Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-Time ROADM Filtering Penalty Characterization and Generalized Precompensation for Flexible Grid Networks

Concatenated filtering is an important impairment in high-spectral density transmission systems enabled by flexible-grid reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs). In this paper, an analytical model for wavelength selective switches (WSS) modules is used to determine the statistical distribution of experimentally measured filter shapes and to obtain the cascaded filter characteristics. A generalized approach for filtering penalty assessment is proposed and verified using a commercial 200G 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) transponder and WSS modules. A practical method for filter penalty reduction is described, whereby a single, optimized digital pre-equalization filter is used to compensate filtering effects of multiple concatenated WSSs. This pre-equalization of cascaded ROADM filters is demonstrated with a 100G quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) C-form factor pluggable (CFP) transponder operating on the 37.5-GHz grid, resulting in a doubling of the number of WSSs, which can be supported per link from three to six.
Association of Physical Activity and Visual Attention in Older Adults

Objectives: This study was conducted to examine possible associations between physical activity and visual attention in community-dwelling older adults. Methods:Older adults (age 65-95) completed the Useful Field of View (UFOV®) test of visual attention, and they also reported current physical activity levels using the Exercise Participation Questionnaire (EPQ) and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE). Results: UFOV® performance was significantly correlated with both measures of physical activity, but some of these effects overlapped with the effects of age. The 21 participants (15%) who reported regular participation on the EPQ were found to have significantly better UFOV® scores than the more inactive participants both before and after controlling for age, gender, and visual acuity. Discussion: The preservation of visual attention skills across the life span may be more highly correlated with regular participation in exercise training activities than it is with more general occupational and leisure-related physical activity.
STAT3, STAT4, NFATc1, and CTCF Regulate PD-1 through Multiple Novel Regulatory Regions in Murine T Cells

Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a crucial negative regulator of CD8 T cell development and function, yet the mechanisms that control its expression are not fully understood. Through a nonbiased DNase I hypersensitivity assay, four novel regulatory regions within the Pdcd1 locus were identified. Two of these elements flanked the locus, bound the transcriptional insulator protein CCCTC-binding factor, and interacted with each other, creating a potential regulatory compartmentalization of the locus. In response to T cell activation signaling, NFATc1 bound to two of the novel regions that function as independent regulatory elements. STAT binding sites were identified in these elements as well. In splenic CD8 T cells, TCR-induced PD-1 expression was augmented by IL-6 and IL-12, inducers of STAT3 and STAT4 activity, respectively. IL-6 or IL-12 on its own did not induce PD-1. Importantly, STAT3/4 and distinct chromatin modifications were associated with the novel regulatory regions following cytokine stimulation. The NFATc1/STAT regulatory regions were found to interact with the promoter region of the Pdcd1 gene, providing a mechanism for their action. Together these data add multiple novel distal regulatory regions and pathways to the control of PD-1 expression and provide a molecular mechanism by which proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 or IL-12, can augment PD-1 expression.
Social Causes of Low Birth Weight

The manifest importance of reducing the incidence of low birth weight is most obvious for the first year of life: low birth weight is the single most important factor affecting infant morbidity and mortality1. However, there is growing evidence that the adverse consquences of low birth weight continue throughout the life cycle. This review deals primarily with social causes of low birth weight.
A low cost and high efficient acoustic modem for underwater sensor networks

Underwater wireless sensor Networks (UWSN) will provide a variety of attractive working fields such as aquaculture, offshore exploitation, biological monitoring as well as water and seafloor pollution, seismic activity and ocean currents. A practical implementation of these applications will require spreading an important number of nodes to facilitate underwater monitoring by means of data acquiring, so it becomes a challenge to develop simple and reliable modem architectures to reduce both the cost in components and the developing time, still being efficient and robust. Moreover power consumption must be also considered due to energy harvesting difficulties in an underwater environment. This work is focused in the design and implementation of a low cost and energy efficient underwater modem. The paper presents a new acoustic modem design based on an original signal-conditioning model optimally adapted to commercial echo sounder based piezoelectric transducers. It represents a very low-cost solution with a power consumption level similar to current terrestrial wireless sensor networks. The modulation and demodulation algorithms are essential to define the modem architecture. In this work, they have been adapted to a low power microcontroller processing capabilities. The proposed modem architecture includes an 8-bit microcontroller and few external analog components. A binary Coherent-FSK modulation has been chosen because it is more efficient in terms of bandwidth than a non-coherent FSK. Coherent FSK modulation algorithm is quite simple, and can be easily implemented in an 8-bit microcontroller with negligible execution time. Demodulation algorithm is more complex and needs a low-power solution. The paper investigates different alternatives, obtaining a new optimal solution including an additional specific processing unit to the microprocessor core. Compared with previous researches that used microcontrollers, the presented approach also improves energy efficiency without lowering bit rate and bandwidth efficiency. The design has a variable gain reception to measure precisely the incoming signal level and obtaining signal quality indicators similar to RSSI used in wireless RF sensor networks. The circuit has been simulated and experimentally tested too with a prototype. Several tests have been carried out using the different alternatives presented. The goal of the first experiments was to characterize the frequency response of the transducers, and validate acoustic wave generation and amplification models obtained by means of simulation. Measurements were also taken to obtain receiver sensitivity and communication efficiency to power variations. Efficient design of both power amplifier and receiver analog processing stages, combined with optimal microcontroller power saving modes has extended estimated battery. As a conclusion, a worthwhile modem has been designed with the following advantages: Ultra-Low power consumption, a small form factor and a low final cost which enable future low cost deployment of underwater sensor networks.
Financial Services Used by Small Businesses: Evidence from the 1993 National Survey of Small Business Finances

Using newly available data from the 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances, this article offers preliminary findings regarding the characteristics of small businesses in the United States and their use of credit and other financial services. The main goals of the survey are to provide information on credit accessibility for small businesses, their use of financial services, and the sources of those services. The survey also provides a general-purpose database that can be used to study small business financing. Preliminary findings suggest that although the financial landscape has changed markedly since the previous survey in 1993, financing patterns and the use of particular suppliers have not.
A Perception-based Model for Smart Grid Adoption of Distribution System Operators - An Empirical Analysis

Smart grid technologies (SGT) comprise technologies from various domains, among others information systems (IS). IS can contribute decisively to upgrade the nowadays electromechanically controlled energy systems to electronically controlled networks (Watson, Boudreau and Chen 2010). However, to date the organizational adoption of SGT is rather limited. Thus, we developed a model based upon the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework (Tornatzky and Fleischer 1990) and validated the model based on data collected from 180 German distribution system operators (DSOs). The model explains . 62 of the variance in adoption. Our findings suggest that the technological and regulatory context variables are only minor drivers while the organizational context variables have a substantial impact on the adoption decision. Also the control variables firm size and number of industry clients were found to be significant determinants. The paper’s findings will help refining researchers’ understanding of organizational technology adoption and will be useful for stakeholders interested in SGT-diffusion.
Identifying Drivers for the Accumulation of Household Financial Wealth

Household financial assets and liabilities display considerable variation across countries and over time. This article investigates empirically the role of some of the key Life Cycle Model variables and other relevant factors behind household financial wealth disparities using data from 40 countries over the period 1995-2009. To the author's knowledge, it uses the largest macroeconomic dataset on household financial assets and liabilities assembled to date. The results are in line with the aggregative implications of the Life Cycle Model in that the wealth-to-income ratio decreases with income per capita growth and increases with the expected length of retirement. The study also presents empirical evidence for the role of financial and demographic developments on the accumulation of financial assets and liabilities by the household sector.
The Malaysian Disclosure Framework on Executive Directors’ Remuneration: A Critical Review and Closing Its Loops

Disclosure of executive directors’ remuneration especially on their individual pay continues to be a sensitive issue especially in a country like Malaysia where ownership is tightly held and potential rent extractions are significant. The objective of this paper is to provide a critical review on the existing Malaysian disclosure framework on executive directors’ remuneration. It outlines and assesses the current disclosure frameworks in ensuring high level of disclosure on executive directors’ remuneration, covering the Malaysian Corporate Governance Code, the Bursa Malaysia Listing Rule and the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards. The review shows that there are weaknesses in the overall framework and offer suggestions on how to close the loops in order to improve the level of disclosure of executive directors’ remuneration. It is suggested that the Malaysian regulators adopt a mandatory and prescriptive approach in dealing with the disclosure of executive directors’ remuneration and to step up their enforcement to ensure full compliance to the disclosure framework. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015. v6n6p410
The structure and dynamics of the dense cores in the Perseus molecular cloud complex

We have produced wide-field (≳ 0.1 deg^2) images of the molecular gas around the dense cores observed by Ladd et al. (1994) in the Perseus cloud complex in various CO (CO(1-0), ^(13)CO(1-0), C^(18)O(1-0)) and CS (CS(2-1), C^(34)S(2-1)) isotopomers, and N_2H^+(1-0), using the 16-element focal plane array operating at a wavelength of 3 mm at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory. We also performed mosaic observations in the N_2H^+(1-0) line and in the adjacent 3 mm continuum with the OVRO interferometer. Only within one of the observed cores we unambiguously detected a 3 mm continuum compact source with the interferometer. The single-dish large-scale maps of the densest gas, which in Perseus is concentrated within two large filamentary structures roughly aligned along a NE-SW axis, allowed us to analyse the spatial and kinematical properties of the cores and of the surrounding ambient gas. In the PER4/PER5 and PER7 regions we find that the large-scale and core velocity gradients have the same sign and similar magnitudes. In at least three cases we then find pairs of nearby cores with differences in the CS and N_2H^+ emission and in the line profile, which may have been caused by evolutionary effects. The small fraction of cores with compact continuum sources, the chemical differentiation and the inward motions observed suggest that we are observing objects in a phase preceeding the collapse and the formation of stars.
The relevance of experiential avoidance in breast cancer distress: insights from a psychological group intervention

Research on the implication of experiential avoidance in the aetiology and maintenance of diverse forms of psychopathology has grown considerably over the last 10 years. However, the potential contribution of experiential avoidance to cancer‐related distress has received limited attention. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to examine the association between experiential avoidance, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and quality of life (QoL) during the course of a psychological group intervention for women with breast cancer.
An Empirical Investigation of Accounting Restatements by Public Companies: Evidence from Kuwait

In Kuwait, investors and other related parties (e.g., official observers and market experts) have raised substantial concerns regarding the quality of corporate disclosures of firms restating their prior reported financial statements. In this paper, we examine the market reaction to the announcements of accounting restatements of firms enlisted in Kuwait stock exchange (KSE) for the period 2005-2008. In addition, we explore the characteristics of restating firms. Our results indicate that market participants react downwardly to the stock prices of firms announcing accounting restatements. Moreover, we find that accounting restatements are more likely to be among small firms. Also, we report that the occurrence of accounting restatements is increasing in firm age. Last, our results show partial support on the link between the likelihood of accounting restatements and firm profitability. Our findings should be important to academicians, regulators, investors, companies and audit firms.
Presidents and the U.S. Economy: An Econometric Exploration

The US economy has performed better when the president of the United States is a Democrat rather than a Republican, almost regardless of how one measures performance. For many measures, including real GDP growth (our focus), the performance gap is large and significant. This paper asks why. The answer is not found in technical time series matters nor in systematically more expansionary monetary or fiscal policy under Democrats. Rather, it appears that the Democratic edge stems mainly from more benign oil shocks, superior total factor productivity (TFP) performance, a more favorable international environment, and perhaps more optimistic consumer expectations about the near-term future. (JEL D72, E23, E32, E65, N12, N42)
ANALISIS FAKTOR-FAKTOR PERGANTIAN KANTOR AKUNTAN PUBLIK (Studi Empiris Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2006-2010)

This study was aim to analysed and examined empirically the factors that affect the manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange to change its public accounting firm. Factors tested in this study are accounting firm size (KAP), financial distress (DISTRESS), public ownership (PUBLIC), management turnover (CEO), and changes in audit committee (KA). Data collection used a purposive sampling method conducted on manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period 2006-2010. The hypothesis tested in this study is using logistic regression analysis, because the independent variables are combination both metric and non metric. The results showed that the variables that influence auditor switching is the size of accounting firm (KAP) and management turnover. While the other variables examined in this study such as financial distress, public ownership, and changes in audit committee did not prove to affect the company’s decision to change the public accounting firm.
The Mixed Oligopoly of Cross-Border Payment Systems

This paper presents a model depicting cross-border payment systems as a mixed oligopoly. A private net settlement system that maximises profit competes with the central banks' gross settlement system that maximises welfare. It may be optimal for the central bank system to encourage increased use of the private system by charging fees that exceed the marginal cost. The central bank system is not only a competitor but also an essential service provider, because central bank money is needed for net settlement of payments in the private system. In some cases the central bank system can paradoxically induce the private system to charge lower fees by making it expensive to use central bank money for settlement purposes.
The OTC Interest Rate Derivatives Market in 2013

This feature analyses the market for OTC interest rate derivatives using data from the Triennial Central Bank Survey. Low and stable interest rates after the financial crisis went hand in hand with low but still positive turnover growth in most currencies. The increase was entirely driven by a larger volume of contracts with financial institutions other than dealers. The share of inter-dealer trades has shrunk to 35%, the lowest since the survey's inception. Despite rapid growth in emerging market currencies, trading remains concentrated in major currencies and financial centres. Changes in regulation have led to more contracts being centrally cleared.
Nearest-Neighbor Queries with Well-Spaced Points

We assume we are given a set of points that have the property that their Voronoi diagram---restricted to some suitable bounding box---consists of only fat cells. We call such points \emph{well-spaced points}. We give a linear-sized data structure for finding the nearest neighbor to a query point among well-spaced points in \(O(\log n)\) time. We further show how to extend the results to higher dimensions. Finally, we show how to find the Voronoi diagram of these points in \(O(n \log n)\) time in 3 dimensions.
Heteropolymer‐mediated clearance of immune complexes via erythrocyte CR1: mechanisms and applications

Summary: Opsonization of particulate pathogens by antibodies and complement can lead to their binding to the complement receptor (CR1), specific for C3b, on primate erythrocytes (E). This process of immune adherence may play a role in immunologic defense by immobilizing bacteria and viruses, thus preventing them from leaving the bloodstream to invade susceptible tissue and organs. Immune adherence of C3b‐opsonized and immune complexed pathogens to E may also facilitate their transfer to, and destruction by, fixed tissue macrophages. We have used mAbs specific for CR1 crosslinked with pathogen specific mAbs to generate heteropolymers (HP) which can bind a wide range of substrates to primate erythrocytes. Both prototype and bonafide pathogens bound to primate E via HP are handled in the circulation of non‐human primates in a manner which appears to be virtually identical to the mechanism by which C3b‐opsonized substrates bound to E CR1 are cleared. In this process of focused phagocytosis, Fc receptors on the phagocytic cell engage the E‐bound complex, CR1 is removed by proteolysis, and the entire immune complex and CR1 are internalized while sparing the E. It may be possible to use HP to target pathogens in the bloodstream in a wide range of therapeutic applications.
Small Business Taxation: Revamping Incentives to Encourage Growth

This study adopts a new approach in assessing the impact of taxes on small business growth and suggests the need to consider new incentives that would be more effective in encouraging small business growth and would also improve the neutrality of the existing tax system. In recent years, federal and provincial governments have provided various corporate tax incentives to small businesses with the aim of helping them grow. While it is commonly believed that small businesses are responsible for most job creation, unfortunately the only study available has shown that while many small businesses are created, few grow. Yet many governments believe that the incentives are important even though little evidence supports the effectiveness of small business corporate concessions. Some provinces have actually eliminated corporate taxes on small businesses or reduced such taxes to a symbolic level (e.g., one to two percent) without there being any empirical support in favour of the effectiveness of such actions. In contradiction to the widely held view that small business tax concessions encourage growth, such small business tax relief could actually be antithetical to growth by creating a “taxation wall. ” First, it could result in the breakup of companies into smaller, less efficient-sized units in order to take advantage of tax benefits even if there are economic gains to growing in size. Second, it could encourage individuals to create small corporations in order to reduce their personal tax liabilities rather than grow companies. And third, it could lead to a “threshold effect” that holds back small business from growing beyond the official definition of “smallness,” regardless of the criteria for measuring size (e.g., the size of revenue or assets, or the number of employees). In this paper, we evaluate the impact of both corporate and personal taxes on the growth of small business and we focus in particular on the likely consequences of the aforementioned threshold effect. We use a new approach in assessing the impact of taxes on small business growth by estimating the amount of tax paid on the rate of return to capital as a small business grows in size. We show that small business growth is hampered by the existing tax system. As a business grows, effective tax rates on capital investments made by entrepreneurs virtually double when the business grows from as a little as $1 million to over $30 million in asset size. The issue is particularly important to the provinces that have been creating greater gaps between large and small business tax rates. The aim of tax incentives should be to try to avoid creating a wall that inhibits growth in small businesses, but instead flattens corporate and personal taxes with respect to incentives structured to induce growth. We provide some specific recommendations for growth-enhancing incentives that are superior to the small business tax deduction and other incentives of a similar type. Incentives associated with size should be avoided as much as possible, a proposal that is consistent with International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations.
Caffeine-Induced Psychosis

ABSTRACT As a competitive adenosine antagonist, caffeine affects dopamine transmission and has been reported to worsen psychosis in people with schizophrenia and to cause psychosis in otherwise healthy people. We report of case of apparent chronic caffeine-induced psychosis characterized by delusions and paranoia in a 47-year-old man with high caffeine intake. The psychosis resolved within 7 weeks after lowering caffeine intake without use of antipsychotic medication. Clinicians might consider the possibility of caffeinism when evaluating chronic psychosis.