Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A time-frequency domain approach to synchronization, channel estimation, and detection for DS-CDMA impulse-radio systems

This paper deals with synchronization, channel estimation, and detection in ultrawideband (UWB) biphase impulse-modulated systems. We address both the single-user scenario, and the multiuser scenario assuming a direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) scheme. The users' binary-codeword elements modulate short-duration pulses. Codewords span a transmission frame. Frames are separated by a guard time to cope with the channel time dispersion. The detection approach is single-user-based and it operates in the frequency domain (FD). The algorithm first acquires frame synchronization with the desired user. It runs a discrete Fourier transform (DFT), and it performs FD channel estimation for the desired user via a recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm. Finally, detection is directly accomplished in the FD. Frame synchronization is achieved in the time domain with a two-step procedure that first acquires coarse timing, then finely estimates where the desired user's signal energy is located. In the presence of multiple-access interference (MAI), the algorithm is appropriately modified to include the capability of canceling the interference through the exploitation of its FD correlation. Simulation results show that the proposed approach exhibits fast convergence, and high performance with and without synchronous/asynchronous MAI.
Contextual Inference in Markets: On the Informational Content of Product Lines

Context can influence decisions. This malleability of choice is usually invoked as evidence that people do not maximize stable preference orderings. In a market equilibrium, however, context conveys payoff-relevant information to consumers. Consequently, these consumers rationally violate naive formulations of standard choice theoretic principles. I identify informational asymmetries under which apparently anomalous behaviors, namely the compromise effect and choice overload, arise as market equilibria. Firms respond to consumers’ contextual inference; in case of the compromise effect, a firm may introduce premium loss leaders (expensive goods of overly high quality that increase the demand for other goods). (JEL D11, D83, M31)
Pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung fibrosis, and lung iron deposition in thalassaemia major

Although restrictive lung disease is the predominant abnormality of pulmonary function in patients with thalassaemia major (TM), its aetiology and its association with pulmonary hypertension (PH) detected in some patients with TM remains unknown. We report a patient with TM, iron overload, frequent pulmonary infections, and progressive severe precapillary PH over the previous 5 years. A severe restrictive pattern and interstitial lung fibrosis were revealed by pulmonary function tests and high resolution computed tomography, respectively. This presentation suggests that interstitial fibrosis may complicate lung involvement in TM and can significantly contribute to the development of PH.
Differential accumulation of gangliosides by the brains of MPTP‐lesioned mice

Although gangliosides have been reported to enhance recovery from 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)‐induced lesions of the substantia nigra, evidence as to whether the administered gangliosides actually reach this or any other site of lesion in the central nervous system (CNS) at which they putatively enhance recovery is lacking. Therefore, studies were carried out to determine the amount of 3H‐labeled ganglioside that was accumulated by the brains of MPTP‐treated mice as well as by brains of control mice. No significant difference in the accumulation of 3/‐bovine brain gangliosides or 3H‐GD1a was seen between lesioned and control brains up to 240 min after injection of the labeled lipids. However, significantly more label was associated with the brains of MPTP‐treated mice compared to controls 120 and 240 min after the injection of 3H‐GM1. Analysis of the lipids extracted from the brain of a 3H‐GM1‐treated mouse revealed that the majority of label was still associated with 3‐GM1, 240 min after its administration. Autoradiography of tissue sections from the brains of MPTP‐treated mice injected with 3H‐GM1 showed that label was present in the ventricular spaces of the brain. This observation suggests that the administered gangliosides are present in the cerebrospinal fluid, which indicates that they have the potential to reach the lesioned CNS site at which they putatively enhance recovery. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The effects of socio-demographic factors on physical activity in gated and non-gated neighbourhoods in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract Physical activity (PA) is important in ensuring a healthy population. It is dependent on various socio-demographic (SD) factors, such as age, gender, employment and marital status. A limited number of studies have investigated the relationship between SD factors and PA but research exploring this relationship from the perspective of gated and non-gated neighbourhoods is scarcer. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between SD factors and PA variables in gated and nongated neighbourhoods in Karachi Pakistan. Results of the independent sample t-test and Pearson chi-square showed that young and single people do more sports activities in gated neighbourhoods. Women, unemployed people and public transport users walk more in non-gated neighbourhoods. In conclusion, future neighbourhoods should have more pedestrian friendly areas and a larger number of PA facilities, rather than building more walls and gates.
Utility optimal coding for packet transmission over wireless networks — Part I: Networks of binary symmetric channels

We consider multi-hop networks comprising Binary Symmetric Channels (BSCs). The network carries unicast flows for multiple users. The utility of the network is the sum of the utilities of the flows, where the utility of each flow is a concave function of its throughput. Given that the network capacity is shared by the flows, there is a contention for network resources like coding rate (at the physical layer), scheduling time (at the MAC layer), etc., among the flows. We propose a proportional fair transmission scheme that maximises the sum utility of flow throughputs subject to the rate and the scheduling constraints. This is achieved by jointly optimising the packet coding rates of all the flows through the network.
Bradykinesia-Akinesia Incoordination Test: Validating an Online Keyboard Test of Upper Limb Function

Background The Bradykinesia Akinesia Incoordination (BRAIN) test is a computer keyboard-tapping task that was developed for use in assessing the effect of symptomatic treatment on motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD). An online version has now been designed for use in a wider clinical context and the research setting. Methods Validation of the online BRAIN test was undertaken in 58 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 93 age-matched, non-neurological controls. Kinesia scores (KS30, number of key taps in 30 seconds), akinesia times (AT30, mean dwell time on each key in milliseconds), incoordination scores (IS30, variance of travelling time between key presses) and dysmetria scores (DS30, accuracy of key presses) were compared between groups. These parameters were correlated against total motor scores and sub-scores from the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Results Mean KS30, AT30 and IS30 were significantly different between PD patients and controls (p≤0.0001). Sensitivity for 85% specificity was 50% for KS30, 40% for AT30 and 29% for IS30. KS30, AT30 and IS30 correlated significantly with UPDRS total motor scores (r = −0.53, r = 0.27 and r = 0.28 respectively) and motor UPDRS sub-scores. The reliability of KS30, AT30 and DS30 was good on repeated testing. Conclusions The BRAIN test is a reliable, convenient test of upper limb motor function that can be used routinely in the outpatient clinic, at home and in clinical trials. In addition, it can be used as an objective longitudinal measurement of emerging motor dysfunction for the prediction of PD in at-risk cohorts.
Saving in Developing Countries: An Overview

This article reviews the current state of knowledge on the determinants of saving rates, presenting the main findings and contributions of the recently completed World Bank research project, saving across the world.  The article discusses the basic design of the research project and its core database, the World Saving Database. It then summarizes the main project results and places them in the context of the literature on saving, identifying the key policy and non-policy determinants of private saving rates. Special attention is paid to the relationship between growth and saving and the impact of specific policies on saving rates. The article concludes by introducing the studies included in this special issue.
Quasar host galaxy star formation activity from multicolour data

We investigate multicolour imaging data of a complete sample of 19 low redshift (z < 0.2) quasar host galaxies. The sample was imaged in four optical (BVRi) and three near-infrared bands (JHKs). Galaxy types, structural parameters and robust host gala xy luminosities are extracted for all bands by means of two-dimensional deblending of galaxy and nucleus. For the disc dominated fraction of host galaxies (Sa and later) the o ptical and optical-to-NIR colours agree well with the average colours of inactive galaxies of same type. The bulge dominated galaxies (E/S0) on the other hand appear a significant 0.35 ma g bluer in (V K) than their inactive counterparts, being as blue as the discs in the samp le. This trend is confirmed by fitting population synthesis models to the extracted broad b and SEDs: the stellar population age of the bulge dominated hosts lies around a few Gyr, much younger than expected for old evolved ellipticals. Comparison to other studies suggests a strong trend for stellar age in elliptical host galaxies with luminosity. Intermediately lumin ous elliptical hosts have comparably young populations, either intrinsically or from an enhanced star formation rate potentially due to interaction, the most luminous and massive ellipticals on the contrary show old populations. The correspondence between the nuclear activity and the blue colours suggests a connection between galaxy interaction, induced star formation and the triggering of nuclear activity. However, the existence of very symmetric and undisturbed disks and elliptical host galaxies emphasised that other mechanisms like minor merging or gas accretion must exist.
An Experimental Evaluation of Weakest Link/Best Shot Models of Public Goods

In the supply of public goods, far less free-riding actually occurs than traditional theory predicts. As one explanation, the social composition function(SCF), which aggregates individual contributions into an available social total,may not always take the standard summation form. Theoretical considerations indicate that free-riding should be least for an SCF of the weakest-link type but greatest for the best-shot type. Using a sequential protocol, our experiments strongly confirmed theoretical anticipations under all three types of SCF. Even under the more onerous sealed-bid (simultaneous play) protocol, the experimental subjects were able to make some partial progress toward the theoretical ideal.
The Role of Expectations in the Choice of Monetary Policy

This paper reviews and contrasts different views about the role of expectations in policy research and practice. Recently, two widely different views seem to have dominated the analysis of policy questions.One view, which is referred to as the "new classical macroeconomic"view, is that expectations overwhelm the influence of monetary policy.The other view, which is referred to as the "Keynesian" macroeconomic view, is that expectations are unimportant because people do not adjust to expectations of policy change. The paper argues that both these views are misleading. It advances a new view of the role of expectations that is still emerging from current macroeconomic reearch. The new view recognizes the importance of contractual arrangements which prevent a modern economy from adjusting instantaneously to policy changes, even if they are expected. But it also emphasizes that forward-looking expectations influence how these arrangements are set up and how they evolve over time. Recent criticisms of this new view are reviewed, and examples are given to illustrate how quantitative methods that incorporate this view can be used in practice.
Practitioner’s Digest

Although researchers have examined health outcomes among survivors of military sexual trauma, knowledge regarding the phenomenology of military sexual trauma among women veterans remains limited. We used a qualitative, phenomenological approach to describe the experience, context, and perceived effects of military sexual trauma among women veterans. Thirty-two cisgender female military sexual trauma survivors participated in interviews, which we analyzed through thematic analysis. The following themes emerged: (1) sexual harassment: “expected,” “constant,” and “normal”; (2) silencing and disempowerment: “If you want a career, then shut up”; (3) changed attitudes toward the military: “I lost faith”; (4) loss of relational trust: “I can protect me if I’m not involved with someone”; (5) survivor internalization of messages conveyed by military sexual trauma: “If I looked different, none of this would have happened”; (6) coping by escape and avoidance: “I put my head in the sand and hoped it would go away”; and (7) a path to healing through validation and justice: “You’ll get through it. ” Results suggest the importance of increasing stakeholders’ knowledge regarding military sexual trauma complexities and contexts. Military sexual trauma survivors should be heard, believed, and supported in pursuing justice. We also suggest cultural shifts and continued efforts to prevent military sexual trauma. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub. com/page/pwq/suppl/index
Effective temperature scale and bolometric corrections from 2MASS photometry

We present a method to determine effective temperatures, angular semi-diameters and bolometric corrections for population I and II FGK type stars based on V and 2MASS IR photometry. Accurate calibration is accomplished by using a sample of solar analogues, whose average temperature is assumed to be equal to the solar effective temperature of 5777 K. By taking into account all possible sources of error we estimate associated uncertainties to better than 1% in effective temperature and in the range 1.0–2.5% in angular semi-diameter for unreddened stars. Comparison of our new temperatures with other determinations extracted from the literature indicates, in general, remarkably good agreement. These results suggest that the effective temperaure scale of FGK stars is currently established with an accuracy better than 0.5%–1%. The application of the method to a sample of 10 999 dwarfs in the Hipparcos catalogue allows us to define temperature and bolometric correction (K band) calibrations as a function of (V − K), [m/H ]a nd logg. Bolometric corrections in the V and K bands as a function of Teff ,[ m/H] and log g are also given. We provide effective temperatures, angular semi-diameters, radii and bolometric corrections in the V and K bands for the 10 999 FGK stars in our sample with the corresponding uncertainties.
Load balanced adaptive routing with reduced overhead for Network on Chip (NoC) Systems

The Network-on-Chip (NoC) has been emerging as a very promising paradigm for scalable on-chip communication architectures in many fields. To achieve excellent results in Network on Chip (NoC) systems application the load balanced in the routing has to be achieved. Normally, the routing is based on the probability function using the data of the past and current, which means the route may exist or may not, because of which the size of the routing table also increases. To overcome this drawback in the NoC systems, we propose K-Step Look Ahead in Load Balanced Adaptive Routing, where all the details about the routing the routing table is maintained by the every router are achieved by ACO-based Cascaded Adaptive Routing (ACO-CAR). These routing tables are formed based on the probability of pheromones left behind by the ant packets in the past. Then we implement a k-Step Look Ahead (KSLA) algorithm which finds the exact number of steps for the ant packet to reach the destination using the information of the ACO-CAR routing tables and updates the routing table by eliminating the route information which does not exists.
Bounds on second generation scalar leptoquarks from the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.

We calculate the contribution of second generation scalar leptoquarks to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. The coupling {lambda}{sub {phi}}{sub {ital L}} between the leptoquarks, the quarks, and the leptons is taken to be of the order of the electroweak coupling {ital g}{sub 2}. In the near future, the E-821 Collaboration at Brookhaven will reduce the experimental error on this parameter to {delta}{ital a}{sub {mu}}{sup e}{sup x}{sup p}{sup t}{much_gt}4{times}10{sup -}{sup 1}{sup 0}, an improvement of 20 over its current value. Combining this error with the current uncertainty on the hadronic contribution to {ital g}-2 we obtain a bound of {ital m}{sub {phi}}{sub {ital L}}{much_lt}88 GeV for the second generation scalar leptoquark while we get {ital m}{sub {phi}}{sub {ital L}}{much_lt}186 GeV when neglecting the hadronic uncertainty. {copyright} {ital 1995 The American Physical Society. }
Professional burnout among microvascular and reconstructive free-flap head and neck surgeons in the United States.

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of professional burnout among microvascular free-flap (MVFF) head and neck surgeons and to identify modifiable risk factors with the intent to reduce MVFF surgeon burnout. DESIGN A cross-sectional, observational study. SETTING A questionnaire mailed to MVFF surgeons in the United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 60 MVFF surgeons. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES Professional burnout was quantified using the Maslach Burnout Inventory- Human Services Study questionnaire, which defines burnout as the triad of high emotional exhaustion (EE), high depersonalization (DP), and low personal accomplishment. Additional data included demographic information and subjective assessment of professional stressors, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and support systems using Likert score scales. Potential risk factors for burnout were determined via significant association (P < .05) by Fisher exact tests and analyses of variance. RESULTS Of the 141 mailed surveys, 72 were returned, for a response rate of 51%, and 60 of the respondents were practicing MVFF surgeons. Two percent of the responding MVFF surgeons experienced high burnout (n = 1); 73%, moderate burnout (n = 44); and 25%, low burnout (n = 15). Compared with other otolaryngology academic faculty and department chairs, MVFF surgeons had similar or lower levels of burnout. On average, MVFF surgeons had low to moderate EE and DP scores. High EE was associated with excess workload, inadequate administration time, work invading family life, inability to care for personal health, poor perception of control over professional life, and frequency of irritable behavior toward loved ones (P < .001). On average, MVFF surgeons experienced high personal accomplishment. CONCLUSIONS Most MVFF surgeons experience moderate professional burnout secondary to moderate EE and DP. This may be a problem of proper balance between professional obligations and personal life goals. Most MVFF surgeons, nonetheless, experience a high level of personal accomplishment in their profession.
Quality of service using traffic engineering over MPLS: an analysis

We compare the service received by TCP and UDP flows when they share either a link or a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) traffic trunk. Since MPLS traffic trunks allow non-shortest path links also to be used, the total network throughput goes up with proper traffic engineering. We found that if UDP and TCP flows are mixed in a trunk, TCP flows receive a reduced service as the UDP flows increase their rates. Also, we found that in order to benefit from traffic engineering, MPLS trunks should be implemented end-to-end (first router to last router). If some part of the network is MPLS trunk-unaware, the benefits are reduced or eliminated.
The interaction of phonetic/phonological development and input characteristics in early lexical development: longitudinal and crosslinguistic perspectives

The lexicon has often been identified as one of the ‘special’ components of language (e.g., Hauser et al. 2002, Pinker and Jackendoff 2005). According to Wilkins (1972: 111–112), ‘while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’. Therefore, studying lexical development is of major importance. Better understanding of lexical development is also important because of the role the lexicon plays in linguistic development in general. First, early lexical and grammatical developments are strongly correlated: without a critical mass of words, children may not be able to develop later morphosyntactic competence (see Bates and Goodman 2001, for a review). Second, lexical abilities are correlated to later linguistic abilities such as writing and reading. For example, evidence for the importance of vocabulary size in learning to read has been provided by longitudinal studies showing that syntactic and vocabulary performance in kindergarten predicts reading performance (Catts et al. 1999) and reliably discriminates between poor and normal readers (e.g., Catts et al. 1999, Hagtvet 2003, Share and Leikin 2004). Lexical development can be considered as a good basis for the prediction of future problems in reading and writing. The child’s early productive lexicon is quantitatively and qualitatively different from the adult’s lexicon (Fenson et al. 1993). Between one and three years old, a child’s lexicon is limited, and first words can be semantically and phonologically different from the lexical target. There is a consensus that with age, the child’s lexicon increases and words become more accurate at all levels of linguistic precision. Most studies (for counter-argumentation see Ganger and Brent 2004) agree as well that expressive vocabulary has a nonlinear development, with a slow increase in size