1,765 research outputs found
Self Organizing Maps (SOM) for Design Selection in Multi-Objective Optimization using modeFRONTIER
No full textAn adaptive NARX neural network approach for financial time series prediction
No full textThere has been increasing interest in the application of neural networks to the field of finance. Several experiments have been carried out stating the success of neural networks for time series prediction.
Most of the existing systems recommend single neural network architecture to be used for a particular time series. Our experiments have shown that a fixed architecture may not be the best approach across different time horizons. The thesis proposes a new methodology where multiple NARX (nonlinear autoregressive network with exogenous inputs) networks with different architectures are generated and evaluated before the beginning of a new time horizon. A network is selected from this set and employed to make predictions. This selection is based on past datasets only -- making the system completely applicable to real world scenarios.
A framework of functions was built in MATLAB® to customize the Neural Network Toolbox ® for financial applications. This framework provides for all the basic functions required by a financial neural network system. An adaptive system that uses technical indicators and some external time series as inputs was built. Different rules were developed and tested for selecting the best performing neural networks.
The new approach was tested on 5 currencies and the gold series. Our results show that high realized values of returns in the past, along with generalization is the best parameter to select a network for the future. A system with adaptive approach performs better than one with a fixed architecture. Our adaptive system out performed not only the fixed architectures but also other benchmarks like technical indicators, linear regression and baseline buy or sell strategies.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-82)
Plant-in-chip: Microfluidic system for studying root growth and pathogenic interactions in Arabidopsis
No full textWe report a microfluidic platform for the hydroponic growth of Arabidopsis plants with high-resolution visualization of root development and root-pathogen interactions. The platform comprises a set of parallel microchannels with individual input/output ports where 1-day old germinated seedlings are initially placed. Under optimum conditions, a root system grows in each microchannel and its images are recorded over a 198-h period. Different concentrations of plant growth media show different root growth characteristics. Later, the developed roots are inoculated with two plant pathogens (nematodes and zoospores) and their physicochemical interactions with the live root systems are observed.This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Parashar, Archana, and Santosh Pandey. "Plant-in-chip: Microfluidic system for studying root growth and pathogenic interactions in Arabidopsis." Applied Physics Letters 98, no. 26 (2011): 263703, and may be found at DOI: 10.1063/1.3604788. Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics. Posted with permission
Ishair: Importance sampling for hair scattering
No full textWe present an importance sampling method for the bidirectional scattering distribution function (bsdf) of hair. Our method is based on the multi-lobe hair scattering model presented by Sadeghi et al. . We reduce Noise by drawing samples from a distribution that approximates the bsdf well. Our algorithm is efficient and Easy to implement, since the sampling process requires only the evaluation of a few analytic functions, with no Significant memory overhead or need for precomputation. We tested our method in a research raytracer and a Production renderer based on micropolygon rasterization. We show significant improvements for rendering direct Illumination using multiple importance sampling and for rendering indirect illumination using path tracing. © 2012 The Author(s)
Services in Regioanl Trade Agreements: Implications for India
No full textService sector has emerged as the largest and fastest-growing sector in the global economy in the last two decades, providing more than 60 per cent of global output and, in many countries, an even larger share of employment. The growth in services has also been accompanied by the rising share of services in world transactions. In fact trade in services has grown as fast as trade in goods in the period 1990- 2003 (6% per annum). In recent years the number of international agreements aiming to liberalize and promote trade in services has increased dramatically. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), negotiated as part of the Uruguay Round and followed up in Doha round has propelled the process of services negotiation but till date has limited success. In contrast to this, much of the recent and current international treaty addressing trade in services has occurred at the regional and bilateral levels. Traditionally, Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have focused on the liberalization of merchandise trade among members but new trends show inclusion of services. Examples include the Chile, Singapore Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the US, and the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which have provisions allowing temporary entry of business professionals into member countries to facilitate trade in services. Among the roughly 153 RTAs operational in the world today, 43 are economic integration agreements notified under the GATS Article V.2 Between 2001 and 2006, 35 RTAs with services, constituting approximately 20% of all notifications, were notified to the WTO. Some of the important agreements in Asia Pacific region which included services are Australia and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreements (ANCERTA), ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS), etc. These efforts were followed by a proliferation of similar agreements such as that between Singapore and Australia in 2001, and Singapore and the US in 2002. As of 2006, the US has concluded more than 10 RTAs with strong services chapters. The EU has also entered into RTAs with services chapters with countries such as South Africa, Mexico and Chile. While the preceding examples are drawn from North-South RTAs, even the South-South RTAs are seen to be conforming to the trend. The growth of output in the service sector in India has been spectacular in recent times which got reflected in a higher contribution in the GDP. As a consequence of this, along with its move in the GATS negotiation, India has also plunged into Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) through signing the India-Singapore CECA. Of late, its attempt to convert India-Sri Lanka FTA into another CECA and negotiation attempts with partners like EU, Malaysia, etc. clearly shows its inclination to include services in the new agreements. Services are intangible, mostly indivisible and can’t be stored. Its developmental impact though quite overwhelming is difficult to measure. The data on service sector is also difficult to capture. Due to all these, it is problematic for a developing country to develop its offers and commitments in a structured fashion in case of trade negotiation for services sector. At the same time, many service sectors are under tight control even in developed countries. Licensing, quota, regulatory structure, citizenship criteria, local content, subsidies etc are quite common in service sectors. Since services trade often requires (temporary) movement of provider or consumer, restrictions on services mostly arises from regulations and discriminating requirements regarding this movement. Therefore barriers to trade in services are particularly difficult to identify. Also, most of these barriers do not occur at the border. Developing countries are apprehensive in case of north-south services negotiation due to lack of transparency and information about the developed country service sector. Service sector commitments are riddled with lots of market access limitations and MFN exemptions which is common even in case of regional negotiation. Depending upon the sensitivity as well as technological levels, several components of different services are generally kept unbound. Sometimes, some modes of services (such as mode 4) have been kept unbound even for sub-component of a sector. Developmental impact of any services agreement needs to be judged from the commitment as well as negotiation strategy. This is important as several countries are pursuing GATS Plus commitments. The CECA has progressed beyond GATS understanding the current business environment. Negotiations on domestic regulation in GATS have progressed to the level of framing a text for adoption while in case of regional agreements more ambitious approaches are observed. The present paper focuses on India’s attempt to integrate with the world economy with service sector liberalistaion and understanding its strategy in services negotiation. The structure of the paper is as follows. Initial section will focus on introduction and an overview of some select RTAs having special attention towards service sectors. Section 2 provides a brief overview of India’s performance in the services sector, followed by a more detailed examination of the contribution of the service sector to growth, and the composition of services trade in Section 3. In particular, we’ll discuss the change in pattern of trade from the traditional goods sector to services. Section 4 examines India’s involvement in regional trade blocs keeping an eye on services sector. Several potential RTAs with services focus will also be discussed. The paper will make an attempt to develop a negotiating format for some of the important services understanding the current status of services in the partner countries as well as in India. While doing so, it will make an attempt to identify major barriers faced by India in some of the exportable services. These issues will be discussed in section 5. Section 6 will provide conclusion and induction from the major findings.regional trade; services
Unidirectional, electrotactic-response valve for Caenorhabditis elegans in microfluidic devices
No full textWe report a nematode electrotactic-response valve (NERV) to control the locomotion of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) in microfluidic devices. This nonmechanical, unidirectional valve is based on creating a confined region of lateral electric field that is switchable and reversible. We observed that C. elegans do not prefer to pass through this region if the field lines are incident to its forward movement. Upon reaching the boundary of the NERV, the incident worms partially penetrate the field region, pull back, and turn around. The NERV is tested on three C. elegans mutants: wild-type (N2), lev-8, and acr-16.This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Carr, John A., Roy Lycke, Archana Parashar, and Santosh Pandey. "Unidirectional, electrotactic-response valve for Caenorhabditis elegans in microfluidic devices." Applied Physics Letters 98, no. 14 (2011): 143701, and may be found at DOI: 10.1063/1.3570629. Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics. Posted with permission
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