Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Channel Estimation Errors on Multiuser Detection via the Replica Method

For practical wireless DS-CDMA systems, channel estimation is imperfect due to noise and interference. In this paper, the impact of channel estimation errors on multiuser detection (MUD) is analyzed under the framework of the replica method. System performance is obtained in the large system limit for optimal MUD, linear MUD, and turbo MUD, and is validated by numerical results for finite systems.
A Phase II study of paclitaxel‐ifosfamide‐cisplatin combination in advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma

The necessity to develop more effective chemotherapy regimens in advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) prompted the authors to evaluate the paclitaxel‐ifosfamide‐cisplatin (PIC) combination, developed on the basis of high individual single‐agent activity, in vitro synergism, and tolerance as determined in a previous Phase I study by the authors.
Malignant biliary duct obstruction: long-term experience with Gianturco stents and combined-modality radiation therapy.

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of combined-modality therapy including intraluminal iridium-192 on stent patency and survival in patients with malignant biliary obstruction treated with Gianturco stents. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-two patients with unresectable biliary obstruction caused by cholangiocarcinoma (n = 11) or by secondary extrahepatic bile duct malignant tumors (n = 11) were treated with percutaneous biliary drainage followed by intraluminal Ir-192 wire placement (mean dose, 25 Gy) before insertion of Gianturco metal stents. Eleven patients also received external-beam radiation therapy, and 13 patients received chemotherapy. Patency was defined as absence of jaundice or cholangitis that necessitated hospitalization, or as seen on hepatobiliary scans. Survival was determined from the time of stent insertion after brachytherapy. RESULTS Patients with cholangiocarcinoma had extended mean stent patency of 19.5 months (range, 2-46 months) and mean survival of 22.6 months (range, 2-72 months). Patients with secondary malignant tumors had a mean patency of 4.8 months (range, 1.5-8 months) and a mean survival of 5.3 months (range, 2-9 months). CONCLUSION Radiation therapy including intraluminal Ir-192 appears to extend stent patency and survival in patients with inoperable cholangiocarcinoma treated with Gianturco metal stents compared with patients with other extrahepatic bile duct malignant diseases and patients treated without combined-modality therapy in other studies.
Osmoregulation in clinical disorders of thirst appreciation

Thirst and drinking are essential components of normal osmoregulation in healthy man. Abnormalities of thirst appreciation, in particular hypodipsia, have profound implications for water homeostasis. The combination of cranial diabetes insipidus and hypodipsia can have particularly serious consequences, with the potential for life-threatening hyponatraemia. Although the tools for measuring thirst are subjective and lack true specificity, their use in clinical research has contributed greatly to our understanding of the physiology of thirst appreciation and the abnormal control of thirst in osmoregulatory disorders. The precise neural control of thirst appreciation remains unknown, and perhaps as a result of this, satisfactory therapies for the treatment of disorders of thirst have not yet been developed; behavioural modification and retraining of drinking habits remain the rather limited cornerstones of management.
Recognition of Rat Dendritic Cells by a Monoclonal Antibody

A mouse monoclonal IgM antibody reactive with dendritic cells (DC) from the Brown Norway (BN) rat was prepared. This antibody (1F119) binds to A membrane‐bound antigen present on DC from thoracic duct lymph, spleen, thymus, and lymph node. The antigen is present only in low density on 5% of splenic miicrophages (M&oS) and absent from peritoneal M&oS. In situ, the antibody exhibits a strong reactivity towards DC in the thymic medulla, whereas no reaction is observed with cortical cells. Furthermore, cells positive for 1F119 can be identified in T‐cell areas of spleen, lymph node, and Peyers' patches. lF119 was genetically restricted in that a strong reactivity was found with DC from rats of the RT1n and RT1u haplotypes, an intermediate reactivity with the RT1c haplotype, only a weak reactivity with the RT1l and RT1b haplotypes, and no reactivity with the RT1a and RT1k haplotypes. The relatively weak reactivity of 1F119 with respect to the RT1l haplotype also appeared from a weak binding of 1F119 to DC from Lewis rats, as was assessed by FACS analysis. This result was comparable to the binding of OX3 (RT1.Bl and RT1.Bu) to DC from BN rats. Studies performed on thymus sections of recombinant rat strains indicate that 1F119, despite its apparent specificity for DC, reacts with a polymorphic RT1.B product.
POSTERIOR CONSISTENCY OF SPECIES SAMPLING PRIORS

Recently there has been increasing interest in species sampling priors, the nonparametric priors defined as the directing random probability measures of the species sampling sequences. In this paper, we show that not all of the species sam- pling priors produce consistent posteriors. In particular, in the class of Pitman-Yor process priors, the only priors rendering posterior consistency are essentially the Dirichlet process priors. Under certain conditions, we also give a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the posterior consistency for the general species sam- pling prior. Considered examples include the normalized inverse-Gaussian process, the Poisson-Kingman partition, and the Gibbs partition.
Vitamin D and chronic widespread pain in a white middle-aged British population: evidence from a cross-sectional population survey

Background: Identified aetiological factors for chronic widespread pain (CWP) are largely related to emotional and behavioural factors, but current management leads to modest improvement in symptoms. Vitamin D deficiency has been suggested as a new modifiable risk factor for CWP. Objective: To examine the association between vitamin D status (measured by 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)) and CWP in a nationwide population sample of white British adults, accounting for potential mediating and confounding lifestyle factors. Methods: 9377 participants born 1 week in March 1958, in England, Scotland or Wales and completing a biomedical assessment at age 45; 6824 eligible participants had data on 25(OH)D and completed pain manikins. Results: Prevalence of CWP varied by 25(OH)D concentration in women but not in men, with the lowest prevalence observed for women with 75–99 nmol/l (14.4% for <25 nmol/l, 14.8% for 25–49 nmol/l, 11.6% for 50–74 nmo/l, 8.2% for 75–99 nmol/l and 9.8% for participants with ⩾100 nmol/l). There was an interaction between 25(OH)D concentration and gender in relation to CWP (interaction, p = 0.006), which was not fully explained by differences in lifestyle or social factors (adjusted interaction, p = 0.03). For women, the association between 25(OH)D concentration and CWP persisted after full adjustment (odds ratio (OR) for <75 nmol/l vs 75–99 nmol/l 1.57, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.26), while no evidence for an association was apparent in men (OR = 1.03, 95% CI 0.75 to 1.43). Conclusion: Current vitamin D status was associated with CWP in women but not in men. Follow-up studies are needed to evaluate whether higher vitamin D intake might have beneficial effects on the risk of CWP.
Dual Path Networks

In this work, we present a simple, highly efficient and modularized Dual Path Network (DPN) for image classification which presents a new topology of connection paths internally. By revealing the equivalence of the state-of-the-art Residual Network (ResNet) and Densely Convolutional Network (DenseNet) within the HORNN framework, we find that ResNet enables feature re-usage while DenseNet enables new features exploration which are both important for learning good representations. To enjoy the benefits from both path topologies, our proposed Dual Path Network shares common features while maintaining the flexibility to explore new features through dual path architectures. Extensive experiments on three benchmark datasets, ImagNet-1k, Places365 and PASCAL VOC, clearly demonstrate superior performance of the proposed DPN over state-of-the-arts. In particular, on the ImagNet-1k dataset, a shallow DPN surpasses the best ResNeXt-101(64x4d) with 26% smaller model size, 25% less computational cost and 8% lower memory consumption, and a deeper DPN (DPN-131) further pushes the state-of-the-art single model performance with about 2 times faster training speed. Experiments on the Places365 large-scale scene dataset, PASCAL VOC detection dataset, and PASCAL VOC segmentation dataset also demonstrate its consistently better performance than DenseNet, ResNet and the latest ResNeXt model over various applications.
Female Commissioner and Earnings Quality: a Moderating Role of President Director's Ability

Abstract: Prior studies showed that t he influence of female director in the many aspects of the company has inconsistent result s . Besides, previous researches only focused on the company with one-tier board governance. These two arguments become the motivation of this research to investigate the role of female director in the different background, especially in company with two-tier board governance. Also, this research examines the role of president director ability to answer the inconsistency effect of a female director. The sample -based on manufacturing companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2015 with a total of 707 companies. By using multiple regression analysis, the result shows that female director and president director ability are not influenc toward ing earnings quality. However, significant results appeared when these two variables interacted. That means female director strengthen her role as supervisor since they considered that president director that they oversee has good ability. This result confirms the agency theory which states that principal – represented by a female director – will encourage her supervision to ensure that the management uses their ability to reach principal purposes. Abstrak :Penelitian terdahulu menunjukkan ketidakkonsistenan pengaruh direktur wanita dalam perusahaan. Selain itu, penelitian-penelitian terdahulu hanya berfokus pada perusahaan dengan tata kelola berupa one-tier board. Kedua argumen tersebut menjadi motivasi penelitian ini untuk menguji peran direktur wanita dalam latar belakang yang berbeda, khususnya perusahaan dengan tata kelola berupa two-tier board. Selanjutnya, penelitian ini menguji pengaruh kecakapan presiden direktur untuk menjelaskan ketidakkonsitenan peran direktur wanita tersebut. Sampel yang digunakan berupa perusahaan-perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar dalam Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2011-2015 sebanyak 707 perusahaan. Berdasarkan analisis regresi linier berganda, hasil pengujian menunjukkan bahwa direktur wanita dan kecakapan presiden direktur tidak berpengaruh terhadap kualitas laba. Namun interaksi antara kedua variabel tersebut menunjukkan adanya hasil yang signifikan. Hal itu menunjukkan bahwa direktur wanita akan memperkuat peranannnya sebagai pengawas saat mereka mengetahui bahwa presiden direktur perusahaan memiliki kecakapan yang baik. Hasil ini mampu mengkonfirmasi teori keagenan yang menyatakan bahwa pemilik perusahaan – yang diwakili oleh direktur wanita – akan meningkatkan pengawasannya untuk memastikan bahwa manajemen menggunakan kemampuan mereka untuk mencapai tujuan pemilik.
Low-cost stand-alone system for eddy current testing of metallic non-ferromagnetic plates

This paper describes a nondestructive testing equipment designed with the purpose of being low-cost and able to work in a stand-alone way. The main feature is related to the integration of an eddy-current probe using a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor with a computer mouse to be used as a positioning system. The system was constructed and tested. The results that were obtained allow the graphical representation of the acquired signals as a function of position, which is considered an improvement in relation to the systems that only represent the defect signatures.
How Firms’ Tax Incentives Affect Their Corporate Social Responsibility Activities: Evidence From Thailand’s Tax Cut in 2012

This study aims to examine whether and to what extent tax incentives given to firms affect their corporate social responsibility activities. We use a corporate tax cut which took place in Thailand during 2012 and 2013 to explore the corporate tax allowance on corporate social responsibility activities. Such a tax cut constitutes a nature experiment that allows us to study precisely the behaviors of firms before and after the policy shift. Our analysis reveals the importance of tax incentives in explaining the corporate social responsibility activities. That is, we find that corporate income taxes and the CSR activities are negatively correlated. A large-scale tax cut led to potential higher profitability, which makes firms becoming financial more capable of investing in larger CSR projects which they would not, be able to consider under the tougher tax scheme. This result provides important implications to policymakers, not only in Thailand but also elsewhere, on whether benefits of tax-shielding serve as a key motivation to the firms’ corporate social responsibility activities.
Cultural influences on developmental processes and outcomes: Implications for the study of development and psychopathology

The purpose of this paper is to trace the role of culture as an explanatory construct in developmental processes and outcomes, and its implications in the understanding of developmental psychopathology. Literature reviews were conducted by historical period: 1930–1939, 1960–1969, and 1990–1999. The percentage of the total articles and chapters pertaining to cultural issues increased as a function of time. Both conceptual and methodological continuities and discontinuities were observed among the three periods. The preponderance of comparative studies using deficit models still remains, but more enlightened alternative conceptual models, within culture studies, and measures of cultural processes, are emerging. In contrast, although contextual influences are considered important in developmental psychopathology, the field lags in its empirical consideration of cultural influences. The need to seriously address these issues will increase as globalization and rapid cultural change become even more the norm than the exception.
Does The Financial Situation affect Cheating Behavior? An Investigation through Financial Literacy

Using Dutch data from the LISS Panel, we study the effect of financial situation, love of money and general trust on multiple dimensions of individuals’ dishonesty, namely benefits fraud, tax evasion, fare evasion and stealing property. We use two indices of financial literacy as instruments to deal with the potential endogeneity of financial situation. The financial situation significantly affects the propensity to engage in cheating related to shadow-economy activities; conversely, small-scale dishonesty is mainly influenced by personal characteristics such as attitudes towards risk aversion. We show that love of money might eventually cloud individuals’ ethical behavior, as it increases the acceptability of immoral conduct. As expected, being trusting negatively affects the propensity to cheat, probably because it enhances individuals’ social cooperation. Our results are useful to deepen our knowledge about the factors affecting cheating behavior and, consequently, think of ways to limit it. JEL Classification: A13; C26; D91; H26. PsycINFO Classification: 3120
The effect of multi-channel wide dynamic range compression, noise reduction, and the directional microphone on horizontal localization performance in hearing aid wearers

This study examined the effect that signal processing strategies used in modern hearing aids, such as multi-channel WDRC, noise reduction, and directional microphones have on interaural difference cues and horizontal localization performance relative to linear, time-invariant amplification. Twelve participants were bilaterally fitted with BTE devices. Horizontal localization testing using a 360° loudspeaker array and broadband pulsed pink noise was performed two weeks, and two months, post-fitting. The effect of noise reduction was measured with a constant noise present at 80° azimuth. Data were analysed independently in the left/right and front/back dimension and showed that of the three signal processing strategies, directional microphones had the most significant effect on horizontal localization performance and over time. Specifically, a cardioid microphone could decrease front/back errors over time, whereas left/right errors increased when different microphones were fitted to left and right ears. Front/back confusions were generally prominent. Objective measurements of interaural differences on KEMAR explained significant shifts in left/right errors. In conclusion, there is scope for improving the sense of localization in hearing aid users.
Involvement of primary afferent C‐fibres in touch‐evoked pain (allodynia) induced by prostaglandin E2

Nociceptive primary afferents have the capacity to induce a state of increased excitability in dorsal horn neurons of the spinal cord or central sensitization causing thermal hyperalgesia and touch‐evoked pain (allodynia). It is believed that primary afferent C‐fibres become hypersensitive and induce hyperalgesia and that low‐threshold Aβ‐fibres are responsible for induction of allodynia, the mechanisms of which remain elusive. We previously showed that intrathecal administration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) induce allodynia in conscious mice. Here we demonstrated that selective elimination of C‐fibres by neonatal capsaicin treatment resulted in the disappearance of allodynia induced by PGE2, but not that by PGF2α. PGE2‐induced allodynia was not observed in N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor ε1 subunit knockout mice and was sensitive to morphine. In contrast, PGF2α‐induced allodynia was not observed in NMDA ε4 subunit knockout mice and was insensitive to morphine. Furthermore, while PGF2α showed a capsaicin‐insensitive feeble facilitatory action on evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents in dorsal horn neurons, PGE2 induced a long‐lasting facilitation of evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents in a capsaicin‐sensitive manner. Taken together, the present study demonstrates that there are two pathways for induction of allodynia and that capsaicin‐sensitive C‐fibres may participate in PGE2‐induced allodynia.
Regles admissibles en calcul propositionnel intuitionniste

Les regles qui n'engendrent pas de nouvelles formules prouvables dans une logique, sont dites regles admissibles de cette logique. En calcul propositionnel classique, toutes ces regles sont derivables, c'est-a-dire demontables de facon interne, ce qui n'est pas le cas en logique intuitionniste. Cette these veut eclaircir les liens entre admissibilite et derivabilite en calcul propositionnel intuitionniste. La premiere partie donne des conditions simples pour que ces deux notions soient identiques. On utilise une sorte particuliere de substitutions, dont on montrera dans la deuxieme partie qu'elles permettent de caracteriser l'admissibilite. La deuxieme partie utilise la classe de substitutions mentionnee precedemment et des cas particuliers tres simples des resultats montres en premiere partie, pour obtenir une caracterisation de l'admissibilite par la retro-derivation en calcul des sequents. C'est le resultat central de la these. On obtient ainsi certains resultats de decidabilite, en particulier la decidabilite de l'admissibilite, ainsi que d'autres caracterisations. La troisieme partie illustre le resultat precedent et en donne des applications. On decrit completement le cas a une variable. On donne ensuite une axiomatisation denombrable de l'admissibilite, et l'on en deduit l'impossibilite d'une axiomatisation finie
Engagement on ESG issues by Dutch pension funds: is it reaching its full potential?

ABSTRACT In socially responsible investment (SRI), engagement forms one of the core strategies of institutional investors. In investigating the case of Dutch pension funds, this study answers the following questions: what networks shape engagement with investees, and what factors determine the effectiveness of engagement? The methods we used were interviews and a multiyear survey. Engagement was practised by 82% of the largest Dutch pension funds in 2016 and was implemented by asset managers and service providers. However, these actors are isolated from actors outside the financial sector. The legitimacy of the investor influences the effectiveness of engagement, whereas the number of shares is less important. The relationship between the engager and investee and the receptivity of the investee towards engagement are also of importance. Engagement can be made more effective when pension funds focus on specific themes, target companies open to engagement, and also seek collaboration with societal and policy actors.
Th2 Cytokine Production from Mast Cells Is Directly Induced by Lipopolysaccharide and Distinctly Regulated by c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase and p38 Pathways1

Mast cells secrete multiple cytokines and play an important role in allergic inflammation. Although it is widely accepted that bacteria infection occasionally worsens allergic airway inflammation, the mechanism has not been defined. In this study, we show that LPS induced Th2-associated cytokine production such as IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 from mast cells and also synergistically enhanced production of these cytokines induced by IgE cross-linking. LPS-mediated Th2-type cytokine production was abolished in mouse bone marrow-derived mast cells derived from C3H/HeJ mice, suggesting that Toll-like receptor 4 is essential for the cytokine production. Furthermore, we found that mitogen-activated protein kinases including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 kinase were activated by LPS stimulation in bone marrow-derived mast cells. Inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation has little effect on LPS-mediated cytokine production. In contrast, inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation significantly suppressed both IL-10 and IL-13 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. Interestingly, although inhibition of p38 did not down-regulate the mRNA induction, it moderately decreased all three cytokine productions by LPS. These results indicate that LPS-mediated production of IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 was distinctly regulated by mitogen-activated protein kinases. Our findings may indicate a clue to understanding the mechanisms of how bacteria infection worsens the clinical features of asthma.