Dividing the Pie

We examine the consequences of transparency in an experimental multiple-dealer market with asymmetrically informed dealers. Five professional securities traders make a market for a single security. In each trading round, one of the dealers (the "insider") is told the security's true value. We vary both pre-trade and post-trade transparency by changing the way quote and trade information is published. The insider's profits are greatest when price efficiency is lowest. Price efficiency, in turn, is reduced by pre-trade transparency and increased by posttrade transparency. Market liquidity, measured by dealers' bid-ask spreads, is improved by pre-trade transparency and reduced by post-trade transparency

The Role and Relevance of Experimentation in Informatics

Informatics is a relatively young eld within sci- ence and engineering. Its research and develop- ment methodologies build on the scientic and de- sign methodologies in the classical areas, often with new elements to it. We take an in-depth look at one of the less well-understood methodologies in infor- matics, namely experimentation. What does it mean to do experiments in in- formatics? Does it make sense to `import' tradi- tional principles of experimentation from classical disciplines into the eld of computing and informa- tion processing? How should experiments be docu- mented? These are some of the questions that are treated. The report argues for the key role of empiri- cal research and experimentation in contemporary Informatics. Many IT systems, large and small, can only be designed sensibly with the help of experiments. We recommend that professionals and students alike are well-educated in the prin- ciples of sound experimentation in Informatics. We also recommend that experimentation protocols are used and standardized as part of the experimental method in Informatic

Feasibility of noncontact piezoelectric detection of photoacoustic signals in tissue-mimicking phantoms

The feasibility of air-coupled ultrasound transducers to detect laser-induced ultrasound from artificial blood vessels embedded in an optically scattering phantom is demonstrated. These air-coupled transducers allow new applications in biomedical photoacoustic imaging where contact with tissue is not preferred. One promising application of such transducers is the addition of photoacoustic imaging to the regular x-ray mammographic screening procedure

Raman spectroscopy-based identification of nosocomial outbreaks of the clonal bacterium Escherichia coli

DNA-based techniques are frequently used to confirm the relatedness of putative outbreak isolates. These techniques often lack the discriminatory power when analyzing closely related microbes such as E. coli. Here the value of Raman spectroscopy as a typing tool for E. coli in a clinical setting was retrospectively evaluated

Impact of sown fallows on the Xiphinema index populations in different soil types

The nematode Xiphinema index is, economically, the major virus vector in viticulture, transmitting specifically the Grapevine Fanleaf Virus (GFLV), the most severe grapevine virus disease worldwide. The management of this disease has long been to use soil fumigation, harmful for both the applicator and the environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate an alternative approach using plants to reduce vector nematode populations between uprooting and replanting. Of thirty botanical species, tested in previous greenhouse trials, the seven best performing plants were evaluated for their capacity to reduce X. index populations in soil compared to bare soil in 5 field trials on different soil types in Bordeaux and Burgundy. In most trials, sown fallows reduced the number of X. index nematodes more efficiently than bare soil. All plants tested in field, except Trifolium pratense, showed their efficacy in field on survival of nematodes X. index but this efficiency varied according to species and site. The best results were obtained with Medicago hybride, Tagetes minuta, Avena sativa and Vicia villosa. Over the following years we will be evaluating if a decrease of the populations of the nematode vector does lead to a significant drop or delay of GFLV contamination for the newly planted vines

Current State of Sustainability of Urban Water Cycle Services

TRUST released a first sustainability assessment of current UWCS's of its pilot cities which gives a general insight into how TRUST cities and regions score on different dimensions of sustainability at the moment. The whole report aims to contribute to a more sustainable urban water cycle system and to provide a basis on which TRUST city/region stakeholders can discuss their vision and strategies into a more sustainable future.Van Leeuwen, K.; Marques, RC. (2014). Current State of Sustainability of Urban Water Cycle Services. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/3572

Optimal extent of completion lymphadenectomy for patients with melanoma and a positive sentinel node in the groin

Background: The optimal extent of groin completion lymph node dissection (CLND) (inguinal or ilioinguinal dissection) in patients with melanoma is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the extent of groin CLND after a positive sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is associated with improved outcome. Methods: Data from all sentinel node-positive patients who underwent gr

Deep data compression for approximate ultrasonic image formation

In many ultrasonic imaging systems, data acquisition and image formation are performed on separate computing devices. Data transmission is becoming a bottleneck, thus, efficient data compression is essential. Compression rates can be improved by considering the fact that many image formation methods rely on approximations of wave-matter interactions, and only use the corresponding part of the data. Tailored data compression could exploit this, but extracting the useful part of the data efficiently is not always trivial. In this work, we tackle this problem using deep neural networks, optimized to preserve the image quality of a particular image formation method. The Delay-And-Sum (DAS) algorithm is examined which is used in reflectivity-based ultrasonic imaging. We propose a novel encoder-decoder architecture with vector quantization and formulate image formation as a network layer for end-to-end training. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed data compression tailored for a specific image formation method obtains significantly better results as opposed to compression agnostic to subsequent imaging. We maintain high image quality at much higher compression rates than the theoretical lossless compression rate derived from the rank of the linear imaging operator. This demonstrates the great potential of deep ultrasonic data compression tailored for a specific image formation method.Comment: IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium 202

Integrating water, waste, energy, transport and ICT aspects into the smart city concept

Open Access articleThe paper presents the partial results of the EU BlueSCities project [1]. The project is developing the methodology for the integration of the water and waste sectors within the ’Smart Cities and Communities’ concept to compliment other priority areas such as energy, transport and Information and mmunication Technologies (ICT). The project has developed the City Blueprint Framework or water and waste and the City Amberprint Framework for energy, transport and ICT

Viticulture in a changing climate: solutions exist

Grape growers have always cultivated vineyards in challenging environments, adapting their practices to sometimes very difficult local conditions. Climate change, as a new player, is modifying the terroirs’ characteristics rapidly and irremediably, giving viticulturalists major new challenges to face