Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of GMSK with differential detection in land mobile radio channels

The effect of intersymbol interference (ISI) of Gaussian Filtered Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) on the probability of error of one bit differential detection is analyzed theoretically in fast Rayleigh fading characterizing land mobile radio channels. A closed form expression is derived for the probability of error as a function of the fading rate, IF Filter Bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio and ISI. Numerical results are presented for cases of practical interest to researchers and designers of cellular land mobile radio systems.
How to make a defined benefit system sustainable : the "sustainable factor" in the German benefit indexation formula

Two years after the “Riester reform” the German public pension system is once again in need of reform. The demographic and labor market assumptions underpinning the Riester reform have proved to be unrealistic. An important target of current reform attempts is the formula that annually re-adjusts the benefits for all pensioners, the benefit indexation formula. Modifications of this formula can considerably ease the financial pressure of pensions on labor since this formula impacts existing pensioners as well as new retirees. This paper presents and examines the implications of possible alternatives to the current benefit indexation formula. In particular, we examine the self-stabilizing effect of the “sustainability factor” which aims at achieving more long-run stability and intergenerational equity in the pension system by linking annual benefit changes to the so-called system dependency ratio, the ratio of beneficiaries to contributors.
Competitive binding predicts nonlinear responses of olfactory receptors to complex mixtures

Significance Predicting the response of the olfactory system to natural odors, typically complex mixtures of many molecules, is a major challenge. Here, we show that the nonlinear mixing response of many mammalian olfactory receptors is largely explained by the competition of molecules for binding sites. The resulting model of receptor responses provides a significant step toward synthesizing odors by adding “odor primaries” just as arbitrary colors can be created from mixtures of three primary colors. In color vision, the quantitative rules for mixing lights to make a target color are well understood. By contrast, the rules for mixing odorants to make a target odor remain elusive. A solution to this problem in vision relied on characterizing receptor responses to different wavelengths of light and subsequently relating these responses to perception. In olfaction, experimentally measuring receptor responses to a representative set of complex mixtures is intractable due to the vast number of possibilities. To meet this challenge, we develop a biophysical model that predicts mammalian receptor responses to complex mixtures using responses to single odorants. The dominant nonlinearity in our model is competitive binding (CB): Only one odorant molecule can attach to a receptor binding site at a time. This simple framework predicts receptor responses to mixtures of up to 12 monomolecular odorants to within 15% of experimental observations and provides a powerful method for leveraging limited experimental data. Simple extensions of our model describe phenomena such as synergy, overshadowing, and inhibition. We demonstrate that the presence of such interactions can be identified via systematic deviations from the competitive-binding model.
Recurrent limb pain in schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence, causes and clinical features of short lasting recurrent limb pain (recurrent limb pain) in children. DESIGN: Population-based study in two stages, with an initial screening questionnaire followed by clinical interviews and physical examination of symptomatic children. SETTING: 67 primary and secondary schools in the city of Aberdeen. SUBJECTS: 2165 children representing a random 10% sample of all schoolchildren aged between 5-15 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (a) The causes of limb pain in children, (b) the prevalence of recurrent limb pain in schoolchildren, (c) the relationship of recurrent limb pain to childhood migraine. RESULTS: Sports and playground injuries were the most common cause of limb pain, affecting 9% of all children. The prevalence rate of recurrent limb pain was 2.6% (95% confidence interval 1.9 to 3.4). Episodes of recurrent limb pain had similar trigger factors, associated symptoms, and relieving factors to episodes of headache in children with migraine. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent limb pain is a common cause of limb pain, with a prevalence rate of 2.6%. The close clinical and epidemiological similarities between recurrent limb pain and childhood migraine suggest a common pathogenesis.
Dealing with knowledge in the Italian public universities

Purpose – This article sets out to investigate the relationship between performance management systems (PMSs) and knowledge in public universities. In particular, this paper intends to verify how different choices related to PMS affect the nature of knowledge, in terms of the well‐known tacit vs explicit dichotomy.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical focus is on the recent PMS changes that have been developing in the “modernisation agenda” of the Italian public sector. In particular, 15 case studies of PMS design in Italian universities are presented. The interpretation of the results is based on the Simon's theoretical framework related to the four levers of control.Findings – Results show how PMSs (in the different forms presented in the universities’ evaluation plans) could represent an important social tool to facilitate the management of organizational knowledge, combining explicit and tacit forms of knowledge.Originality/value – This paper tackles a topic neglected in the knowledge management.
Employment impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy in Eastern Germany – A regional panel data approach

Politicians and farm lobbyists frequently use the argument that agricultural policy is necessary to safeguard jobs in agriculture. We explore whether this is true by conducting an econometric ex-post evaluation of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy in the three East German States Brandenburg, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Whereas previous studies have employed descriptive statistics or qualitative methods and have looked at single policy instruments in isolation, we apply a difference-in-difference estimator to analyse the employment effects of the entire portfolio of CAP measures simultaneously. Based on panel data at the county level, we find that direct payments for livestock, investment aid and transfers to less favoured areas had a zero marginal employment effect. Increases in direct area payments on average led to labour shedding, as simultaneous decoupling made transfer payments independent of factor allocation. Spending on modern technologies in processing and marketing also led to job losses in agriculture. Agro-environmental measures, on the other hand, kept labour intensive technologies in production or induced them. In light of the recent “health check” agreements on additional modulation, this analysis calls into question whether an expansion of existing second pillar measures is a reasonable way to use the modulated funds.
Molecular detection of respiratory syncytial virus in postmortem lung tissue samples from Mexican children deceased with pneumonia

Background. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major viral cause of severe respiratory infections in children younger than 2 years of age. Nevertheless there are not enough epidemiologic data about the role of RSV as a cause of infantile mortality from pneumonia, mainly in young children from developing countries Aim. To determine the frequency of RSV infection in lung tissue samples from Mexican children deceased with pneumonia, by reverse transcription (RT) and PCR. Methods. Postmortem lung tissue samples from 98 children younger than 2 years of age who died of pneumonia during the period of 1989 to 1997 were studied. Paraffin was removed with xylene from 10-&mgr;m lung sections, the total RNA was extracted and complementary DNA was obtained by RT reaction. A nested PCR with the use of oligonucleotides specific for the F glycoprotein gene was developed. Samples negatives for RSV were tested for the absence of polymerase inhibitors and for complementary DNA integrity. Results. Twenty-nine of the 98 (30%) children deceased with pneumonia were positive for RSV by RT-PCR; 8 were detected from 13 (62%) children with histopathologic diagnosis of viral pneumonia and 21 from 85 (25%) children with histopathologic diagnosis of bacterial pneumonia (P = 0.018 ). There was no significant difference in RSV infection according to age groups or seasonal pattern. Conclusions. RSV infection is frequent in Mexican children younger than 2 years of age who died of pneumonia. Although RSV was more common in viral pneumonia, mixed infections with RSV and bacterial pneumonia were also common.
The World Health Organization Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Screening Scale for DSM-5

Importance Recognition that adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common, seriously impairing, and usually undiagnosed has led to the development of adult ADHD screening scales for use in community, workplace, and primary care settings. However, these scales are all calibrated to DSM-IV criteria, which are narrower than the recently developed DSM-5 criteria. Objectives To update for DSM-5 criteria and improve the operating characteristics of the widely used World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) for screening. Design, Setting, and Participants Probability subsamples of participants in 2 general population surveys (2001-2003 household survey [n = 119] and 2004-2005 managed care subscriber survey [n = 218]) who completed the full 29-question self-report ASRS, with both subsamples over-sampling ASRS-screened positives, were blindly administered a semistructured research diagnostic interview for DSM-5 adult ADHD. In 2016, the Risk-Calibrated Supersparse Linear Integer Model, a novel machine-learning algorithm designed to create screening scales with optimal integer weights and limited numbers of screening questions, was applied to the pooled data to create a DSM-5 version of the ASRS screening scale. The accuracy of the new scale was then confirmed in an independent 2011-2012 clinical sample of patients seeking evaluation at the New York University Langone Medical Center Adult ADHD Program (NYU Langone) and 2015-2016 primary care controls (n = 300). Data analysis was conducted from April 4, 2016, to September 22, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures The sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC), and positive predictive value (PPV) of the revised ASRS. Results Of the total 637 participants, 44 (37.0%) household survey respondents, 51 (23.4%) managed care respondents, and 173 (57.7%) NYU Langone respondents met DSM-5 criteria for adult ADHD in the semistructured diagnostic interview. Of the respondents who met DSM-5 criteria for adult ADHD, 123 were male (45.9%); mean (SD) age was 33.1 (11.4) years. A 6-question screening scale was found to be optimal in distinguishing cases from noncases in the first 2 samples. Operating characteristics were excellent at the diagnostic threshold in the weighted (to the 8.2% DSM-5/Adult ADHD Clinical Diagnostic Scale population prevalence) data (sensitivity, 91.4%; specificity, 96.0%; AUC, 0.94; PPV, 67.3%). Operating characteristics were similar despite a much higher prevalence (57.7%) when the scale was applied to the NYU Langone clinical sample (sensitivity, 91.9%; specificity, 74.0%; AUC, 0.83; PPV, 82.8%). Conclusions and Relevance The new ADHD screening scale is short, easily scored, detects the vast majority of general population cases at a threshold that also has high specificity and PPV, and could be used as a screening tool in specialty treatment settings.
Caffeine cravings impair memory and metacognition

ABSTRACT Cravings for food and other substances can impair cognition. We extended previous research by testing the effects of caffeine cravings on cued-recall and recognition memory tasks, and on the accuracy of judgements of learning (JOLs; predicted future recall) and feeling-of-knowing (FOK; predicted future recognition for items that cannot be recalled). Participants (N = 55) studied word pairs (POND-BOOK) and completed a cued-recall test and a recognition test. Participants made JOLs prior to the cued-recall test and FOK judgements prior to the recognition test. Participants were randomly allocated to a craving or control condition; we manipulated caffeine cravings via a combination of abstinence, cue exposure, and imagery. Cravings impaired memory performance on the cued-recall and recognition tasks. Cravings also impaired resolution (the ability to distinguish items that would be remembered from those that would not) for FOK judgements but not JOLs, and reduced calibration (correspondence between predicted and actual accuracy) for JOLs but not FOK judgements. Additional analysis of the cued-recall data suggested that cravings also reduced participants’ ability to monitor the likely accuracy of answers during the cued-recall test. These findings add to prior research demonstrating that memory strength manipulations have systematically different effects on different types of metacognitive judgements.
The role of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid in the treatment of alcoholism: from animal to clinical studies.

Since its discovery nearly 40 years ago, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) has attracted several waves of scientific interest due to new developments in the knowledge of its mechanisms of action and ideas for its potential use in clinical practice. Its effects have been claimed to treat different psychiatric conditions, but over time its use has become limited to a few specific situations (e.g. sedating patients in non-painful surgical procedures and narcolepsy). New interest in the drug derives from its potential use in the treatment of alcoholism. Recent studies demonstrated a marked effect of the substance in suppressing ethanol (ETOH) withdrawal symptoms and in reducing craving for alcohol, compared to other available drugs. However, GHB has to be given under very careful supervision because of its side-effects, including the risk of abuse and dependence and possible interference with the metabolic pathways of endogenous GHB and ETOH. This short review discusses these and related issues and we hope that it will stimulate further interest in GHB.
Neurotransmitter deficits from frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Murley and Rowe review the neurochemical changes arising from frontotemporal lobar degeneration, including the syndromes frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. The evidence base from in vivo and post-mortem human studies, and preclinical models, suggests new strategies to facilitate the development of symptomatic pharmacological treatments, in stratified populations.
The role of fundamentals and financialisation in recent commodity price developments: An empirical analysis for wheat, coffee, cotton, and oil

In the context of recent commodity price hikes, the financialisation of commodity derivative markets, reflected in the increased presence of financial investors and new financial products such as commodity index and exchange traded funds has been controversially discussed. Many studies focus on the effect of passive index investors on rising commodity prices, but hardly look at the effect of the diverse group of money managers where an important share engages in technical and trend following trading strategies and thus has the potential to push prices up and down. This is problematic given the increased importance of money managers and more generally of active trading strategies in recent years. We analyze for the commodities coffee, cotton, soft red winter and hard red winter wheat and WTI and Brent crude oil the effect of both types of financial investors within a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model framework, conducting Granger (non-)causality tests and impulse response analyses for the period June 2006 to October 2012. We complement the bivariate model approach, which looks at the lead-lag relationship between financial investors' positions and commodity returns, with a multivariate approach. We thus assess financial investors' positions in addition to a range of fundamental and macroeconomic variables which may influence commodity prices. In both models, index investors' net long positions are not found to have a significant effect on commodity returns in recent years. In the multivariate model money managers' net long positions have a statistically significant and large effect on returns for all commodities; in the bivariate model they only have an effect for coffee. In the bivariate model, we also find that commodity returns drive money managers' positions, which may indicate the presence of trend following trading strategies. Overall, our results support the hypothesis of financialisation of commodity derivative markets.
Effective Clinical Practices in Managed Care Findings From Ten Case Studies

Presents findings from a study designed to look at how some of the nation's high-performing HMOs have achieved their success. Notes that delivering high-quality care is a driving force for nearly all of the plans studied, as is a culture of respect for clinicians. For printed copies call The Commonwealth Fund at (888) 777-2744, ask for publication number 427. The plan-specific summary reports are also available in a volume titled "Effective Clinical Practices in Managed Care: Ten Case Studies," available from Mathematica.
The Adoption, Use, and Impacts of Performance Measures in Medium-Size Cities

Based on a national mail survey of chief executives in mid-sized U.S. cities (populations between 25,000 and 250,000), this study examines the patterns of adoption, use, and impacts of performance measures for the purpose of advancing understanding of the challenges involved in moving from performance measurement to performance management. This study identifies the factors that distinguish cities that adopted and used performance measures and the results that chief executives expected to derive from the use of performance measures. What chief executives thought about the helpfulness of performance measures in making various types of decisions and why they thought their use of performance measures met, fell short, or exceeded their expectations are examined. The study finds that while most chief executives thought that performance measures met or exceeded their expectations, several factors helped to explain why the use of performance measures fell short of leaders' expectations. The single most important factor that helped to explain the gap between expectations and actual experience was the extent of "buy-in" of performance measurement by line managers and administrators. The level of workforce unionization and the extent of municipal experience with performance measurement also helped to explain whether performance management was perceived to be successful.
Association between coffee or caffeine consumption and fecundity and fertility: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis

Objective The aim was to investigate whether coffee or caffeine consumption is associated with reproductive endpoints among women with natural fertility (ie, time to pregnancy [TTP] and spontaneous abortion [SAB]) and among women in fertility treatment (ie, clinical pregnancy rate or live birth rate). Design This study was a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis including data from case–control and cohort studies. Methods An extensive literature search was conducted in MEDLINE and Embase, with no time and language restrictions. Also, reference lists were searched manually. Two independent reviewers assessed the manuscript quality using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). A two-stage dose–response meta-analysis was applied to assess a potential association between coffee/caffeine consumption and the outcomes: TTP, SAB, clinical pregnancy, and live birth. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using Cochrane Q-test and I2 statistics. Publication bias was assessed using Egger’s regression test. Results The pooled results showed that coffee/caffeine consumption is associated with a significantly increased risk of SAB for 300 mg caffeine/day (relative risk [RR]: 1.37, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.19; 1.57) and for 600 mg caffeine/day (RR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.62; 3.31). No association was found between coffee/caffeine consumption and outcomes of fertility treatment (based on two studies). No clear association was found between exposure to coffee/caffeine and natural fertility as measured by fecundability odds ratio (based on three studies) or waiting TTP (based on two studies). Conclusion Results from this meta-analysis support the growing evidence of an association between coffee/caffeine intake and the risk of SAB. However, viewing the reproductive capacity in a broader perspective, there seems to be little, if any, association between coffee/caffeine consumption and fecundity. In general, results from this study are supportive of a precautionary principle advised by health organizations such as European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and World Health Organization (WHO), although the advised limit of a maximum of two to three cups of coffee/200–300 mg caffeine per day may be too high.
Relationship between Incentives and Organizational Performance for Employees in the Jordanian Universities

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of financial and moral incentives on organizational performance for the employees of the Jordanian Universities. This study aims at identifying the role of the Jordanian universities in meeting the employees' societal needs, knowing the implemented incentives approach and knowing the level of performance in the Jordanian universities. Statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) program was used for descriptive analysis. Five universities were selected for the purpose of this study. The main findings indicate that there is an adequate level of incentives provided to employees. Financial incentives ranked in 1st place while moral incentives ranked in the 2nd place. Also, it was found that there is a high level of organizational performance. Customer satisfaction ranked in the 1st place, internal business process in the 2nd place followed by learning and growth. There is relationship between financial & moral incentives and organizational performance as well as between financial & moral incentives and internal business process and customer satisfaction. There is an effect of moral incentives on learning & growth but there is no relationship between financial incentives and learning & growth. Finally, this study has verified further research opportunities that could enrich the understanding of Incentives and organizational Performance in the universities of Jordan.