Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radio resource sharing games: enabling QoS support in unlicensed bands

Distributed quality of service support in wireless networks that are sharing unlicensed frequency bands is an increasingly significant research problem. The spectral coexistence of dissimilar radio systems has to be addressed in the near future in concerning the widely deployed IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks and other future radio systems operating in unlicensed or opportunistically used frequency bands. The competition between independent wireless networks for allocating a common shared radio channel is modeled in this article as a stage-based game model: players, representing wireless networks, interact repeatedly in radio resource sharing games, without direct coordination or information exchange. Solution concepts derived from game theory allow the analysis of such models under the microeconomic aspects of welfare. Decisions players repeatedly have to make are about when and how often to attempt medium access. In multistage games the players apply strategies in order to maximize their observed utility as a summarizing value for successfully supported quality of service. Strategies determine whether competing radio networks cooperate or ignore the presence of other radio networks. The traffic requirements of a player thereby decide which strategy is adequate to guarantee quality of service.
Sonic hedgehog Promotes G1 Cyclin Expression and Sustained Cell Cycle Progression in Mammalian Neuronal Precursors

ABSTRACT Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signal transduction via the G-protein-coupled receptor, Smoothened, is required for proliferation of cerebellar granule neuron precursors (CGNPs) during development. Activating mutations in the Hedgehog pathway are also implicated in basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma, a tumor of the cerebellum in humans. However, Shh signaling interactions with cell cycle regulatory components in neural precursors are poorly understood, in part because appropriate immortalized cell lines are not available. We have utilized primary cultures from neonatal mouse cerebella in order to determine (i) whether Shh initiates or maintains cell cycle progression in CGNPs, (ii) if G1 regulation by Shh resembles that of classical mitogens, and (iii) whether individual D-type cyclins are essential components of Shh proliferative signaling in CGNPs. Our results indicate that Shh can drive continued cycling in immature, proliferating CGNPs. Shh treatment resulted in sustained activity of the G1 cyclin-Rb axis by regulating levels ofcyclinD1, cyclinD2, and cyclinEmRNA transcripts and proteins. Analysis of CGNPs fromcyclinD1−/− orcyclinD2 −/− mice demonstrates that the Shh proliferative pathway does not require unique functions ofcyclinD1 or cyclinD2 and that D-type cyclins overlap functionally in this regard. In contrast to many known mitogenic pathways, we show that Shh proliferative signaling is mitogen-activated protein kinase independent. Furthermore, protein synthesis is required for early effects on cyclin gene expression. Together, our results suggest that Shh proliferative signaling promotes synthesis of regulatory factor intermediates that upregulate or maintain cyclin gene expression and activity of the G1cyclin-Rb axis in proliferating granule neuron precursors.
Pathbreakers? Women's Electoral Success and Future Political Participation

We investigate whether the event of a woman being competitively elected as a state legislator encourages the subsequent political participation of women, using a regression discontinuity design on constituency level data from India. We find that female incumbents are more likely than male incumbents to re-contest and that there is a decline in the entry of new women candidates. This decline is most pronounced in states with entrenched gender bias and in male-headed parties, suggesting an intensification of barriers against women in these areas. Similar results for (mostly male) Muslim candidates indicate the presence of institutionalized demand-side barriers rather than gender-specific preferences and constraints.
The Value-Relevance of Intangibles: The Case of Software Capitalization

We examine in this study the relevance to investors of information on the capitalization of software development costs, as promulgated in 1985 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in its Statement No. 86 (SFAS 86). We find that software capitalization is value-relevant to investors: The annually capitalized development costs are positively and significantly associated with stock returns and the cumulative software asset reported on the balance sheet is associated with stock prices. Furthermore, software capitalization figures are associated with subsequent reported earnings, indicating another dimension of relevance to investors. We also find that investors undervalue firms that expense all their software development costs. Finally, we find no support for the frequent argument that the judgment and subjectivity involved in software capitalization adversely affects the quality of reported earnings. We also investigate why the industry petitioned the FASB, in March 1996, to abolish SFAS 86. We document a significant shift in the mid-1990s in the impact of software capitalization on reported earnings and return-on-equity of software companies. Whereas in the early period of SFAS 86 application (mid- to late-1980s) software capitalization enhanced reported earnings considerably more than its detraction by the amortization of the software asset (since that asset was still small), during the early 1990s the gap between capitalization and amortization narrowed, and in 1995, the amortization? s negative impact on reported profitability roughly offset the positive impact of capitalization. This diminished impact of capitalization on reported performance may have been among the reasons underlying the petition to abolish SFAS 86. Finally, we find that analysts? earnings forecast errors are positively and significantly associated with the intensity of software capitalization.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Interpersonal Skills of Youth’s Scale

Although it is known that interpersonal skills are essential for personal development, but there is still debates how to measure that skills, especially for youth. This study was conducted to develop a questionnaires to measure interpersonal skills among youth, and test the validation of the scale. Conceptualizing of this study was suggested three construct namely personal, skills and relationship; six function namely self, perception, listening, conversation, emotion and conflict management; and 30 behaviors of indicators to measure the variable of interpersonal skills of youth. This cross-sectional survey by questionnaires was applied in east side of peninsula of Malaysia for 150 respondents, and analyzed by structural equation modelling (SEM) by AMOS. The suggested constructs, functions and indicators were consider accepted as measurement elements by observing on regression weight for standard loading, average variance extracted (AVE) for convergent validity, square root of AVE for discriminant validity, composite reliability (CR) for reliability of items, and at least three fit indexes for model fitness. Finally, a measurement scale of interpersonal skill for youth was succeed developed, and suitable to use in areas of research, evaluation, training or any type of programme in order to improve interpersonal skills among youth.
Deep-network based method for joint image deblocking and super-resolution

Many pieces of research have been conducted on image-restoration techniques to recover high-quality images from their low-quality versions, but they usually aim to handle a single degraded factor. However, captured images usually suffer from various degradation factors, such as low resolution and compression distortion, in the procedures of image acquisition, compression, and transmission simultaneously. Ignoring the correlation of different degraded factors may result in the limited efficiency of the existing image-restoration methods for captured images. A joint deep-network-based image-restoration algorithm is proposed to establish a restoration framework for image deblocking and super-resolution. The proposed convolutional neural network is made up of two stages. A deblocking network is constructed with two cascade deblocking subnets first, then, super-resolution is performed by a very deep network with skipping links. Cascading these two stages forms a novel deep network. An end-to-end training scheme is developed, which makes the two stages be trained jointly so as to achieve better performance. Intensive evaluations have been conducted to measure the performance of the authors’ method both in general images and face images. Experimental results on several datasets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods, in terms of both subjective and objective performances.
Constant Q-wave propagation and attenuation

A linear model for attenuation of waves is presented, with Q, or the portion of energy lost during each cycle or wavelength, exactly independent of frequency. The wave propagation is completely specified by two parameters, e.g., Q and c0, a phase velocity at an arbitrary reference frequency ω0. A simple exact derivation leads to an expression for the phase velocity c as a function of frequency: c/c0 = (ω/ω0)γ, where γ = (1/π) tan−1 (1/Q). Scaling relationships for pulse propagation are derived and it is shown that for a material with a given value of Q, the risetime or the width of the pulse is exactly proportional to travel time. The travel time for a pulse resulting from a delta function source at x = 0 is proportional to xβ, where β = 1/(1 - γ). On the basis of this relation it is suggested that the velocity dispersion associated with anelasticity may be less ambiguously observed in the time domain than in the frequency domain. A steepest descent approximation derived by Strick gives a good time domain representation for the impulse response. The scaling relations are applied to field observations from the Pierre shale formation in Colorado, published by Ricker, who interpreted his data in terms of a Voigt solid with Q inversely proportional to frequency, and McDonal et al., who interpreted their data in terms of nonlinear friction. The constant Q theory fits both sets of data.
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for primary spontaneous pneumothorax: evaluation of indications and long-term outcome compared with conservative treatment and open thoracotomy.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is effective for primary spontaneous pneumothorax. We sought to evaluate the outcome of VATS compared to conservative treatment and open thoracotomy, and to discuss the indications for VATS in primary spontaneous pneumothorax. DESIGN Retrospective study. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS Primary spontaneous pneumothorax was diagnosed in 281 consecutive patients between January 1989 and April 2001. Mean age was 29.1 years. Mean follow-up period was 78.3 months (range, 13 to 163 months). For these patients, conservative treatment, open thoracotomy, or VATS were performed, and the outcomes of the three treatments were evaluated. If recurrence occurred, outcome of treatment for the recurrence was also evaluated according to the number of times of recurrence. RESULTS Recurrences were observed in 109 of 281 patients (38.8%). Forty-three patients (15.3%) had repeat recurrences. Regarding the outcome of the first episode, recurrence rates were 54.7% for conservative treatment, 7.7% for open thoracotomy, and 10.3% for VATS. Recurrence rates after the second episode were 60.3% for conservative treatment, 0% for open thoracotomy, and 18.6% for VATS. Overall recurrence rates of each treatment were 56.4%, 3.0%, and 11.7%, respectively. There was no statistical difference between the open thoracotomy and VATS groups (p = 0.15). Hospital stays from operation until discharge were 11.5 days for open thoracotomy and 4.1 days for VATS (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The outcomes of VATS were very good compared to conservative treatment and equal to those of the open thoracotomy, not only for the first episode but also for the case of recurrence. In terms of low morbidity, low invasiveness, and cosmetic issues, VATS is superior to open thoracotomy. VATS is standard in cases of recurrence and should be considered for treatment at the first episode.
Parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education in day care facilities

ABSTRACT Parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education in day care facilities in the city and rural district of Osnabrueck in Germany were assessed by conducting a written survey (N = 809). In the survey, parents indicated their perceptions of advantages and risks of inclusion for children with and without special needs. The interviewed parents perceived more advantages than risks for both groups of children. The results of the assessment varied depending on the kind of child care facility. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and about how institutions should develop to adequately go about the implementation of inclusive education.
Charge asymmetry of heavy quarks at hadron colliders

A sizable difference in the differential production cross section of top quarks and top antiquarks, respectively, is predicted for hadronically produced heavy quarks. It is of order ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{s}$ and arises from the interference between charge odd and even amplitudes, respectively. For the Fermilab Tevatron it amounts up to 15% for the differential distribution in suitable chosen kinematical regions. The resulting integrated forward-backward asymmetry of 4\char21{}5 % could be measured in the next round of experiments. At the CERN LHC the asymmetry can be studied by selecting appropriately chosen kinematical regions. Furthermore, a slight preference at LHC for a centrally produced top antiquark is predicted, with top quarks more abundant at large positive and negative rapidities.
Interparental aggression and children's adrenocortical reactivity: Testing an evolutionary model of allostatic load

Abstract Guided by an evolutionary model of allostatic load, this study examined the hypothesis that the association between interparental aggression and subsequent changes in children's cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict is moderated by their temperamental dispositions. Participants of the multimethod, longitudinal study included 201 2-year-old toddlers and their mothers. These children experienced elevated levels of aggression between parents. Consistent with the theory, the results indicated that interparental aggression predicted greater cortisol reactivity over a 1-year period for children who exhibited high levels of temperamental inhibition and vigilance. Conversely, for children with bold, aggressive temperamental characteristics, interparental aggression was marginally associated with diminished cortisol reactivity. Further underscoring its implications for allostatic load, increasing cortisol reactivity over the one year span was related to concomitant increases in internalizing symptoms but decreases in attention and hyperactivity difficulties. In supporting the evolutionary conceptualization, these results further supported the relative developmental advantages and costs associated with escalating and dampened cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict.
Multi-Modal Biometric Authentications: Concept Issues and Applications Strategies

As the information age matures, biometric identification technology will be at the heart of computer interaction with humans and the biosphere in which they reside. Automated biometric systems for human identification measure a “signature” of the human body, compare the resulting characteristic to a database, and render an application dependent decision. These biometric systems for personal authentication and identification are based upon physiological or behavioral features which are typically distinctive, although time varying, such as fingerprints, hand geometry, face, voice, lip movement, gait, and iris patterns. Multi-biometric systems, which consolidate information from multiple biometric sources, are gaining popularity because they are able to overcome limitations such as nonuniversality, noisy sensor data, large intra-user variations and susceptibility to spoof attacks that are commonly encountered in uni-biometric systems. In this paper, it addresses the concept issues and the applications strategies of multi-biometric systems.
Challenges faced by construction industry in accomplishing sustainablity goals

Rapid growth of construction projects have benefited mankind by providing social requirement like infrastructure, building etc as well contributing significantly in economic growth of country. At the same time is contributing significantly in generating high amount of construction waste, consuming resource excessively, and adverse impacts to environment, facing schedule delay and using excessive budget. These challenges has put the practitioners to adopt sustainable development principles in construction as traditional design and construction focuses on cost, time and quality only and pay very little attention on environmental impacts. On the contrary Sustainable construction merges sound environmentally responsible practices into one discipline that looks at the environmental, economic and social effects of a building or building project as a whole. Sustainable construction benefits by consuming fewer resources in construction and operation, reduce negative impacts on environment, minimize construction waste, and reduce planning risk, extended building life and viability.
Classification of Cirrhotic Patients with or without Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy and Healthy Subjects Using Resting-State Attention-Related Network Analysis

Background Attention deficit is an early and key characteristic of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) and has been used as indicator for MHE detection. The aim of this study is to classify the cirrhotic patients with or without MHE (NMHE) and healthy controls (HC) using the resting-state attention-related brain network analysis. Methods and Findings Resting-state fMRI was administrated to 20 MHE patients, 21 NMHE patients, and 17 HCs. Three attention-related networks, including dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN), and default mode network (DMN), were obtained by independent component analysis. One-way analysis of covariance was performed to determine the regions of interest (ROIs) showing significant functional connectivity (FC) change. With FC strength of ROIs as indicators, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) was conducted to differentiate MHE from HC or NMHE. Across three groups, significant FC differences were found within DAN (left superior/inferior parietal lobule and right inferior parietal lobule), VAN (right superior parietal lobule), and DMN (bilateral posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus, and left inferior parietal lobule). With FC strength of ROIs from three networks as indicators, LDA yielded 94.6% classification accuracy between MHE and HC (100% sensitivity and 88.2% specificity) and 85.4% classification accuracy between MHE and NMHE (90.0% sensitivity and 81.0% specificity). Conclusions Our results suggest that the resting-state attention-related brain network analysis can be useful in classification of subjects with MHE, NMHE, and HC and may provide a new insight into MHE detection.
Hierarchy stabilization in warped supersymmetry

We show that exponentially large warp factor hierarchies can be dynamically generated in supersymmetric compactifications. The compactification we consider is the supersymmetric extension of the Randall-Sundrum model. The crucial issue is the stabilization of the radius modulus for large warp factor. The stabilization sector we employ is very simple, consisting of two pure Yang-Mills sectors, one in the bulk and the other localized on a brane. The only fine-tuning required in our model is the cancellation of the cosmological constant, achieved by balancing the stabilization energy against supersymmetry breaking effects. Exponentially large warp factors arise naturally, with no very large or small input parameters. To perform the analysis, we derive the four-dimensional effective theory for the supersymmetric Randall-Sundrum model, with a careful treatment of the radius modulus. The manifestly (off-shell) supersymmetric form of this effective Lagrangian allows a straightforward and systematic treatment of the nonperturbative dynamics of the stabilization sector.
Altruistic Behavior as a Costly Signal of General Intelligence

Unconditional altruism is an enduring puzzle for evolutionary approaches to social behavior. In this paper we argue that costly signaling theory, a well-established framework in biology and economics, may be useful to shed light on the individual differences in human unconditional altruism. Based on costly signaling theory, we propose and show that unconditional altruistic behavior is related to general intelligence. The cost incurred by engaging in unconditional altruism is lower for highly intelligent people than for less intelligent people because they may expect to regain the drained resources. As a result, unconditional altruism can serve as an honest signal of intelligence. Our findings imply that distinguishing altruistic behavior from cooperative behavior in social psychological and economic theories of human behavior might be useful, and that costly signaling theory may provide novel insights on various individual difference variables.
The Nitric Oxide Donor SNAP-Induced Amino Acid Neurotransmitter Release in Cortical Neurons. Effects of Blockers of Voltage-Dependent Sodium and Calcium Channels

Background The discovery that nitric oxide (NO) functions as a signalling molecule in the nervous system has radically changed the concept of neuronal communication. NO induces the release of amino acid neurotransmitters but the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Findings The aim of this work was to study the effect of NO on amino acid neurotransmitter release (Asp, Glu, Gly and GABA) in cortical neurons as well as the mechanism underlying the release of these neurotransmitters. Cortical neurons were stimulated with SNAP, a NO donor, and the release of different amino acid neurotransmitters was measured by HPLC. The involvement of voltage dependent Na+ and Ca2+ channels as well as cGMP in its mechanism of action was evaluated. Conclusions Our results indicate that NO induces release of aspartate, glutamate, glycine and GABA in cortical neurons and that this release is inhibited by ODQ, an inhibitor of soluble guanylate cyclase. Thus, the NO effect on amino acid neurotransmission could be mediated by cGMP formation in cortical neurons. Our data also demonstrate that the Na+ and Ca2+ voltage- dependent calcium channels are involved in the NO effects on cortical neurons.
The development of soft skills during internships: The hospitality student’s voice

This paper considers the value of industrial placements in providing an opportunity for hospitality students to develop soft skills in the workplace in addition to the technical skills learned at their educational establishments. While there are concepts such as “problem-based learning” which help students to think across subject silos, this paper argues that internships offer a valuable opportunity for students to learn and for industry to promote their organisations to prospective employees. Using a year’s worth of student workplace diaries, the researchers identify that, in addition to hard skills, students learn communication skills, professionalism, teamwork and personal development. The paper concludes by suggesting that this exploratory analysis of student diaries demonstrates the importance of internships, but that more could be done to increase their value and to make the industry attractive to prospective employees. Opportunities for further research include more gathering and analysis of these documents which give voice to the lived experience of hospitality students on placement.