A Note on Inflation and the Saving Rate

macroeconomics, inflation, saving rate

Inflation and the Consumer

macroeconomics, consumer, inflation

A Natural Language Dialog System Based on Active Ontologies

Abstract: Programming today requires years of training. With natural language, programming would become available to everyone and enable end users to program their devices or extend their functionality without any knowledge of programming languages. We present an assistant usable in technical domains that uses natural language understanding, programming step-by-step and an active dialog management system. It allows users to manipulate spreadsheet data by using natural language. We extend our previous system with active ontologies. By adding additional information to an ontology, such as a rule evaluation system and a fact store, it becomes an execution environment instead of just being a representation of knowledge. Sensor nodes register certain events and store them in the fact store. An evaluation mechanism tests the new facts against the existing rules and performs the associated action if one or more rules apply to the stored facts. The system also handles references to previous results and expressions, allowing the construction of complex expressions step-by-step. It also creates new formulas by using End-User Programming concepts and supports the use of repetitive tasks that involve use of conditions and negations. An evaluation shows that the active ontology-based approach resolves 90% of the input tasks which is an increase of 10% over the pattern matching approach

First-passage time asymptotics over moving boundaries for random walk bridges

We study the asymptotic tail behavior of the first-passage time over a moving boundary for a random walk conditioned to return to zero, where the increments of the random walk have finite variance. Typically, the asymptotic tail behavior may be described through a regularly varying function with exponent -1/2, where the impact of the boundary is captured by the slowly varying function. Yet, the moving boundary may have a stronger effect when the tail is considered at a time close to the return point of the random walk bridge, leading to a possible phase transition depending on the order of the distance between zero and the moving boundary

Résolution en temps d'un circuit de coïncidences particule gamma

Des détecteurs à barrière de surface ont été utilisés dans un circuit de coïncidences rapides particule-gamma en vue de mesurer des vies moyennes de noyaux dans des états excités. L'influence sur la résolution en temps de différents facteurs (résistivité, tension de polarisation, etc.) a été étudiée

Event-based knowledge elicitation of operating room management decision-making using scenarios adapted from information systems data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>No systematic process has previously been described for a needs assessment that identifies the operating room (OR) management decisions made by the anesthesiologists and nurse managers at a facility that do not maximize the efficiency of use of OR time. We evaluated whether event-based knowledge elicitation can be used practically for rapid assessment of OR management decision-making at facilities, whether scenarios can be adapted automatically from information systems data, and the usefulness of the approach.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A process of event-based knowledge elicitation was developed to assess OR management decision-making that may reduce the efficiency of use of OR time. Hypothetical scenarios addressing every OR management decision influencing OR efficiency were created from published examples. Scenarios are adapted, so that cues about conditions are accurate and appropriate for each facility (e.g., if OR 1 is used as an example in a scenario, the listed procedure is a type of procedure performed at the facility in OR 1). Adaptation is performed automatically using the facility's OR information system or anesthesia information management system (AIMS) data for most scenarios (43 of 45). Performing the needs assessment takes approximately 1 hour of local managers' time while they decide if their decisions are consistent with the described scenarios. A table of contents of the indexed scenarios is created automatically, providing a simple version of problem solving using case-based reasoning. For example, a new OR manager wanting to know the best way to decide whether to move a case can look in the chapter on "Moving Cases on the Day of Surgery" to find a scenario that describes the situation being encountered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Scenarios have been adapted and used at 22 hospitals. Few changes in decisions were needed to increase the efficiency of use of OR time. The few changes were heterogeneous among hospitals, showing the usefulness of individualized assessments.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our technical advance is the development and use of automated event-based knowledge elicitation to identify suboptimal OR management decisions that decrease the efficiency of use of OR time. The adapted scenarios can be used in future decision-making.</p

Financial System Design for Formerly Planned Economies: Defining the Issues

The formerly planned economies (FPEs) of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are a rather disparate group of nations with widely differing financial structures. In some of the countries of Eastern Europe the financial infrastructure is beginning to assume the characteristics that are found in the West. In other instances, the very institutions of a functioning financial system hardly exist. Thus, the tasks faced by policy-makers in these countries can vary from the reform of existing institutions to the creation of brand new ones. However, in all instances it is important to focus on the steps that must be taken to develop the financial institutions with the incentive structure for efficient capital market allocations and the provision of a stable payments mechanism, as well as the mechanisms for the conduct of monetary policy. In this paper we will outline the issues and problems faced by the financial sector in the transition from a planned to a market economy

Financial System Design for Formerly Planned Economies: Defining the Issues

The formerly planned economies (FPEs) of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are a rather disparate group of nations with widely differing financial structures. In some of the countries of Eastern Europe the financial infrastructure is beginning to assume the characteristics that are found in the West. In other instances, the very institutions of a functioning financial system hardly exist. Thus, the tasks faced by policy-makers in these countries can vary from the reform of existing institutions to the creation of brand new ones. However, in all instances it is important to focus on the steps that must be taken to develop the financial institutions with the incentive structure for efficient capital market allocations and the provision of a stable payments mechanism, as well as the mechanisms for the conduct of monetary policy. In this paper we will outline the issues and problems faced by the financial sector in the transition from a planned to a market economy