The effect of domestic credit in the economic *development process

A commonly held view is that creation of excessive domestic credit may lead to inflation problems, however, many economists uphold the possibility that, generous domestic credit under appropriate conditions will result in increases of output. This hypothesis is examined for Japan and Colombia for the period 1950-1993.^ Domestic credit theories are reviewed since the times of Thornton and Smith, until the recent times of Lewis, McKinnon, Stiglitz and of Japanese economists like K. Emi, Tachi R. and others. It is found that in Japan of the Post-War period, efficient financial markets and the decisive role of the government in orienting investment decisions seem to have influenced positively the effectiveness of domestic credit as an output-stimulating variable. On the contrary, in Colombia the absence of the above features seems to explain why domestic credit is not very effective as an output-stimulating variable.^ Multiple regression analyses show that domestic credit is a strong explanatory variable for output increases in Japan and a weak one for Colombia's case in the studied period. For Japan the correlation depicts a positive relationship between the two variables with a decreasing rate very similar to a typical production function. Moreover, the positive decreasing rate is confirmed if net domestic credit is used in the correlations. For Colombia a positive relationship is also found when accumulated domestic credit is used, but, if net domestic credit is the source of correlations, the positive decreasing rate is not obtained.^ Granger causality tests determined causality from domestic credit to output for Japan and no-causality for Colombia at the 1% significance level; the differences are explained by: (1) The low development level of the financial system in Colombia. (2) The nonexistence of consistent domestic credit policy to foster economic development. (3) The lack of an authoritative orientation in the allocation of financial resources and the nonexistence of long range industrialization programs in Colombia that could channel productively credit resources. For the system of equations relating domestic credit and exports, the Granger causality tests determined no-causality between domestic credit and exports for both Japan and Colombia also at the 1% significance level. ^

Informational effects of assessment feedback

This study tested the effects of informational assessment feedback on satisfaction, selfesteem and examiner ratings. 83 participants completed a self-report personality inventory (Millon Index of Personality Styles). Participants of the experimental group were given standardized, informational assessment. Participants in the control group received only general information about the personality inventory. Significant group differences were found for the Feedback Assessment Questionnaire with t (81) = 11.67, p

Mitigating Inconsistencies by Coupling Data Cleaning, Filtering, and Contextual Data Validation in Wireless Sensor Networks

With the advent of peer to peer networks, and more importantly sensor networks, the desire to extract useful information from continuous and unbounded streams of data has become more prominent. For example, in tele-health applications, sensor based data streaming systems are used to continuously and accurately monitor Alzheimer's patients and their surrounding environment. Typically, the requirements of such applications necessitate the cleaning and filtering of continuous, corrupted and incomplete data streams gathered wirelessly in dynamically varying conditions. Yet, existing data stream cleaning and filtering schemes are incapable of capturing the dynamics of the environment while simultaneously suppressing the losses and corruption introduced by uncertain environmental, hardware, and network conditions. Consequently, existing data cleaning and filtering paradigms are being challenged. This dissertation develops novel schemes for cleaning data streams received from a wireless sensor network operating under non-linear and dynamically varying conditions. The study establishes a paradigm for validating spatio-temporal associations among data sources to enhance data cleaning. To simplify the complexity of the validation process, the developed solution maps the requirements of the application on a geometrical space and identifies the potential sensor nodes of interest. Additionally, this dissertation models a wireless sensor network data reduction system by ascertaining that segregating data adaptation and prediction processes will augment the data reduction rates. The schemes presented in this study are evaluated using simulation and information theory concepts. The results demonstrate that dynamic conditions of the environment are better managed when validation is used for data cleaning. They also show that when a fast convergent adaptation process is deployed, data reduction rates are significantly improved. Targeted applications of the developed methodology include machine health monitoring, tele-health, environment and habitat monitoring, intermodal transportation and homeland security.

Medida de uma codificação de estímulos sonoros por potenciais pós-sinápticos e potenciais de campo local usando teoria da informação

Coding process is a fundamental aspect of cerebral functioning. The sensory stimuli transformation in neurophysiological responses has been a research theme in several areas of Neuroscience. One of the most used ways to measure a neural code e ciency is by the use of Information Theory measures, such as mutual information. Using these tools, recent studies show that in the auditory cortex both local eld potentials (LFPs) and action potential spiking times code information about sound stimuli. However, there are no studies applying Information Theory tools to investigate the e ciency of codes that use postsynaptics potentials (PSPs), alone and associated with LFP analysis. These signals are related in the sense that LFPs are partly created by joint action of several PSPs. The present dissertation reports information measures between PSP and LFP responses obtained in the primary auditory cortex of anaesthetized rats and auditory stimuli of distinct frequencies. Our results show that PSP responses hold information about sound stimuli in comparable levels and even greater than LFP responses. We have also found that PSPs and LFPs code sound information independently, since the joint analysis of these signals did neither show synergy nor redundancy.

Uso de correntropia na generalização de funções cicloestacionárias e aplicações para a extração de características de sinais modulados

Information extraction is a frequent and relevant problem in digital signal processing. In the past few years, different methods have been utilized for the parameterization of signals and the achievement of efficient descriptors. When the signals possess statistical cyclostationary properties, the Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (CAF) and the Spectral Cyclic Density (SCD) can be used to extract second-order cyclostationary information. However, second-order cyclostationary information is poor in nongaussian signals, as the cyclostationary analysis in this case should comprise higher-order statistical information. This paper proposes a new mathematical tool for the higher-order cyclostationary analysis based on the correntropy function. Specifically, the cyclostationary analysis is revisited focusing on the information theory, while the Cyclic Correntropy Function (CCF) and Cyclic Correntropy Spectral Density (CCSD) are also defined. Besides, it is analytically proven that the CCF contains information regarding second- and higher-order cyclostationary moments, being a generalization of the CAF. The performance of the aforementioned new functions in the extraction of higher-order cyclostationary characteristics is analyzed in a wireless communication system where nongaussian noise exists.

Bounds on end-to-end performance of networks employing erasure control coding

Erasure control coding has been exploited in communication networks with an aim to improve the end-to-end performance of data delivery across the network. To address the concerns over the strengths and constraints of erasure coding schemes in this application, we examine the performance limits of two erasure control coding strategies, forward erasure recovery and adaptive erasure recovery. Our investigation shows that the throughput of a network using an (n, k) forward erasure control code is capped by r =k/n when the packet loss rate p ≤ (te/n) and by k(l-p)/(n-te) when p > (t e/n), where te is the erasure control capability of the code. It also shows that the lower bound of the residual loss rate of such a network is (np-te)/(n-te) for (te/n) < p ≤ 1. Especially, if the code used is maximum distance separable, the Shannon capacity of the erasure channel, i.e. 1-p, can be achieved and the residual loss rate is lower bounded by (p+r-1)/r, for (1-r) < p ≤ 1. To address the requirements in real-time applications, we also investigate the service completion time of different schemes. It is revealed that the latency of the forward erasure recovery scheme is fractionally higher than that of the scheme without erasure control coding or retransmission mechanisms (using UDP), but much lower than that of the adaptive erasure scheme when the packet loss rate is high. Results on comparisons between the two erasure control schemes exhibit their advantages as well as disadvantages in the role of delivering end-to-end services. To show the impact of the bounds derived on the end-to-end performance of a TCP/IP network, a case study is provided to demonstrate how erasure control coding could be used to maximize the performance of practical systems. © 2010 IEEE.

Adaptive Brain-Computer Interface Systems For Communication in People with Severe Neuromuscular Disabilities

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) have the potential to restore communication or control abilities in individuals with severe neuromuscular limitations, such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The role of a BCI is to extract and decode relevant information that conveys a user's intent directly from brain electro-physiological signals and translate this information into executable commands to control external devices. However, the BCI decision-making process is error-prone due to noisy electro-physiological data, representing the classic problem of efficiently transmitting and receiving information via a noisy communication channel.

This research focuses on P300-based BCIs which rely predominantly on event-related potentials (ERP) that are elicited as a function of a user's uncertainty regarding stimulus events, in either an acoustic or a visual oddball recognition task. The P300-based BCI system enables users to communicate messages from a set of choices by selecting a target character or icon that conveys a desired intent or action. P300-based BCIs have been widely researched as a communication alternative, especially in individuals with ALS who represent a target BCI user population. For the P300-based BCI, repeated data measurements are required to enhance the low signal-to-noise ratio of the elicited ERPs embedded in electroencephalography (EEG) data, in order to improve the accuracy of the target character estimation process. As a result, BCIs have relatively slower speeds when compared to other commercial assistive communication devices, and this limits BCI adoption by their target user population. The goal of this research is to develop algorithms that take into account the physical limitations of the target BCI population to improve the efficiency of ERP-based spellers for real-world communication.

In this work, it is hypothesised that building adaptive capabilities into the BCI framework can potentially give the BCI system the flexibility to improve performance by adjusting system parameters in response to changing user inputs. The research in this work addresses three potential areas for improvement within the P300 speller framework: information optimisation, target character estimation and error correction. The visual interface and its operation control the method by which the ERPs are elicited through the presentation of stimulus events. The parameters of the stimulus presentation paradigm can be modified to modulate and enhance the elicited ERPs. A new stimulus presentation paradigm is developed in order to maximise the information content that is presented to the user by tuning stimulus paradigm parameters to positively affect performance. Internally, the BCI system determines the amount of data to collect and the method by which these data are processed to estimate the user's target character. Algorithms that exploit language information are developed to enhance the target character estimation process and to correct erroneous BCI selections. In addition, a new model-based method to predict BCI performance is developed, an approach which is independent of stimulus presentation paradigm and accounts for dynamic data collection. The studies presented in this work provide evidence that the proposed methods for incorporating adaptive strategies in the three areas have the potential to significantly improve BCI communication rates, and the proposed method for predicting BCI performance provides a reliable means to pre-assess BCI performance without extensive online testing.

Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of parents regarding fever in children: a Danish interview study

Aim: Fever and febrile illness are some of the most common conditions managed by parents. The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of parents around fever in children under five years of age. Methods: Between July and August 2014, a convenience sample of parents was invited to participate in this study in Copenhagen, Denmark. Results were analysed thematically using a constant comparison method. Results: Twenty-one parents participated in the study. Five themes emerged from the data: parental concern, help-seeking behaviour, parental knowledge, parent fever management practices and initiatives. Parents used a range of information sources to obtain their knowledge on management of fever; however, due to issues of trust with these sources, reassurance was often sought from healthcare practitioners. There was a desire amongst most parents for initiatives to be introduced which provide general information on how to manage fever in children. Conclusion: Parents were very concerned when their child was febrile and instigated practices obtained from accessible information sources. This study has identified a need for specific and reliable information initiatives to be introduced as a means of reducing parental concern and ensuring evidence-based strategies for managing a child with fever.

(Table 1) Rodent (lemming and vole) densities in 5 study areas in the Canadian Arctic

Lemmings construct nests of grass and moss under the snow during winter, and counting these nests in spring is 1 method of obtaining an index of winter density and habitat use. We counted winter nests after snow melt on fixed grids on 5 areas scattered across the Canadian Arctic and compared these nest counts to population density estimated by mark-recapture on the same areas in spring and during the previous autumn. Collared lemmings were a common species in most areas, some sites had an abundance of brown lemmings, and only 2 sites had tundra voles. Winter nest counts were correlated with lemming densities estimated in the following spring (r(s) = 0.80, P < 0.001), but less well correlated with densities the previous autumn (r(s) = 0.55, P < 0.001). Winter nest counts can be used to predict spring lemming densities with a log-log regression that explains 64% of the observed variation. Winter nest counts are best treated as an approximate index and should not be used when precise, quantitative lemming density estimates are required. Nest counts also can be used to provide general information about habitat-use in winter, predation rates by weasels, and the extent of winter breeding.

Queen's College Journal (1879-1880)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.

Queen's College Journal (1880-1881)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.

Queen's College Journal (1881-1882)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.

Queen's College Journal (1882-1883)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.

Queen's College Journal (1883-1884)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.

Queen's College Journal (1884-1885)

The Journal has been Queen's main student newspaper since it was founded in 1873. It appears twice a week on campus with a mix of news, sports, and entertainment stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and photographs. The paper is students' most important source of news and general information and has been a training ground for scores of Canadian journalists.