Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparision Performance of Different Constellation with with FHT in ADSL System Based on DMT

In recent years, Internet access over a digital subscriber line (DSL) has experienced continuous growth. Recent technological advances have increased the potential capacity of the telephone operators' access networks, which were originally intended only to provide a plain old telephone service. However, due to an imperfect balance between the twisted pair channels, different noises occur on the telephone lines. In this paper we introduce new DMT system which is based on Hadamard transform instead of FFT to ADSL system with cyclic prefix and noisy channel. The results of simulation show that Hadamard have better performance (especially in BER) with respect to FFT for two out of three kind of simulations.
Artificial Complex Cells via the Tropical Semiring

The seminal work of Hubel and Wiesel (1965) and the vast amount of work that followed it prove that hierarchies of increasingly complex cells play a central role in cortical computations. Computational models, pioneered by Fukushima (1980), suggest that these hierarchies contain feature-building cells ("S-cells") and pooling cells ("C-cells"). More recently, Riesenhuber & Poggio have developed the HMAX model (1999), in which S-cells perform linear combinations, while C-cells perform a MAX operation. We note that methods for computing the connectivity of S-cells abound since many algorithms for suggesting informative linear combinations exist. There are, however, only few published methods that are suitable for the construction of C-cells. Here, we build a novel dimensionality reduction algorithm for learning the connectivity of C-cells, using the framework of the max-plus ("tropical") semiring.
Host Cell Invasion by TRYPANOSOMA cRUZI Is Potentiated by Activation of Bradykinin B2 Receptors

The parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi employs multiple molecular strategies to invade a broad range of nonphagocytic cells. Here we demonstrate that the invasion of human primary umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells overexpressing the B2 type of bradykinin receptor (CHO-B2R) by tissue culture trypomastigotes is subtly modulated by the combined activities of kininogens, kininogenases, and kinin-degrading peptidases. The presence of captopril, an inhibitor of bradykinin degradation by kininase II, drastically potentiated parasitic invasion of HUVECs and CHO-B2R, but not of mock-transfected CHO cells, whereas the B2R antagonist HOE 140 or monoclonal antibody MBK3 to bradykinin blocked these effects. Invasion competence correlated with the parasites' ability to liberate the short-lived kinins from cell-bound kininogen and to elicit vigorous intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) transients through B2R. Invasion was impaired by membrane-permeable cysteine proteinase inhibitors such as Z-(SBz)Cys-Phe-CHN2 but not by the hydrophilic inhibitor 1-trans-epoxysuccinyl-l-leucyl-amido-(4-guanidino) butane or cystatin C, suggesting that kinin release is confined to secluded spaces formed by juxtaposition of host cell and parasite plasma membranes. Analysis of trypomastigote transfectants expressing various cysteine proteinase isoforms showed that invasion competence is linked to the kinin releasing activity of cruzipain, herein proposed as a factor of virulence in Chagas' disease.
Exchange Rate Regimes and Inflation Persistence

Some empirical research has suggested that inflation is more persistent under floating exchange rates. Theoretically, we should expect a higher variance of inflation persistence across countries under floating rates, but not necessarily a higher mean. It is shown that estimates of inflation persistence are biased upwards by underfitting mean shifts in the sample. After correction for mean shifts, there is evidence of greater inflation persistence in the post--Bretton Woods period, but no evidence of variation across exchange rate regimes. Monetary growth has been much less accommodative of inflation since 1979, with no difference between EMS and non-EMS countries.
The use of trading strategies by fund managers: some first survey evidence

A questionnaire survey has found that most fund managers rely on the strategies of buy-&-hold, momentum and contrarian trading. These strategies are typically applied mutually. Their use is rooted in the attributes and beliefs of the respective fund managers: buy-&-hold traders are fundamentally oriented, risk averse and are less (over)confident than others. Momentum traders appear as the least risk-averse professionals, going aggressively with the trend. Contrarian traders, however, show signs of overconfidence and peculiar risk aversion, both indicating difficulties in successful strategy implementation. The behavioural patterns revealed are not easily reconciled with efficient markets.
The Impact of Irrelevant Information on Estimates of Software Development Effort

Software professionals typically estimate software development effort based on a requirement specification. Parts of this specification frequently contain information that is irrelevant to the estimation of the actual effort involved in the development of software. We hypothesize that effort-irrelevant information sometimes has a strong impact on effort estimates. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two controlled experiments with software professionals. In each of the experiments, the software professionals received specifications describing the same requirements. However, we gave one group of the software professionals a version of the requirement specification where we had included additional, effort-irrelevant, information. In both experiments we observed that the estimates of most likely effort increased when the estimates were based on requirement specifications that contained the information irrelevant to development effort. The results suggest that when estimation-irrelevant information is included as input to expert judgment-based estimation processes, the estimators find it difficult to distinguish between the estimation-relevant and the estimation-irrelevant information. A possible consequence of our findings is that estimation-irrelevant information should be removed from the requirement specification prior to the use of it as input to estimation work.
The things they carried: The biological residue of childhood misfortune

Morton, Patricia M. Ph.D., Purdue University, May 2016. The Things They Carried: The Biological Residue of Childhood Misfortune. Major Professor: Kenneth Ferraro. There is a well-established relationship between childhood misfortune and adult health, but how these early-life experiences “get under the skin” to later manifest as poor health is less clear. To elucidate this process, this dissertation investigates (1) how childhood conditions influence immune functioning and (2) whether these physiological consequences of early misfortune lead to poor health, indicated by ischemic heart disease (IHD) onset. Guided by cumulative inequality theory and biological embedding, this dissertation also examines adult health lifestyles and socioeconomic status (SES) as possible mechanisms linking childhood misfortune to inflammation and IHD in later life. Data come from six waves of the Health and Retirement Study between 2004 and 2014, comprising a sample of over 8,000 adults aged 51 and older. The empirical investigation is presented in two main articles. The first article presented in Chapter 2 investigates the relationship between childhood misfortune and chronic inflammation, and examines mediators of adult health lifestyles and SES. Building on the findings in Chapter 2, the second article presented in Chapter 3 investigates the relationship between childhood misfortune and IHD risk, and examines mediators of adult health lifestyles, SES, and
Limited effect of lymph node status on the metastatic pattern in colorectal cancer

Regional lymph node metastases in colorectal cancer (CRC) decrease outcome. Whether nodal metastases function as a biomarker, i.e. as a sign of advanced disease, or are in fact involved in the metastatic process is unclear. We evaluated metastatic patterns of CRC according to the lymph node status of the primary tumor. A retrospective review of 1393 patients with metastatic CRC who underwent autopsy in the Netherlands was performed. Metastatic patterns of regional lymph node positive and negative CRC were compared and validated by population-based data from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry (ECR). Patients with regional lymph node positive CRC more often developed peritoneal metastases (28% vs. 21%, p=0.003) and distant lymph node metastases (25% vs. 15%, p <0.001). Incidences of liver and lung metastases were comparable. Data from the ECR confirmed our findings regarding peritoneal (22.4% vs. 17.0%, p=0.003) and distant lymph node metastases (15.8% vs. 9.7%, p <0.001). Regional lymph node positive CRC show a slightly different dissemination pattern, with higher rates of peritoneal and distant lymph nodes metastases. Comparable incidences of liver and lung metastases support the hypothesis that dissemination to distant organs occurs independently of lymphatic spread.
I/Q Imbalance Compensation Using a Nonlinear Modeling Approach

In-phase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance is one of the main sources of distortion in RF modulators. In this paper, a dual-input nonlinear model based on a real-valued Volterra series is proposed for compensation of the nonlinear frequency-dependent I/Q imbalance. First, different sources of distortion are identified from experimental measurements, then a dual-input nonlinear I/Q imbalance model is developed. Further, the inverse model is used for I/Q imbalance compensation. Finally, the performance of the I/Q imbalance compensator is evaluated with both simulations and experiments. In comparison with previously published results, the proposed I/Q imbalance compensator shows significantly improved performance. Thus, we prove that a complete nonlinear I/Q imbalance compensation can minimize the effects of the RF modulator in high-performance digital communication systems.
The contractome – a systems view of actomyosin contractility in non-muscle cells

ABSTRACT Actomyosin contractility is a highly regulated process that affects many fundamental biological processes in each and every cell in our body. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we mined the literature and databases to map the contractome of non-muscle cells. Actomyosin contractility is involved in at least 49 distinct cellular functions that range from providing cell architecture to signal transduction and nuclear activity. Containing over 100 scaffolding and regulatory proteins, the contractome forms a highly complex network with more than 230 direct interactions between its components, 86 of them involving phosphorylation. Mapping these interactions, we identify the key regulatory pathways involved in the assembly of actomyosin structures and in activating myosin to produce contractile forces within non-muscle cells at the exact time and place necessary for cellular function. Summary: A systematic analysis of the non-muscle myosin II literature reveals the multitude of cellular processes in which contractility plays a role and the complex protein interaction network regulating it.
A new approach to software exploration: back-packing with G/sup SEE/

Maintaining software is very difficult, not only because of the number of software artifacts, but also due to the large variety of artifacts. Software includes programs as well as makefiles, architectural information, change logs, etc. Different software exploration tools have been proposed in the last decade. Unfortunately, these tools are either specific (e.g. a class browser), or customizable (e.g. Rigi or PBS) but require significant preparation before exploration. This paper presents a new approach to software exploration: software back-packing. This approach allows a simultaneous exploration of software entities and meta-information. Our experience with this approach is briefly presented through G/sup SEE/, a generic software exploration environment.
What is Fractional Integration?

A simple construction that will be referred to as an error-duration model is shown to generate fractional integration and long memory. An error-duration representation also exists for many familiar ARMA models, making error duration an alternative to autoregression for explaining dynamic persistence in economic variables. The results lead to a straightforward procedure for simulating fractional integration and establish a connection between fractional integration and common notions of structural change. Two examples show how the error-duration model could account for fractional integration in aggregate employment and in asset price volatility.
Family bereavement experiences after sudden cardiac death

TITLE: Family Bereavement Experiences after Sudden Cardiac Death AUTHOR: Dorothy “Dale” M. Mayer APPROVED: ______________________________ Anne Rosenfeld, Ph.D., R.N. , F.A. H.A. , C.N. S. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand family bereavement experiences after the sudden cardiac death (SCD) of a family member. Aims included description of bereavement experiences and identification of meanings of loss across families. Background: Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death and SCD is on the rise, especially in younger adults. The SCD of middle aged adults, who are often in the prime of their lives, is devastating for surviving family members and greatly disrupts their sense of self and shatters their feelings of security. Bereavement research has focused on the response of individuals to grief and loss and little is known about the impact of SCD on multiple surviving family members. Family roles and tasks are radically changed after death of a family member and when the death is unexpected surviving family members are challenged to make sense of their loss. Methods: A qualitative approach, narrative analysis, was used to analyze family and individual stories of bereavement. Seven families who experienced the SCD of a family member within the last 5 years participated. Eligibility criteria limited the decedent’s age to 20 and 55 years old at the time of death. Family interviews, which averaged 96 minutes, were conducted with a minimum of two family members, followed by individual interviews with 17 family members. Open ended
Path planning and Obstacle avoidance approaches for Mobile robot

A new path planning method for Mobile Robots (MR) has been developed and implemented. On the one hand, based on the shortest path from the start point to the goal point, this path planner can choose the best moving directions of the MR, which helps to reach the target point as soon as possible. On the other hand, with an intelligent obstacle avoidance, our method can find the target point with the near-shortest path length while avoiding some infinite loop traps of several obstacles in unknown environments. The combination of two approaches helps the MR to reach the target point with a very reliable algorithm. Moreover, by continuous updates of the on-board sensors information, this approach can generate the MRs trajectory both in static and dynamic environments. A large number of simulations in some similar studies environments demonstrate the power of the proposed path planning algorithm.
Comparative study on effectiveness of standard bug prediction approaches

Bug prediction research has been evolving quite rapidly but its applicability to IT industry is far from reality. The efficacy of object oriented metrics in bug prediction has been investigated in this work by evaluating the performance of bug prediction models built with various combinations of these metrics. The module-order models have been built using object oriented metrics and the limitations of standard measures like recall in evaluating the performance of bug prediction models have been exposed.
Gender Differences in Smoking Cessation

David W. Wetter Department of Behavioral Science University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Susan L. Kenford Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin–Madison Stevens S. Smith Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin–Madison Michael C. Fiore Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin–Madison Douglas E. Jorenby Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin–Madison Timothy B. Baker Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention University of Wisconsin–Madison ABSTRACT
Optimised PLC power transfer on avionic DC Power Lines: Coupling circuit and lightning protection

Power Line Communication (PLC) systems are good candidates for next-generation aircraft communication channels. On-board power buses must meet stringent safety requirements that mandate the use of Transient Voltage suppressors (TVS) for lightning protection. These devices strongly degrade the performance of the communication channel. In this paper we analyze the impact of the lightning protection circuit used in aircraft power buses both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that TVS devices are responsible for distortion and attenuation in the PLC signal band (1 MHz – 100 MHz). We introduce a novel co-design strategy, matching PLC coupler to lightning protection conforming to air travel safety regulations. Our experimental results demonstrate that both constraints can be met using our proposed architecture.
Reactive , Proactive , and Passive Learning about Incomplete Actions

Agents with incomplete knowledge of their actions can either plan around the incompleteness, learn by querying a domain expert, or learn through trial and error. In deciding what to learn, an agent must consider whether an incomplete action feature is relevant to achieving its goals. In deciding how to learn an action feature, the agent can i) try to execute the action and passively observe the outcome, ii) react by querying a domain expert when it fails to learn by passive observation, or iii) proactively query a domain expert prior to executing the action. The challenge is that by learning about incomplete action features an agent may determine its plan will fail and re-plan, and thus change which action features are relevant to achieving it goals. We desire agents that can ask as few questions as possible in achieving their goals. We present a number of strategies for i) planning with incomplete knowledge of actions to identify relevant incomplete action features (preconditions and effects), ii) reasoning about plan failure explanations to identify which features will be learned passively or proactively, and iii) techniques for diagnosing action failures to reactively learn about actions when passive learning fails. We test the following configurations of our agent: i) learning only passively and asking no questions; ii) asking questions and re-planning until the plan is guaranteed to succeed; iii) planning, acting until the plan fails, diagnosing the failure, and re-planning; and iv) while diagnosing failures, proactively querying about a subset of the future action features that are likely to cause failures. We find that passive learning alone can lead to dead-ends, perfecting a plan prior to execution requires many questions, and balancing passive learning with reactive learning strikes a good balance between avoiding dead-ends and minimizing the number of questions.
Non-word repetition performance in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with and without specific language impairment (SLI)

Abstract Childhood is a critical period for language development, and it is of great importance to discover normal language development and any specific language impairment (SLI) in child language acquisition and then to give them timely diagnosis and treatment. Also it has been previously shown that the non-word repetition task is an efficient assessment tool to screen out those children suspected with SLI. Based on this premise, the present study examined whether the non-word repetition task can be a suitable screening tool to detect language disorders for preschool children in Mandarin Chinese in China. A non-word repetition task was adapted specifically for this purpose. This study examined differences in non-word repetition performance of Mandarin-speaking preschool children screened by a criterion-referenced diagnostic test of specific language impairment (SLI) (the value of Cronbach Alpha at 0.86). A sample of 282 children were administered the diagnostic test, and a total of 23 SLI suspects were screened out as their language ability measures deviated from the mean by 1.5 SDs. Results indicated that children with SLI made no error with respect to tone in Mandarin, but they showed great difficulty in non-word repetition skills compared to age-matched controls. The findings confirmed that the non-word repetition task is a culturally nonbiased index of language disorders, and that two syllable non-words can be used to identify language disorder.
Employee Engagement: The Impact of Spiritual, Mental, Emotional and Physical Elements on the Relationship Between Employee Engagement and Behavioral Outcomes

Data were collected by an external company for a healthcare service firm interested in learning the job-related attitudes of their employees. Thus, archival data from 1,287 employees were collected for a different purpose. The survey consisted of 117 questions covering a broad range of constructs. Consequently, the items were used to derive effective measures of employee engagement and behavioral outcomes, as well as the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical dimensions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to create scales reflecting these four factors. Interestingly, six scales emerged, logically linking to and further specifying the initial dimensions. These were Organizational Linkage, Manager Relationship, Job Fit, Job Clarity, Work Pressure, and Meaningful Work. To test the hypotheses, six separate regression equations were calculated, which statistically supported modification by each of the dimensions. However, statistical significance of the interactions resulted from having a large sample, given the actual association was too small to be meaningful (e.g., a contribution of 0.6% of the variance). As each of the dimensions had a main effect on the behavioral measure during hypothesis testing, exploratory regression equations were calculated to further understand the interrelationships. Of most interest was finding that in the presence of Engagement, the main effects of only Organizational Linkage and Job Fit reached significance. However, when Engagement was not included, four of the six dimensions made a significant contribution to Behavioral Outcomes. Overall, there was support for previous conceptualizations. From the scientist-practitioner perspective, the six factors identified in this study may be more useful than the four initially proposed. The distinctions give practitioners additional information to use in interventions to improve employee behavior and retention.