Speculative bubbles in Bitcoin markets? An empirical investigation into the fundamental value of Bitcoin

Amid its rapidly increasing usage and immense public interest the subject of Bitcoin has raised profound economic and societal issues. In this paper we undertake economic and econometric modelling of Bitcoin prices. As with many asset classes we show that Bitcoin exhibits speculative bubbles. Further, we find empirical evidence that the fundamental price of Bitcoin is zero

Mutation breeding of Phaseolus vulgaris L.: Studies on the effects of irradiation dosage to resolve a suitable procedure of handling M and M generations

Seedling growth studies on gamma-irradiated seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris were conducted in the greenhouse and the field. No significant differences in germination scores between the unirradiated control and the seeds exposed to 10, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 Krads of gamma radiation were obtained. Exposure to 100 Krads, however, was lethal to the apical meristem. Growth of the epicotyl under greenhouse conditions was the most affected by gamma radiation. Based upon a 30% reduction in epicotyl length the optimum dose for irradiation was 30 Krads. At this level of irradiation the survival score at harvest under field conditions was 50% of that of the unirradiated control. Treatment with 30 Krads also gave the highest number of solid chlorophyll mutants.While not all the chlorophyll mutants were scored in the Bs (Sl gle seed bulk) populations, the % occurrence was consistently higher than that for the corresponding Bp (single pod bulk) populations. Based on these results, it is recommended that: a) the most suitable level of gamma radiation to use in a mutation breeding programme is 30 Krads; b) the M1 seeds should be field-planted at double the planting density of the control; c) the M1 plants should be harvested such that the Bs (single seed bulk) population be used for screening of the mutants

Online prostate cancer screening decision aid for at-risk men: A randomized trial

Objective: This study examines the efficacy of an online decision aid (DA) for men with a family history of prostate cancer. Methods: Unaffected Australian men (40 - 79 years) with at least one affected relative completed the first online questionnaire, were randomized to read either the tailored DA (intervention) or nontailored information about prostate cancer screening (control), then completed a questionnaire postreading and 12 months later. The primary outcome was decisional conflict regarding prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. The impact of the DA on longitudinal outcomes was analyzed by using random intercept mixed effects models. Logistic and linear regressions were used to analyze the impact of the DA on screening behavior and decision regret. Stage of decision-making was tested as a moderator for decisional conflict and decision regret. The frequency of online material access was recorded. Results: the DA had no effect on decisional conflict, knowledge, inclination toward PSA testing, accuracy of perceived risk, or screening behavior. However, among men considering PSA testing, those who read the DA had lower decision regret compared with men who read the control materials, β=.34 , p \u3c.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [.22, .53]. Conclusions: This is the first study to our knowledge to evaluate the uptake and efficacy of an online screening DA among men with a family history of prostate cancer. Men who were undecided about screening at baseline benefitted from the DA, experiencing less regret 12 months later. In relation to decisional conflict, the control materials may have operated as a less complex and equally informative DA

SOXE neofunctionalization and elaboration of the neural crest during chordate evolution

During chordate evolution, two genome-wide duplications facilitated acquisition of vertebrate traits, including emergence of neural crest cells (NCCs), in which neofunctionalization of the duplicated genes are thought to have facilitated development of craniofacial structures and the peripheral nervous system. How these duplicated genes evolve and acquire the ability to specify NC and their derivatives are largely unknown. Vertebrate SoxE paralogues, most notably Sox9/10, are essential for NC induction, delamination and lineage specification. In contrast, the basal chordate, amphioxus, has a single SoxE gene and lacks NC-like cells. Here, we test the hypothesis that duplication and divergence of an ancestral SoxE gene may have facilitated elaboration of NC lineages. By using an in vivo expression assay to compare effects of AmphiSoxE and vertebrate Sox9 on NC development, we demonstrate that all SOXE proteins possess similar DNA binding and homodimerization properties and can induce NCCs. However, AmphiSOXE is less efficient than SOX9 in transactivation activity and in the ability to preferentially promote glial over neuronal fate, a difference that lies within the combined properties of amino terminal and transactivation domains. We propose that acquisition of AmphiSoxE expression in the neural plate border led to NCC emergence while duplication and divergence produced advantageous mutations in vertebrate homologues, promoting elaboration of NC traits

Restoring Speech Following Total Removal of the Larynx

By speech articulator movement and training a transformation to audio we can restore the power of speech to someone who has lost their larynx. We sense changes in magnetic field caused by movements of small magnets attached to the lips and tongue. The sensor transformation uses recurrent neural networks

ChunkitApp : Investigating the relevant units of online speech processing

Peer reviewe

PITCH FUNCTION COMPARISON METHODOLOGY FOR SUPPORTING A SMART 3D SCANNER SELECTION

When working with 3Dscanner devices, one of the most critical problems is usually the low quality of the point cloud provided by the scanning device. This problem mainly consists of the following two aspects. The first one is surely the choice of the strategy used to acquire the object shape. Most of the times, the selected strategy is based on selective sampling. This choice proved to be valid, especially when working with Free-Form surfaces: by using a selective sampling strategy is in fact possible to limit point density increase to those regions showing high morphological complexity. The second aspect is the difficulty of identifying which 3Dscanner device is the one that better fulfils the specific application needs, which vary depending on the specific scenario in which the costumer/user works (resolution, accuracy, …). As far as this last issue is concerned, the presence of many different acquisition technologies and devices on the market is a source of confusion for the users, who sometimes choose the wrong solution instead of finding the most efficient one. Hence, in order to support the potential users in their selection, this paper aims to propose a solution able to integrate the morphological analysis of the object acquired with the costumer needs (resolution, accuracy, …) and with the 3Dscanner performances in order to help users to identify the optimal solutio

Total hip replacement: improving cement fixation of the acetabular component

The primary aim of this study was to propose fixation techniques that would improve the cement fixation of the acetabular cup. This was done by (1) studying current practice, (2) creating FE models of the reconstructed acetabulum to predict improved fixation techniques, (3) validating the FE models by laboratory investigations and (4) proposing designs of jigs and drill bit that would assist orthopaedic surgeons use the recommended techniques