Many corporate events are self-selected, but the relative impact of internal (firm-specific) and external (environmental) influences on discretionary corporate decisions remains largely unknown. In this paper, focusing on corporate debt issuance, we apply the contemporary push-pull theory to establish whether bond issuance are pushed by the firms due to internal considerations, or pulled by the...

We propose a new transport paradigm, called asynchronous multicast push (AMP) that leads to much more efficient use of network bandwidth, to higher throughput, and to reduced server load. AMP decouples request and delivery for frequently requested data and uses multicast delivery. We derive quantitatively by how much the server load and the network load is reduced by introducing an asynchronism...

A decision taken with the intention of protecting society against attack by biological weapons could, perversely, increase the very same danger. That is the implication of a debate now raging in the USA over the support of research on pathogens that might be used by terrorists. An alleged shift in funding in the wake of the 9/11 disaster and the ‘anthrax letters’ sent during 2001 means that mor...

We present a formalization of push-relabel algorithms for computing the maximum flow in a network. We start with Goldberg’s et al. generic push-relabel algorithm, for which we show correctness and the time complexity bound of O(V E). We then derive the relabel-tofront and FIFO implementation. Using stepwise refinement techniques, we derive an efficient verified implementation. Our formal proof ...

Stability of the spine is necessary for preventing pain and enhancing performance (Liebenson, 2006; McGill, 2006). Core muscle endurance is a key quality to train. Many exercises have been developed for the core including traditional ones such as sit-ups which have been recently called into question (McGill, 2006). Training the spine in a neutral posture which reinforces the natural upright cur...

Data Types have Existential Types data Stack a = forall s. Stack s -self (a->s->s) -push (s->s) -pop (s->a) -top (s->Bool) -empty push :: a -> Stack a -> Stack a push x (Stack s push’ pop top empty) = Stack (push’ x s) push’ pop top empty pop :: Stack a -> Stack a pop (Stack s push pop’ top empty) = Stack (pop’ s) push pop’ top empty A Framework for Extended Algebraic Data Types – p.6 Abstract ...

We consider a multi-agent framework for distributed optimization where each agent in the network has access to a local convex function and the collective goal is to achieve consensus on the parameters that minimize the sum of the agents’ local functions. We propose an algorithm wherein each agent operates asynchronously and independently of the other agents in the network. When the local functi...

Multi-agent Pathfinding is a relevant problem in a wide range of domains, for example in robotics and video games research. Formally, the problem considers a graph consisting of vertices and edges, and a set of agents occupying vertices. An agent can only move to an unoccupied, neighbouring vertex, and the problem of finding the minimal sequence of moves to transfer each agent from its start lo...

Background: Despite high coverage of indoor interventions like insecticide-treated nets, mosquito-borne infections persist, partly because of outdoor-biting, early-biting and insecticide-resistant vectors. Push-pull systems, where mosquitoes are repelled from humans and attracted to nearby lethal targets, may constitute effective complementary interventions. Methods: A partially randomized cros...