Motivated by the need to describe bear-bull market regime switching in stock prices, we introduce and study a stochastic process in continuous time with two regimes, threshold and delay, given by a stochastic differential equation. When the difference between the regimes is simply given by a different set of real valued parameters for the drift and diffusion coefficients, with changes between regimes depending only on these parameters, we show that if the delay is known there are consistent estimators for the threshold as long we know how to classify a given observation of the process as belonging to one of the two regimes. When the drift and diffusion coefficients are of geometric Brownian motion type we obtain a model with parameters that can be estimated in a satisfactory way, a model that allows differentiating regimes in some of the NYSE 21 stocks analyzed and also, that gives very satisfactory results when compared to the usual Black–Scholes model for pricing call options.

Transactional memory (TM) is an increasingly popular technique for synchronising threads in multi-threaded programs. To address both correctness and performance-related issues of TM programs, one needs to monitor and analyse their execution. However, monitoring concurrent programs (including TM programs) may have a non-negligible impact on their behaviour, which may hamper the objectives of the intended analysis. In this paper, we propose several approaches for monitoring TM programs and study their impact on the behaviour of the monitored programs. The considered approaches range from specialised lightweight monitoring to generic heavyweight monitoring. The implemented monitoring tools are publicly available to the scientific community, and the implementation techniques used for lightweight monitoring of TM programs may be used as an inspiration for developing other specialised lightweight monitors.

We study Mellin pseudodifferential operators (shortly, Mellin PDO's) with symbols in the algebra \(\widetilde{\mathcal{E}}(\mathbb{R}_+,V(\mathbb{R}))\) of slowly oscillating functions of limited smoothness introduced in [K09]. We show that if \(\mathfrak{a}\in\widetilde{\mathcal{E}}(\mathbb{R}_+,V(\mathbb{R}))\) does not degenerate on the ``boundary" of \(\mathbb{R}_+\times\mathbb{R}\) in a certain sense, then the Mellin PDO \(\operatorname{Op}(\mathfrak{a})\) is Fredholm on the space \(L^p\) for \(p\in(1,\infty)\) and each its regularizer is of the form \(\operatorname{Op}(\mathfrak{b})+K\) where \(K\) is a compact operator on \(L^p\) and \(\mathfrak{b}\) is a certain explicitly constructed function in the same algebra \(\widetilde{\mathcal{E}}(\mathbb{R}_+,V(\mathbb{R}))\) such that \(\mathfrak{b}=1/\mathfrak{a}\) on the ``boundary" of \(\mathbb{R}_+\times\mathbb{R}\). This result complements the known Fredholm criterion from [K09] for Mellin PDO's with symbols in the closure of \(\widetilde{\mathcal{E}}(\mathbb{R}_+,V(\mathbb{R}))\) and extends the corresponding result by V.S. Rabinovich (see [R98]) on Mellin PDO's with slowly oscillating symbols in \(C^\infty(\mathbb{R}_+\times\mathbb{R})\).

Let $X$ be a finite or infinite chain and let $\O(X)$ be the monoid of all endomorphisms of $X$.
In this paper, we describe the largest regular subsemigroup of $\O(X)$ and Green's relations on $\O(X)$.
In fact, more generally, if $Y$ is a nonempty subset of $X$ and $\O(X,Y)$ is the subsemigroup of $\O(X)$ of all elements with range contained in $Y$,
we characterize the largest regular subsemigroup of $\O(X,Y)$ and Green's relations on $\O(X,Y)$.
Moreover, for finite chains, we determine when two semigroups of the type $\O(X,Y)$ are isomorphic and calculate their ranks.

Regime switching processes are usually defined with an external random source driving the regime changes. In this article, we define and study a regime switching diffusion considering two thresholds, and regime switching occurring, by a change in the diffusion drift and volatility, whenever the trajectory touches the upper threshold after having crossed, or touched, the lower threshold or touches the lower threshold after having crossed, or touched, the upper threshold. We develop an estimation procedure for the thresholds and for the regime parameters of the diffusions. We show that a generalized Black–Scholes model with the regime switching diffusion as the law of the risky asset is arbitrage free and complete under an additional hypothesis on the diffusion coefficients of the two regime diffusions.

One possibility for strengthening existing flat slabs consists on gluing fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) at the concrete surface. When applied on top of slab-column connections, this technique allows increasing the flexural stiffness and strength of the slab as well as its punching strength. Nevertheless, the higher punching strength is associated to a reduction on the deformation capacity of the slab-column connection, which can be detrimental for the overall behaviour of the structure (leading to a more brittle behaviour of the system). Design approaches for this strengthening technique are usually based on empirical formulas calibrated on the basis of the tests performed on isolated test specimens. However, some significant topics as the reduction on the deformation capacity or the influence of the whole slab (accounting for the reinforcement at mid-span) on the efficiency of the strengthening are neglected. In this paper, a critical review of this technique for strengthening against punching shear is investigated on the basis of the physical model proposed by the Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT). This approach allows taking into account the amount, layout and mechanical behaviour of the bonded FRP's in a consistent manner to estimate the punching strength and deformation capacity of strengthened slabs. The approach is first used to predict the punching strength of available test data, showing a good agreement. Then, it is applied in order to investigate strengthened continuous slabs, considering moment redistribution after concrete cracking and reinforcement yielding. This latter study provides valuable information regarding the differences between the behaviour of isolated test specimens and real strengthened flat slabs. The results show that empirical formulas calibrated on isolated specimens may overestimate the actual performance of FRP's strengthening. Finally, taking advantage of the physical model of the CSCT, the effect of the construction sequence on the punching shear strength is also evaluated, revealing the role of this issue which is also neglected in most empirical approaches.

In this paper, we develop uniform bounds for the sequence of distribution functions of g(Vn+μn), wheregis some smooth function,is a sequence of identically distributed random variables with common distribution having a bounded derivative and {μn} are constants such that μn→∞. These bounds allow us to identify a suitable sequence of random variables which is asymptotically of the same type of g(Vn+μn) showing that the rate of convergence for these uniform approximations depends on the ratio of the second derivative to the first derivative ofg. The corresponding generalization to the multivariate case is also analyzed. An application of our results to the STATIS-ACT method is provided in the final section.

In this paper, we discuss the solution of an Inverse Eigenvalue Complementarity Problem. Two nonlinear formulations are presented for this problem. A necessary and sufficient condition for a stationary point of the first of these formulations to be a solution of the problem is established. On the other hand, for assuring global convergence to a solution of this problem when it exists, an enumerative algorithm is designed by exploiting the structure of the second formulation. The use of additional implied constraints for enhancing the efficiency of the algorithm is also discussed. Computational results are provided to highlight the performance of the algorithm.

An emerging trend in the field of Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) computing is the harnessing of multiple devices to cope with scalability and performance requirements. How- ever, multi-GPU execution adds new challenges to the al- ready complex world of General Purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU), such as the efficient problem decomposition, and dealing with device heterogeneity. To this extent, we pro- pose the use of the Marrow algorithmic skeleton framework (ASkF) to abstract most of the details intrinsic to the pro- gramming of such platforms. To the best of our knowledge, Marrow is the first ASkF to support skeleton nesting on single and (now) multiple GPU systems. In this paper we present how it can transparently distribute the execution of skeleton compositions among a set of, possibly, hetero- geneous devices. An experimental evaluation assesses the proposal’s effectiveness, from a scalability and performance perspective, with good results.

http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/inorgchem-2014-53-12799.pdf

The need for implementing low cost, fully integrated RF wireless transceivers has motivated the widespread use CMOS technology. However, in the particular case for voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO) where ever more stringent specifications in terms of phase-noise must be attained, the design of the on-chip LC tank is a challenging task, where fully advantage of the actual technologies characteristics must be pushed to nearly its limits. To overcome phase-noise limitations arising from the low quality factor of integrated inductors, optimization design methodologies are usually used. In this paper a model-based optimization approach is proposed. In this work the characterization of the oscillator behaviour is guaranteed by a set of analytical models describing each circuit element performance. A set of working examples for UMC130 technology, aiming the minimization of both VCO phase noise and power consumption, is addressed. The results presented, illustrate the potential of a GA optimization procedure design methodology yielding accurate and timely efficient oscillator designs. The validity of the results is checked against HSPICE/RF simulations.

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