by assuming that the investor issuing an
unhedgeable derivative security requires compensation for this risk in the form
of a pre-specified instantaneous Sharpe ratio. First, we apply our method to
price options on non-traded assets for which there is a traded asset that is
correlated to the non-traded asset. Our main contribution to this particular
problem is to show that our seller/buyer prices are the upper/lower good deal
bounds of Cochrane and Sa\'{a}-Requejo (2000) and of Bj\"{o}rk and Slinko
(2006) and to determine the analytical properties of these prices. Second, we
apply our method to price options in the presence of stochastic volatility. Our
main contribution to this problem is to show that the instantaneous Sharpe
ratio, an integral ingredient in our methodology, is the negative of the market
price of volatility risk, as defined in Fouque, Papanicolaou, and Sircar
(2000).Comment: Keywords: Pricing derivative securities, incomplete markets, Sharpe
ratio, correlated assets, stochastic volatility, non-linear partial
differential equations, good deal bound
Robust Inference of Trees
This paper is concerned with the reliable inference of optimal
tree-approximations to the dependency structure of an unknown distribution
generating data. The traditional approach to the problem measures the
dependency strength between random variables by the index called mutual
information. In this paper reliability is achieved by Walley's imprecise
Dirichlet model, which generalizes Bayesian learning with Dirichlet priors.
Adopting the imprecise Dirichlet model results in posterior interval
expectation for mutual information, and in a set of plausible trees consistent
with the data. Reliable inference about the actual tree is achieved by focusing
on the substructure common to all the plausible trees. We develop an exact
algorithm that infers the substructure in time O(m^4), m being the number of
random variables. The new algorithm is applied to a set of data sampled from a
known distribution. The method is shown to reliably infer edges of the actual
tree even when the data are very scarce, unlike the traditional approach.
Finally, we provide lower and upper credibility limits for mutual information
under the imprecise Dirichlet model. These enable the previous developments to
be extended to a full inferential method for trees.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure
Kinetics and Mechanism of Hydroxyapatite Crystal Dissolution in Weak Acid Buffers Using the Rotating Disk Method
The dissolution rates of synthetic hydroxyapatite pellets under sink conditions were measured using the rotating disk method. The experimental data were analyzed by means of a physical model that yielded an ionic activity product of KHAP = a10Ca2+ a6 PO4 3- a2OH- = 1 × 10-124.5±1.0 that was found to govern the dissolution reaction. Also, a surface resistance factor of k' equal to about 174 sec/cm was deduced from the data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67157/2/10.1177_00220345760550033201.pd
Singular solutions of fully nonlinear elliptic equations and applications
We study the properties of solutions of fully nonlinear, positively
homogeneous elliptic equations near boundary points of Lipschitz domains at
which the solution may be singular. We show that these equations have two
positive solutions in each cone of , and the solutions are unique
in an appropriate sense. We introduce a new method for analyzing the behavior
of solutions near certain Lipschitz boundary points, which permits us to
classify isolated boundary singularities of solutions which are bounded from
either above or below. We also obtain a sharp Phragm\'en-Lindel\"of result as
well as a principle of positive singularities in certain Lipschitz domains.Comment: 41 pages, 2 figure
Multilevel Deconstruction of the In Vivo Behavior of Looped DNA-Protein Complexes
Protein-DNA complexes with loops play a fundamental role in a wide variety of
cellular processes, ranging from the regulation of DNA transcription to
telomere maintenance. As ubiquitous as they are, their precise in vivo
properties and their integration into the cellular function still remain
largely unexplored. Here, we present a multilevel approach that efficiently
connects in both directions molecular properties with cell physiology and use
it to characterize the molecular properties of the looped DNA-lac repressor
complex while functioning in vivo. The properties we uncover include the
presence of two representative conformations of the complex, the stabilization
of one conformation by DNA architectural proteins, and precise values of the
underlying twisting elastic constants and bending free energies. Incorporation
of all this molecular information into gene-regulation models reveals an
unprecedented versatility of looped DNA-protein complexes at shaping the
properties of gene expression.Comment: Open Access article available at
http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.000035
Results of the Search for Strange Quark Matter and Q-balls with the SLIM Experiment
The SLIM experiment at the Chacaltaya high altitude laboratory was sensitive
to nuclearites and Q-balls, which could be present in the cosmic radiation as
possible Dark Matter components. It was sensitive also to strangelets, i.e.
small lumps of Strange Quark Matter predicted at such altitudes by various
phenomenological models. The analysis of 427 m^2 of Nuclear Track Detectors
exposed for 4.22 years showed no candidate event. New upper limits on the flux
of downgoing nuclearites and Q-balls at the 90% C.L. were established. The null
result also restricts models for strangelets propagation through the Earth
atmosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 11 EPS figure
Theory of Coexistence of Superconductivity and Ferroelectricity : A Dynamical Symmetry Model
We propose and investigate a model for the coexistence of Superconductivity
(SC) and Ferroelectricity (FE) based on the dynamical symmetries for
the pseudo-spin SC sector, for the displaced oscillator FE sector, and
for the composite system. We assume a minimal
symmetry-allowed coupling, and simplify the hamiltonian using a double mean
field approximation (DMFA). A variational coherent state (VCS) trial
wave-function is used for the ground state: the energy, and the relevant order
parameters for SC and FE are obtained. For positive sign of the SC-FE coupling
coefficient, a non-zero value of either order parameter can suppress the other
(FE polarization suppresses SC and vice versa). This gives some support to
"Matthias' Conjecture" [1964], that SC and FE tend to be mutually exclusive.
For such a Ferroelectric Superconductor we predict: a) the SC gap
(and ) will increase with increasing applied pressure when pressure
quenches FE as in many ferroelectrics, and b) the FE polarization will increase
with increaesing magnetic field up to . The last result is equivalent to
the prediction of a new type of Magneto-Electric Effect in a coexistent SC-FE
material. Some discussion will be given of the relation of these results to the
cuprate superconductors.Comment: 46 page
Schools out : Adam Smith and pre-disciplinary international political economy
In this article, I argue that invocations of Adam Smith in international political economy (IPE) often reveal the influence therein of a disciplinary ontological disaggregation of economic and non-economic rationality, which I claim is obscured by the tendency to map its complex intellectual contours in terms of competing schools. I trace the origins of the disciplinary characterisation of Smith as the founder of IPE's liberal tradition to invocations of his thought by centrally important figures in the perceived Austrian, Chicago and German historical schools of economics, and reflect upon the significance to IPE of the reiteration of this portrayal by apparent members of its so-called American and British schools. I additionally contrast these interpretations to those put forward by scholars who seek to interpret IPE and Smith's contribution to it in pre-disciplinary terms, which I claim reflects a distinct ontology to that attributed to the British school of IPE with which their work is often associated. I therefore contend that reflection upon invocations of Smith's thought in IPE problematises the longstanding tendency to map its intellectual terrain in terms of competing schools, reveals that the disciplinary ontological consensus that informs this tendency impacts upon articulations of its core concerns and suggests that a pre-disciplinary approach offers an alternative lens through which such concerns might be more effectively framed
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